Posts Tagged ‘Uncategorized’
June 22nd, 2009 | 
Author: Pioneer Village is an amazing museum in Minden, Nebraska. It was founded by Harold Warp, son of Norwegian immigrants and raised in the area around Minden. He became an early plastics tycoon by developing “Flex-o-glass”, a product similar to Plexiglass. After becoming quite wealthy by selling his product, he returned to Minden and opened this museum, which I believe is really a hidden treasure.
The museum begins with a display of the history of transportation. This area discusses how transportation begins. It briefly discusses early transportation with things like a chariot and an ox-cart, and then moves on to discuss the invention and development of vehicles.
This is a replica of the first airplane flown by the Wright brothers over Kitty Hawk.
After you make it through the main building and to the outdoors, you come to this circle in the rear. Around the circle are buildings- some reproductions, some originals that were moved to Pioneer Village.
The first building we visited was the Hobby House. This is a single-roomed building filled with samples of the things collected by pioneers as entertainment- things like buttons, pens, delicate china statutes, salt and pepper shakers, decorative candle stands, and much more.
The next building was larger, with two stories. This building displayed the history of home appliances. It uses actual appliances to show how these appliances developed and changed through the years- everything from refrigerators and iceboxes to stoves, washers, sewing machines, even bathtubs and showers.
This is a pony express relay station. I don’t have many good photos of it, particularly on the inside, because it was quite dark inside. The saddle on the inside is an actual saddle that was used by “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
This is a blacksmiths’ shop. The blacksmith was off duty when we visited. It was a kind of drizzly and gray day, so it was understandable.
This carousel is one of the only carousels in existence that is operated by a steam-powered motor. However, they were not operating it while we were there. Again, the gray and drizzly day probably contributed to it.
This is a pioneer church. They acutally continue to hold services here every Sunday. I did not get many good photos, partially due to the great respect this church is afforded. It isn’t exactly easy to take photos inside.
This is an actual sod house. These homes were very common on the early plains, and this house was constructed with help from local farmers. My father was trying to take a photo of my mother and I in front of the sod house, but a group of (very rude!) teenagers was also visiting and refused to get out of the photo. It is a neat house- it is so fascinating to imagine the people who lived in sod and dugout houses on the early prairie.
This is what I would call the china house. It is a home filled with display cases, filled with china. Again, this home displays the history of china and how it developed through the years.
This is a prairie schoolhouse. Of course I had to include a photo of myself and my mother in front of it.
These are several trains, old locomotives and train cars and other trains from throughout the years.
This is a prairie firehouse. Notice the large, barred cell inside. This was an early prairie prison!
An early prairie claims office. This was where the farmers would come to place a “claim” on a piece of land.
This is a general store. My flash worked beautifully inside this store, but my battery began to get flaky around that time.
This was an indian affairs bureau. These photos are not very good, unfortunately. When this building was originally built, it was shared by FIVE families! These photos do not really show you how small it is! I can’t imagine sharing this house with ONLY my family!
This is a little information about Harold Warp’s parents.
Several of these plaques, containing what I would call “Warp Wisdom”, are posted throughout the museum.
Posted in Uncategorized, around the world, friends and family | Tags: blacksmith, early plastics tycoon, Flex, Harold Warp, Kitty Hawk, Minden, Nebraska, Uncategorized
We visited Moses Hill cemetary, where my grandparents and many other relatives have been laid to rest. Just to clarify- Moses Hill Church and Moses Hill Cemetary are NOT related to Salem Church, which I posted about earlier.
This cemetary is VERY Swedish. The vast majority of the people buried here are named Johnson, Ericson, Anderson, or some similar and obviously Scandinavian name! In fact, there is a reasonable chance that I am related one way or another to the majority of the people in this cemetary. This community was (and still is, I suppose) a small and very close-knit community, and most of these families intermarried.
This is Moses Hill Cemetery. Like Salem Church, it is far from any paved roads. It is the highest elevation in Phelps County, though that is not very high owing to the flatness of Nebraska! It is quiet and pleasant, a wonderful resting place.
This is the stone marking the graves of my grandparents, John and Lillian. In the background you can see the stones marking the graves of Kenny, John’s brother, and his wives (he was married 3 times- two wives died and the third outlived him).
This stone marks the graves of my great grandparents, the parents of my grandmother (Lillian). “Grandma Johnson”, as she was known, died when I was six years old. I vaguely remember visiting her when she lived at Christian Homes in Holdrege, NE. She was a neat woman, one of those that I now wish I could have known better. I’m often told stories of Grandma Johnson, who was an incredibly happy and pleasant person who who loved people, loved life, and loved God.
This is the stone of my great aunt Iris, sister of John, and her husband. Iris had no children of her own. She died when I was 19 years old. I remember visiting with her at family reunions. She was also a pleasant person and is missed.
This is the stone of Royce, brother of Lillian. Royce died as an infant.
The Hoagstroms are my relatives by marriage. Their daughter married one of my second cousins.
Aaron and Augusta Johnson are my great-great grandparents. They were born in Sweden and immigrated to Nebraska. Aaron maintained a farm and observed the challenge of local farmers in getting their produce to the nearest train station, which was many miles away. He did not speak English, only Swedish, so his wife Augusta, who only spoke a little English, interpreted his letter to the railway asking for a rail siding to their area. His request was granted, and the siding eventually grew into the small town of Loomis, Nebraska.
Justus was one of the sons of Aaron and Augusta. My father still remembers his father (my grandfather) talking about “Uncle Justus”.
This is our famous connection. 
I do not know how we are related to this person, but it’s the best we can do!
These are the stones that make me really sad- the lonely stones, belonging to the children who died so young. The most tragic ones are those of the infants who died before they could even get a name.
**edit: sorry for the delay, but here’s some more photos from my trip to Nebraska this summer.**
We also drove through Holdrege, Nebraska, which is the town where my father was born and where he lived through his junior high years.
Holdrege is a farm community, so all of the land nearby is farmland!
The farming co-op plays a major part in the local economy.
This is the Hotel Dale, a major and very historic hotel in Holdrege. My second cousins, Ron and Mel, can remember their uncle Dave taking them up and down in the elevator here.
Town Hall.
Fire Station.
Post Office.
Library.
My great grandfather’s home. It has changed some (I’m told it used to have an enclosed porch) but it still stands.
Washington Elementary, where my father attended his first few years of school.
Roosevelt Elementary, where my father attended his upper elementary years.
Home of Alta Crumm, who lived across the street from my father as a child. My dad would visit her often and she always gave him cookies. She also had a clock that chimed on the hour, which fascinated my father, to the point that his parents eventually purchased a similar clock for their home.
My father’s boyhood home, where he lived for many years of his life.
These are all the other miscellaneous buildings and sites around Holdrege.
Posted in Uncategorized, friends and family | Tags: Alta Crumm, Dave, Fire Station, historic hotel, Holdrege, Hotel Dale, Mel, Nebraska, Post Office, Ron, Town Hall, Uncategorized
I have noticed that, in this economy, many tourist places are advertising a lot more than they did during the boom economies. I don’t know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. From a marketing perspective, it makes a lot of sense to spread the word about your business, like if you own an oceanfront myrtle beach resort. But you’d have to figure out your ROI – return on investment.
There’s the thought that, if spending more money brings more visitors to your myrtle beach resort, then that’s a good thing. But on the other hand, if you are spending a lot of money for a comparitively small profit, then maybe you should be spending it elsewhere.
It even makes sense that you should advertise in a boom economy, not a bust economy. If you are telling people about myrtle beach resorts during a boom economy, then they are more likely to visit your business because they can afford it. But on the other hand you need visitors all the time, not just during good economies. See, this is why I didn’t study economics!
My family- and I’m referring to my (very!) extended family – met at Salem Church in Phelps County, Nebraska (near Funk) to honor my great-uncle, David, who passed away suddenly due to a heart attack a few months ago. It was very pleasant- it was nice to get together and reminisce. Isn’t it always?
Salem Church is a neat chapter from my family history. It was originally founded by my third-great grandfather (I think that is right- I get the “greats” mixed up sometimes). It is no longer being used as a church full time, but several of my cousins who live in the area are working to preserve the building.
These first photos were taken outside the church. Salem Church is REALLY in the “sticks”- you have to drive quite awhile on a dirt road to reach it. But once you get there, it is so beautiful and peaceful. And quiet- we don’t realize how loud our “technical” world can be until we are away from it!
The church has absolutely GORGEOUS stained glass windows and mouldings. The ceiling and walls are beautiful. There is a lot of great craftsmanship that is demonstrated in this building.
This stove was the original heater for this church. It kept parishoners warm on cold winter days while they prayed, sang, and listened to the service.
And these fans were the original air conditioner! Often there would be an “ad” or “sponsored by” on the back of the fans, and often those ads were from local funeral homes!
These are the hymnals. I would guess that they are not original to the church, but they are quite old.
Several photos of various relatives. I am somehow related to everyone in these photos- aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses, kids, you name it.
This is the cemetary outside the church. Note the tractor in the background, across the dirt road. That is a “neighbor”, mowing his hay, and very representative of the area.
Posted in Uncategorized, friends and family | Tags: David, heart attack, Nebraska, Phelps County, Salem Church, Uncategorized
As I’ve become more and more successful as a self employed american, I’ve made one discovery…
You cannot avoid the tax man!
I have to start making quarterly “deposits” to the IRS, to prove that I will have enough money at the end of the year to pay off my taxes. It’s crazy and kind of annoying, but it’s also the way things are. Even in other countries, I would still have to pay taxes. Like, if I lived in Australia, I’d have to find sydney tax accountants. You just can’t escape it!
But oh well, that’s okay. A chartered accountant sydney is a small price to pay for a strong and secure government.
In Nebraska, my parents and I stayed at the Pioneer Village hotel in Minden, Nebraska. I am writing a whole other post about Pioneer Village- it is such a neat place and I have so much to say about it! The “campus” also includes a hotel, a campground/rv park, and a restaurant. The choices of hotels in this area are, admittedly, somewhat limited. The towns are small, as well as the hotels. However, the Pioneer Village hotel is significantly cheaper than all the other hotels in this area.
But I can only tell you good things about this hotel! It is not new, and it is not extremely fancy. There is no swimming pool or continental breakfast. There is no exercise room or spa. There is also no wi-fi (my only complaint!). However, it is pleasant and perfectly functional. The rooms include all the things you would expect of a hotel room- beds, desk, chairs, television with cable, sink, toilet, shower, and heater/AC. In fact, this room was actually quite large! There was a LOT of space compared to most of the hotels I have visited. Everything was well maintained, so the shower, air conditioner, and everything else worked exactly as it was supposed to. The carpet and furnishings may have been *somewhat* out of style, but they were clean. Our rooms were cleaned every day, just like you’d expect at a hotel. The hotel may not have had all the fancy trappings, but it was pleasant and enjoyable. We saved money and slept like rocks!
There was no continental breakfast, but their restaurant is just across the parking lot. The prices at the restaurant are very reasonable- in fact, I thought they were kinda low. They also make the most AMAZING pancakes!
Here’s some photos of our room and around the hotel and restaurant.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: In Nebraska, Minden, Nebraska, Pioneer Village hotel, Uncategorized, wi-fi
I read an article today about the (alleged) connection between moderate drinking and good health. It kind of concerns me. Personally I don’t drink. It’s not that I think drinking is (necessarily) wrong- in moderation there is nothing wrong with it. Of course drinking to excess is wrong. I’ve studied enough addiction resource information to know I have that tendency, and I do not enjoy alcohol so much that I feel like I “need” to drink that. I do not think that moderate drinking is required to be healthy, and that’s what worries me. When scientists imply that you need to drink to be healthy, that could lead to a spike in people needing alcohol rehab.
Luckily there is plenty of drug rehab info available, but that is also kinda like fixing the problem after it’s broken. Why should we fix the problem AFTERWARDS if we can prevent it entirely?
I took oodles of photos from the car while we were driving to Nebraska. Many of them turned out blurry (no surprise, since I took these from a moving car) but a lot of them turned out surprisingly good. In fact, I’m using one of them as the wallpaper on my cell phone.
Also, an apology: I used my phone to take a lot of the photos on this trip, and for whatever reason, it seems that NextGen gallery doesn’t like to create thumbnails of those photos. They are also generally not as good quality compared to my camera. But it’s very convenient to just pull out my phone and take a photo with my phone. It’s not perfect, but it is what it is.
Lately I have been so glad to see my church go on. Just six months ago, when our pastor announced he was leaving, there were a lot of people that wanted to jump ship, close the doors, and sell our assets. I’m so thankful that a few people stuck together and pressed on. They figured our income, our debts, and our needs, and figured that besides the mortgage (which is amazingly LOW!), the only other thing we needed was “pulpit supply”, or weekly keynote speakers. We don’t need expensive celebrity speakers- just someone to bring us a message every week.
We even looked at speaking tips and info so that, if necessary, we could provide the supply ourselves every week. But God had a bigger plan than that (thankfully!). He brought us a pastor who is working for a VERY low wage compared to our old pastor. I think he’s getting a lot of prayer, though, and blessings from God. He certainly deserves it, and it will be exciting to see what the future brings!
