Hill-Topics
This past Friday night through Saturday night turned out to be a dramatic 24 hours worth writing home about. And, since my mom reads my column, she can read about it here.
Friday evening, Claire and I and drove up to Lincoln to watch our oldest daughter, Bethany, portray two different characters and play her guitar in the Nebraska Wesleyan University production of "The Caucasian Chalk Circle."
The story, which has nothing to do with race, revolves around a servant girl living in the war-torn Caucasus Mountains.
It was great to see Bethany, a senior drama major, doing what she loves, sharing her God-given talent with an appreciative audience. For her, NWU was an ideal college choice.
The dramatic weekend continued Saturday morning, when Bethany's fiancé, Joe, and his parents asked me to join them at Memorial Stadium for the Nebraska-Missouri football game.
Even though I graduated from the University of Kansas, I'll admit, it was a truly awesome experience.
The Huskers, playing in front of a Memorial Stadium record crowd of 85,197 and an ABC regional television audience, beat Missouri 34-20.
Just think. Without me, it would have been a record crowd of only 85,196. I've been told that Memorial Stadium becomes the third-largest community in Nebraska on game days. Tickets were going for $100 apiece outside the gate. Nebraska games have been sold out every game dating back to 1962 — an NCAA record 281 straight.
It was very generous of my future son-in-law and his folks to ask me to join them; but it's not like the game didn't cost me anything.
While I was at the game, Claire took Bethany shopping.
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To the amazement of the 85,196, I left Memorial Stadium at the end of the third quarter because I had a more important game to attend — the Hillsboro-Cheney playoff game.
We got back just in time for the opening kickoff of what would turn out to be one of the greatest football games I've ever seen.
There were more Cheney fans at the game than Hillsboro fans, but our boys played the game of their lives, winning 8-7 in overtime.
The field lighting at Reimer Field is bad for night photography, but I had two incredibly lucky shots in the dark; capturing both the touchdown catch, and the climactic catch for the extra point that won the game.
Best of all, I got to take pictures of parents and their heroic sons in their moment of glory.
It was a great 24 hours.
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Thanks to the third graders at Hillsboro Elementary School for inviting me to visit you this past Thursday on career day. I came to tell you about what I do as the editor of the Hillsboro Star-Journal.
I saw many familiar faces sitting at their desks; faces I photographed for stories, such as making apple cider.
Your teachers, Lenna Knoll and Rachel Winter, taught about writing and how your favorite authors create the books you enjoy reading.
We talked about the differences between authors who write books, and writers who write articles for newspapers and magazines.
You knew the difference between fiction and nonfiction writing. You knew lots of things I didn't know when I was in the third grade!
You might not see all of your faces in the picture in this paper, but I wanted to make sure our readers knew you cub reporters, now that you're on the beat, looking for news!
According to the roster on the school web site, the third graders are:
Reece Berens, Stephen Brazil, Erika Bichet, Maddie Brown, Jared Dyck, Maggie Clark, Hannah Funk, Abby Fisher, Allison Gray, Breanna Fox, Layne Heiser, Jordan Fryhover, Connie Hendricks, Jackson Garrett, Wade Holmes, Shannon Heiser, Allison Maxfield, Franklin Jost, Angel Montigny, Morgan Laskie-Deleon, Alex Anna Ratzlaff, Mary Leihy, SaRae Roberts, Taytum Miller, Noel Rubel, Kalen Moss, Mosharay Smith, Patience Salas, Isaac Spencer, Bradon Truitt, and Joseph Williams.
Your thank you cards were awesome! I enjoyed reading every one of them, and you made me laugh out loud at your jokes, right here in the news room!
Also, for those of you who shared in your cards that you're thinking about being writers, that's great! Just remember that all great writers were also great readers when they were young.
So, if you want to write, read!
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Quilt of Valor Foundation member Paula Perry of Hillsboro came by last week to give me a quilt block that will be sewn into her next quilt and given to a wounded soldier when he or she comes back from Iraq.
Quilt of Valor makers write encouraging words on these quilt blocks, and Perry asked me to write something meaningful on hers.
For a guy who writes thousands of words a week, I can't think of the right words to write to the soldier who'll receive this quilt someday. If you have any suggestions, write me, e-mail me, or give me a call.
I was thinking
Wouldn't it be great if all of our troops came home safe and sound before another quilt gets made?
— GRANT OVERSTAKE
