The Omaha morning bee. [volume] (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927, 1923-05-26
Small Town
Residents
Enjoy Life
Big Change Is Noted as Result
of War and College Life
Golf Is Popular
Pastime.
Hospitality Alb oun d S
BY PAUL GREER.
On Board Chamber of Commerce
RpeciaI Train


leve the people in the small towns
in Nebraska enjoy life. ask any mem
ber OF the Omaha Trade excursion.
Or, ask some of the young people
who drove into Ord tonight from 80
miles away to attend the pavement
dance given in honor of the visitors
from Omaha. Folks out here think
nothing of motoring that far across
country for business or a frolic. One
of the best things about small town
life is the everyday spirit of home.
spun hospitality.
AS II. L. Cushing, superintendent
Of schools at Ord expressed it today,
we try to go just little out of our
way TO make strangers within our
gates feel at home"
An Omaha family that recently
moved to Burwell tells of finding six
of their neighbors waiting on the
porch to help unload and arrange
their furniture 1t was not curiosity
TO see what kind of curtains or what
sort Of furniture the newcomers had,
but the genuine desire to be helpful.
Service Mems Outlook.
Add to this the sol characteristic
the broadened outlook on life brought
back by the service men from their
contcat with the new environments IN
Europe and the encampments. and the
everincreasing influence of the boys
and girls who came back to the old
home town after attending college, and
you have the factors that are improv-
ing village life. The war shook ev-
erybody at home and overseas and
among its after effects was the ex.
terminatios-of a great deal of pettiness
and the breaking down of clques
One OF the first things the legion
men did in Ord was to pay soff the
debt on the G. A. r. hall and make it
a center for activities OF many sorts.
Then, the boys took over an Is
land in the North Loup, cleaned 1t
up and presented the town with a
park and swimming hole. The town
also has a community club of 127
members which is pushing the move
ment for puhrs library and every
other good cause.
Sports Flourish.
Baseball and sports of all kinds
flourish Wherever there Is high
school, there are teams. The county
fair grounds find new use for their
race courses during the track meets.
Ord makes much of its Sunday base
ball and boasts now of no.hit no-run
game from Arcadia, to o. Almost
everyone plays golf. Father Lawler
says, and he tells with real enthusi-
asm of the hill where he and the
other players have to knock UP 80
feet.
4 great many Nebraska towns pos
sess country clubs with excellent
links. One Of the leading citizens of
Greeley is Thomas A. Lannigan. and
he would rather talk golf than busi
ness.
In the old days of Creighton col.
lege. Mr. Lannigan won fame as a
pitcher and more recently he was a
candidate for Moses kinkaids seat in
congress. But It was golf and the
pleasures of life in Greeley that he
talked about to the visitors from
Omaha.
Eight Nebraska towns, Ord, Gree
Icy, St Paul, Fullerton. Kearney.
Grand Island, Ravenna and Aurora
constitute the central Nebraska golf
league. In each town five men are
selected by tournament for places on
the team. There are no golf widows
here. for when the teams meet. the
whole family Is loaded into the auto
mobile for picnic jaunt. Some of the
towns are more than0 100 miles apart,
yet always the matches are made
the occasion of a family outings.
The highways are good out here,
and although even inches of rain fell
from last Friday to Wednesday. they
are pretty well dried out now.
County fairs are a great feature OF
country life. A number of counties
in this district have joined together
to form a circuit for automobile and
horse races an dother attractions,
No town Is too small to support a
band OF musicians.
Bands are Popular.
At Aida, community of 175 persons
near Grand Island. the trade trippers
we're met by a brass band. At ord
md any number of other places
weekly band concerts are the regular
thing during the summer. This is
pleasure lacking In Omaha. Nor
are these towns without their pic
ture shows, these being run three or
four nights each week.
A great factor in community life
In the schools all along the line. To
day graduation exercises were on al
Ord, the children presenting n pa
geant on the high school cnmpDs
decked out In fancy costumes for the
dance of the seasons. There are also
high school oetette and glee clubs.
Looking over the opportunities foi
enjoying life in these towns, II Is
difficult to find any real opportunit,
for comfortable, decent and enjoya
BILE living that the cities afford thai
are not also found in the towns
and there are many others, fishing
and hunting among them, where tbs
smaller places out I'm the state have