Cutline: September 26, 1991: Nathan Walker, member of Cub Scout Pack 214, shows how he was taught to do the Heimlich maneuver. The Cub Scouts visited the Alliance Fire Department recently, where Marty Jones also showed them how to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on “Resusci-Junior.” Photo by Belinda Amerman.
130 Years Ago
September 25, 1896
A taffy pull and watermelon feast was enjoyed by a jolly crowd at C. C. Shetlers’ last Friday evening.
125 Years Ago
September 27, 1901
A. S. Reed and S. J. Wilson shipped three cars of cattle to Robertson & Co. and the returns received Tuesday showed $3.80 for two-years-old steers, $2.90 for cows and $3.55 for the poor steers.
120 Years Ago
September 28, 1906
A. P. Braken, who has had considerable trouble with his eyes lately, made matters worse by dropping an alcoholic solution of belladonna into his eyes by mistake, thinking it were a solution for the eyes that he had prepared.
115 Years Ago
September 26, 1911
Because of differences with their employers, S. C. Reck, four mason tenders who had been discharged, pushed over a section of the wall for Alliance’s new public library last Friday night.
110 Years Ago
September 29, 1916
George M. Brown, king of liars, was bound over to the next term of district court on a $1,000 bond. He was arrested for attempting to pass spurious checks on E. Essay last Sunday morning and following his arrest it was discovered that he had succeeded in passing one on Fred Rehder for $22.
105 Years Ago
September 27, 1921
Plans are progressing rapidly for the converting of the city armory building into a real “joy spot” for the community, according to City Manager N. A. Kemmish, who announced the idea some time ago.
100 Years Ago
October 1, 1926
The annual award of the free Star car, given by the business men of Alliance, will go into effect starting Monday and will continue until the car is given away Saturday afternoon, October 23 at 5 o’clock, the closing event of the annual Fall Festival, Kid’s Carnival and Indian Jubilee.
95 Years Ago
September 29, 1931
Alliance’s importance as a railroad center is increased with an announcement by the Burlington today that the Alliance and Sheridan divisions of that railroad will be consolidated with headquarters at Alliance. Supt. H. C. Murphy, head of the Alliance division, will be in charge of the two merged divisions.
90 Years Ago
September 25, 1936
At least 500 rooms in private homes will be needed to accommodate school teachers from all over western Nebraska who will come here for the district convention of the Nebraska State Teachers Association on October 28 to 31. The Chamber of Commerce is urging that all householders who have a room available for rental during the convention to call its office at once in order that room assignments can be made.
85 Years Ago
September 26, 1941
At about 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, an attendant looked up from routing tasks to see a stranger gazing open-mouthed and admiringly at the huge tiled floor and the high ceiling. “What are you doing here?” inquires the party of the first part. “This’s ‘a Flora apartments, ain’t it?” quoth the stranger, showing slight traces of bewilderment. “I came to town to visit a friend, and he told me to go to a big building with a lot of lights. The attendant carefully explained to the man that he was standing in the middle of the city power plant.
80 Years Ago
September 27, 1946
The City of Alliance Oct. 15 will see the inauguration of a new system of garbage and rubbish collections whereby a private contractor will pick up edible garbage for a hog farm and the city will remove rubbish and trash, all at no cost to the citizens.
75 Years Ago
September 24, 1951
A Sunday afternoon bridegroom almost left his bride at the church in Hemingford. Some of the bridegrooms friends jacked up one of the rear wheels of the get away car as a joke. After the wedding the newly-wedded couple climbed into the car, but it wouldn’t budge – the rear wheel spinning. The man got out and found the trouble, unjacked the car and then got back in, started the motor and raced away, leaving his bride who had gotten out without his knowledge, standing on the sidewalk screaming.
70 Years Ago
September 24, 1956
Western Nebraska Television Incorporated filed an application today with the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D. C. for a television station on Channel 13 for Alliance.
65 Years Ago
September 27, 1961
Frontier Airlines planes started operating on a new schedule through Alliance Sunday which improves evening service to Lincoln and Omaha but necessitates about a 4-hour layover in Scottsbluff for evening service to Denver.
60 Years Ago
September 29, 1966
Three appeals on condemnation proceedings have been filed in the office of the Box Butte County Clerk of the District Court. These are in connection with a Highway No. 2 right-of-way widening project by the State of Nebraska between Alliance and Berea. This portion of Highway No. 2 is slated for an improvement project next year.
55 Years Ago
September 30, 1971
Officials of the Sand Hills Tour and Travel Corp., and the Star Bus Lines announced today that effective Friday the Alliance bus stop and bus depot will be moved from its present location at Chip’s Conoco on West Third to 120 E. 4th Street in The Times-Herald building.
50 Years Ago
September 30, 1976
Construction workers on U.S. Highway 285 again have complained to Sheriff Don Underwood that vehicles using the six-mile stretch under construction are inhibiting progress. A sheriff’s deputy said a road foreman estimated the project could be completed within three weeks if vehicles stay off the recently laid highway.
45 Years Ago
October 1, 1981
Those two August hailstorms were bad news for farmers and home owners and insurance companies, but they were good news for employment and business. The September building permit list shows this. It is the longest in many months, with a total of 149 permits issued.
40 Years Ago
September 30, 1986
The City of Alliance will grow by some 500 acres Wednesday, but most Alliance residents won’t notice the change at all. The Alliance City Council in January of this year approved on a 3-1 vote to annex some 500 acres of land into the city which would put the 104 parcels of land on the tax rolls.
35 Years Ago
September 25, 1991
To carve bass wood sculptures with any degree of skill, tools have to be razor sharp, said Jim Girard, 60, founder of the Box Butte Carvers. His carvings of carousel horses, Santa Claus, and birds, to name a few, have spurred many people into begging, bartering, offering cash, or trading to try to separate Girard from his work. He won’t budge.. He’s keeping them all.
30 Years Ago
September 27, 1996
Barring anymore problems, the juvenile facility at the 16-mile corner should open the first week of November. Jeff Hackett said construction at the former District 40 Consolidated school building is “moving right along and should be virtually done by Oct. 16.”
25 Years Ago
September 25, 2001
A basement fire yesterday morning at the home of Jose and Melissa Reza caused an estimated $40,000 damage. The Alliance Volunteer Fire Department responded to the call. The fire was contained within 90 minutes.
20 Years Ago
September 25, 2006
Thirty years ago Box Butte General Hospital opened its doors and began moving patients over from the longstanding Sisters of St. Francis’ St. Joseph’s Hospital that had served the Box Butte County community for almost 70 years. The very day staff was moving St. Joe patients into the hospital a very pregnant woman and husband came into the new facility.
15 Years Ago
September 27, 2011
The annual disaster training drill Sept. 14 at Box Butte General Hospital was very different from past drills, according to BBGH Safety Officer James Koeteman. Historically the hospital used disaster drills to test what I call the ‘front end’ process, such as stress testing the resources of areas like the emergency Department, Patient Care Unit and labor pool demands and allocations.
10 Years Ago
September 27, 2016
Williams Jewelers hosted its seventh annual poker run this past Sunday morning. To coincide with the event the ladies of Williams Jewelers put together the Hunt Down Cancer Silent Auction with around 100 items up for bids. One hundred percent of the proceeds from both events will be donated to Jane’s Closet to provide monetary support for families and individuals battling cancer.
5 Years Ago
September 29, 2021
The Panhandle saw a large increase in the number of COVID cases as an additional 368 cases were reported since Sept. 20. Box Butte County saw 58 new cases, the second largest number among counties in the Panhandle.
*Compiled from The Alliance Times-Herald Archives by Christine Melcher