News from neighbors
Propst Agriculture Center opens
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Aug. 2 — It’s no secret that agriculture plays a dominant role in Logan County. Now, with the grand opening of Overland Trail Museum’s new Propst Agriculture Center for Kids on Saturday, there is a place where children can go to learn all about this vital industry.
Museum staff, members of the Propst family — including Joel and Peggy and Koger and Marcie Propst — Logan County Historical Society representative Marilyn Hutt and Logan County Chamber of Commerce members gathered Saturday morning for a ribbon cutting to officially open the new center, which was funded through a generous donation from the Keith and Nell Brown Propst family, as well as funds from the Historical Society.
“This exhibit has been a lot of fun, it’s been really different because it’s not centered around artifacts, it’s purely for fun and education,” museum curator Kay Rich said, adding that “it will be an evolving exhibit as we go, we’ll probably add to it as we watch kids and kind of see how they interact with everything that’s in here.”
The highlight of the new ag center is Bella The Incredible Milking Cow, who stands next to a beautiful map showing the various towns in Logan County. During Saturday’s event, children were anxious to try their hand at milking Bella while listening to her share facts about the dairy industry.
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AARP Community Challenge grant will create new Imperial mini-park
IMPERIAL REPUBLICAN, Aug. 11 — Imperial, Nebraska, city officials learned recently they had been successful with an AARP Community Challenge grant application.
One of just three Nebraska cities awarded the AARP grant, the $15,000 in funds will help create a mini-park along West 7th Street in the empty lot west of the Imperial Police Department.
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Sterling Banner employees stage walkout
STERLING JOURNAL-ADVOCATE, Aug. 12 — About two dozen people, including Sterling MedCenter staff members, protested outside the hospital Wednesday as part of “Walkout Wednesday.”
The protest is in response to Banner Health’s decision to require COVID-19 vaccinations as a condition of employment after Nov. 1 and was inspired by the website walkoutwednesday.net.
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1922 Ferris wheel brought back to life for 2021 ECR
AKRON NEWS-REPORTER, Aug. 11 — After Akron was rocked with winds during June 2020’s macroburst, the Ferris wheel that sits proudly in the midway of the Washington County Fairgrounds looked like it had seen the end of its days.
The pile of mangled metal became a question at the forefront of everyone’s minds, “Could the beloved and nostalgic ride be fixed?” With COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of the 2020 carnival, it conveniently allowed for more time to come up with a solution to that question — a solution by the name of Lexin Brent.
While the Big Eli Wheel at the fairgrounds is rated for 100 mph winds, winds during that June night reached gusts of 122 mph. Almost every component of the wheel had to be tweaked, straightened or replaced, and the two main hubs on the axle had to be replaced due to breakage.
While the wheel was down, which it hasn’t been since its erection when it was put here in 2004, Brent wanted to go through everything and restore it, paint and repair anything needed so it could be run for decades to come.
As soon as the Big Eli wheel crashed, Brent said the wheels in his head started turning on how he’d fix it, if given the chance.
“It was incredibly intimidating to me seeing that huge beautiful wheel all bent, folded and mangled 44 feet up there in the air,” he said. “I talked with the commissioners right away because as I was in charge of repairs and maintenance and improvement of the rides. This wheel is 99 years old, built in 1922. Thankfully the commissioners believed in me and gave me the green light.
“I talked to a few ‘wheel men,’ the Ferris wheel ‘gurus.’ There are very few men left who have ever disassembled and reerected a straight wheel, let alone a bent one.”
Brent began working countless hours straightening, replacing and repairing it in his shop at the old high school. Brent did a lot of hydraulic press work with straight edges, measuring tapes and a careful eye. The entire winter was spent sandblasting, painting and precision fitting all the pieces to the puzzle.
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