With McCook in the midst of celebrating Heritage Days, this is a great opportunity to reflect on the influential heritage McCook has on a regular basis….something that many of us take for granted.
Last week, I was hanging out in front of the Senator George Norris State Historical Site, or as it is more commonly known, the Norris Home. No, I don’t normally just hang out at historical sites, but was scoping out the yard for a future project.
As I sat on the bench on the front lawn of the Norris Home, next to a life-sized sculpture of the “Fighting Liberal,” an out-of-state car pulled up with two young men inside. While I continued my conversation with my fellow instigator-at-large, Denise Garey, I watched them out of the corner of my eye.
Their first stop was actually to the historical marker across the street at Norris Park. Next, they walked north to look over the Harry Strunk memorial, dedicated in 2018, followed by a short walk to the marker at former Gov. Morrison’s home. They then walked the two blocks south to the Sutton Home, or its more famous moniker, the home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. They stopped for a moment at Sen. and Gov. Ben Nelson’s boyhood home before wandering back to the Norris House.
After a brief conversation, I learned that the visitors were from the Kansas City area and were traveling to South Dakota. But they had purposely stopped in McCook because they had just finished John F. Kennedy’s famous book, “Profiles in Courage,” which includes a chapter on Sen. George Norris.
They wanted to see the house where the man who had influenced JFK had lived for more than 40 years. While researching the home of George Norris, they also discovered that McCook was home to the only Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home in Nebraska. Upon discovering these “treasurers,” they created a route specifically through McCook.
Day after day, we pass these historical markers but most of us don’t take the time to reflect on their importance, their significance or their uniqueness. Actually, that work is already done for us. There is a McCook Heritage Square Walking Tour brochure which is available throughout the community and a digital tour is in the works.
As the young men prepared to head leave town, one of their other comments stuck with me. After all their research, they were surprised when they reached the city limits and saw the population listed at less than 8,000. In their minds, the city had to be more like 20,000 to 25,000 people, based on everything that was listed and available online.
We have an opportunity to capitalize on the historical value of these leaders and significant sites. Like Willa Cather in Red Cloud, we should be celebrating George Norris, who had the courage to both stand up for what he believed was right and to reach across the aisle to compromise. Both sadly missing in many of today’s political leaders.
I have to admit that I had not read “Profiles in Courage” until speaking to these visitors. Since then, I finished the book and have even more respect for George Norris, who met with both success and failure. But the quote from JFK’s book which stuck with me most about George Norris was the following, “History asks: “Did the man have integrity? Did the man have unselfishness? Did the man have courage? Did the man have consistency?”
All of those apply to George Norris and that is something McCook can and should celebrate as its heritage.
McCook's last hometown bakery closed this past week, leaving a void not just for donuts but for connections.
Many organizations and businesses in McCook offer the opportunity to recycle, reuse and repair items that may just end up in the trash.
Organizer for Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival and former librarian named Oct 2025 volunteer of the month.
McCook's Third Thursdays were created to get businesses and organizations involved and designed to create life-long memories for the community.
Long-time community advocate Barb Ostrum received the Sept 2025 McCook Volunteer of the Month award.
We need to celebrate our young people while they are here and encourage them to return.
While some like myself appreciate a rainy day, others dread them for a variety of reasons. We need to be empathetic as interact with others.
MCFF Fall Grant Deadline is Oct. 1. Complete list of former recipients on MCFF website
With so much going, it is time for a “This, That and the Other Thing” column, where we will cover several topics, not very deeply but hopefully with a sense of humor as we clean up and prepare for a busy week in McCook. *** McCook again made state and national news this week for ice. This time, it was in the form of hail that pounded the community for hours upon hours. Conversations this week begin with “where were you….?” or “how many windows did you lose?” And while they may be legitimate and are offering their services, it is like vultures with all the roofing repair and dent removal businesses which have descended upon McCook following the storm. As city officials noted, do your due diligence with any company doing repairs for you and follow the old adage, which is old and still around because it’s true: If something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. And one last note on the storm, we need to be careful what we ask for. As storm after storm approaches McCook and then splits in two to go around the town, we finally got one to roll right over us. The storm liked McCook so much it slowed down and just there. I was in Lincoln during the storm and trying to determine when I would drive home. I thought the weather app had frozen or the radar was broken because every time I looked, the storm was still sitting over McCook, doing its damage. I guess we can be thankful the next time a storm seemingly just goes around us. *** We are in the thick of McCook’s Heritage Days celebration. Congratulations to all the Heritage Days Royalty, which was announced at the MNB Bank Mixer this week. A special shout-out to Bill Donze, better known as Mr. Bill and his wife, Kathy, who were honored as royalty for their impact in McCook. As many know, Mr. Bill is fighting cancer and the prognosis isn’t good. The chances of him selling snow-cones and candy out of his van next summer near the McCook Aquatic Center are not good. One judge of his impact was the response to my column about Mr. Bill a few months ago. The post was shared thousands of times, viewed nearly 70,000 times with just as many comments by people sharing their fond memories of Mr. Bill. So when you see Mr. Bill riding down Norris in the convertible this weekend in the Heritage Days parade, send extra prayers and well-wishes to the man who has brought so much joy to so many kids - and adults too - over the years. *** Continuing on the Heritage Days theme, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the McCook Rotary Club is tossing all egos and formality out the window this weekend. As the president of the McCook Rotary Club, I invite everyone to at least watch, if not participate, in the Rotary’s first inflatable costume relay race on Saturday as part of the festivities in Norris Park. These are those giant, blow-up costumes you usually see around Halloween. The first costumes were usually T-Rexes but now there is everything imaginable available as a design. With the idea for the race originally conceived by Melanie Goodenberger, she has purchased everything from corn on the cob to a cowboy riding a chicken. This is a fund-raiser for the Rotary Club with a cost of just $20 for a team of four to participate in the relay race. But it is also a chance to giggle, perhaps make a fool of yourself and just have fun. Come to the park Saturday afternoon for the Wiener Dog races and stay for the Rotary Relay races. While the dogs will already be close to the ground, the relay race participants will likely just end up on the ground. *** With so much going on in McCook this week, I debated whether there should be another activity the next week but the response has already been great for the Lied’s Arts Across Nebraska’s next production in McCook. Hosted by the McCook Creative District, the Omaha Street Percussion ensemble will perform at the Fox Theater on Wednesday, Sept. 24. There is a matinee showing at 10:30 a.m. but I will be up-front…we are testing the capacity of the Fox with every seat already claimed with students. If that is the only show you can make, please come and we’ll find you a seat but it may be those up in the rafters. Otherwise, please plan to attend the 7 p.m. show on Sept. 24. And even better, there is no cost thanks to the Kimmel Foundation and the Friends of the Lied. This is a busy week and a busy weekend but this is a great opportunity to sit back and enjoy a fun, entertaining evening of live music.
Most likely, we aren't going to be good at something at the start. But that shouldn't stop us from trying.
