Some Early Lessons

     After hearing it from Richard himself, the Kornerman repeated it and you, our faithful and fearless audience, were, no doubt, still skeptical.
     Here's the story. Classmate Richard Longworth, BHS-53, wrote, "you mentioned in the Korner that I had mentioned that I thought my high school years of covering sports and the city hall beat for the Boone News Republican were a better education than the Northwestern University journalism school work that came after. This may sound like a huge stretch, but I swear it's true. Two examples. I covered high school track meets, which meant listing, in detail, the results of all the races, including each heat, who placed where, and their times. One day, I got an angry call from a prominent citizen complaining that I had reported his son placing fourth in the third heat, when he'd actually placed third. Obviously, the kid hadn't come close to winning the race. But, it was a big deal to this father. I learned that day that a good reporter gets the details right, sweats the small stuff, or he'll hear about it the next day, especially in a small town where everybody knows his phone number. Journalism schools, like Northwestern, are theoretical. Newspapers are real."
     A second example from Richard, "one night big Pete Peterson, the Chief of Police, ticketed me for speeding. I went to city hall the next day to get the list of overnight arrests, a daily feature of the BNR, and there was my name among the malefactors. Since I was writing the story, I decided to leave myself out of it. Harlan Weeks, the BNR editor, caught me and gave me a loud and public lecture on journalistic ethics that has stuck with me more than any professorial finger-wagging. Sure, the News Republican was a job. But it was also an education."
     Oh yes Richard. The Kornerman says, "been there, done that."
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     Here's an eye-opener. Each year, Beloit College releases it's "mind-set list" to help faculty and administration understand what a new class of freshmen have experienced and not experienced. The college class of 2019 is composed, primarily, of students who were born in 1997. It's pointed out that among those who have never been alive during those students lifetime are Princess Diana, Jacques Cousteau and Mother Teresa among others.
     My, how time does fly.
     Also, since these students have been on this planet, none have ever licked a postage stamp, the Lion King has always been on Broadway, Splenda has always been a sweet option in the U.S., Google has always been there, Email has become the new "formal" communication and if you say, "around the turn of the century," they may ask you, "which one?"
     Again, the Kornerman says, "my, how time does fly."
     Thanks to Tom Peterson, BHS-67, for providing this bit of interesting info.
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     Seems there have always been Peppers in this area........Peppers family members that is and, a few weeks ago, I heard from one, Betty Pepper Barnard of Ames. Her dad is Ray Pepper and her mother, born and raised as Ollie, was a well known cook in the area at places like the Boone Elks and the Bon Appetite. Betty said, "she cooked a meal for Eisenhower (former President Dwight D.) in 1952."
     Betty's mother passed away about four years ago and she, Betty, had remembered that the Kornerman had mentioned her mother and that "Eisenhower meal" in one of his Korners and she was very interested in recapturing that "memory."
     The Kornerman, of course, was anxious to help and scanned back issues of the internet Korner, starting with edition one, dated March 6, 2010. No luck.
     The only thing we could suggest was that, perhaps, that mention was actually made prior to the internet Korner and was part of the Korner which had appeared in the BNR those many years ago. Those issues of the BNR Korner always appeared in the Saturday edition, which would eliminate, somewhat, a part of the tedious process, of researching. Also, it is assumed the newspaper, itself, or the Ericson Library would have back issues of the BNR available for scrutiny.
     Unfortunately, the Kornerman was not able to provide specifics but we were able to give some hints toward a possible solution.
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     The Kornerman has lost his bat boy. Noticed in the Register the death of Jon Weston, who served as the bat boy for the 1962 Boone Babe Ruth All Star baseball team I managed. That team defeated Fort Dodge in the district meet, Ottumwa and Des Moines in the state meet, St. Joe, MO and the Kansas state champs in the regional and competed in the Ruth World Series in Bridgeton, NJ.
     Jon, 61, was the son of Punky and Jack Weston, both BHS-48, and spent his early years in Boone prior to moving with his family to the Des Moines metro area. Sadly, as we had reported in a recent Korner,  Jon's mom had just passed away a few weeks earlier.
     Other Boone Connected Deaths: Margaret Niemier, 80, Madrid. MHS-52. Madrid survivors include her son, Kurt Niemier, and a daughter, Susan Burton.........Anne Anderson, 69, Boone. BHS-64. Parents were James and Mary Seiler. Married Steven Anderson in Boone and after his death, she returned to Boone in 1999. Owned a dog grooming business. Boone area survivor is a son, Eric Anderson of Boone.........Frank Mitchels, 74, Boone. Born in Boone and married in Boone. Was a maintenance technician at ISU prior to retirement. Boone area survivors include his wife, Sheryl Elvert Mitchels, sons Larry, Matthew and Brandon and daughter Laura Myers all of Boone, son Bill of Ogden and son Rich of Rippey.
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