Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Who Did and Who Didn't?

     A little confusion here over the famed hymn, "Precious Lord, Take My Hand."
     Good friends Lou McVicker Oxenford and Roger Oxenford, both BHS-45, related the beautiful background story that led to the writing of that song. In doing so, they indicated that the famed 30's, 40's, 50's trombonist and band leader, Tommy Dorsey, was the author of that hymn and also "Peace in the Valley."
     Carol Cunningham replied with this, "I questioned Snopes on this. They were written by Thomas A. Dorsey, an African American born in 1899. Tommy Dorsey, the bandleader, was born in 1905. Snopes said there's been much confusion over this. Still, its a beautiful and inspirational song."
     This conversation led to further researching by your editor. Yes, according to Google, it was Thomas A. Dorsey who wrote the two songs. "Peace in the Valley" was written in 1937, especially for the great Mahalia Jackson.
     "Precious Lord" was written by T.A. Dorsey in a time of grief, the birth of a son but the death of his wife. Lost in grief, it was said that he sat down at the piano and "something happened." "The Lord gave me the words and melody and healed my spirit."
     Its an interesting story that you can read in detail via Google and Thomas A. Dorsey.
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    The Kornerman has reported on this before.........and happy to do so. Has another year passed already?
     Same event. Same result and continued success for Pete Kostelnick, BHS-2005, the son of Boone's Charles and Clare Kostelnick.
     This guy, Pete, is not satisfied with simply tackling the traditional cross country or regular track and field events. No, he favors fighting the famed Badwater 135 event, termed, "the world's toughest foot race."
     I can't imagine but here's the format. Its a 135 mile run from extreme heat and a low elevation of 85m below sea level at Death Valley at the start to just the opposite enroute to the finish at Mt. Whitney, CA. The latter part of the journey covers three mountain ranges with 4450m of cumulative vertical ascent to 1859m of cumulative descent. These extremes tell why they call this event the "most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on this planet."
     Pete, 28, who resides in Lincoln, NE., was one of 97 starters and was the victor, regardless of age, in 21:56.32. He has been a winner of the event previously and, in fact, held the course record of 23:27.10 for age group, 20-29. Of all the age groups, and there are seven in total, only one runner had earned a better course record time than Pete. A 43 year old Brazilian ran 22:51.29 in his age group.
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     Our recent mention of the "ole fishin' hole" garnered some memories from John Kueck, BHS-61. John wrote, "to me, it was always "Bullhead Pond."" My dad took me fishing at a young age to the Des Moines River where I never caught anything. He also took me to the "kids fishing day" at the Bullhead Pond."
     He went on, "I'm sure there were hundreds of kids there since the pond's banks were packed with kids and their dads. You had to use a cane pole. That was a safety measure to avoid hooking kids with errant casts. I believe there was also a restriction on the hook size and type. Even so, there were always a few individuals that got hooked, since everyone was so close together."
     "The contests were lots of fun, but it was a "line in" and "line out" when each event was started and ended. Therefore, the actual fishing time was short and often, I didn't catch many fish. Whatever I caught, I had to bring home, no matter how small. The limited fishing time did have the advantage of leaving fish for another day. Also, I'm sure many did not take their fish home as I did. I wonder if they restocked the pond as the summer progressed since there always seemed to be fish to be caught."
     "For a couple weeks each summer the pond was a daily attraction once I was old enough to ride my bike to the pond. My buddies and I would take our poles (the rod and reel type) and go fish. Most days we were successful in catching several fish. I would bring them home for my mom to cook. I became quite proficient at skinning and gutting the bullheads (not an easy task) and holding them safely so their spines would  not sting me. The enclosed pictures prove this was no fish story."
     Yup! There they are. John did send some photos of his "catches."
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     Boone Connected Deaths: Alice Henderson, 86, Boone. Formerly of Waukee. Moved to the Eastern Star Home in Boone in 2012. Boone area survivors include her daughters, Linda Latimer and Candy Henderson of Boone..........OraLee Eltha Grabau, 105, Marion IA. Born in Boone County. Parents were Anna May Olson and Morris Kite Noland. Woodward HS-29. Was a teacher for 42 years in rural Iowa and Linn Mar, Marion elementary.........Cynthia Burgar, 70, Boone. Moved with her husband, David, to central Iowa in 1995. Was an operator for AT&T and a housewife. Volunteered at the tourist information caboose on South Story Street...........Fred Kokemiller, 78, Madrid/Eastern Star...........Evelyn Rosella Deal, 98, Ames. Formerly of Boone. At age 2, her father passed away and her mother moved she and Evelyn to Boone. At age 7, they moved on to Ames.
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     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 710 Aldrich, Boone, Iowa 50036-4703. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments/support.......
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.
     
    
    

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