The Columbus Telegram from Columbus, Nebraska • 1

Mm .1,1. A Columbus Genoa Monroe 5-nrrr7Tn7icr BOX 825 NE STATE 1500 ST LINCOLN NE 68503 Bellwood Silver i Creek I Sonlli Trail Oavid City jJf tf i T' April is 1 9 9 7 iilELIRIRAM Voters approve making Lakeview K-12 system Tonight, cold with a low in the lower 30s. Thursday, increasing cloudiness with a high in the lower 60s. By MICHELLE FLYR Telegram Staff Writer See complete details, 8A Area prep athletes assault record books at two meets required for the merger to pass. Fifty-five percent of voters in districts 24 and 33 voted in favor of the merger, while 65 percent of voters in the other districts voted for the merger.

Lakeview Superintendent Kurt Harrison said there are many things left to work out in the merger. "Many times people are afraid of change," he said. "This change will be a positive one for everyone involved." The County Reorganization Committee will appoint the new school board. Under the proposed merger plan, which has been approved by the reorganization committee, there will be two members from the Lakeview Board of Education with one from west of 48th Avenue and one from east of 48th Avenue and one representative from each of the elementary districts. The County Reorganization Committee will make the final decision on the new board.

A meeting date for that committee has not yet been set. "At this point, our first priority will be to work closely with the district boards to make it as smooth of a transition as possible," said John Wurdeman, president of the Lakeview Board of Education. "I felt the reorganization committee did a good job of presenting the information to the public. With the work done to this point, it should make it easier." District 24 patrons passed the proposal 88-74, and Creston passed it 7-5. Platte County Election Commissioner Diane Olmer said there are still five ballots out in District 24.

District 10 had 161 for and 40 against, while District 9 also approved the merger 38-16. The merger didn't pass in District 84 and Colfax District 505. District 84 patrons voted 63-36 in opposition, and District 505 voted 6-0 against it. See VOTE, Page 8A COLUMBUS Lakeview High School and its affiliated elementary schools will become one district. Voters approved the merger of districts 9, 10, 24 and 84 and Lakeview into a Class III K-12 system by a vote of 95-79 in districts 24 and 33 and a vote of 235-125 in the other districts.

Because Districts 24 (Platte Center) and 33 (Creston) cover an incorporated village, those voters were a separate voting group from the other districts. A majority approval from both groups was Freshman Jennifer Epley tied one school record while winning four events Tuesday as the Columbus High School track An 1 Vi i ILi WWm r- teams swept In the MonroeSilver Creek invitational, area athletes set eight records. See PagelB D. City to dedicate playground The long-awaited new playground equipment will be dedicated Saturday with ceremonies beginning at 6:30 p.m. in City' Park in David City.

See Page 3A i ry Mormons get flavor of Genoa I By TIM ROHWER Telegram Staff Writer -A OX -v '1 A 1 If Kansas teen comes of age in time to fill out council OAK HILL, Kan. (AP) Mark vfr den came of age just in time. His 18th birthday on Jan. 20 allowed hif to become a City Council member in this north-central Kansas town. And a good thing, because the town might have had difficulty filling the fifth seat during its next election.

The town has a population of sbo i 3f cht or nine of those are registered voters. So finding five City Council members, a mayor and a city clerk is not easy. "I've been going to the City Coun-il meetings pretty regularly for the st few years," said Virden, a junior Clay Center Community High hool. "And I thought it would be interesting to get on the council when I was old enough." Most of the City Council members are at least twice Virden's age. Two are in their 80s.

4f tilt i I I I 1 FIELD TRIP Students from Genoa Public Schools, above, eat lunch by the hand carts of the north Mormon Trail Wagon Train at the Genoa camp Tuesday. Hundreds of students from the Genoa area visited the train as a field trip. Bonnie Westring of Genoa, left in photo below, talks of Mormon hand cart travel to Monroe seventh-graders in the Genoa Museum. Hundreds of people toured the museum Tuesday to examine items from the Mormon Trail and the Pawnee Indian history of Genoa. The north wagon train left Genoa and its camping spot at the Phil Swantek farm for Fullerton today and should be at Grand Island for the weekend's round of festivities.

Telegram photos by Steve Wolf GENOA A spring shower in Genoa Tuesday night may have gotten some people wet, but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm for having the Mormon Trail Wagon Train in town. In fact, the place was cookin'. One of the big gathering spots on the Phil Swantek farm, where the train camped overnight, was the table on whifh i-Her Julie Proud wa? cooking up Mormon-style foods. AS PEOPLE were walking around the well-laid-out circle of wagons and horses, they never failed to stop by her table to see what she was making. "I'm cooking apple molasses cake and pheasant with homemade noodles," Proud said when asked by a visitor.

Proud said the early Mormons ate some meat, but mostly potatoes, root vegetables, apples and foods with a lot of wheat. Many times, when food was scarce, her ancestors had to settle for biscuits and milk gravy. Mormons today, like their early pioneers, fast one day a month. "It's usually on the first Sunday of each month. We'll fast for two meals, including drinking water," Proud said.

"The purpose is that the money that wo would have spent on those two meals is donated to poor people." HELPING PEOPLE in need is a Mormon tradition. Because of its worldwide membership, Mormons have been able to reach those people quickly, she said. "We've been able to help people in disasters, even before the Red Cross got there," Proud said. Visitors to the Swantek farm not only got to see the early Mormon way of life, but also the rich heritage found in the U.S. Indian School Museum nearbv.

See GENOA, Page 7A On To Silver Creek Schedule of the main Mormon Trail events (southern train) in Silver Creek: Thursday p.m. Train arrives at the Dave Gem-bica farm. 6 p.m. Stew dinner for the participants, followed by entertainment. Friday a.m.

Breakfast for the participants. 7 a.m. Train departs for Central City. ''II A i i j-r -V 1 5 V-'' ,1 w-'- I Wl I a HUM1 W. I Mormon Coverage Inside Page 2A: Map shows route to Silver Creek; Henry Hudson diary tells story of trip to Genoa; more photographs.

David City gives train warm welcome WELCOME The south Mormon Trail Wagon Train pulled into David City Tuesday, and trailmaster Russ Leger was greeted by David City historian Anna McElravy. McElravy has provided a wealth of information to Leger. By TIM ROHWER Telegram Staff Writer DAVID CITY Tremendous community support meant a warm welcome for the south Mormon Trail Wagon Train travelers Tuesday in David City, an organizer there said. "We had a lot of people that offered to help in some way, and we sold 165 tickets for the community dinner, which is more than we expected," said Joyce Stewprt, chairwoman of the Mormon Trail Event Committee. "There was tremendous community support, and we were very pleased." The train got a warm reception from David City residents even before it got to town.

Members of the chamber of commerce served lunch to the train at noon as it crossed the boundary line between Saunders and Butler counties, Stewart said. Lunch was provided by the Rotary Club and the women's auxiliary of the American Legion. Two fourth-graders, Brian Meister and David Carlson, won poster contests in their respective schools, St. Mary's and David City Public. They rode with the train into town, Stewart said.

See DAVID CITY, Page 7A Renowned chef Julia Child, left, looks on as cheese expert Ihsan Gurdal cuts into an aged rare mont-gomery Cheddar cheese in what the owners believe to be the first cheese-ripening 'cave' in the United States in the Formaggio Kitchen gourmet food store in Cambridge, Tuesday.The cheeses, which come from Europe and around the U.S., are turned, wiped and rotated to help them mature. AP Photo 2 City may seek an extra $50,000 from golf courses By CHUCK VANDENBERG Telegram Staff Writer Classifieds 5-7B Comics 8B Legals 7B National 7B Opinion 4A Our Hometowns 3A Sports 1-4B for city debt retirement. After the loans were paid off, city officials began pushing to get some revenues from the courses back into the city's operating funds. That push resulted in the committee's recommendation. Beginning in October, 5 percent of the gross revenues of Quail Run Golf Course and Van Berg Golf Course would go to city funds and an additional 5 percent would go into an emergency fund.

That fund would be set up to help recover costs associated with an emergency such as a flood. The city's fiscal year runs from October through September. After two years, the city would get 10 percent of the golf course revenues. There was no time length placed on the recommendation, which still requires approval by the full City Council. That approval could come as early as Monday.

Councilman Chuck Whitney said the funds earmarked for emergency relief would remain in that fund after the two years. The fund would provide about $50,000 for emergency relief "I think it's a good compromise," Whitney said this morning. "There are people out there that don't use the golf course and say we spent all this money out there but aren't getting a return. And then there are (the golfers) who say they're paying all these fees and want to see (their money at work)." He also said it's important for people to realize that 90 cents of every dollar spent at the golf courses is still going back into the golf course. According to figures from last year, the golf courses' combined revenues were $481,102.

If the city would have been getting 10 percent of the gross revenues at that time, it would have meant an additional $48,110 in city funds. The Columbus Municipal Golf Board recommended the city get 5 percent for the first two years and 10 percent after that. See GOLF, Page 8A Milton Dirks Columbus See complete obituaries. 6A COLUMBUS The city of Columbus is close to solidifying an extra $50,000 a year in revenues, compliments of the city golf courses. At Tuesday's Finance, Judiciary and Personnel Committee meeting, the committee approved, by a 3-1 vote, a recommendation to give the added revenues to the city.

Councilman Joe Held voted against the recommendation. The city made the final debt payment in March on the money borrowed to construct Quail Run Golf Course. The money came from sales tax money earmarked Bookmobile 8:15 a.m., St. Francis Violence seminar 7 p.m., 2908 15th St. See complete calendar, 5A The Columbus Publishing Co.

Vol. 118. No. 103.