Each morning on my way to work, I pass by Jo Speer’s immaculate flower gardens. Immediately I am filled with joy. Jo’s flowers are just one of the familiar sights that make Lakin home and make me proud to live in this community.
When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to get out of Lakin. It’s funny how age changes one’s perspective. Now I realize how fortunate I was to grow up where we knew everyone on a first-name basis, a town where the entire community rejoiced over someone’s good fortune and grieved over someone’s loss. A teacher once told me that familiarity breeds disinterest. I beg to differ. It brings comfort.
There are many faces etched permanently in my memories, like the high school English teacher who took a young girl under his wing because he knew how much she loved to write. (Thank you, Uncle Walt.) I still envision John Henderson in the stands cheering on his beloved Broncs. I smile when I think of Juan Perez making funny faces during church to entertain a restless child in the pew ahead of him. I can even still smell the somewhat sweet scent of Al Guyer’s cigar and what I would give for one of the giant cinnamon rolls served up by those smiling ladies in the grade school kitchen! I’m grateful for Paul McVey’s graciousness in allowing neighborhood kids to use his basketball goal and for his patience with young, inquisitive tykes who just wanted to visit with him.
As a kid, I would run to the tracks in hopes to find a sugar beet that had been left behind. Then there were the times I ran for my life when the fire whistle went off because Hap Claar was behind the wheel of that fire engine barreling down Waterman Avenue! On Halloween there were outhouses placed on Main by some of the town’s orneriest fellas, and then there was John Plummer who asked for tricks before he gave out treats. There were seemingly endless rodeo parades led by Otis Jennings and thrilling performances under Friday night lights of the LHS marching band directed by Chris Coots. I still hear Fred Bohl fiddling out “Red Wing” and Velma Cox calling me, “kid.” I treasure memories of Saturday mornings spent visiting Maybelle Gropp and Sulie Mace. There are faces remembered simply because they showed kindness like Thelma Leonard, Esther Carter, Benny Hilger, and others too numerous to mention.
I feel privileged to keep the memories alive of the people who made my childhood great. Just like Jo Speer’s flowers, those colorful personalities touched my heart and made Lakin “home.”
(This editorial appeared in the most recent issue of the Kearny County Historical Society’s newsletter and was written by Julie McCombs, Museum Director. Many thanks to Jo Speer and her daughter-in-law Robin for taking time out from gardening to visit and pose for pictures.)