Chapter 6
Omaha, Nebraska
In 1959, making the decision to stay in Early or move to Omaha was a tough one. Sorting out the right thing to do was a very big task for us. My personal reasons of wanting to coach the future Crestland teams vs. the financial needs of our growing family. My salary and summer work was not meeting the household bills for our growing family making the task of sorting head from heart a very difficult one, at best.
The 10th grade consisted of very fine athletes with great promise. I had worked with most of these young men from grade school to the present. I knew them and their abilities better than I had known any team in the past. I had been looking forward to coaching them.
Louise was active in many of the community organizations and was well respected in the community. She was active in the Methodist church teaching Sunday school, serving in the Women's club both as President and Vice-President. We both enjoyed the Methodist Church "Come Double" group. Louise was always preparing a poem, a skit or a dish for some up coming function.
Jean had just finished her Freshman year in high school and had earned a place on the girl's varsity basketball team. She had also been named drum majorette for the marching band for the next year. Dann and Kym were both in grade school, and would be able to make the adjustment of a moved, the best.
The decision to move to Omaha was difficult for both of us. With Tom Brock urging us to move, an increase in my salary and the possibility that Louise could teach again, all playing a part in our final decision to move. We loved the Early community so much, it was with heavy hearts that we decided to said "good-bye" to our best and dearest friends. It was not easy for us to do.
The final deciding factor to move to Omaha was largely because Louise could and was willing to return to teaching. Our finances were important to our family and we were finally able to purchase our first home. New jobs, home, church, friends and schools. for every one of us, would fill our move with new experiences. We reluctantly decided to make the move and the Kurth family was off on a new adventure.
The President of the college, Dr. Milo Bail told us he wanted us to stay and encouraged us to purchase a home. With Tom Brock and Dean Pflaster outlining the city, we took several trips to Omaha to locate the place that we would want to live for a long time. Our home need to fit our needs and be something we could afford. We knew we would be bringing some expenses with us like the car that was only half paid for and left over bills at the grocery store and the bank in Early. Still we wanted to be homeowners and felt this was our best chance.
When we found the Hargle Roads addition to Keystone, we liked what the builder had done with space. We met Mrs. Bumgardner, who helped us choose a floor plan that would be best suited to our family. She then advised us on the lot to build our choice. Louise really enjoyed picking out the paint colors for all the rooms and choosing the floors for the bathrooms and kitchen.
In order to begin the home ownership process, we needed some fast cash. We took Jean's savings account of $500.00, with the intentions to pay her back, and made the deposit on the house of our dreams. Later, we asked Chick for a loan in order to make the move. That year Toots, Chick's first wife, took ill and died. Chick was single for a number of years before he married Iola, Olie to her friends and family.
We had just purchased our first home and we planned to stay, like Dr. Bail had asked. It was scary for us, but we knew we had very good friends to help us through our transition...Brock's, Pflaster's, Dr. Bail and we found we had many more.
Our family was torn about leaving Early and to make the move a little more difficult, our house in Omaha would not be ready for us to move into before we needed to be out of our apartment in Early. Dr. Gauger had a cabin in Okoboji and generously offered us a place to be for the week between homes. We packed our things in boxes and moved our belongings to Omaha locking them in the garage of our new home. Then after painful goodbyes to our very dear Early friends, we were off to the lake where we spent a little over a week at the Gauger cabin.
We finally were able to eagerly awaited the trip to Omaha. All had gone well, so far. The cabin had running water, but it was from the lake and we could not use it to drink or wash food. We had to walk to the pump in the center of the campgrounds and bring back a pail of water for our drinking water. The cabin had a modern toilet in an outhouse that had been pulled up to the back door. We had to bring our own food, linens and towels for the week. We were on vacation.
After the week at the lake, we packed up again and were off to Omaha and our new home. The kids had insisted on bringing Cinderfellow, a black cat, and the family pet. Cinder had a stump tail that had been amputated because a farmer shot at him with a BB gun when he got tired of Cinder visiting his females. Well, Cinder was not pleased about this trip. He vocalized his displeasure with a "Yowl" for every telephone pole that went by. I thought I would lose my mind before we got to Omaha, the kids wouldn't let me lose the cat. When we finally arrived in Omaha, we stopped at Tom Brock's house, first. The kids jumped out of the car forgetting to roll up the windows. Cinder took advantage of the opportunity and jumped to freedom. He refused to be caught, after all that pain. For years, Dann and Kym would see him in the area near their school, but could never catch him. He was done with us.
Just because we were in Omaha didn't mean we could move into our new house, it was not ready, yet. Jean had a friend from Early, Pam Manke, who had moved to Omaha a few months earlier. She was able to stay with her for a week. That made it much easier for Louise and I to find a room to rent for three days with the two little ones. We spent our days entertaining ourselves by riding around the city and getting aquainted with the city. It paid off later when we needed to get somewhere. Driving in the city was a lot different than the driving we had been use to.
When we were finally able to move into our new house, it was the day before Louise had to attend orientation for her new job with Omaha Pubic Schools. The kids and I spent the days unpacking boxes, and the evenings showing Louise what we had done. For months Louise was asking "What did you do with..."
The following week I reported to work and the next week the kids went to school. We had one car and four schools, so transportation started early. Kym had half day school and arrangement had to be made for her safety for the other half of the day. She and Dann attended Adams Elementary School and on nice days they could walk home. Jean took the bus home from Benson High school and Louise found a colleague who worked at Central Park School with her and also lived in our area. She was able to ride with Millie and Keith to and from work. I was able to take the kids to school, but their getting rides home was helpful because afternoon was the time of day when my Intramurals program really got started.
It proved to be a tough year for Jean as a new Sophomore in a high school of 2,000 students. Nebraska girl's basketball left a lot to be desired, but she was able to join the Benson High marching band as a baton twirler.
My first year as Intramural Director taught me a lot. I was fortunate enough to get the pledge of the five fraternities to supported every sport that I introduced with at least one team. The first year we had leagues of Flag Football in the fall, Basketball during the winter and Baseball in the spring. Later we added Archery, Badminton, Bowling, Curling, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Track, Volleyball, and Wrestling.
As Intramural Director at Omaha University and with the help of many University staff members, I was able to offer a good program for the students. Through the course of my employment I was able to introduce several unusual sports. Of course there was Curling, which I will address later. Another sport I picked up while I was attending an Intramural Convention at the Navel Academy, was Knee Tackle football. It turned out to be a big success at O.U.. The game was a game played on wrestling mats and the teams of six players each, played football on their knees. The rules were a lot like regular tackle football. The students seemed to really enjoy this sport, even though it got a little rough at times. I would referee the games and was often surprised at how quick those young men could be on their knees. A few years after I retired, I ran into a former student that had just graduated. He said, I might as well graduate, there isn't any more knee tackle football.
Each of the Fraternities sponsored one team in the "A" League and sometimes they had several in the "B" League. There were at least five or six independent student teams in both league, as well. I discovered there were many students that enjoyed the game but were just not quite good enough to play the guys that put their hearts into it, so I created the "B" League. It turned out to be just as popular with the students as the "A" League was. The independent student teams made no secret of the fact that they really enjoyed beating the fraternity teams.
Basketball was the largest of these leagues. We had four basketball courts in the field house and had several sets of games a night. The leagues could play several rounds each semester and still have time for a tournament at the end of the season.
I scheduled a holiday tournament where I would open the field house during the winter break for "throw together" teams to have a tournament. It was very popular and we would sometimes have as many 48 teams in this event. It would start at 9:00 am and finish at 10:00 pm with games on all four courts, solid. We used the field house to its capacity. Since I also taught a Sports Officiating class. This turned out to be a wonderful way to have officials at all the intramural games. They worked very well together.
At that time, Omaha University was one of only a few, in the United States, that offered a Bootstrapper program to the military. It was an opportunity for the men, close to getting a degree, to take time off of regular duty and finish getting their college degree. They were allowed one or two semester, depending on their situation, to go to school. They kept their rank, position and pay while they obtained their degree. My officiating class was as perfect for them as it was for me. They were older and more dependable than student officials, and they were having fun doing it.
Another sport I introduced was Curling. We held the class at Ak-Sar-Ben at the Curing Club in the afternoons with eight - four man teams, when the club was not using it. The students really liked the sport and many went on to locations in the country where they could continue the game. Curling is a whole chapter by itself, in our family. Milo Bail had asked me to put Curling into my Intramural program. I asked him, "What's a curl?" vvvvvb I found out.
My job at the University allowed Louise and me many trips to Intramural Conferences. We were lucky enough to travel to colleges and Universities in Bowling Green, Ohio, Tampa Bay, Florida, Chicago, Minnesota, the Navel Academy, the Air Force Academy, U.C.L.A., Texas, South Florida University, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and more.
Louise won a trip to the Bahamas through a UNO Alumni drawing and we took that trip as our 35th Wedding Anniversary Celebration. After Louise retired in 1989 at 69 years young, we went on a cruse to Alaska with the great Nebraska football coach, Tom Osborn. We also took a trip to the Kentucky Derby, a trip Louise had wanted to make for years. I have great memories of these trips.
In 1972, Harold and Nora were living in California. They called us and said they were going to be moving back to South Dakota soon, so if we wanted to visit them in California, we had better do it soon. We decided to go to see the 1973 Rose Bowl parade.
At that time, Kym had just graduated from high school, Dann was back from Viet Nam and was living in Dallas, TX. Jean's divorce was final and we saw this as possibly the last family vacation we would be able to have. We packed up the girls and drove to Dallas to pick up Dann. We stayed the night in Dallas, got up the next morning and drove west. Five adults in a car, with no stops except for gas. One heck of a test on a family, for sure.
We arrived with a day to spend in California, before the new year festivities. The kids went sight seeing and got lost, but they called and Harold helped them find their way back. Louise and I spent the day relaxing with Harold and Nora, our gracious host's.
That night, New Years Eve, Nora insisted we go to bed early. With a little objection from the kids, we did anyway. At four a.m., Nora woke everyone up for scrambled eggs, pork chops and hash browns. She and Harold poured us into Harold's car and off we went to the Rose Bowl parade. Harold had purchased a parking place that we had to have the car parked in by a certain time, so we parked and tried to catch a nap in the car. As the sun came up, Harold pulled out and served a morning snack that Nora had packed for us to have before we searched out our bleacher seats at the beginning of the parade. The day was outstanding, a typical California day. The sun was shining, it was warm and the parade was beautiful. We had so much fun.
They also were able to see Harold and me on the other side, so Louise sent Kym, camera in hand, to take a picture of us in the stands. When the picture was developed, it was of Woody Hayes. Kym, only knew her father to be on the field, so she assumed her father was coaching and got a nice picture of Woody Hayes, instead. We're still not sure how she got on the field.
After watching a great game with USC beating Ohio State 42 to 17, we headed back to the car and to Harold and Nora's house. We said our Thank yous and good-bye's and packed our kids back into our car and hit the road. We knew we had to drive non-stop home, as everyone had jobs.
As we drove through the states of California and Arizona, all was well. When we reached New Mexico and Texas, we ran into a big snowstorm that covered both states. It became a very stressful time as those states didn't have snow removal equipment to clear the interstate and the local drivers were not use to negotiating the snow. By the time we reached Dallas, it had turned to rain. I was hoping to be through the snowstorm, since we would be short a driver now. No such luck, We dropped off Dann in Dallas, jumped back in the car and headed north. I found driving through Oklahoma a challenge, but it was nothing like what Kansas turned out to be. I held my breath and prayed the road was under the car somewhere as we continued to travel north. Slowly we made our way through the snow to York, Nebraska, only to find the last stretch of interstate home, was closed. We hustled to the Ramada Inn that was located by the interstate and was able to secure the only room left. We washed up, went to dinner and crashed. Both girls needed to be at work the next day so the next day, phone calls were made with explanations. Just as soon as we could, we drove into Omaha. What a memorable "together" experience that vacation turned out to be.
At the time we moved to Omaha, our family was old enough to be interested in camping. We spent many of our summer vacations camping through Colorado, Yellowstone Park, Canada and several other locations making wonderful memories.
Chick took advantage of our move to Omaha, as well. He enjoyed the College World Series, and would visit during that time. He also loved to hunt and fish and found a beautiful place in Canada called Flin Flong and a great guide, Steve Person, who became his good friend, as well. Chick would go as often as he could and tried to make it every year. One of my best trips was the time I was able to go with him, after retiring. Chick enjoyed taking someone with him. He was a generous person as often paid the for the whole trip.
I remember the last family vacation that Chick and I took with our spouses Louise and Olie. We had been in Denver visiting Aunt Edna, Helen and Everett and were going home. We decided to stop in Custer Park, SD to visit Harold and Nora for a few days in their new home after they left California. We had a great time on that trip.
One of the days we spent with Harold and Nora, we went to visit one of the many sights in the Custer Park area and I remember that on the way home, Nora was driving and Louise and I were in the front seat. Herald and Chick were in the back seat with Olie in the middle. Someone brought up their fight behind the store when we were kids. Once again we heard how each of them had pummeled the other. We in the front seat were concerned for the safety of Olie, sitting between them.
Things had not cooled much between the guys by the time we arrived back at the house. Since the rivalry was continuing, I pulled out a pin that I bought during that outing. It was a rhinestone pin that spelled out "Bullshit." I asked everyone to vote for the person most deserving of this pin. Everyone agreed that would be a great idea. We all took paper and pen in hand casting our secret ballots. I was surprised to find the vote was unanimous, but really shocked to find that I won!
When we first moved to Omaha, we found there were many interesting things to do right here in the city. At that time, my best friend, Tom Brock, who helped me make the move to Omaha, was the head of AK-SAR-BEN. Among other things, it was a well-known racetrack for horses.
Louise loved horses, she just loved to watch them run. It wasn't long before we were visiting the racetrack and my friend Tom during the summer racing season. As our family grew in age and size, we found that our kids would meet us at the Club House for Sunday lunch. Otherwise, it might be weeks before we would see them. Louise and I enjoyed the Club House as well and decided to make it a habit during the racing season. As for our 50th Wedding Anniversary, we held it in the Club House, of course.
Curling became a big part of the Kurth family lifestyle. A group of misplaced curlers were moved to Omaha from Duluth, MN with the Western Electric cable plant around 1957. Many of these transplants were homesick for the sport of Curling. Maxwell, the President of Western Electric, approached my friend Tom Brock at the AK-SAR-BEN Complex and Dr. Bail at the University Of Omaha, selling the sport to them both. He talked AK-SAR-BEN into letting the Curlers use Hockey ice, after the Knights hockey team was through practicing. The next year he talked them into two separate sheets of "curing ice." The misplaced Minnesota curlers started the AK-SAR-BEN Curling Club in 1958.
One of the biggest assets of the game is the sportsmanship that players learn. It didn't take long to like the sport but it took a number of years to figure out the bigger picture of the game and what was really happening on the ice. The teamwork needed to win is unique to the game. It gives every player a responsibility for every play and levels the playing field for everyone who plays.
Having sold the sport to the University of Omaha, Dr Bail said we would have a program. I offered Curling to the students through our Intramural program and we started a student league. With the help of the club members, the students and Dann and I all learned to curl. . It's a gentleman's game, a team sport played on a sheet of ice using a combination of other games such as shuffle board, bowling, tennis and uses a type of pool strategy. I enjoyed the game so much, I joined the club and played four nights a week entering weekend Bonspiel's as often as I could. We would sometimes travel to other clubs for their Invitational Bonspiel's.
Since Dann and I enjoyed the game, we eventually introduced the girls to it. We spent many quality hours with family and friends curling. We would invite out of town clubs to Omaha an dour club for a weekend of curling and be invited to their clubs for a bonspiel, known as Invitational Bonspiels. We then would find four players that were willing to travel to play and enter the Bonspiel. Our club held one Invitational Bonspiel every year, but we had several "members only" Bonspiels during our curling season.
The closest club to Omaha was Mankato, MN, so when we would travel we would have to travel quite a distance. Then we would play hard and fall back into the car for the long ride home in time for work the next week. But, really, it was such good fun.
The family all took to the game, bitten by the Curling Bug and learned to appreciate the Scottish sense of humor that all Golfers do. Dann was an excellent player and the proudest trophy I have, is the first place we won, playing on the same team.
Jean, Kym and Louise were active in the Women's league and we all played in the Mixed Leagues. Jean competed in the Women's Nationals many times and was instrumental in developing the Junior Girls National Competition. One year Jean, Kym and Louise played together in a National Women's Bonspiel and won the Fourth event.
I helped the Senior National Bonspiel get off the ground. I played in the first one and for that reason, any team I put together for the Men's Sr. Nationals was grandfathered in. I have many fun story to share about my 40 years of Curling.
My first out of town Bonspiel was to Mankato, MN with Dann. Dann was a good little curler and I was in hopes that we could have him Skip this weekend. One of our senior team members, Frank Greheck, our senior in age as well as in experience, was very uncomfortable with that idea. He let Dann Skip the first game and then decided he had better take over. Frank smoked a cigar as part of his strategy. He never flicked the ash, so the opponent team was always worried where the ash would fall, distracting them from the game. It was surprisingly successful.
Another fun out-of-town Bonspiel was the "Little House on the Prairie" again in Mankato, MN. Our team was Mike Dungan, Don Wermers and Don Buscher. It was during this Bonspiel that we learned Mike Dungan was the "World's Greatest Curler!" He announced that he had not missed a shot, though the rest of us had curled poorly. The weekend was full new friends, good fun and great curling - mixed in was a little partying. I believe it was this trip that Rusty Rau rode in my car and on the way home, Rusty drove most of the way. Our car had developed a leak under the dash and Rusty's pants leg was stained by it. When we got home, Louise asked Rusty "Didn't Bert tell you about the leak?" He said, Yeah, after we got home. He has never let me live this one down.
Another of my favorite out-of-town Bonspiel's was a men's invitational in Nashua, IA. I went with Bill and Jean Anslie, Tom Bennett and Dale Sornsen. Bill was in the Canadian Air Force stationed at Offut for a three-year tour. They were avid curlers and were use to using the "Canadian" arm gestures to indicate the stone rotations or turns. We, in Omaha, had learned the "Minnesota" arm signals, which were exactly the opposite of the "Canadian" signals. This would often cause us to stand up at the hack before delivering our stone and ask "Canadian?"
This is known as the weekend that the "Mexican Turn" was invented. I was in the hack ready to shoot my stone. Bill made the call. I suddenly was not sure if he was using the Canadian signals or the Minnesota signals. Not to let on to our opponents that we were starting out "confused," I delivered my stone to the other end. When the stone came to rest, Bill called down the ice to me "Hey Bert, what was that? A Mexican turn?" Wouldn't you know that term stuck with me.
This was the same weekend that the "Bull-shit" pin emerged. Having won it on the family summer trip, I kept it waiting for that perfect time and place to award it to more deserving person than me. Just before leaving Nashua, we were visiting with a team from Minnesota, I decided to ask them who, in our group, deserved this beautiful rhinestone pin. With all four of our men's team members staring them down, Katskady, from Mankato suggested our cheerleader, Jean, should get it. I gladly awarded it to her. She kept it for a year and found a clever way to award it back to me. Jean will be happy to know I still have it.
Another time I went to Manko with Dale Sornsen and Don Buscher. We had a fourth person who at the last minute, was unable to attend, so we picked up a fourth player from Mankato, who was a brand new curler. It was our luck that a wedding reception happening next door to the curling rink. One of our team members found his way to the free liquid refreshments being served. His curling showed every drop. We were lucky to be playing a team of beginners and were able to stay even through out the game.
On the very last end and the very last stone, our skip made his first shot and we won the game by three. I told him that was the best shot I had ever seen him make, but I was never going to play on his team again. I didn't..
The National Curling association sponsors competitions that all the curling clubs in America compete to play in. During my time, they started the Senior's Men's Bonspiel. Several friends over 55 joined me to make a senior team. We curled the first year in 1976. I attended every year after for 25 years until I had surgery in 2001.