Out of the Past - August 2, 1980
The streets of Westerville are not paved; the atmosphere is quiet. On a given afternoon to drive through this town of not more than 40 people, the streets would be bare.
There are a few businesses here. Lowder Grocery is combined with the post office and the gas station on the main street through town; this along with a Lane Tractor Repair and Cherry Lumber are the only businesses.
Despite the small-town atmosphere in Westerville, there is a large celebration happening this weekend; the people of this small town will be celebrating its 100th birthday.
“Everyone is very excited,” said Linda Lowder of Lowder’s Grocery, “we have been anticipating this for a long time.”
“This has been the foremost thought in everyone’s mind, it is all people have been interested in around here,” Lowder said.
The Celebration begins with the Westerville Rural High School reunion at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. This will include a picnic supper and a program beginning at 7 p.m.
At 8:30 Saturday night there will be a modern square dance in front of Lowder’s Grocery store.
Then to begin Sunday’s festivities there will be an outdoor church service at 9:30 a.m. Dr. Robert Manley will be the main speaker. After the service dinner will be served on the church grounds.
Another big event of the weekend will be the reveiling of the historical marker. The historical marker is located on the main street in front of the Methodist Church, it was given to the town of Westerville to designate that it is the oldest town in Custer County. It was funded through the Westerville centennial committee and the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Also on the agenda for the festivities is a tour of Westerville beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
A kiddies parade will be held at 4 p.m. and horse pitching and games will highlight the day. Westerville is named to honor James Westervelt and his family, who located in the early fall of 1880. He opened a store and laid out the townsite of Westerville.
Fourth annual yacht race scheduled on South Loup
The fourth annual Callaway yacht race is scheduled for today, August 2 along with a day-long celebration.
The yacht race will begin at 1:30 p.m. on the South Loup River. The course will cover one and one-half miles of the river from the Benahr Witthuhn farm northwest of Callaway to the bridge near Karl Reinhard’s picnic area just north of Callaway.
The Callaway Lion’s Club is in charge of the race. Prizes for the fastest elapsed time in adult and junior divisions will be presented by the Lion’s Club at the finish line.