Mason City Moving forward
Est. 1886, current population 148
On July 15, 1881, Baptists in the Mason City area met in a small sod house about three-quarters of a mile north of town and organized the Oak Springs Baptist Church. About 1884, a sod church was built northwest of Mason City and dedicated May 20, 1888. That church was destroyed by a tornado on July 2, 1892. It was rebuilt and dedicated Sept. 3, 1893. The current Baptist Church in Mason City was constructed in 1970 and, despite a declining community population, the First Baptist Church of Mason City is building a sizable addition for growth and expansion of the congregation and outreach in the area.
Ground was broken for the building project on Sept 11, 2022. Church members have raised all the funds used so far and, with the exception of the concrete foundation, all work has been done by volunteers. According to Marshall Kohls, managing the project in this manner has achieved two important goals: it keeps the cost significantly lower and it has given the members a sense of ownership and unity by working together to accomplish a very large goal.
The majority of the addition will be a new sanctuary for more seating for the 80 to 100 individuals who worship there each Sunday. The addition will add restrooms, a nursery and office space. Parts of the “old church” will be converted into Sunday school classrooms for the 20-plus K-12 students in the church family. “It’s sometimes hard to believe that the little town of Mason City can have such a booming church and youth program. All the credit goes to God” Kohls said.
Marshall Kohls lives in nearby Litchfield with his wife and two young children. He leads the IMPACT (Influencing My Peers As a Christian Teen) youth group for young people from Mason City, Ansley, Litchfield, Loup City and Sargent. The group meets on Sunday evenings for a meal, lessons and activities. IMPACT has prepared and served meals at the Crossroads Mission and traveled to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky.
Marshall also works as a full time missionary at the Homeward Trail Bible Camp where the mission is to proclaim Christ. This is done primarily through eight weeks of summer camp for children K-12th grade. Kohls said, “We provide a safe and fun place with a lot of activities and games to get kids excited while still keeping the focus on sharing the Gospel with each camper.” The camp offers two youth fall retreats in October and a mens and ladies retreat in September.
The camp grounds can be rented for events at a relatively low cost. A newly developed paintball course and new paintball equipment can also be rented. Facilities have been recently updated and work is underway for a new girls dorm. More information can be found at homewardtrail.com.
The First Baptist Church also hosts a group of sewing ladies who create gifts of love in the form of quilts, children’s clothing and projects for the less fortunate. The ladies meet every two weeks for two days and have their art down to a science, from cutting apart used jeans to managing the cloth rolls and backing fabrics. According to coordinator Barb Sheperdson, they have created quilts for service members, sent denim quilts to reservations in South Dakota and made dresses and shorts for underprivileged children through international church mission programs.
Even though numbers are declining in people of faith across the country, the community of Mason City is turning those figures around and building a community of believers that welcomes friends and neighbors of all ages to come and experience the amazing power of the Lord, right here in central Nebraska.
The community of Merna is home to some of the richest ag land and forward-thinking ag producers in Custer County.
Picture the scene as early settlers came over the tablelands and viewed these beautiful valleys. It was a vast cattle range that had been christened, “Muddy Flats,” by cowboys, hoping it would keep the homesteaders away. Actually, there was not a foot of marshland in it. The soil was and still is a black or sandy loam with deep, rich subsoil. This soil became the foundation for the prosperous grain and cattle industries to come.
The Merna Valley is six to eight miles wide and extends a distance of 25 miles in length.
The first men came to the area to select their homesteads in 1878. Their temporary headquarters were in a dugout on the flats north of the present town. S. N. Dunning arrived in the fall of 1879. He filed on a half section. He was commissioned as postmaster on March 2, 1880. The first name proposed by Dunning was “Woodstock” after his home in Illinois but the name was refused by the post office department. The name of his youngest daughter, Merna, then seven-years-old, was accepted. In 1880 ,Will G. Brotherton pre-empted a quarter section where the town now stands. Once the rail line was completed in 1886, lots in the town sold rapidly.
The thriving ag community of Merna does not have many businesses on its main street; the community center and the Brenizer Library are key buildings along Center Avenue.
The library was built in 1916 - 1917 by C.H. Empfield and Bert Elder, thanks to $6,500 donation from homesteader Dr. James G. Brenizer. The building is designed in the Prairie School and Classical Revival styles by architect Claude W. Way. The building has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2007.
A business that has several zip code shoppers coming to the Merna area is The Secret Garden. It’s said, “Build it and they will come,” and that’s what has happened for owner Kelli Safranek. Even though the business is just under three miles west off of Hwy 92, it definitely keeps shoppers coming back.
If you travel north/south along Hwy 2 or east/west on Hwy 92, it’s hard to miss the windmill display at Downey Well.
Close to 30 units are currently set up with more planned. Dave Downey started the collection when ranchers began running water lines and did not need the windmills any more. There are hundreds of styles of windmills and the 30 on display are all
different. “People driving by every day stop to take pictures,” Annette Downey noted.
Seeing posts on social media and reading comments makes all the work the Downeys have gone through to set up the windmills worth while. Adding to the site, the Downeys established an RV park in 2020. Seventeen full hookups with 30 and 50 amp adds an attraction to the community and it is known to sell out at times, especially during Junk Jaunt in September and summer softball tournaments in Broken Bow.
Keeping Merna moving forward is the Anselmo-Merna school district. “The school is our community; the students are our future,” School board president Michelle Miller stated. The Anselmo-Merna school district was formed in 1963. With the joining of the two districts of Anselmo and Merna, the Anselmo-Merna High School was built in 1968. In 1990, a bond was passed to add on to the north end of the high school. In the fall of 1996, an activities building was built between the high school and elementary school. A new elementary school opened in
2002, joining the high school building with the activities building to form one large connected campus that has become one of the finest school districts in the state.
“We have an amazing facility with great staff, high achieving students and a wealth of community support,” Miller added.
The AM Foundation was formed in 2014 and promotes enhanced opportunities for all students through academics, arts and athletics. “The A-M Foundation awards $40,000-plus in scholarships and grants to A-M students, present and past, each year,” Miller said. “That’s unique for a school our size.”
Epdated scoreboards in the gym and football field, bleacher upgrades and a new crow’s nest at the football field are some of the investments made in the Coyote athletics. Strong FFA, Skills USA and athletic programs provide real life experiences and learning opportunities for students. “We want to encourage our youth to consider returning ‘home’ to work and raise their families,” Miller went on to say.
Merna comes together every summer to celebrate Heritage Days the first weekend of July. If you are from Merna or if you want a town celebration that your family can enjoy, check out all the activities focused on the children during Heritage Days.
Merna is a community keeping up with the times and will be making its mark for many years to come.