North Bend History Camp
by Shirley Johnson
The 9th annual North Bend History Camp was held June 24th, 25th,
26th, during some of Nebraska’s most drastic weather. 20 students
watched thunderstorms roll through Dodge and Saunders Counties out
on 10 acres of native prairie only to later take shelter from the
pouring rain in Cedar Hill’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church of 130
years. The next day the same students braved the high heat with
water bottles as they visited area cemeteries. At each of the
cemetery sites, students pieced together some of the area history.
Some of the more captivating stories found on the stones of the
cemeteries included: family histories, the diphtheria epidemic in
the late 1880’s that killed many children within families, 2 girls
who tried to survive the great blizzard of 1888 by hiding in a
haystack. Students deciphered the Czech and German native languages
used to mark those who immigrated to our area and uncovered some
markers that had grown over with the grasses of time.
Students concluded the camp by creating a power point presentation
using their own personal research as well as that of which they
found on their field trips. Darrel Draper from the Nebraska
Humanities Council will conclude Friday with the story of Peter
Sarpy. Mrs. Cecilia Hall and Mrs. Shirley Johnson hosted the camp.
The North Bend Foundation made this camp possible with grant
funding.
