Each week we’ll take a step back into the history of Great Bend through the eyes of reporters past. We’ll reacquaint you with what went into creating the Great Bend of today, and do our best to update you on what “the rest of the story” turned out to be.
Readers of a certain age will remember how Memorial Day weekend 40 years ago, they were swept into the saga of a galaxy far, far away. Standing for hours in line to get into a theater where they experienced state of the art sound and special effects that made them feel like they were actually present with characters Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo, in the Millennium Falcon, fighting Darth Vader, whizzing through Death Star canyons in an attempt to place explosives in just the right place to ensure its destruction and to save the Rebel forces for another day. The excitement of that movie would live on for days, months, weeks as action figures were collected and the most memorable scenes were replayed over and over on living room floors and in sandboxes in every city. May 25, the original “Star Wars” movie was released. By Halloween, the most popular costumes were those depicting Star Wars characters. And by Christmas, the most coveted presents under the Christmas tree were action figures, toy X-wing fighters, and essentially anything Star Wars. The original trilogy, for those people of a certain age, will forever be the real, the first, the true Star Wars.
This year, on Dec. 15, Disney will release a new Star Wars movie, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” It will, no doubt, be a big box office draw, but can any of these latest episodes ever really replace the sensation of that first film? Readers of a certain age, those who have seen them all as they have been released over the past four decades, will likely agree--not possible.
If you were living in Great Bend in 1977, and you saw Star Wars, you saw it in a movie theater in some other town, because it did not come to Great Bend that weekend, or for the next month. In fact, in researching this week’s Out of the Morgue, we ran out of time checking Sunday movie listings in the Great Bend Tribune, and so, the answer of when it finally made it to one of the area theaters is still a mystery. Instead of “Star Wars,” there was “Tentacles,” “The Pink Panther Strikes Again,” “Rocky,” “The Sting,” “King Kong,” “The Farmer,” “The Enforcer,” “Young Frankenstein,” and “Freaky Friday.”
Dale Hogg, our managing editor, recalls seeing “Star Wars” here in Great Bend, but was certain it was sometime later that year. It didn’t really matter to him if it was the opening weekend or not. He just has good memories of seeing that movie. Leave it to the boss to let the air out of this writer’s balloon.
Flood control questioned
April showers brought, well, more May showers, so it seems residents would have wanted to prevent the perennial flooding that came with these showers, especially as the federal government became increasingly demanding about flood insurance coverage throughout the 1960s and 1970s. But Great Bend voters turned down for the fourth time a bond issue for flood control. However, support seemed to be inching upward after each attempt at passing it. In an editorial, it was noted at that time over 60 percent of the city was involved in the flood insurance program, and restrictions on building were putting a damper on city growth. Residents didn’t look forward to mandatory flood insurance requirements, but the costs associated with the bond were also unwelcome. At the time, it was believed the Corps of Engineers would not be interested in the project, and it was questionable if any project would be accepted by voters if it involved additional taxes, “and any plan that will lift the insurance restrictions is going to cost plenty.”
Nearly 20 years later, however, it appears the Corps showed some interest in the project. Issues of the Tribune in 1993 mention the Army Corps of Engineers working on the flood control at that time.
Summer fun
Phillip Huslig and Jim white practiced lifesaving techniques the week prior to the opening of the Great Bend City Pool in 1977. Part of training was how to save someone who has fallen in the water. Lifeguards came fully clothed, and had to jump in and tread water as their clothing became soaked with water, weighing them down. Their partner would then throw a ring to them to pull them to safety. City pools tended to be open from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day Weekend.
Forty years later things have changed a little. The pool still opens on Memorial Day weekend, weather permitting. But with back to school being pushed up earlier in August, many city pools today close as soon as school starts, the lifeguards nowhere to be found having headed back to school, sports, and jobs. This year in Great Bend and in Ellinwood, Splash Pads will finally be available so kids and kids-at-heart can cool off without the worry of lifeguards.
Scary discovery
Not everything in Great Bend was lazy summer fun in 1977. As the end of school nered, a bomb hoax was followed by the discovery of the real thing on Tuesday, May 24. In the section of the paper titled “Short Takes,” it was reported that an anonymous phone caller to the Great Bend High School stated that a bomb would go off in the school in five minutes on Tuesday. Police Chief Hank Salmans said that We checked into it and the school checked into it, but nothing was found. We couldn’t find anything to substantiate the call.” But, later that evening, at around 8 p.m. near 28th and Harrison, an explosive device was discovered by several children playing in the area. Salmans said that an explosives expert disarmed the device and concluded that if the device had gone off, it could have blown windows out of houses for several blocks away. Interestingly, both incidents received such minor acknowledgement, with no follow-up reporting. No follow-up reports could be found. Perhaps it was simply a more innocent time. Today, in our post 9-11 world, the threat and the discovery of a bomb, or the threat, false or otherwise, to blow up a school, would lead to a much more earnest and public investigation.
