The Winter of 1957

I was sorting through some old family photographs this evening, and this group caught my eye. They are all labeled "1957." Judging by the looks of things, the winter of 1957 was a rather snowy one as well. In fact, this article cites the winter of 1957 as having 38.8 inches of snow - the 17th highest on record for Nebraska.

This particular photo was labeled "1957 at Exeter Public School." The area surrounding the school apparently had many more trees at the time, as there aren't many today. The frost covered evergreens have been a familiar sight in northeast Nebraska these past several days.

"1957 snow. Alphonsus Becker's car on west road of farm." Alphonsus was my great-great uncle. He grew up and lived on the farm that was homesteaded by his father in 1881; the same farm I grew up on.

Alphonsus (or "Funzie") with the dog that saved his life. The story has it that Funzie was picking ear corn. A repair or adjustment needed to be made to the picker, and somehow in the process his hand became lodged in a chain.

The dog ran back to the house and began to bark. It's said that this dog never left Funzie's side, so when his wife Christabel came to the door and saw the dog alone, she knew something was wrong. With the dog's assistance she was able to find him procure proper help.