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Every year the first weekend in July lends itself to a community celebration in Oconto. The events kicked off on Friday, July 1 with a mystery scavenger hunt, the winners of which were announced during the parade on Saturday morning. Third place in the hunt went to the Oconto Camping Club; Sandy Eggleston’s team took second; and the winning team was that of Dani Eggleston.

After a shower gave the ground a much needed soaking on Sunday night, the clouds gave way to traditional 4th of July weather - sunny and hot. The Village of Callaway continued their celebratory ways of the last month, and hosted a flag retirement ceremony and fireworks display to commemorate our nation’s Independence Day.

Pioneer Picnic is over, but the Village of Callaway remains in celebration mode as they gear up for the 4th of July festivities. Sue Phelps and family have been busy organizing another fantastic fireworks display and Independence Day celebration, which all gets underway at 8 p.m. Monday at the ballpark.

The Custer County Courthouse and offices will be closed on Monday, July 4 in celebration of Independence Day. Please plan accordingly. The offices will open for regular business hours on Tuesday, July 5.

Members of the Tail Twister 4 H club participated in a community service clean-up project at the Callaway Rose Hill Cemetery. Pictured are: Front Row, from left - Griffin Bellinger, Logan Johnson, Quinlee Weinman, Katie Phelps, Kaiden Weinman, Kowan Dalrymple, Hazel Mowrey, Addison Stump and Arabella Mowrey; Row two - Reed Birkel, Bindi Peters, Patrick Eggleston, Makenna Weinman, Addison Dalrymple, Avery Austin-Poland, Ahbrie Poland, Lauren Reiff, Elizabeth Phelps, Delanie Weinman, Kennedy Eggleston, Charli Pandorf and Shaun Johnson; Row three - Maggie Birkel, CJ Quandt, Trey Connell and Ty Robinson; Row four - Caden Arnold, Neltje Reiff, Kelynn Witthuhn and Kaygan Witthuhn.

Tour de Nebraska is a five-day (Wednesday-Sunday) circle tour, which means riders enjoy the convenience of starting and ending at the same place. The TDN is limited to 500 riders, which allows for meaningful interaction between riders and the quaint communities they visit. Daily mileage ranges from 45-70 miles, making the TDN an especially perfect multi-day tour for first-timers or seasoned veterans.

The Class of 1962 got together during Pioneer Picnic and alumni weekend, and visited as they watched the parade, and enjoyed a good meal at Mrs Robinson's. The classmates enjoyed visiting and sharing memories at the Senior Center for the afternoon. In attendance, from left were: Paulette (G'schwind) Wise, Perry Griffith, Elizabeth (Bonde) Wilhite, Bernita (Hoffman) Meads, Cliff Meads, Joe Brohman and Terry Wilkerson. Photo courtesy Bernita Meads

In the old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Nebraska’s employment set another record high of 1,042,762 during the month of May. This is the 11th straight month of record employment in the state. Additionally, Nebraska’s unemployment rate remains the lowest in the nation, and in state history, at 1.9 percent.

Courier Photos by Amanda Koubek-Wehnes and Ellen Mortensen.