(By: Con Marshall, Special Contributor)
Four inductions will be made into the Dawes County Agricultural Hall of Fame on Sunday, Aug. 2 in the Grandstand at the Dawes County Fairgrounds. The program will follow the antique tractor pull that begins at noon and is open to the public.
The honorees will be Milton Arner of Whitney and his late wife, Wilma; the Carlson family that has lived in the Antelope Valley in eastern Dawes County since the county was founded; Melvin and Patty Jones of Crawford; and Jim and Jo Kominek, owners of Circle J Glass of Chadron.
All are being recognized for outstanding achievement and service to their community. The program will be open to the public without charge.
The Arner family initially put down roots not far from Round Top northwest of Crawford in 1917. Milton and his family still own some of that land. He and Wilma Baker were married in 1947 and a few years later purchased a place 2 ½ miles east of Whitney that Milton still calls home. They had three children.
Wilma, who died in 2005, was a Dawes County 4-H club leader for 30 years, was involved in the Earth Lodge Extension Club, Make It Yourself With Wool Contest and helped begin the hot lunch program at the Whitney School.
Records at the USDA Farm Service Agency in Chadron show that that Milton, now 90, was a member of that board and its predecessors for more than 35 years. He also was on the Whitney Irrigation District Board for 20 years and served on the school board. He both farmed and ranched and raised lots of hogs.
The Carlson family has been synonymous with Antelope Valley in eastern Dawes County the past 130 years. In the spring of 1885, David G. Carlson, a native of Sweden, homesteaded a quarter section that the family still owns. A brother, Victor, claimed the 160 acres next to that land in 1898.
David G. brought his bride Addie, whom he had married in Clarinda, Iowa, to Antelope Valley in 1907. They had three children, including David A., who lived in the house his parents had built all of his 69 years.
David A. and his wife, the former Irene Harrison of Crawford, had six children. Three of them — David R., Louis and Linda—and their families still live on Carlson family land. Richard lives in Rushville.
Louis is in charge of the farming and ranching and David R. also has been involved in agriculture his entire life, mostly in western Nebraska, including seven years as an instructor at Chadron State College and 23 years working for the Department of Environmental Quality in Chadron.
This is not the first time the Carlsons have been honored at the county fair. David A., who served on the county extension board, was presented an Ak-Sar-Ben Good Neighbor Award in 1984 and the family received a Pioneer Farm Award in 1985. Many also remember when Irene, as a senior citizen, entertained at the fair by reciting long poems she had learned as a youth.
Melvin and Patty (Garner) Jones were high school sweethearts who say they enjoy Dawes County farm life and have tried to do their share of community service.
The Jones farm about five miles south of Crawford where they live was purchased by Melvin’s grandparents, H.T (Bud) and Sinia Jones, in 1945. After they had lived southwest of Crawford, Melvin’s parents, Marion and Lourine Jones, joined his grandparents on the farm when Melvin was a fourth grader.
After Melvin and Patty had been married a few years, they moved to the home place in 1970 and enlarged the dairy that the Joneses had operated for years. The couple developed a Grade A dairy that they ran the dairy for 18 years.
For the past 22 years, Melvin has delivered fuel, first for the Panhandle Co-Op for 10 years and then for Westco after it purchased the business.
Both have long records of lending a helping hand. Patti was on the board of the District 60 School near their home for 12 years and served six years on the Dawes County Extension Service board.
Melvin was a club leader all the time their daughter were 4-Hers. He also was on the Dawes County Agricultural Society for six years and was a member of the Crawford Old West Rodeo Board for 14 years, including several as president.
The business Jim and Jo Kominek operate began after the horrific hail storm that battered Chadron on June 30, 1986.
At the time, he was a cowboy from the reservation visiting his girlfriend, Jo, who was the manager of the Common Sense store. Her residence and nearly every other structure in Chadron were hammered by the hail. There were hundreds of roofs to repair and thousands of windows to replace.
Before long, he ordered a ton of glass, rented the old bus depot building that’s no longer standing at Second and Main and kept on working.
Circle J Glass and More was born. Before long the couple was married, she managed the office and he led crews that have worked over a wide expanse in western Nebraska.
Nearly 25 years ago, the Komineks added trailer sales to their business. Jim likes to have fun. He played football in college, bowled 60 games on his 60th birthday and played 70 holes of golf and also went fishing the day he turned 70 two years ago. So, it’s probably only natural that during his 12 years on the Dawes County Ag Society, he was a primary instigator in starting the Rubber Check Race that has become an entertainment staple at the fair.