The Superior Express -

Since the arrival of the pandemic, area residents have been presented with a series of challenges.

Rita and I are long-term Sunday school teachers but the classrooms at the church we have regularly attended are not large enough to allow for social distancing. We have relied on alternatives. When the weather was nicer, we met outside but a new plan was needed as the weather cooled.

In more recent times, we have been meeting in the downtown Superior building constructed about 95 years ago to house the Mullet store.

Sunday morning, we were in the middle of our class time when my attention was drawn to something happening on the street.

I’m not sure what caught my eye but I could sense there was a problem with a vehicle parked on the north side of the Ace Hardware store. I wondered if the occupants were strangers to the community and in need of directional help. Perhaps they were planning on attending the Living Faith Fellowship Church which meets around the corner to the west and needed help locating it.

As I looked at the vehicle, I recognized Carrie and Terry Lemke as they drove by. Shortly the Lemkes were back and talking to the driver of the mysterious vehicle.

I continued watching and soon observed Carrie making a cell phone call. After the call ended, I heard sirens and feared members of the Superior Volunteer Fire Department were responding to another fire call.

It wasn’t a fire call. This time it was the ambulance coming to load up the vehicle’s driver. As the ambulance arrived so did Police Chief Jill Allgood who began directing traffic.

In a few minutes the excitement was over and the Sunday school class could resume.

Monday I asked if the Lemkes were responding to a call when they stopped. Terry is a fireman and Carrie a member of the ambulance squad. Carrie said they hadn’t been called but as they were out driving Sunday morning Terry saw a vehicle ahead of them make a strange manuever then they saw and passed the vehicle parked by the Ace Store. Something didn’t seem right and they returned to investigate.

Not until they stopped were they aware the driver was having a medical problem. Once aware of his conditon, they called for the ambulance.

Would that have happened in the city? Perhaps, but probably not. Most likely traffic would have continued zipping past with out noticing the driver was struggling.

It reminded me of a story that happened here in the 1960s.

An on-duty police officer observed a Jewell County farmer coming to town at an unusual time on Sunday morning and stopped to ask the driver about the early morning trip. As the officer approached other occupants in the car surrendered. As the story developed, it was learned they had burglarized a Superior business and retreated into Jewell County only to have car trouble. The farmer, not knowing about the burglary, offered to take them into town.

When they saw the officer, they assumed their jig was up and surrendered.

And while writing about the advantages of living in a rural community, we must not fail to mention the volunteers who have been working almost night and day answering fire calls.

Fire fighters have made repeated trips to the Superior East Elevator since the explosion on Oct. 31. They were called there again Monday when smoke was pouring from one of the silos.

Sunday 12 fire departments battled a fire near Nelson. The dry fall and days of low humidity have combined to challenge our fire fighters. They must be tired, but when the call comes, the trucks still roll.

Those who complain about life in the United States don’t realize how much they have to be thankful for.

Yesterday was Veterans Day, a day that has often contained special programs honoring those who have served in this nation’s armed forces. But because of the COVID risk, that didn’t happen this year.

As I review past years’ observances, I recall a cold, snowy day in the 1970s when members of the Nuckolls County World War I Barracks gathered at the base of the old soldier monument in Superior’s City Park. It wasn’t a pleasant day and I didn’t think many of the men were dressed for the cold. But they tried to stand erect and with stiff upper lips they saluted and recalled what it was like to defend their country. As bad as the day was here, I suspect many had endured far worse before victory was achieved and the armistice was declared at the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month.