Dick's Place 50th Anniversary puts it above the national average

 

Dick and Marge Kohmetscher in a recent picture. Despite the 50 years of wear and tear, they are still answering the call to serve the community of Lawrence and south-central Nebraska, almost every day.

Consider the number four, (4), (IV).

No matter how you write the number, a person would have to multiply it by 12.5 to reach the number of years that Dick's Place in Lawrence has served residents of southcentral Nebraska.

The number four . . .

Well, that's the average life span of a typical small business in the United States. If you talk about "publicly traded" (often corporate, usually larger) businesses, the average life span is ten years.

However, let's get back to our local situation.

The year 2021 sees Dick's Place in Lawrence being in operation for 50 years. Dick and Marge Kohmetscher enticed the Lawrence Community Club as a co-operating partner to celebrate their 50th Anniversary in suitable fashion. A full day of fun has been set for Saturday, August 7, in commemoration of this event.

Saturday, August 7, 2021 will get started with the Community Club activities listed below. On Main Street in front of Dick's Place, steak sandwiches will be served from 5 to 8 p.m. They will be prepared by the Lawrence Volunteer Fire Dept.; Happy Hour will be from 3 to 6 p.m.; Dennis Washburn will have his piano working from 4 to 6 p.m.; A Street Dance will start at 9 p.m. and go until midnight with music by "Free Beer and Chicken."

The Community Club is sponsoring a "Fun Day" on Aug. 7 to aid in the celebration. Their events will be at the Lawrence athletic field and swimming pool and starts with Kid's Water Inflatables from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Fire Truck Rides and Fun from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., sponsored by the Volunteer Fire Dept.; a hamburger and hotdog feed will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; a Bro Sno Truck will be on scene from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; A free swim will be available from 1 to 4 p.m.; Turtle races will take place at 2 p.m.

"O, yes," Dick's Place usual operation are suspended on August 7 and they will be closed on August 8 for a recuperation period.

Golden anniversaries for businesses are rare as we noted above and deserve a review of the past 50 years. To wit:

PERSONAL HISTORY: Nebraska, California, Maryland, Pennsylvania . . . . It took all four states along with the power of the U. S. military to get Dick and Marge together. Lawrence, Nebraska native, Dick, entered the U. S. Army in 1967. California native, Marge, entered the U. S. Navy in 1969. Both ended up stationed in Maryland. At the time the Navy sponsored monthly bus trips to the U S O center in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and that is where the couple met.

Dick spent a year in Viet Nam and both were discharged in 1970, moving back to Nebraska and were married August 1, 1970 in Lawrence. Dick, trained as a machinist for the Army, worked in Hastings as a machinist. Marge, trained for office work for the Navy, did office work in Hastings.

After some encouragement from Leander Brockman to sub-lease Joe's Place, Dick and Marge undertook the business in 1971 as Dick's Place.

Dick and Marge are parents of Scott and Lisa. Scott married Stacy Anstine and are parents of Max and Sam. Lisa married Tim Williams and are parents of Alex and Kelsey. All four grandchildren are presently college students with Max a cadet at the West Point Military Academy.

BUILDING: The location of Dick's Place was originally a harness shop. In 1913 the present brick building was built and used as a hardware store by Matt Friend until his death in 1943. In 1944 Joe Krebsbach purchased the building and started a tavern called Joe's Place. Assisting Joe during his later years were Ralph Krebsbach, Wilfred Krebsbach and Leander Brockman.

Dick and Marge sub-leased the business from Mr. Brockman in 1971. They purchased the building and business in 1975 when the estate of Joe was settled. 2021 marks 77 years the building will be used as a tavern, restaurant and social center for Lawrence.

ON-GOING: The last 50 years could simply be explained by saying: a full time kitchen was established in 1983; the 'South Room' was established when that building was purchased from Arnie Krebsbach in 1993; the grocery store was added in 2009.

However, that quick review is unfair to the business. There was much, much more involved in the successful operation of Dick's Place.

Besides the daily grind that any business has, Dick and Marge had many, many promotional events over the years. Promotions that benefited the business, but also the community of Lawrence.

We're not sure if the following list is 'all-inclusive' but what the couple can remember is: *Christmas parties; * Beer glasses (averaging 250 a year for almost all 50 years); * Football Bowl Contests (42 years until covid-19; up to 500 entries some years); * Pitch tournaments; * Basketball 'Freeze-throw' contest (in December of course with gloves on); * Pool leagues; * Volleyball tournaments; * 3-on-3 Basketball tournaments (on main street); * Cribbage tournaments; *Bus trips (to Kansas City for football; Denver for Stock Show; and Omaha for Dog Racing); * Golf tournaments; * Lawrence High School Alumni gatherings; * countless social events from card games to family gatherings, to birthday parties.

Employment: Dick's Place has had a very loyal staff working on a daily basis but also has been a source of employment for many youth of the community and surrounding communities. Marge has been trying to build a list of names of high school and college students who have worked over the years. She has approximately 150 names, but knows there are more she has yet to think of.

We would be negligent not mentioning Dick's and Marge's involvement in youth programs in Lawrence. Dick has coached youth baseball, basketball and softball over the years. In addition, he helped initiate the Cub Scout group in Lawrence. In many recent years they have been responsible for the planning and organization of softball and baseball play in much of southcentral Nebraska. He has coached girls' softball for many years and in 2017 he was inducted into the USA of Nebraska Softball Hall of Fame whose office is in Hastings.

Dick and Marge Kohmetscher pose early in their 50 year journey in Dick's Place. The couple put in the necessary hours to see a successful business operate for 50 years.

OF INTEREST: Dick's Place almost had an early ending many years ago. While settling the estate of Joe Krebsbach, the building and business went on the auction block in 1975. Dick and Marge were not certain they would be able to submit a bid high enough to obtain the building as there were others interested in buying the building. Having all their state licenses in place, the Kohmetschers purchased the other tavern building in Lawrence (located on the east side of main street), so they could continue their business if they could not retain their present location. Things worked out and they were able to afford the building. However, Joe's Place had a number of antiques furnishings and a 'one-piece' bar that was something of a 'one-of-a-kind' bar that attracted a lot of bidding interest. Dick did not feel he could afford what the bidding was amounting to and the bar eventually ended up in Colorado.

OF INTEREST: 1971 was also the year 'Liquor by the drink' was passed in Lawrence. After a number of attempts to legalize liquor by the drink it finally passed in 1971. It was the first time any drinks could be served to drink at the bar besides beer. Before that you could only buy hard liquor to go.

We join the community of Lawrence and many across south-central Nebraska, in offering our congratulations to Dick and Marge Kohmetscher upon the successful completion of 50 years of service to the area.

 

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