Volume 14 Issue 8 December 2017 Inside this issue: President 2 Queen 3 Christmas Party 4 Christmas Party 5 Kansas Event We had a party 6 The Hunt 7 HAPPY NEW YEAR! HEARTLAND CONVENTION FEBRUARY 9 11, 2018 GRAND HOTEL 2503 S Locust Street GRAND ISLAND, NE PH 308-384-1330 January 16-20 2018 IFF Workshop Titusville, FL February 3 KS Sweetheart Luncheon. See pg 5 February 9 11 Heartland Convention Grand Island, NE.
Page 2 PRESIDENT KAREN HOFFMAN Gary and I will be attending workshop in Florida. Gary and I are busy attending grandkids holiday concerts and church programs. We enjoy every minute of them. We also throw a few basketball games in. We enjoy the Christmas season. Having our children and grandchildren around is wonderful. Hope to see all of you at convention. We will have tours and speakers finalized soon. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New year. Happy Holidays to all of our Flying Farmer Friends, First of all I would like to thank Margaret and Bill for the wonderful Christmas Party. We had a tour of homes in Minden, a wonderful supper, and then got to watch the Nativity pageant. The weather was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the pageant was awesome. It was so good to see our friends. Always enjoy visiting with all of you. I guess the next thing on the agenda is our convention in Grand Island Ne. We will be staying at the Grand Hotel. Their phone number is 800-548-5542. Please make your reservations as soon as possible. The room rates are $89.00. That includes free meeting rooms, a hospitality room, and free hot breakfast. If you are not staying at the motel please contact us so we can get a count for meals. Please make reservations for your rooms by January 9th. We will need a final count for food service is February 1st. The convention dates are February 9th thru the 11th. On Friday our first tour is of the Case Plant in Grand Island. The tour will leave the hotel at 12:00 for the12:30 tour. HEARTLAND CONVENTION FEBRUARY 9 11, 2018 GRAND HOTEL 2503 S Locust Street GRAND ISLAND, NE PH 308-384-1330 We are also doing door prizes and hospitality room this year. So please feel free to bring a door prize and some goodies for the convention.
Page 3 The photographer said, Cuddle. Huh? Happy New Year to everyone. This morning in south central Nebraska on New Years Eve it was -8 degrees. It got up to 0 by noon. Yes, I am late with the newsletter this month. Have been enjoying the family time with Deb and Brian. We spent Christmas in Minden at our son Dave and Carolyn s Windmill Reception Hall. Our Christmas family was small this year as three of the grandkids and families were not present. Two of them live out of state and Jim was working. This will be the last winter trip Deb will be making back home from California as she is retiring after 40 years of teaching Special Ed and moving back to Kearney. Our Christmas party and my Queen s Day to me was perfect. Not well attended but I really enjoyed showing those that came my home town from one end to the other, sharing the meal, gifts and friendship. (Bill got a $10 bill.) Thank you, special friends, Gary and Karen Hoffman, Harold and Dixie Sindt, Beth and Sid Scott and would you believe WENDELL AND JOYCE RUST drove 14 hours to come and help me celebrate. My sister Jan and her husband Tony joined us as well and son Dave and his wife Carolyn. We had one full car load of six touring four new homes and one completely remodeled home. The gift exchange was, well six of us got nice gifts. I hope my guests enjoyed the Christmas Pageant. Over the years changes have been made in the production which made it much safer especially for the choir angels that were on QUEEN MARGARET BUNGER planks out of the second story windows. One year one of my classmates portraying a wise man had his costume catch fire as they were standing around the fire. We enjoyed Wendell and Joyce s visit. After their 14 hours on the road we took them on a tour of places of interest Joyce and I have talked about often. They were not staying long enough to work that in another day. Hated to see them leave so soon as we could talk nonstop for hours. On another note, I have contacted those I thought might take my place as Queen or whatever with no success. PLEASE, if one of you husbands want your wife to be Queen and I missed you, let me know as soon as possible so I can get the tiara, trophy, pin, flowers, etc. ready. If I don t hear from anyone or have any other suggestions in the next couple of weeks I am afraid this position will not be filled. It has been such an honor to serve as your queen 3 times and as IFF Queen. I wish everyone could have this experience. As much as this has meant to me I sure don t want to be the one to end the position. I can honestly say it changed my life to serve. Editors note I have chosen to print and mail this edition as I don t want Beverly getting out in the cold.
Page 4 HEARTLAND CHRISTMAS PARTY Harold and Dixie Sindt Our son Dave and wife Carolyn Sid and Beth Scott > Wendell Rust Gary and Karen Hoffman
Page 5 HEARTLAND CHRISTMAS PARTY Gary & Karen Hoffman, Beth & Sid Scott, Wendell & Joyce Rust, Harold & Dixie Sindt. Tony & Jan Tolksdorf, Margaret & Bill Bunger KANSAS EVENT Sweetheart Luncheon February 3 The KFF Sweetheart Luncheon will be on Saturday, February 3 at the Brookville Hotel in Abilene; it is at 105 East Lafayette, just off I-70. The cost ($21.43) includes their famous fried chicken, many sides, beverage, tax, and tip. We will eat at 11:30; there will be no program, leaving the afternoon free to tour the Eisenhower Center (200 S.E. 4 th ). The Place of Meditation (final resting place of Ike, Mamie and their infant son) is free. The museum is always interesting; the $9 (senior) entrance fee to it includes a tour of the Eisenhower home which is especially unique as it is a time capsule, maintained just as it was when Ike s mother died in 1946. When you tour it, you will marvel how a family with six sons lived in that small house it probably was a very lively place! For meal reservations, please contact Joan Lieber by February 1; 795/528-3197; cell is 785/221-1821; joanandbilllieber@yahoo.com. If you would like to stay overnight, there is a Holiday Inn Express, 785/263-4049, also just off I-70, very near the Brookville Hotel. Hope to see you in Abilene where even Bill will be eating chicken!
Page 6 Dixie Sindt Margaret Bunger My petite sister Jan Tolksdorf Wendell Rust Harold Sindt Jan & Tony Tolksdorf Harold and Dixie Sindt The pageant was performed in spot lights The finale all of the court house lights come on.to the song O Come all Ye Faithful. They used to come on to Joy To the World just as the lights are turned on which to me seemed much more affective. All pictures were taken by Joyce Rust and Dixie Sindt. Thanks gals!
Page 7 THE HUNT Margaret Bunger Short on news so I will tell a story on the two of us. Our cats were playing with a piece of hide a color neither of us had seen around here before. We don t know of any animals that color. Did see the one cat chase after an opossum but never one the color of the hide. Happened to step outside one evening and there was a opossum eating at the cats dish so called Bill to hurry. Now this story isn t the same without gestures so bare with me. Bill loaded the shot gun but we needed coats so he is trying to put his coat on with the loaded shot gun in one hand. I helped him with his coat avoiding the end of that gun. I had the flash light with the spot on the animal as it ran around the corner of the house and stopped between the front step and the foundation. Bill told me to get the rifle. I put the spot on the opossum and couldn t believe it just froze there with the light on it. Put the flash light on the ground pointed at the opossum and ran in the house but I am too short to reach the rifle so had to get the step stool and hoped I knew what shells to take. Bill shot the large BLACK opossum. One down. In a day or two there was another one at the cats dish. It ran around the house and I went the other way this time. It saw me turned around and ran up the large oak tree. I spotted it, Bill shot hit a branch and no opossum expecting to find it dead under the tree the next morning. Nope. Bill decided he would leave the loaded shot gun in the garage and wait for it. This time it was facing in the direction of the garage, Bill was in the house, the gun, yep was in the garage. The crazy opossum ran around the other corner of the house and into the home made cats house. I made the cats house out of an Omaha Steaks Styrofoam shipping box, cut a hole in the end and inserted a 4 piece of PVC pipe. Added a cut up torn flannel sheet for the bottom, taped the top on and taped insulation all around the shipping box. Took the top off of the box and there was the black opossum with a chunk of hide out of its back. I had Bill get me the shovel and I tried to prod the thing out of the box. Instead it just hissed at me so I whacked it several times with the shovel. More hissing and showing its teeth. Bill approached the box and shot the opossum with his rifle. Also shot a hole in the bottom of the box. So here in the middle of the cold evening we have a dead opossum in the cats house and no place for the cats. I made them another house which only took about ten minutes to have it ready for them. TITLE We ll let the little one sleep. This is a handmade nativity scene made from popped popcorn. The angel on top, Mary and baby Jesus. The two wise men tell Mary, We ll let the little one sleep. Notice his hand over his mouth? If I get crazy enough maybe someone else will do the newsletter!!
Newsletter Editor Margaret S Bunger 2133 37 RD Upland NE 68981-5108 HEARTLAND FLYING FARMERS & RANCHERS OFFICERS President - Karen Hoffman NE Vice President - Virginia Buehler CO Treasurer Dwayne Margritz NE Secretary Luellen Landgren NE Newsletter Editor Margaret Bunger NE Newsletter Assistant Beverly Weston NE Queen -Margaret Bunger NE Man of the Year Robert Raines CO Woman of the Year Virginia Coppersmith NE NOTICE WE ARE ON THE IFF WEBSITE http://www.internationalflyingfarmers.org/ IFF OFFICERS President Alexander Knox AZ Vice President Clement Dion SK Secretary/Treasurer - Harry Bartel KS Past President Zelda Lewis IL IFF Queen - Carollyne Collier IFF Woman of the Year - Ellen Valburg MK IFF Man of the Year Glenn Kinneberg MK Region 6 Director Dale Bohrer IA/MO IFF MISSION STATEMENT IFF provides a personalized, unique and economical opportunity to experience agriculture and aviation in Canada and the United States in a family environment. DEADLINE FOR NEWSLETTER 20TH OF THE MONTH