Ricketts Item

I don't know if these means anything to anybody. I just happen to be working in the Mapleton PRESS office and someone had a big volume of Schleswig Leaders out (Volume 26 to be precise) and I happen to spot this on the front page of the second to the top issue- circa January 13, 1927.
Generally obituaries don't go on the front page any more.

For those of you interested in the lineage of area newspapers; The Lyon family owned the Schleswig Leader, eventually the business grew and they bought the Mapleton PRESS and moved their operation to Mapleton. Later on they bought the Ute Independent and the Charter Oak Times. Later on they merged the the Times and Independent into the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper, which today is produced along with the Leader in Mapleton. A couple of years ago, Mike and Barb Lyon retired and sold the operation to Enterprise Newspapers, headquartered in Blair Nebraska. Enterprise also produced the Missouri Valley Times, and two Nebraska papers, the Dakota County Star (out of South Sioux City) and the Seward Independent (home town paper for a great College, Concordia University, Nebraska. Mike passed away of cancer not long after they'd sold the papers.

Like farming, publishing is harder and harder for single families to afford to do, but at least Enterprise is a lot smaller and more community focused than say the Denison Bulliten/Review which, while an excellent publication, is basically owned and run by the Omaha World Herald's network of corporations.

Anyway, maybe you're a Dethlefs, a Fuller, Jepsen or Marquardt- or perhaps you're a Seils and you will find one of these news clippings interesting. If you're from around Ricketts and have some history, an old newspaper clipping or a story or picture to share, please send them to me and I'll be happy to post them. Meanwhile, remember to mark your calendars for the annual Ricketts Kids Reunion the fourth weekend in July, 2008!