A boyhood trip to Boys State

Well, it's election time again so the TV and Facebook are inundated with commercials. This one says this and that one says that. All of them are promising to either do better than the other one or do something right where the other one is doing it wrong. Not that many years ago, all the political ads were on the radio or in the newspaper or on fliers and such. Not that many years ago, a good many politicians campaigned door to door. That's kind of unheard of today.

Looking at all the campaign ads caused me to look back when I was in high school and had the privilege of going to Lincoln, Nebraska, for Boys State. Growing up in Arthur, I was probably a little bit on the backwoods side, so this was a big deal. My idea of a good time was a fishing pole and a lake or a good horse or a good gun and a bunch of tin cans. Most of my life I'd never went off alone without Mom or Dad, so this was different. I think the most adventurous thing I'd ever done was to help our mailman Irwin roof his house. So to go to Lincoln was something new.

Boys State was started by Hayes Kennedy and Harold Card, two Illinois Legionnaires, in 1935. The first event was held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Illinois. The goal was to get students to participate in local and county and state governments, where the focus was on the students learning the rights, privileges and the responsibilities of citizenship.

The one that I attended, the American Legion Cornhusker Boys State, was held in the summer before my senior year of high school. I'm not sure exactly why I was chosen, but it was a real privilege. I'm not even sure who paid what or even how all the details were completed, but the experience was neat. I think the American Legion in Arthur paid my way, but I'm not sure. I had never ridden a train, so I rode the train from Hyannis, Nebraska, clear to Lincoln. That in itself was neat.

The railroad ran through Hyannis, which was about 35 miles north of Arthur. It was in Hyannis that I got on the train at the old depot. We stopped at a number of stops in a number of small towns. I can't remember there being other Boys State participants on the train, but I'll bet there was. Traveling across Nebraska on the train was a new experience. Mom and Dad liked to visit friends and kinfolks, so they had driven over a lot of the state, but this was new.

Everything was arranged so we were met in Lincoln by some people from Boys State and taken to a University of Nebraska dorm, where we stayed. Man, was this new. A country boy from Arthur going to Lincoln, where there were thousands of people. Exciting but kind of scary at the same time. There were activities that evening so by the time we hit our beds, we were wore out.

The next day we got to visit the Capital Building in Lincoln and meet some of the senators in Lincoln. Nebraska's government was and is kind of different. The Nebraska Legislature is also called the Unicameral. This Unicameral is the supreme legislative body of the state of Nebraska. All the members of the Unicameral are called senators. The legislature in Nebraska is officially unicameral and nonpartisan which makes Nebraska unique among all U.S. states. No other state has either a unicameral or a nonpartisan legislative body.

It was fun visiting the floor of the Capital Building and meeting some of the senators. The Boys Staters held elections and formed a kind of mock government. Some of the boys were really into running for an office and competing. I was just glad to be there and participate.

After all the activities, it was time to head back to Arthur. Rather then ride the rails back to Hyannis, arrangements were made for me to ride the bus back to Ogallala. So I got on a Greyhound bus for the first time. At least I think it was a Greyhound bus. I remember being impressed by the big, plush seats. We drove down the interstate in Nebraska until we got to somewhere around Grand Island, and there was water over the interstate so it was closed. So we had to get off the interstate and drive on old Highway 30 for a while before being able to get back on the interstate.

I think that later that summer I gave a talk on going to Boys State to the American Legion. That was probably the most scary part of the whole trip. Little did I know that later on in life I'd become a preacher and speak to groups of people. Not sure who to thank, but thanks for giving me the opportunity to expand my horizons. Thanks to my teachers, who corrected everything from my penmanship to my typing to my algebra to woodworking in shop class.