Hartington, NE

[Coyote]

Stained glass business in Hartington restores art across Midwest



HARTINGTON, Neb. (KOLN) - Colorful sunlight filters through stained glass windows in the sanctuary of Saints Peter and Paul Church in Bow Valley. Fourteen of the windows were restored by the Kruse family, who are a part of the parish. “We just kind of thought we could do it,” said Kenny Kruse. For over 25 years, Kenny and Kristi Kruse filled buildings across South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska with colorful light. They specialize in quality church and home restoration and fabrication. The husband and wife have lost count of their projects throughout the years. “See that pile of patterns up there,” Kenny said, gesturing to large files with sheets of glass and designs. “That’s every pattern from every window we’ve done.”

[Coyote]

Chalk rock church tells stories of perseverance in Menominee



MENOMINEE, Neb. (KOLN) - The story of St. Boniface Catholic Church is best told in its brickwork. The authors are German, Austrian and a few Bohemian families who formed it with chalk rocks from a nearby bluff. “It was in 1869 that the priest of St. Helena visited this area and had a meeting with 24 families,” said Duane Hoesing, parishioner. “And he encouraged them to build a church. At the time, St. Helena was the oldest parish in the county.” The church serves as the cornerstone of Menominee, which is now an unincorporated community in the northeast corner of Nebraska. The immigrants built their first wooden church in 1874, but a windstorm destroyed it. The families built a second church, but they eventually outgrew it. The church we see today was built from a bluff near the Antelope Crick. The immigrants hacked out chunks of the material with axes, and they used mortar to build St. Boniface Catholic Church.

[Big E]

The immigrants built their first wooden church in 1874, but a windstorm destroyed it. The families built a second church, but they eventually outgrew it.

So they built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad: the strongest chruch in all of Cedar County.

[almighty_tuna]

I heard Cedar County has huge tracts of land

[Coyote]

Volunteers come together for Hartington Area Veterans Memorial



HARTINGTON, Neb. (KOLN) - Throughout American history, many Nebraskans have served in wars that have ended or are still going. Thanks to some dedicated volunteers, the names of over 1,200 veterans will forever be remembered at the Hartington Area Veterans Memorial. “Obviously, we wanted a memorial to memorialize as many veterans as possible,” said Dan Kathol, the project chairman. “We are in a very patriotic part of the country, and we wanted our memorial to represent that.” The display features 29 granite monuments, five granite benches, two statues, four information signs and one mural of Iwo Jima. The project began when local veterinarians donated the plot of land for the memorial in downtown Hartington. “It was a challenging piece of land because it sloped 11 feet from the beginning to the end,” Kathol said. “So we had to build walls around, and we had to fill them with dirt and pack them.”

Now the Hartington Area Veterans Memorial is a lasting reminder to “Never Forget” service men and women. People can reach out to the Hartington Veterans if they would like to add a name to the memorial. They can also visit the site at 109 North Broadway Avenue in Hartington, until the lights shut off at 11 p.m.