NEBRASKA CITY – Two  Lourdes Central Catholic High School seniors are using their Christmas break to hand out 160 books in downtown Nebraska City and at the Ambassador nursing home where they interviewed residents about their life experiences and the city they  share.

Authors Jenna Box and Cora Krog comprise the Youth Advisory Committee, which receives grant support from the Nebraska City Community Foundation and carries out community service projects.

Box proposed a project of interviewing older residents after her American history teacher assigned an ancestor project and she talked with an uncle about her own family.

Box: “He knew all their stories, so I was inspired by that to go and find out the stories of more people who might not have family members who asked them about their childhood and how they grew up and their early life.”

She and Cora began interviews a year ago and wrote the story through the summer.

Krog: “We also want to come away with a lot of respect and thankfulness to the people we interviewed for the work they did to make Nebraska City what it is and those tracks they laid so we can have an amazing home, an amazing welcoming, caring, great traditional home.”

 

Ambassador Activities Director Chris Carlson said many residents welcomed the chance to share with the students.

Carlson: “The residents really enjoyed doing it, first of all. They really enjoyed it. It was a connection and I think a lot of the younger generation can learn a lot from our older generation.”

Box: “Just getting to come here and spending time with all the residents here and getting to talk to them. There is so much knowledge that they shared with us in these books that we hopefully get to share with our community.”

The project also gave the authors time to learn about their own families’ role in shaping their hometown.

Box learned of an ancestor who sold magazines door-to-door in the Great Depression. He had a couple of people pay him with chickens for their subscription.

Krog: “My favorite part was listening. Almost every person I interviewed knew or knew of my great-grandparents or their tavern, or had been in there. That was really special to me, especially since I don’t know them anymore. It was kind of a beautiful experience to meet some people who maybe knew them better than I did.”

The girls also interview former Nebraska Secretary of State Allen Beermann, whose wedding reception in Nebraska City featured a horse-drawn carriage ride through crowds of up to 800 people.