62 NEBRASKAland • JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016
Send contributions to: Portraits from the Past, NEBRASKAland Magazine, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Or e-mail to
Tim.Reigert@Nebraska.gov. Photos should show people enjoying Nebraska outdoor activities, such as camping, boating, hunting or fishing, and must have
been taken before 1980. We will give priority to unusual photos or activities. When possible, please include a story about the photograph and identify the
people, places and approximate date it was taken. Photos will be returned.
This photo was taken after a morning hunt in
October of 1960, south of Smith Lake State Wildlife
Management Area. Pictured is Clem Mannion, my
maternal grandfather, who stands behind his party's
limit of ducks. My grandfather made the annual
trek to the Sandhills every year for over 50 years.
For him, it was a pilgrimage – to leave behind the
city life of Omaha, where he worked for the REA
Express, for the beauty and serenity of the High
Plains.
Gramp's enthusiasm for this region spread
quickly. My father (John), who turns 80 this
February, my two brothers and I still make the
annual trip. Recently, I enrolled in the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln Grasslands Management
Certificate program as my experiences continue to
foster interest for all living creatures that call the
Sandhills home. And, it all started with a cribbage-
playing, devoted family man named Clem.
– Michael J. Murphy, Alexandria, Virginia
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This photo was taken in 1964 after a deer hunt on my
grandparents' farm and pastureland east of Steel City, Nebraska.
My father, Dwayne Bostelman (not pictured), got us boys
interested in deer hunting at a young age and now my father, my
son and I still enjoy harvesting mature bucks on the property.
Pictured on left: Grandpa Ed Pingel (deceased), myself and my
younger brother Bruce.
Pictured below: My father, Dwayne Bostelman, and grandpa Ed.
– Gregg Bostelman, Grand Island, Nebraska
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