NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/873551
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Well, it actually started before that. For John Jacobsen, however, a tradition that has seen the Omaha man head to Scotia to hunt opening day of pheasant season began in 1956. Every opener. He hasn't missed one. And last year, just as he has every other year, Jacobsen, known simply as Jake to many, spent the eve of the opener in what he lovingly calls "the shack," the same place his grandfather lived. The milestone is a testament to family values and a tradition that his father and uncles began almost 70 years ago. Family George and Mabel Polinoski were married in 1922. In 1929, with their children, they moved into a two-story white house that was once a hospital on a hill overlooking Wallace Creek in Scotia. At some point thereafter, the water heater exploded, rocketing out of the house and ending up a few hundred yards over the hill. The fire ignited by the explosion burned the house to the ground. Behind the house stood a small barn. To the southeast stood a small, white house. Doing what folks in the day did, the Polinoskis made do with what they had. Mabel and the four girls moved into the house, which had two bedrooms, a kitchen/dining room and a living room. George converted half of the barn into a place for himself and the two boys. They all ate meals together in the house. Neither structure had running water, but there were his and hers outhouses. In 1946, one of the girls, Opal, married John Melvin Jacobsen. John Jr., "Jake," was born in 1948 in Omaha. Sometime around 1950, John Sr.'s six brothers found out how good the pheasant hunting was in the Scotia area and the seven of them began making an annual pilgrimage from their homes in Omaha on opening weekend. George was still living in the shack. The Jacobsen brothers, as well as the Polinoski boys, made it their bunkhouse, lining the floor with cots. Story and photos by Eric Fowler