The Canteen had always been a major beneficiary of Lincoln County’s four scrap-metal drives, which raised just under $7,000. With the mas- sive levels of postwar troop-train traffic, the fund had one more large donation to pass along. Telegraph | Sept. 7, 1945 A total of $5,591.62 has been donated to the North Platte Canteen by the Lincoln County Salvage drive, Chairman Glen Ritner has announced. A previous donation of $2,800 was made, and the current donation of $2,791.62, according to the report, brings the total donations to $5,591.62. A financial emergency in the Canteen Fund was declared at a recent meeting of the Canteen committee and the committee of the Lincoln County scrap fund, and it was decided that the Scrap fund was needed. An Aug. 14, 1946, Daily Bulletin story would report that between 10,000 and 12,000 service members visited the Canteen daily over four days during this month. Total September 1945 visitations, it said, exceeded those for the entirety of the World War I Canteen. Telegraph | Sept. 15, 1945 The North Platte Canteen these days is on an almost 24-hour basis, with officers of the day opening the doors at 5:30 a.m. and waiting up until 12 or 1 o’clock for the late trains. “Many of the late trains are carrying boys just back from overseas, and we owe it to them,” Mrs. Charles [Jessie] Hutchens said today. “And besides that,” she added, “many of them have been through here on their way overseas. They know about the Canteen and as the train nears North Platte, they are waiting up to come into the Canteen again. We just can’t let them down,” she explained. C.H. Land holds the ladder steady as Frank Cornwell (atop ladder), Canteen originator Rae Wilson (left) and successor Helen Christ help lower the Canteen's iconic sign on closing day, April 1, 1946.
1945–46 109
Made with FlippingBook - PDF hosting