Plans have been in the past to continue opera- tion of the Canteen until June 1, if possible, Mrs. Christ said. “Obviously, however, we cannot expect the Canteen to keep going that long under present conditions,” she said. “We must have more help and more donations.” … Mrs. Hutchens, general secretary, pointed out that in the past four or five weeks, an average of between $900 and $1,300 weekly has been used from the Canteen. “We have been using from $700 to $900 more than is taken in,” she said, due to the fact that groups and organizations are not donat- ing enough supplies for the day. But the Canteen’s day of reckoning was even closer than Helen Christ and Jessie Hutchens let on. The next day’s Telegraph (see left) broke the news that the Canteen board, which had taken Rae Wilson’s dream to unprecedented heights and distances across the globe, had decided to close it sooner than hoped for — though not yet right away. Telegraph | Jan. 31, 1946 The general committee of the North Platte Canteen voted Tuesday night to close the Canteen April 1. The vote was nearly unanimous. The meeting was conducted by Mrs. Adam [Helen] Christ, general chairman, who favors keeping the Canteen open until June 1, at least. Mrs. Mike [Rose] Loncar … pointed out that
the Canteen is a public institution and therefore the termination of it should be determined by the public. “The Canteen was started and operated vol- untarily,” Mrs. Loncar said, “and it deserves to be terminated gloriously, as it has served the men of the armed forces gloriously, rather than be permit- ted to dwindle out slowly through lack of help and lack of funds.” Mrs. Charles [Jessie] Hutchens, general secre- tary, pointed out that interest in the Canteen has definitely decreased since the end of the war, as evidenced by the decrease in funds and the gradu- ally dwindling number of persons who come to the Canteen and help serve. Mrs. Christ, however, favored placing the ques- tion of Canteen termination before the public to determine the length of time the public wishes the Canteen to remain open. … Harold West, Ogallala Lions Club member, reported today that club voted to support the Ogallala Canteen committee until June 1, if the Canteen remains open until that date. All organizations, committees and individuals are invited to express their opinions on postcards sent to the Canteen. They did just that. The communities beyond North Platte, beginning with Stapleton in January 1942 and extending nearly 200 miles in most every di- rection, had sustained the Canteen far beyond the financial, physical and mental resources of even Continued on page 118
The North Platte Telegraph
1945–46 117
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