Command, Omaha, was made by Col. [McGary], Commandant at Fort Francis E. Warren, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Mrs. Adam [Helen] Christ, chairman of the Canteen board, received the citation on behalf of the Canteen and expressed thanks to Gen. Uhl for recognition and to all others who had been so instrumental in making a success of the Canteen. President Jeffers told of his keen interest in the Canteen and of the many fine things he has heard about it all over the United States. He said that the Canteen would continue to receive his wholehearted support of not only himself but [also] all employees of the Union Pacific. The broadcast opened with a number by the North Platte High School band under the direc- tion of R. Cedric Anderson, followed by a nar- ration and history of the Canteen presented by Gene Moser, WOW [and KODY] announcer. Governor Dwight Griswold, who due to ill- ness was unable to be present, talked from his bedside at the Governor’s mansion in Lincoln. The governor said that it seemed appropriate to use a Biblical term on the Sabbath in describ- ing the work of and the pleasure received by the workers and supporters of the Canteen. The term, “Cast Thy Bread on the Waters and it will be returned forthwith” [Ecclesiastes 11:1], was and would continue to bear fruit for all those in the mid-prairie portion of the state.
This Telegraph editorial on the event spoke for a region as well as a community.
What can best be remembered by these workers, and they embrace the majority of the citizens from towns, villages and communities from all parts of mid-west Nebraska, is that their efforts were entirely voluntary, that they came from the hearts of those who wished to give the service folk who pass through North Platte a touch of what the majority [of them] have left behind — home and contact with home folk. That this recognition was deserving no one can deny, as these workers who have financed this great work did so without a thought of any recognition or reward. They have instituted this program of service without U.S.O. support, without the glamour of great publicity, without the thought of anything but the desire to show that as these millions of service folk travel over the Union Pacific, mid-western Nebraska wants them to know that this community realizes they are doing a service which money cannot buy and in their humble way this great group of democratic people of the Midwest wish the service folk to know that they also serve in their humble way. … Millions have been served at the North Platte Canteen in the two years of its existence, and it is an assured fact that its doors will be open to aid service folk for the duration of the war as the workers and donators to this great service do not come from any clique or group. It is an all-out effort of the united communities who give their time, money and food for its successful continuation.
Telegraph Editorial | Dec. 20, 1943
66 CANTEEN: AS IT HAPPENED
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