Former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne and his wife Nancy (second and third from left) were photographed with Sun Lakers Bill (far left) and Mary Fitzke (far right) during the annual Nebraska State Dinner February 28.
Gary Vacin
More than 300 Nebraskans turned out for the annual Nebraska State Dinner February 28 at the Oakwood Country Club to hear guest speaker Tom Osborne, former University of Nebraska football coach. This was the largest turnout for the event in many years.
Osborne spoke for about a half hour, describing his years as an assistant and then head coach at Nebraska, his three terms as Representative from the Nebraska Third Congressional District and the development of his successful Nebraska TeamMates Mentoring Program.
He entertained the audience with several jokes, including this one: “My grandchild asked me to act like a frog, so I said croak, croak.” Then the grandchild told his mother, “We’re going to Disneyland.” That puzzled me, and I asked what was going on. The grandchild answered, “Mommy told me we were going to Disneyland when grandfather croaked.”
Attendees enjoyed a delicious meal, conversation, music and dancing to the popular artist Thaddeus Rose. A number of Cornhusker related items were won by lucky recipients. M. J. Parriott walked off with the grand prize, a 55-inch flat screen LCD high-definition TV set. The silent auction featured several golf packages and autographed footballs.
Planning committee for the event included chairpersons Gordon and Bobbie Burns, Rowin and Paula Floth, Lloyd and Linda Fish, Clint and Amy Skinner, Gary and Dorothy Vacin, Jeanne Vaughn, Dick and Rita Vaughn, Ormal, Margaret Saathoff and Jayne Vipond.
For those unable to attend, mark your calendars for next year’s event scheduled for February 27, 2016 at the Sun Lakes Country Club.