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Exira Red Hat Firecrackers on Safari
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| Bob Van Horne with one the stuffed animals at his home. Photo by Maxine Christensen |
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By Maxine Christensen
Cleo Wiscus and Noreen Leigan, hostesses for the Exira Red Hat Firecrackers entertainment for the month of November took them on a safari trip on Sunday, Nov. 4, husbands invited.
The group journeyed to Glidden (sorry, no elephants, just cars) for brunch at the Top Hat Cafe. Those making the trip were were Cleo Wiscus, Charlotte Krogh, Maxine Christensen, Erma Nelson, Elaine Rasmussen, Mary Ann Huegerich, Queen Silva Christensen, Beverly Juelsgaard and husband Ron, Evelyn Nelson and husband Roger, and Bertha Schroeter and husband Darrell. The group sang Happy Birthday to Ron Juelsgaard whose birthday had just passed, and Happy Anniversary to Darrell and Bertha Schroeter who were celebrating 47 years of marriage that day.
Upon entering the Top Hat, and passing three little girls with wide eyes and pointing fingers wondering who the group was, the Red Hats were escorted to a special dining room decorated with pictures of movie stars, old records, old time movie newspaper articles and a top hat on an old large record player. The brunch consisted of chicken, fish, shrimp, barbecued ribs, potatoes and gravy, green beans, a large assortment of salads, cinnamon rolls and biscuits. The dinner was not spoiled by the men who made fun of the large plates of food the Red Hat ladies were enjoying.
A short business meeting was held before eating. The teapot for October was at the home of Charlotte Krogh who had as a guest, Mary Ann Huegerich who spent the afternoon visiting and enjoying coffee. Huegerich will be the keeper of the teapot for December and a name will be drawn for her guest. The December hostesses will be Huegerich and Darlene Hansen. Friday, Dec. 7, the Christmas party will be at the home of Queen Silva with help from her daughter Sandra Christensen. Guests may come anytime after five with supper at 6 p.m. and a white elephant gift exchange. Beverly Juelsgaard will decide how to handle the white elephant. Elaine Rasmussen offered to bring appetizers and Cleo Wiscus will bring the wine.
After dinner the group drove to the country home of Bob and Mary Van Horne southeast of Glidden who are big game hunters and had well over 100 trophies to show. Van Home, 81, is a former vice president of the bank, has liked to hunt from the time he was a small boy. He prefers to hunt big game like that found in Africa, Alaska, and Canada. He said that to hunt in Africa requires no license, but Alaska and Canada require a license.
Upon entering their home, a quick look into the library, shows two large black bears reading newspapers. He remarks that he shot the big one and his wife shot the smaller bear. Going downstairs in the hallway, is a brown bear, standing on four feet with a small hat on its head, going further into the next room, the first thing that catches your eye is the large alligator on the floor. Overhead on ceiling beams several monkeys play.
The trophy room proved to be too small, so the Van Horn’s built on a large log building and connected it to the house. Looking at the alligator he explained that when preparing to shoot, you must aim for the brain as that will kill it instantly - shooting it in the heart is not an instant kill. Alligators have broadly rounded snouts (crocodilos have pointed snouts).
Looking ahead to a brown bear he explained that this one evidently had been in a fight as both ears were gone and the hide was a little rough. The bear, with eyes which took directly at you, has its mouth open and Van Horn stated that the taxidermist wanted to put in better teeth, but Van Horn wanted the original teeth which did show some cavities.
A leopard hangs from a tree and has a small fawn in its mouth.
A 20 foot tall giraffe has a special place. The ostrich standing nearby lays the largest egg laid by any animal, deposits it in the sand and it is incubated by the heat of the sun - it is a flightless bird.
The bighorn sheep are a mountain sheep stands about three feet high at the shoulder. Its horns are curved and spiraled back and outward.
To the back of the large room stands a 20 foot high elephant which had weighed almost nine tons. Van Horn had stools made from an elephant leg with the cushion on top from a zebra. Foot stools are made he same way except from the elephants foot.
He stated that he preferred to shoot the really large animals, and each fall, after a hard freeze, the animals (which are on roller stands) are moved out, inspected for any bugs that might have gotten in, and the floors are vacuumed.
When asked how he could get these large animals all the way from Africa, he explained that they are skinned and the insides removed, then sometimes they are either salt-dry or freeze-dried before sending the skin to a tannery. After they are returned a form is chosen that the skin will be wrapped around. Sometimes the animals form is sculpted and then cast in foam, trying to make the animal look as natural as possible. The glass eyes are put in with individual veins and sculpts the animal with a sense of realism. With deer, there is a lot of muscle detail to create its strong neck and shoulders. Finishing a large animal can sometimes take several months. Van Horn’s animals are sent to a taxidermist in Montana.
After viewing the many, many, animals, the group went upstairs where they spotted a plaque which read “A hunter lives here with his best trophy - my wife!”
Cleo Wiscus and Noreen Leigan, hostesses for the Exira Red Hat Firecrackers entertainment for the month of November took them on a safari trip on Sunday, Nov. 4, husbands invited.
The group journeyed to Glidden (sorry, no elephants, just cars) for brunch at the Top Hat Cafe. Those making the trip were were Cleo Wiscus, Charlotte Krogh, Maxine Christensen, Erma Nelson, Elaine Rasmussen, Mary Ann Huegerich, Queen Silva Christensen, Beverly Juelsgaard and husband Ron, Evelyn Nelson and husband Roger, and Bertha Schroeter and husband Darrell. The group sang Happy Birthday to Ron Juelsgaard whose birthday had just passed, and Happy Anniversary to Darrell and Bertha Schroeter who were celebrating 47 years of marriage that day.
Upon entering the Top Hat, and passing three little girls with wide eyes and pointing fingers wondering who the group was, the Red Hats were escorted to a special dining room decorated with pictures of movie stars, old records, old time movie newspaper articles and a top hat on an old large record player. The brunch consisted of chicken, fish, shrimp, barbecued ribs, potatoes and gravy, green beans, a large assortment of salads, cinnamon rolls and biscuits. The dinner was not spoiled by the men who made fun of the large plates of food the Red Hat ladies were enjoying.
A short business meeting was held before eating. The teapot for October was at the home of Charlotte Krogh who had as a guest, Mary Ann Huegerich who spent the afternoon visiting and enjoying coffee. Huegerich will be the keeper of the teapot for December and a name will be drawn for her guest. The December hostesses will be Huegerich and Darlene Hansen. Friday, Dec. 7, the Christmas party will be at the home of Queen Silva with help from her daughter Sandra Christensen. Guests may come anytime after five with supper at 6 p.m. and a white elephant gift exchange. Beverly Juelsgaard will decide how to handle the white elephant. Elaine Rasmussen offered to bring appetizers and Cleo Wiscus will bring the wine.
After dinner the group drove to the country home of Bob and Mary Van Horne southeast of Glidden who are big game hunters and had well over 100 trophies to show. Van Home, 81, is a former vice president of the bank, has liked to hunt from the time he was a small boy. He prefers to hunt big game like that found in Africa, Alaska, and Canada. He said that to hunt in Africa requires no license, but Alaska and Canada require a license.
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The trophy room proved to be too small, so the Van Horn’s built on a large log building and connected it to the house. Looking at the alligator he explained that when preparing to shoot, you must aim for the brain as that will kill it instantly - shooting it in the heart is not an instant kill. Alligators have broadly rounded snouts (crocodilos have pointed snouts).
Looking ahead to a brown bear he explained that this one evidently had been in a fight as both ears were gone and the hide was a little rough. The bear, with eyes which took directly at you, has its mouth open and Van Horn stated that the taxidermist wanted to put in better teeth, but Van Horn wanted the original teeth which did show some cavities.
A leopard hangs from a tree and has a small fawn in its mouth.
A 20 foot tall giraffe has a special place. The ostrich standing nearby lays the largest egg laid by any animal, deposits it in the sand and it is incubated by the heat of the sun - it is a flightless bird.
The bighorn sheep are a mountain sheep stands about three feet high at the shoulder. Its horns are curved and spiraled back and outward.
To the back of the large room stands a 20 foot high elephant which had weighed almost nine tons. Van Horn had stools made from an elephant leg with the cushion on top from a zebra. Foot stools are made he same way except from the elephants foot.
He stated that he preferred to shoot the really large animals, and each fall, after a hard freeze, the animals (which are on roller stands) are moved out, inspected for any bugs that might have gotten in, and the floors are vacuumed.
When asked how he could get these large animals all the way from Africa, he explained that they are skinned and the insides removed, then sometimes they are either salt-dry or freeze-dried before sending the skin to a tannery. After they are returned a form is chosen that the skin will be wrapped around. Sometimes the animals form is sculpted and then cast in foam, trying to make the animal look as natural as possible. The glass eyes are put in with individual veins and sculpts the animal with a sense of realism. With deer, there is a lot of muscle detail to create its strong neck and shoulders. Finishing a large animal can sometimes take several months. Van Horn’s animals are sent to a taxidermist in Montana.
After viewing the many, many, animals, the group went upstairs where they spotted a plaque which read “A hunter lives here with his best trophy - my wife!”
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