Brainard, Nebraska

The sign on the highway reads Welcome to Brainard, home of Lyle Talbot and District Champions of numerous events. Yet, there are others here far less famous than movie stars but surpassing in greatness and so many more championships won everyday and never spoken of. Welcome to Brainard, where family means friend and friend means family. Welcome to Brainard, where there are always over 350 people standing behind for support in any situation and always someone willing to lend a concerned ear or helping hand.

In spring, the village is alive with budding, purple crocuses and yellow daffodils. The fresh scent of cut, new grass wafts along as residents tend their lawns and gardens. Children walk to school over silvery dewdrops. Farmers set out early to ready their fields for the new crop. Taverns wait with steaming coffee as the businesses open for the day and people meet before work discussing news of anything and everything.
Summer ensues with loud music, sometimes agreeable, sometimes not, echoing from the swimming pool. Rambunctious splashing, cautionary whistles, and laughter float from within the fence covered in bright colored beach towels.

Ushered in with autumn comes brilliant crimsons, emeralds, and golds from the Lindens to the Spruces. Their branches dance on the melody of the changing season. Crunchy leaves snap beneath the tread of neighborhood walkers and trick-or-treaters as they eerily jump from house to house to grab popcorn balls and candy bars.

A foggy winter’s morning cuts crisp frost against tidy scooped sidewalks. Snow blowers shoot fluffy diamonds against the cold, blue sky. The sound of scraping metal against cement reverberates as people dig and snowballs fly. Handsome snowmen wave friendly greetings with their spindly arms. Icy, giant snow forts protectively shelter tiny solders uniformed in bulky coats and warm, colorful mittens. Their slick, colored plastic sleds sail down steep embankments as they race to protect Brainard’s masses from imagined villains.

The sun arises golden to the east of tidy rows of houses. Its rays reflect brilliant against the silver painted water tower shadowed only to the north by the remarkable height of the Catholic Church steeple and the solitary echo of the bell from the Methodist Church. The imposing Co-op elevator stands guard to the southeast. Sturdy, aged tree branches protectively arch the width of Madison Street. Leafy foliage elegantly shelters children as they dance and play and friends and neighbors as they visit over fences. Fragrant Catalpa’s and Evergreens surround the City’s parks while holding pleasant memories of festive family reunions and musical, marching band concerts.

With the sun overhead, the noon whistle sounds its lunchtime alarm. On a warm day residents are sometimes caught snoozing in the comfort of their backyards under the shade trees while, under soft breezes, clean laundry dangles from clotheslines.

As the sun sets violet and scarlet against the horizon, commuters return from out of town work. Businesses prepare to close for the day always willing to hold the door for any latecomer needing to buy a gallon of milk, a book of stamps, or a rubber washer for a leaky pipe. Children retreat for supper, bath, and bed. Bright breasted robins and enormous, gray Herons fly to their roosts as Swallowtails precariously dive for mosquitoes. Warm light cuts through the dusk from windows of the houses and porch lights beckon cheery receptions.

So, Welcome to Brainard! Welcome to our friendly, little town! Welcome to our life where little changes, yet little changes make a difference.

Annette S

Submitted: Sunday 1st February 2004, 10:36 PM

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