Alfredisms

The Polk Progress was a Nebraska treasure that ceased publication in late 1989 after 82 years as a weekly newspaper. From 1955 until its last issue, the editor and publisher was the late Norris Alfred. In its last few months, the Progress had 900 subscribers in 45 states. Alfred was a remarkable Nebraskan with an uncanny eye for connecting the present with the future. Prairie Fire has collaborated with the Alfred family, the University of Nebraska School of Journalism and the Nebraska State Historical Society to locate and archive many of Norris's writings. We are capitalizing on our good fortune to present many of the Norris Alfred writings to our readership. We believe that his observations are as fresh and relevant to today's world as they were when originally written.

On Oct. 23, 2009, Norris W. Alfred was inducted into the Nebraska Journalism Hall of Fame. In honor of that occasion, Prairie Fire asked a long-time friend and mentor to write a personal remembrance of their friendship. Alton M. “Mook” Wilhelms sent the text that follows.

By Alton M. Wilhelms

Norris Alfred? Yeah, I knew Norris Alfred. We became acquainted in the fall of 1951.

This was the first week the Polk Progress was to be totally done at the office in Polk, as it had previously been printed in the Osceola Record office. I had the first run on the press, and after about six or seven revolutions, the old grasshopper press decided to come to a complete halt. I couldn’t figure out why; neither could a couple of mechanics in town. I was totally stymied, didn’t know which way to turn. My office lady, Lilly Lytle, heard of my complications when her husband came home from downtown. Lilly knew Norris Alfred was in town, home from Hamilton, New York, to visit his elderly parents. She knew Norris had worked at the Progress when he was in high school. She contacted Norris, telling him I had a problem.

About 7 o’clock that evening, in walked Norris Alfred and he asked, “Have a problem? Maybe I can help.” I explained what had happened. He looked under the bed of the press, about three feet off the floor, and said, “I think I know your problem.” A little “snibby” had flipped up, caught a hook and pulled the press to a complete stop. Don’t ask me to explain it—I can’t. Anyway the press began to roll, and I was back to work.

As soon as the old grasshopper began to roll, Norris walked out the front door, not to return that evening, so I didn’t even get to really meet the guy. Anyway, he bailed me out of one huge problem. Norris, at that time, was working in a large printing plant in Hamilton, New York. A couple of days later, after that week’s Progress had been mailed, Norris came in to the Polk Progress office to visit.

Norris told me about his experiences as a high school student and working in the Progress office. There were times he had to put out the Progress by himself, as the editor of the Progress would go to Grand Island, supposedly on business, and would get so schnockered (is there such a word?) he would forget, or was unable to get back to Polk. That left Norris to put out the paper by himself.

Norris admitted his love for painting. He was wondering if I could use part-time help, as he wanted to spend more time painting. I didn’t know if I would be able to afford him, until he told me he would work dirt cheap. We came to an agreement. He would work two or three days a week for me, and he would spend the rest of the week painting. He did a lot of landscape painting. He asked for one consideration, that being he could take off for two weeks every fall to attend the Beloit School of Art. Every fall, painters would assemble in Beloit and sell their paintings. This was in Beloit, Wis.

He was totally familiar with all the equipment in the Progress office except for the linotype, which I taught him.

We became great friends, as we liked a lot of the same things. We played a lot of pitch, drank a few beers, and every Tuesday evening we had to have enough work done so that we could get to my house by 6 o’clock so that we could watch Davy Crockett with son Greg. My wife, Ardis, always planned for Norris to have Tuesday dinner with us.

After working together for about four years, I could tell Norris was taking a big liking to the Progress. I was beginning to think about moving to a larger operation. So we went newspaper shopping together. We visited three shops, and out of the blue came a call from the Stromsburg Headlight editor asking if I would be interested in buying. I bought The Headlight, and Norris bought the Progress. And from Aug. 1, 1955, until 1989, Norris made the Polk Progress famous with his strong Democrat leanings and his “Polking Around” personal column.

Norris had a bit too much to do by himself so he hired a young lady, Barbara.

Barbara later was married and then became a mother, and Norris helped raise the child when in a basket, then in the playpen, and then came a second baby boy. Norris played the part of grandpa better than most grandpas. He spent a lot of time with the boys, and Barbara became quite proficient in the Progress office. She could operate the linotype, run the Babcock newspaper press, feed the job presses and make up ads. She was with Norris until that last issue in 1989.

Norris was intelligent. He had a great vocabulary and he knew how to use the impressive words. His most fun, while writing, seemed to come when he could expound upon the merits of the Democratic Party. And how he could tear into the likes of Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon or any senator who was Republican.

Yes, I knew Norris Alfred. I believe I knew him very well, and I also believe he was the perfect choice to be inducted into the Nebraska Newspaper Hall of Fame.

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