We had a brick school, Victory Hill school, they moved into a farm house 1/4 mile south of it, on the west side of the road, just south of the Keener farm, along Highway 71, somewhere around 1947-1949. I do not recall the exact date, but it was after WWII. That time frame has to be pretty close…

We at the school house area, ranging from about 75-100 students or so, were a close knit community of mostly Volga Germanic families. Of course, not all students were of Volga German heritage, but the majority of us were. Most of the farmers had migrated around 1760 from Frankfort Germany to the Volga region west of Saratov Russia, then starting in the late 1800′s to early 1900′s, out of Russia and to America.

I was a few years older than Bill, but saw him and his brother each day. We used to play marbles back then, in a big bull ring, and I remember him coming up to watch us shoot our “shooters”. Recess time was fun for everyone, especially in the spring time…

Ah yes, those were the good old days, baseball on a dirt diamond, football there and into the beet field across the road, going across the small creek to John Yost’s country store for an cold Coke. Those were the days, I knew them well, and Bill and Dick Brand knew them well too. We were a school family, and everyone knew everyone else. And in May each year, everyone had a huge picnic at the school grounds, and all the parents were there. So we met everyone…

I knew his first wife Janice Johnson too, and knew her family and younger sister.

I attended Scottsbluff High School, along with Bill Brand, and also Scottsbluff Junior College, which Bill also attended. I was drafted back then, and had to work full time while going to college, and keep my grades up, or Uncle Sam was going to take me. So it was kind of stressful for me, trying to get all my school work done, working full time, and yet try to have a night life too. I decided to throttle it back a bit, and it changed my life. Never forgot that change.

So it strikes home to me, more and more each day, as I get older, that we are not all mortal, even though we belive it every day of our lives. I have seen people that I knew from that old country school, disappear more and more each day. Best friends, here today, then gone, just like that. People from Nebraska call me every so often, and say, “did you know that so and so, just died?”. That is how I learned about Bill…

But he is not dead, just living at a different place now. Not sure they have beer there though. Now I am not as much of a alcohol drinking person today, I loved it more when I was single and younger. I prefer to drink a beer mixed with tomato juice, we call them “red beers”, right after a hard days work in the sweltering sun. And one is sufficient for me, as I try to watch my health now. Other than that, I love a chocolate malt, made the old fashioned way, with an egg and pure old fashioned ice cream, lots of real malt powder, and cream too, and some milk too, and touched up with a finish of nutmeg sprinkled on top. Two of us once learned about that nutmeg in an old fashioned malt shop, sharing a malt with two straws, back in 1955.

So my best wishes, and sincere condolences to his family, the current family, and his older family. The next time I lift up a tasteful glass of beer, probably after mowing my field this spring, I will remember Bill Brand, with great fondness…
Jerry Kaufman

Thanks for posting this. We have actually arranged for the starting time to be 1:00PM rather than Noon as posted at 8:09 this morning.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you and Bill’s many other friends from the craft beer community on Sunday.

Cheers,

Steve

http://www.brookstonbeerbulletin.com/beer-memorial-for-bill-brand-march-1/