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Oct. 14, 2009
HARTINGTON — Steffen Drug is celebrating 10 years of service.
Festivities were held at Steffen Drug from Oct. 5-9 with prizes, giveaways and other drawings along with freshly popped bags of popcorn.
Matt and Brenda Steffen decided to celebrate by showing their customers how much they appreciate their business.
“We had a drawing for 10 $100 instore certificates and 20 percent off on over the counter sales,” Matt said.
The building which houses Steffen Drug has always been used as a pharmacy, Matt Steffen said.
The building was built by J.G.
Beste.
Two brothers opened up the first pharmacy, which was named the Walz and Walz Drug Store.
Alex Schulte was the next owner to operate a drug store in the building.
His two sons, Joe and Alex Schulte ran Schulte Drug at the location starting in 1941. Alex later died, but Joe ran it by himself until 1999, when Steffens purchased the business.
A framed black and white photo which hangs on the wall in Steffen Drug gives you a glimpse of what the inside of the drug store looked like approximately 80 years ago.
“We think it was taken in the 1920s or 30s,” said Matt. “The soda fountain which is shown in the picture was taken out sometime around 1976.”
The photo also shows wooden shelves and a counter unit along one wall.
After purchasing the store, the Steffens found the antique soda fountain and the shelving unit stored on the second floor of the building, along with a large number of old pharmacy bottles in the basement.
Matt and Brenda had the shelving and counter unit restored and it now occupies part of the south wall on the main floor of Steffen Drug.
Matt graduated from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.
His first job took him to a drug store in Stromsburg. Matt’s next job was in Laurel at The Drug Store.
The Steffens had considered buying The Drug Store in Laurel when it came up for sale.
Before making the purchase Matt called Joe Schulte at his hometown drug store in Hartington and asked him if he would consider selling.
“Joe told me he was ready to sell,” Matt said.
The Steffens purchased the business, completed a remodeling project and opened Steffen Drug in June 1999.
Oct. 15, 2014
WAYNE — Hartington native Tom Becker was honored during the recent re-dedication ceremony held at the Wayne Municipal Airport.
Gov. Dave Heineman presented Nebraska’s “Admiral Award” to Becker and thanked him for all of the hard work and effort he put into restoring the airport after an EF4 tornado ripped through the east edge of Wayne and leveled the facility.
The award recognizes individuals who go above and beyond to help the citizens of Nebraska, according to Heineman.
Community and business leaders gathered for the re-dedication ceremony at the Wayne Municipal Airport Oct. 3, the day before the one-year anniversary of the tornado that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to the terminal, hangars and several planes.
