Garden county schools have taken prizes on exhibits at the State Fair at Lincoln. In 1918 the rural schools of districts 40 and 56 won first prize on drawing and district 40 on penmanship.

In 1919 Oshkosh won first in the four best drawing cards, district 56. district 19 sent a collection of work that took' first prize. A rural school took second prize on two drawings. Oshkosh took third on booklets on Nebraska and Geography.

Churches

The first church in the county was an organization on the sputh table, eleven miles southwest of Lewellen near where the Day church now stands. It was a Methodist church organized in 1887 by Dennis Clary, W. H. Gilliard and Chris McCormick, Sr. Mr. Clary had been in the ministry for thirty years. The building, which has now fallen, was of sod, with a small cemetery in connection with it, which is still there. When the frame building was built, it was put up two miles southeast and is now called Day church.

The first Easter service was held in M. P. Clary's house before the completion of the church. Mrs. Homer Spillman was at this service. She heard there was to be one but didn't know just where. She put the children into the wagon and drove ten miles across the prairie to reach it. A kind Providence led her to Mr.

Clary's house in time for the service. Mr. Ruckman was the pastor in charge.

The first church in Lewellen was a Methodist church built in 1S99. Rev-. Coslet, Eggers, and Bollan preached in the school house before the church was built. Rev. Elmer Keller was the first pastor to preach in the new church. It naturally was a small organization at first. The churches of Lewellen and Oshkosh hired a pastor together for a number of years.