Hours after Monday's public hearing on the measure, senators killed a bill that would have given Nebraska a new state song.
NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, February 26, 2007 6:00 pm
The state song controversy is over. Hours after Monday’s public hearing on the measure, senators killed a bill that would have given Nebraska a new state song.
The challenger — “I Love Nebraska” by Ginger ten Bensel — is a “great song,” General Affairs Committee Chairman Vickie McDonald said.
“But we are not going to rewrite the history books,” she said after the committee voted unanimously to kill the bill (LB345) that would have made “I Love Nebraska” the state song.
So “Beautiful Nebraska” — selected 40 years ago during a statewide competition — remains.
Committee members responded to the history behind “Beautiful Nebraska,” McDonald said.
It was written by two friends, whose relatives came to Monday’s hearing to defend the work.
Russian immigrant Jim Fras wrote the music and collaborated on the lyrics with Guy G. Miller, a World War II vet and part-time poet, relatives said.
“It is a well-known and respected song,” McDonald said.
But Sen. Carroll Burling of Kenesaw, who sponsored the bill, succeeded in one goal: He got people talking about the state song.
His bill spawned a debate on Web sites and in letters to newspapers and state senators.
Senators spent almost two hours Monday listening to passionate supporters on both sides. And they heard CDs of both songs.
Ten Bensel sang her song, which she wrote while riding her horse near Cambridge and performed in early January at Gov. Dave Heineman’s inaugural ball.
Schoolteacher Julie Baker-Anderson sang “Beautiful Nebraska” on the CD brought by Fras’ sons, Nick and Wally.
Many have had strong opinions on the songs.
Omaha Monroe Middle School students picked the traditional ballad over the country western upstart. The vote was 134 to 39 for “Beautiful Nebraska,” said Omaha Sen. Don Preister.
But Halsey fourth-graders were partial to ten Bensel’s and sent letters to senators expressing how the song made them feel “happy inside” and made them “feel free and want to sing it over and over.”
Senators were also offered a couple of compromises during the hearing.
Several states have more than one song, said ten Bensel: Tennessee has five state songs, for instance, and New Hampshire has nine.
“I Love Nebraska” works well at the emotional and intellectual levels, said Christopher Amundson, owner and publisher of Nebraska Life magazine.
“It gave me goose bumps,” said Marge Lauer of the Kearney Area Ag Producers Alliance. “It talks about the quality of life. It speaks to the values (of Nebraskans).”
But supporters of the traditional song were equally adamant as they urged senators to preserve history.
“‘Beautiful Nebraska’ is a timeless classic ballad that children can sing and can enjoy,” said Kristin Lukow, an elementary school teacher from Holstein. “It is a song that unites and inspires.”
And several supporters of tradition had a traditional adage for senators:
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Reach Nancy Hicks at nhicks@journalstar.com or 473-7250.