By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

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Lane Hickenbottom Grand Island Veterans Home member and veteran Mark eLewis dances the Charlston with YWCA ³flapper girls² and Vets Home staff members Thursday during a Roaring ¹20s party at the home. Lane Hickenbottom Grand Island Veterans Home member Audrey Cushing, 84, applauds the on-stage dancing during the veterans home party Thursday. Click Thumbnails to View

In a dimly lit "speakeasy" club assembled in the facility's auditorium, members snacked on sparkling water "hooch" and Milky Way bars both products of the 1920s as they were entertained by YWCA "flapper girls" dancing the Charleston.

Veterans home employees dressed up in clothing, hats and headpieces to correspond with the times, and there was even a Charles Lindbergh look-alike.

The nightclub was organized as part of the veterans home's diversity activities, which are held throughout the year as part of state requirements.

While some other veterans homes limit their diversity activities to employees, in Grand Island they are often open to workers and members alike, said Jeri Thiede, diversity committee chairwoman.

For 2008, Grand Island's diversity committee decided to focus on educating members and employees about the different decades of the 20th century, beginning with the 1920s.

"The events and conditions each of us experience during our formative years determine who we are and how we see the world," reads the motto of this year's "through the decades" theme.

Some of the home's oldest members grew up in the 1920s, and they interact with employees as young as 16 on a daily basis, Thiede said.

After each activity, members and workers will hopefully have a better understanding of where one another comes from, said Nancy Klimek, recreation director at the veterans home.

In addition to food and entertainment, Thursday's activity included a display of 1920s memorabilia, including history books, authentic clothing, toy cars, photographs and examples of products developed in the 1920s.

Members born in the 1920s and earlier were able to share their memories of growing up during the years before the Great Depression, although few had stories of speakeasies and party dresses.

Dorothy Lanfear, a World War II veteran born in 1923, said she did remember the moonshine, however, as well as the dusty Sandhills.

"The dust blew, and the tumbleweeds blew, and it was hot and dry," Lanfear said. "Oh, I hated that dust, hated it. But we always had a good time. We didn't have toys, but we always had fun."

Well more than 70 people came and went from the hourlong event, and members gave positive feedback to the event's organizers about the club.

Thiede said the next diversity event, which would highlight the 1930s, would likely take place within the next couple of months.

"Obviously, today everybody's having a great time," Thiede said. "It really is a learning thing, and we have fun doing it."