One day soon after Gary returned to his hometown of Axtell, Nebraska after the 1966 World Shooting Championship in Cairo, he went pheasant hunting west of his boyhood home. Apparently, so the story goes, Gary flushed a rooster pheasant, shouldered his shotgun, and MISSED. His father Roy had lots of fun with this story about the World Champion missing a shot at a pheasant; humility was a desired family trait. So the story was circulated around Gary’s small hometown and eventually made a mention in an Omaha World Herald article about Gary.
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| The Anderson farm in 1954. Today Gary and Ruth Ann own the farm. |
Gary's father was picking corn with Maurice Knutson (who later farmed our farm) and neighbor Les Carlson in October, 1968 when he was informed that Gary had just won his second Olympic gold medal. Roy did not take time to celebrate until after all the corn harvest work was done for the day. Getting the day’s work done always came before the fun stuff.
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Maurice Knutson and Les Carlson
Photo permission: Roberta Knutson |
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| Gary as a toddler with his dad |
Gary's stepmother Ruby used an old fashioned method for cleaning greasy, dirty work overalls. She soaked them in kerosene in the laundry room washer and had done this for years without incident. On the day Gary won his second gold medal, Roy was in the field, and Ruby had just put a load of overalls in the washer with some kerosene. Then the phone started ringing with the news of Gary's victory. Neighbors were calling or coming over after they heard the news and Ruby totally forgot about the clothes. We do not know what ignited the kerosene, but suddenly during all this commotion there was a big explosion that blew out most of the windows in the main story of the two-story home. Fortunately, there were no injuries. This story, too, was mentioned in the Omaha World Herald.
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Gary's boyhood home
Axtell, NE |
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