By Beverly Clinkingbeard

We will probably remember 2026 as being the year of a hot summer. Recently, the weatherman on television news compared our summer temperature readings with those of the hottest summer on record, 1936. There was also a drought in 1936 – the Dust Bowl era.

Another hot summer was 1954. One summer day, the thermometer soared to 118 degrees. Rain was scarce that year, too. For folks who remember, many households dealt with the crippling disease of polio and a flu-like symptom that mimicked polio. It temporarily closed the movie theaters, swimming pools, and other gatherings, not unlike our nation’s Covid 19 experience. Hospitals did not have the cooling units of today and the sick suffered from the heat, especially those dependent upon the iron lung for breath.

In 1961, an oral polio vaccine was available on distribution days and places. People politely stood in long lines waiting for their turn for a “sugar cube of cure.” Just a drop of vaccine on a sugar cube and the demon of polio was vanquished. It was free and fear removed. As a young mother patiently standing in line with a preschooler beside me and a baby in my arms, it was a relief to receive a preventative. Not only was one terribly ill with a fever and severe headaches, there was paralysis.

Those that suffered polio before availability of the vaccine are becoming fewer as age takes its toll. The probability of a former polio patient developing Post-Polio Syndrome is common. The syndrome symptoms are much the same as experienced when they were ill. Many, having conquered the ability to walk and live a normal life after polio, now find they are dependent on walking assists or a wheelchair they once tossed aside.

Following WWII, vaccines became available for Smallpox, Diphtheria, Cholera, Scarlet Fever and Whooping Cough. These were diseases that physically scarred children or caused death. Older areas of a cemetery have many children’s graves. They are often unmarked or the stone covered with soil and grass. Compare the death dates to news clippings of the era and a common pattern was a contagious disease. It would have been difficult to help a neighbor suffering illness or grieving the loss of a loved one, without contracting the disease.

When vaccines became avail-able, the North Star neighborhood mothers formed a car train and motored to College Springs, Iowa. Employing a large syringe, Dr. Miller administered the pre-ventive vaccine. The group departed having shed a few tears and suffering sore arms, but with confidence they would be spared death by the dread diseases of yesterday. The last case of diphtheria was reported in 1997. Prior to the development of a vaccine, 15,000 children died annually.

The resurgence of measles is again in the news. Those ex-periencing illness are unvaccinated. Today, there has developed a debate of “to vac” or “no vac.” This writer respects a parent’s right to parent, but a few years ago, measles, mumps and chicken pox were all common contagious childhood diseases. The diseases are often untreated in neighboring countries, meaning they are still available to unknowingly accept, and unless vaccinated, experience illness.

The summer of 1954 may have been the summer this writer suffered through two-week measles and chicken pox. The illnesses are marked with fever, vomiting, and itching. For mumps it is fever, swollen glands and sore throat. By 1954, the Rural Electrification Association had delivered power to rural areas, meaning having an electrical fan was possible. Alas, two fans would have been extravagant and the small fan deemed extravagant wasn’t in the darkened bedroom of the measles sufferer. That hot summer also sprouted the advent of air conditioners hanging out a window. From then on, indoor climate control quickly became a necessity in commercial buildings and homes.

Another contagious disease that continues to appear is Tuberculosis. As yet, there is not a preventative vaccine, but there is medication to hasten recovery. In Atchison County, we are fortunate to have public access and a proactive program for disease prevention and health care at the Atchison County Health Department. They are located at the west end of Main Street across from the bank in Tarkio. They offer school immunizations, lab services, testing for certain ailments, cessation of smoking and many others, plus freebies that include helmets, coats and cribs. Payment is based on situations and income. The administrator, Julie Livengood, and crew are there to help (660-736-4121). Your confidentiality is respected.

Meanwhile, stay cool, healthy, keep the faith, and sharing the motto of the late Queen, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”  As we might say in NWMO, “Winter will be here ’afore we know it.”

’Til next time…