BEATRICE – Work ethic is the driver for homesteading and achieving dreams. That’s how a nearly 50-year resident of Alaska sees it, who started as a logging crew member and now stars in a Discovery Channel television series.


Marty Raney visited Beatrice Saturday to put on a presentation at the Homestead National Historical Park….but before that….riding in the Homestead Days parade….including the snap decision to bail out.


Raney stars in “Homestead Rescue”, which recently completed its eleventh season. For Raney, it was his first parade, and first trip to Nebraska….where he says he’s gained a new appreciation for the inspiration of the Homestead Act and making one’s own way. His homestead in Alaska is in a remote are.


Raney lives in the same state as the last person to formally secure a homestead under the Homestead Act of 1862….Kenneth Deardorff. Raney recently met Deardorff….and at the Homestead’s Heritage Center…. saw the tractor that Deardorff once used on his homestead.


Daniel Freeman and Ken Deardorff shared the same dream, which as Raney sees it….is powerful.


As for “Homestead Rescue”, Raney says it stands a good chance of seeing its 12th season on the Discovery Channel.  The national park west of Beatrice was holding presentations throughout the weekend along with craft and prairie demonstrations, during Homestead Days.


(See and hear the story about Marty Raney, above)