This weekend will likely be the busiest in the history of the Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice. Sunday marks the 150th anniversary of its namesake, the Homestead Act of 1862.

The actual document, signed by President Lincoln, is on loan and on display. Monument superintendent Mark Engler says special events are planned on Sunday that will feature homesteading descendants from several states.

Engler says, “The majority of all the homestead states are going to be represented with volunteers traveling here to Nebraska and to Beatrice and they’ll be joining us and representing their states by carrying flags from their state.”

A forum at 4 PM on Sunday in the monument’s education center will include Nebraska U-S Senator Mike Johanns as a panelist. Johanns is the former Secretary of the U-S Department of Agriculture and Engler says he’ll speak about that federal agency.

“Interestingly, USDA was established 150 years ago on May 15th so the history of the USDA and homesteading are very close,” Engler says. “Also, within that time frame, the Morrill Act was signed, the law establishing our land grant universities.”

At 6 PM on Sunday, special presentations will be given at the Heritage Center, marking the Homestead Act’s 150th anniversary, followed by a concert given by the United States Air Force Brass in Blue from Offutt Air Force Base.

The evening will conclude with a unique laser light show around the theme of homesteading. Because of the number of people expected to attend, Engler says there will be parking at the Gage County Fairgrounds and visitors will be able to ride shuttle buses to the monument. All events are free.

By Doug Kennedy, KWBE, Beatrice

A documentary debuts tonight on Johnny Carson, who was once the king of late night television. Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, in 1925 and his family moved to Norfolk, Nebraska, when he was eight.

Emmy-winning filmmaker Peter Jones worked for 20 years to get permission to do the documentary. Jones says the two-hour film shows Carson at his best — and his worst.

“America, when they see this, may even love Johnny Carson more because they see he is a flawed man, just as everyone is in various ways,” Jones says. “I think they’ll come away feeling, perhaps, a connection to him in a way they didn’t when he was the host of ‘The Tonight Show.’”

Carson hosted the program for three decades, from 1962 to 1992, and he died in 2005.

The documentary includes interviews with 45 individuals and family home movies of Carson’s childhood. Jones says it explores the life, career, complexities and contradictions that were Johnny Carson.

Jones first proposed the idea to Carson more than 20 years ago and wrote to him every year, asking for an on-film interview. He says every year he got a letter or call from Carson’s assistant, denying his request.

“In 2003, I wrote my annual letter and received a call at my office from Johnny Carson,” Jones says. “He said, ‘I admire your persistence and style but I’m not going to do anything because I’m going to let the work speak for itself.”

Jones says he was finally able to convince the Carson family that Johnny would be forgotten if something was not done to preserve his memory.

The documentary, “American Masters – Johnny Carson: King of Late Night,” can be seen tonight at 8 on P-B-S.

By Jim Curry, WJAG, Norfork