Logan County Historical Society to Feature Pilots, Daredevils and Aces March 9

Sterling’s early aviation pioneers will take center stage when the Logan County Historical Society hosts “Pilots, Daredevils, and Aces,” a public program presented by Zachery Pomeroy of the Overland Trail Museum at 7:00 p.m. Monday, March 9, 2026, in the Fellowship Hall of Christ United Methodist Church, 104 South Fourth Street. The program title and time are listed in the Society’s announcement for the March meeting.

Attendees are asked to follow the Journal-Advocate’s entry directions: “Please park in the parking lot to the west of the building and enter through the double doors on the west side.” The Overland Trail Museum has previously exhibited items tied to the Crosson family — a flight cap belonging to Marvel W. Crosson and a photograph of Joel and Marvel Crosson were on display at the museum’s History Café on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024, according to the Journal-Advocate photo caption credited to Callie Jones.

Program materials list four explicit topics for the March 9 presentation: barnstorming at the Logan County Fair when the fairgrounds occupied the site now known as Broadway Plaza / Fair Shopping Center; the career and book by Frederick Libby, author of Horses Don’t Fly; the lives of sibling fliers Joe and Marvel Crosson, including their family moves from Nebraska to Merino to Sterling and later to San Diego where they flew at Dutch Flats Flying Field; and the local legacy reflected in Sterling’s airport, which is named Crosson Field after Joe and Marvel.

The event announcement includes a naming discrepancy in source material: the program copy refers to “Joe and Marvel Crosson, brother and sister,” while a museum photo caption lists “Joel and Marvel Crosson.” Organizers and museum holdings identify Marvel W. Crosson by middle initial in the Sept. 25, 2024 display caption, and the Crosson family migration path is cited consistently as Nebraska to Merino to Sterling to San Diego in the event notes.

The Journal-Advocate’s e-edition text also contains a typographical year error listing the meeting as Monday, March 9, 2006; the scheduling brief and the Historical Society’s announcement reconcile the intended year as 2026 for the upcoming program. The Journal-Advocate urged local outreach in its notice: “Zach’s program sounds most interesting. Please invite your friends, neighbors, relatives, or anyone you think would like to hear about the early history of aviation in Logan County.”

“Pilots, Daredevils, and Aces” is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. in Fellowship Hall at Christ United Methodist Church, 104 South Fourth Street, Sterling, with Zachery Pomeroy of the Overland Trail Museum presenting material drawn from museum collections and local archives; photo credit on related museum material remains Callie Jones / Journal-Advocate and an additional courtesy photo credit for Bill Benson appears in the e-edition excerpt.