Bicentennial Babies - Born On July 4, 1976, Four Mills County Residents Share Lifelong Bond

A wave of red, white and blue patriotism is sweeping the nation this week as America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday on the Fourth of July.

There will be concerts, Main Street parades, historical re-enactments, picnics and massive displays of fireworks, but for four Mills County residents, the nation’s semiquincentennial marks a personal milestone.

Jenni (Goos) Rounds, Holly (Robertson) Jackson, Allan Hughes and his twin brother David Hughes were all born on July 4, 1976, the day America celebrated its 200th birthday. Saturday, those Bicentennial babies will turn 50.

“It’s a neat birthday,” Allan said. “I don’t know of a better birthday than the Fourth of July. – the Bicentennial, 1976.”

Being a Bicentennial baby is certainly special in its own right, but the bond Jenni, Holly, Allan and David share is beyond unique. They were all born at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs and delivered by the same doctor within a few hours of each other.

“I feel like the four of us just will always have sort of a bond for sharing this birthday,” Jenni said.

Jenni, the daughter of Linda and the late Neil Goos, is the “oldest” of the four Bicentennial babies, born at 5:43 a.m. Holly, the daughter of Carol Robertson and Duane Robertson, came 13 minutes later at 5:56 a.m.; while Allan and David, the twin sons of Monica and Jim Hughes, came into the world at 9:00 a.m. and 9:03 a.m. respectively.

The doctor was a cattle farmer

Fifty years after the Bicentennial births, the three mothers of those babies can still picture the events of that memorable morning and the doctor who delivered their children  – the late Dr. Duane Warden, an obstetrician and cattle farmer.

“He was quite a character,” Linda recalled. “He always wore cowboy boots and he’d walk in with one pant leg in (boot) and one out.”
Linda and Carol were roommates at the hospital and were both in labor when Dr. Warden came into the room.

“The doctor walked in and said, ‘OK, I’ve got cattle to move. Who wants to go first?’ I raised my hand right away (before Carol),” Linda said with a laugh.

Carol remembers Dr. Warden talking to his nurse throughout the delivery process about wanting to get his cattle inseminated.

“He wanted to get to his cattle,” Carol said. “This is what I heard during my whole delivery and I’m like, ‘Hello, you two. I’m here, could you just get this (delivery) done?’”

Shortly after the births of their daughters, Neil and Duane were in the father’s waiting room when another couple from Glenwood showed up in the maternity ward – Jim and Monica Hughes.

“As the story goes, my dad was going out for a cup of coffee in the hallway and here comes Jim and Monica and he was like, ‘It must be Glenwood Day here,’” Holly said.

The mothers mentioned their children were among 13 babies delivered at Jennie Edmundson on July 4, 1976.

“It was special and it also happened to be my dad’s birthday,” Monica said. “We always had a big family celebration every July 4th for many years.”

Carol and Linda also have lasting memories of the day.

“That was amazing.” Carol said. “It was a very special day and to have it happen then – I felt very honored to be a parent who had a child on the Fourth of July.”

Linda didn’t immediately appreciate the significance of having baby on the Bicentennial.

“The more I thought about it after Jenni was born, I realized how special it was,” Linda said. “And to have four of them born at one time from Glenwood was really cool.”

In 1976, mothers and babies were often kept in the hospital for several days after birth. Monica’s room was just down the hall from Linda and Carol’s, which allowed the three Glenwood mothers to spend time together and nurture a bond between their three families that still exists today.

“Yes, we did know each other (at the time), but we got to know each other more over the years,” Carol said.

Carol laughed thinking back to her own reaction the first time the nurses brought the two baby girls into the room together.

“They brought the babies in and here’s Jenni with a full head of hair and here’s my little cue ball (Holly),” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh man, couldn’t you have some hair?’”

Jenni’s dark head of hair actually became a source of some ongoing humor over the years,

“Jim (Hughes) always used to joke that Allan and I were switched at birth because growing up, David and I looked a lot more alike than those two did,” Jenni said. “Jim would say he actually has two daughters, but the hospital did a switch-a-roo.”

Pros and cons of holiday birthdays

The Bicentennial babies agree being born on the Fourth of July is special, but they also point out there are both pros and cons that come with having your birthday on a holiday.

“It does feel different than I think it does for other people- kind of like having a birthday on Christmas,” Holly said. “Nobody could ever celebrate with you because it was the Fourth of July. Jenni and I always had slumber parties, but we never got to have it on our birthday.”

Jenni has mostly positive memories of her childhood birthdays, but hasn’t forgot the disappointment she felt when she turned 16 in 1992.

“The one I was most angry about is I couldn’t get my driver’s license on my 16th birthday because the DMV wasn’t open,” she said.

On the positive side, there were always family get-togethers on the Fourth of July that usually culminated with fireworks at the end of the day – except at the Goos home.

“Jenni didn’t like the fireworks when she was little,” Linda pointed out, “so we usually just celebrated her birthday. We did have fireworks once in awhile, but Jenni was never fond of them.”

Holly said her younger sisters Danelle and Katie, born in October and June, grew up being envious of their older sister because she always had fireworks on her birthday and they didn’t. Holly noted that people often referred to her as “a firecracker” when they learned she was born on the Fourth Of July.

Sharing a birthday with America

The Hughes twins knew they could count on their mom to have them wearing matching red, white and blue clothing on the Fourth of July and posing for photos waving tiny American flags. They didn’t mind sharing their birthday with the rest of the country - they thought it was fun.

“I think as a twin, you kind of share everything growing up, so yeah, I didn’t know any different,” David said. “I think it’s as fun of a birthday as you can have. There’s always celebrations. Most people are off work that day and there’s a lot of family parties.”

Monica noted that twins are common in the Hughes family. Jim’s dad was a twin and there are five sets within the extended family.

The Bicentennial babies grew up together in Glenwood taking part in a lot of the same activities, like 4-H and sports, but they didn’t all graduate from Glenwood Community High School the same year. Jenni and Holly started school a year before Allan and David, so the girls graduated in 1994 and the twins got their diplomas in 1995.

“I think that was confusing for people when we said we share the same birthday,” Holly said.

Still Living in Mills County

As adults, Jenni, Holly, Allan and David each have carved their own successful path in life.

Jenni is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner for inpatient lung transplant and cystic fibrosis at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha. She and her husband Eric have two children - Allee and Jabe.

After working in county and regional planning and zoning for several  years, Holly now owns and operates her own bakery and coffee shop (Wabash Coffee Co.) in Malvern. She and her husband Jonathan have four children – Lacey, Livia, Maxton and Maverick.

Allan is a real estate agent at  Jim Hughes Real Estate and has his own auction business. He and his wife Korrina have four children - Logan, Haylee, Kelsey and Tessa.

David is also a real estate agent at the family business. He and his wife Jennifer  have four children – Emma, Abby, Lauren and Brad.

All four Bicentennial babies have continued to reside and raise their own families in the  same community they grew up in. They all say it’s a special place.

“It’s interesting they all stayed around here (Mills County),” Monica said. “They all grew up together and those four always had a story to share.”

Allan said he’s appreciative and proud of his hometown.

“Glenwood is a really nice community to grow up in and be raised in,” he said. “We’re fortunate enough to be raised in Glenwood and Mills County and I think we all kind of like it here.”

Jenni and Holly echoed Allan’s thoughts.

“It’s a good place to raise kids and raise a family,” Jenni said.

Holly added, “Mills County is a great place to live.”

Happy to be turning 50

As they near their 50th birthday, the Bicentennial babies said they’re looking forward to their milestone birthday and grateful they’ve reached it together in good health.

“I’m good with it. I’m glad that I’m turning 50,” Allan said. “It’s pretty fortunate that we’re all healthy – we’ve got a lot of good things going.”

Jenni has tried to ignore the fact that she’s turning 50, but the excitement over the nation’s Semiquincentennial has made it impossible.

“We  can’t do that this year with the whole America is turning 250 (thing) going on,” she said.

Joking aside, Jenni said she feels fortunate to reach 50.

“In my line of work, we see a lot of people who don’t make it to 50, so we’re here and we’re healthy,” she said. “We should be celebrating that.”
The four Bicentennial babies are enjoying the fun and added excitement leading up to the Fourth Of July and the nation’s Semiquincentennial this year. They each plan to celebrate the special day with family and friends.

“I think it’s pretty fun how excited everyone is about it. There’s a lot of buzz about it,” David said. “I think that’s one thing that’s neat about the Fourth Of July – the country kind of comes together that day.  Everybody seems to be pretty proud of the country and excited – celebrations and putting differences aside for a day.”

Allan added, “Hopefully, just celebrating freedom. The Fourth Of July has been a great birthday for us.”

As for the moms of Mills County Bicentennial babies, the Fourth of July holiday will most certainly take on some extra meaning this year.

“It’s really special,” Linda said. “It’s hard to believe they’re 50 already. They’ll always be kids to me. I’m glad they’ve all stayed friends – that’s kind of hard to do in this day and age.”