On 24 Mar 2010, at 16:34, Simeon Chavel wrote:
[...]

But now I have a new question: How do I make a different first footnote, one that is not numbered with the rest, has in fact no number at all but maybe an asterisk, and in such a way that there is no visible reference in the body of the text?

If I understand you correctly:
Insert this note in the normal way.
Then place the cursor anywhere in the text of that note or select the note reference in the body.
From the Footnote (green) tag in the Statusbar apply the menu 'Set Custom Note Reference ...'
Enter the custom text for the note's reference. (In this case *).
This will not affect the sequential numbering of the remaining footnotes.
To make * invisible in the body, select it and apply Format:Text Color:White.

Hamid