Nebraska Life Magazine November-December 2022 by Flagship Publishing

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022

FEATURES

Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge

Rosser “Ole” Herstedt opened a bar shortly after Prohibition ended. He filled it with big game trophies he claimed from his hunting adventures. Today, the bar draws curious customers hungry for Nebraska beef and stories of a long-gone-by era.

Story by Tom Hess

30 Cornhusker Football Photo Essay

It’s been another tough season for the Huskers, but there may be a light at the end of the tunnel walk. One thing’s for sure: Whether the team wins or loses, Husker fans will keep showing up and rooting for a better tomorrow. Go Big Red!

Story by Megan Feeney

Photographs by Aaron Beckman and Jeremy Buss

Nebraska Stocking Stuffers

This Christmas season, don’t all the good girls and boys in your life deserve Nebraska gifts from this nice list? From sweet-and-sour elderberry syrup to a tangy cheese dip, these Nebraska goodies will make anyone’s stocking a delicious discovery.

Story by Megan Feeney

52 Silver Anniversary

In this final installment of Nebraska Life’s celebration of 25 years in print, we highlight the work of Nebraska organizations that have served our state and bettered our world: Boys Town, Crane Trust and Orphan Grain Train. Together we fly higher.

Story by Megan Feeney

Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse & Lounge, pg. 22

Nebraska Stocking Stuffers, pg. 38

Gering pg. 14

Sidney pg. 66

Valentine pg.38

North Platte pg. 66

Paxton pg. 22

Eustis pg. 78

Loomis pg. 38

DEPARTMENTS

Wood River pg. 52

Minden pg. 66

Hartington pg. 38

Norfolk pg. 66

Clarkson pg. 38

Cairo pg. 14

Sutton pg.38

A camel welcomes visitors to Central Nebraska, conservationists help feathered friends at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area, the tale of how a historical Omaha cyclist broke the glass ceiling and news about our 2023 calendar. Plus: Can you tame this wild Nebraska animal trivia by tooth and claw? Answers on page 73.

Stuffing is the quintessential comfort food, and Nebraska Life’s friend, food blogger Danelle McCollum, has it covered … in a casserole dish and heading to a family event.

49 Poetry

Nebraska poets reflect on gratitude and gifts – from sources like family and nature – as we enter winter with happy hearts. Like a snug sweater, these poems warm the senses.

66 Traveler

River City Mixed Choir brings the love to the fa-la-la this holiday season in Omaha, Pioneers Park in Lincoln entices winter walkers and sledding savants, North Platte joggers bedazzle themselves with holiday flair, and holiday light shows shimmer.

76 Naturally Nebraska

Alan J. Bartels writes about the big one that got away – and how it was still one of the best days of fishing in his life.

78 Last Look

A post-turkey-dinner promenade is an attractive option on a brisk Nebraska day. Photographer Don Brockmeier captured what happened when the birds had a similar idea in Eustis.

Omaha pg. 66

Lincoln pg. 66

Bellevue pg. 66

Nebraska City pg. 66

ON OUR COVER No matter what kind of season the Cornhuskers football team is having, the band will play on, and fans will turn out to cheer and hope for a better future. Husker Power isn’t something that loses its glow when the going gets tough.

Above: Joshua Hardin, Danelle McCollum, The Durham Museum

6: Jessica Vettel, Chris Amundson

PHOTOGRAPH BY JEREMY BUSS

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022

Volume 26, Number 6

Publisher & Executive Editor

Chris Amundson

Associate Publisher Angela Amundson

Editor Megan Feeney

Photo Editor Joshua Hardin

Design Madison Dupre, Open Look Creative Team

Advertising Marilyn Koponen

Subscriptions

Lea Kayton, Katie Evans, Janice Sudbeck

Nebraska Life Magazine

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CONTRIBUTE

Send us your letters, stories, photos and story tips by writing to us, visiting NebraskaLife.com/contribute or emailing editor@nebraskalife.com.

News travels fast

IUSED TO VOLUNTEER with one of my dogs, Ernie, a brown miniature poodle, at an assisted living facility in Nebraska City. The facility even listed our visit on the residents’ weekly calendar. It read: “Ernie the Therapy Dog (and friend).”

I didn’t begrudge my pooch’s top billing. Clearly, he was the star. He’d sit quietly as elderly hands caressed his soft curls. Many residents chuckled and spoke to him about the dogs they’d known and loved growing up. Others were quiet and contemplative.

One day on my way to the facility, I stopped at Johnson’s Gas-N-Go on U.S. Highway 75 to fill up. It was Christmastime, and Ernie, wearing jingle bells around each leg, waited in the car while I went in to pay.

The farmers having coffee were in gay spirits and ribbed me, as they do. On my way out, I was still laughing from our exchange and forgot to remove the gas nozzle. I drove off with it still stuck in my car. There was a loud POP as the tube broke. Gas shot up like a geyser. I veered to a stop and parked, leaping out to get help. Ernie tried to follow me (his jingle bells gave him away). Worried that he’d get into the gas I slammed the door to prevent his escape. It caught his paw. He yelped with pain. Now there was gas and blood everywhere.

The farmers rushed out to help with the pump and urged me to speed Ernie to the vet, just 5-minutes’ drive south. By the time I arrived, the vet staff knew why I was there. The farmers had called ahead.

Fortunately, Ernie only suffered a few broken toenails. As anyone who’s cut their pet’s nails and accidentally clipped the quick knows, it looks scarier than it is. As for me, I had to pay for a new gas handle and endure the farmers’ intensified teasing for a good year before someone else did something stupid.

It taught me a few things about Nebraska. One – when you need help, you can count on it, even if you created the mess yourself. Two – news, good or bad, travels fast.

On that second point, we want to be the first to tell our readers some good news. Flagship Publishing is proud to announce it has acquired another magazine, Maui Nō Ka ‘Oi. The Maui magazine is the latest addition to our family of magazines that started with Nebraska Life and now also includes Colorado Life and Utah Life.

We hope all four publications provide the same cozy comfort as a soft brown poodle in your lap – minus the busted toenails. All of Flagship Publishing’s magazines aim to celebrate the people and places that make life in each state special. We hope our Nebraska Life readers might add an extra title to their subscriptions – maybe for vacation ideas. Ernie the Therapy Dog (and friend) would approve.

Megan Feeney Editor editor@nebraskalife.com

Valerie Mosley

MAILBOX

A great man

Thank you for the biography of Clayton Yeutter (“Rhymes with Fighter,” September/October 2022). I attended Agricultural College at the University of Nebraska with Clayton. We had several classes together and were friends.

One afternoon, as I went to Sheep Judging class, Clayton was taking attendance. I told him to count me out as I was going downtown to see a movie. He asked me what was on. I said, “Take Me Out to The Ballgame, with Esther Williams and Ian Johnson,” then took off for the bus stop. Suddenly I heard, “Sinn, wait up.” Clayton had decided to join me, and we had a fun afternoon.

Many years later, when he was secretary of agriculture, I was in Washington, D.C on business and called him. We arranged to meet at his office. We sat in a back room on seats from horse-drawn machinery while reminiscing old times and had a good visit.

He was indeed a great man who always had time for friends.

M. Duane Sinn Terre Haute, Indiana

Road to rockhound

Reading the article “Dawes County Rock Stars” (July/August 2022), I was instantly reminded of my Uncle Harvey. He and my Aunt Elsie owned a ranch just east of Crawford.

They leased some pastureland north of Crawford during the summers to run their cattle. This pastureland had an eroded band of landscape loaded with beautiful agate pieces. My Uncle Harvey, the grizzled old rancher he was, never ceased to be amazed at the “rockhounds” constantly on the hunt for these prized stones.

His favorite story was about how to become an “official rockhound.” He said that you just had to buy a bag of marbles. Every time you found a rock you liked, you dropped a marble. “When you’ve lost all your marbles, you’ve become an official rockhound.”

Lowell Whitney Arvada, Colorado

Daddy-daughter moment

What a thrill to see our daughter Lori Eisenmenger’s picture of her dad, Bill Babel, in his combine with all the harvest pictures in “Nebraska’s Abundant Harvests.”(September/October 2022). Her dad was grinning ear to ear when he saw it.

Our farmers are all hard-working stewards of the land, and it is heartwarming to have them appreciated. I read the magazine from cover to cover every issue.

Mary Ann Babel Humphrey

Trees, please

I admire young Neil’s love of trees (“Grit and the Greater Good,” March/April 2022.)

In 2002, when I retired from teaching in Colorado, I planted 500 trees on a pivot corner northwest of Pleasanton, Nebraska. The locals called me a crazy Coloradoan for planting trees on good corn ground. I wondered then if I’d live long enough to enjoy their shade.

They are 25 to 30 feet tall now. Our five grandkids enjoy them. Keep on planting, Neil – they will grow! I like J. Sterling Morton’s comment, “If you seek my monument, look around.”

Young Neil, keep caring for trees. The reward is shade.

K.C. Colorado

Population 1

I enjoy your magazine and cookbooks – I have all three. They include a lot of favorite dishes.

You should do an article on Monowi, a population of one. Elsie Eiler, a lady in her 80s, opens a coffee hangout daily.

Norma Woodman Shelton

Editor’s note: Thanks for your letter. We have covered Eiler before and have plans to feature her again in an upcoming piece about Highway 20.

Sandhills stories

Thank you for the wonderful story “The Rails, the River and the Road: Sandhills Journey National Scenic Byway, Part One” by Joshua Hardin (September/October 2022).

The sod house in Anselmo was constructed by the citizens of my hometown as part of the 1967 Nebraska Centennial. One can see the carefully structured home that protected so many pioneer families who had traveled by covered wagon from the eastern United States. My late uncle Lloyd Lindly was the head of this project. He was raised in a sod house and knew the details of building them solidly. He knew the prairie grass with its strong root system that held the specially plowed squares that made up the homes.

A second (part of the story) about Victoria State Recreation Area … the park

was a beautiful oasis in the Sandhills to be used for celebrations, picnics, fishing and camping in the summer months. My grandfather Charles Williams was superintendent from 1930 to 1955, so we spent much time at the park. Staying there was like a long summer vacation just 6 miles from our home in Anselmo.

I am 87 now. Your magazine inspires people all over who have lived “The Good Life” to relive some of their best times.

Roger

Lindly Kearney

Talk of the town

I’m very impressed with the writing in Nebraska Life. The photography keeps me grounded in the beauty of Nebraska. You find wonderful topics. I sent a gift subscription to a friend, and my husband was talking it up to someone last week.

Much of your focus is on things outside of Omaha, but the folks who live in the Storz mansion have lovingly restored and improved the historic beauty and now even rent rooms from time to time. One of your recent issues showed the gazebo they donated to Lauritzen Gardens (“13 Architectural Curiosities,” January/February 2022), which prompted the thought.

Ronda Stevens Omaha

Nebraska jokes

I’m sure most of us have heard a Nebraska joke or two. Thankfully, most Nebraskans are good-natured and take these jabs in stride.

What’s the best thing to come out of Nebraska?

I-80

Custer sent his Scouts to see what lay beyond. They returned and said, “We have good news and bad news.”

Custer asked for the bad news first.

“There are 150,000 Natives camped beyond, and we will all be massacred!”

Custer replied, “What could the good news be?”

“At least now we don’t have to ride back through Nebraska!”

These jokes are hilarious to those who stereotype the Midwest as being all flat as a pancake. But we, the enlightened ones, know that Northwest Nebraska, where Custer would have traveled, is hardly such.

To prevent an influx of city slickers and developers, let’s continue to keep this a secret.

Dan Oelrich Colorado Springs

DulyNoted

We regret we inserted a geographical error in the July/August 2022 story, “Why did the armadillo cross the road? To get to Nebraska.” The writer initially wrote that the Lincoln family saw the armadillo on a highway exit ramp near Superior. An edit changed the text from “highway” to “I-80,” which is factually incorrect. We hope no armadillos got lost because of our bad directions.

For our September/October 2022 magazine, a technical issue resulted in some dummy text appearing in a photo caption in the story, “The Rails, the River and the Road: Sandhills National Scenic Byway, Part One.” We had hoped you’d think we were trying out some Latin, but you’re too sharp. In all seriousness, mea culpa.

SEND YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Please send us your letters and emails by Dec. 1, 2022, for possible publication in the January/February 2023 issue. One lucky winner selected at random will receive a free 1-year subscription renewal. This issue’s winner is Roger Lindly of Kearney. Email editor@nebraskalife.com or write by mail to the address at the front of this magazine. Thanks for reading and subscribing!

CEDAR CREEK POTTERY

Featuring the work of Ervin Dixon, a country potter who makes and displays salt-glazed stoneware at his refurbished 1895 Lutheran church near Beatriceworth a day’s drive from any direction.

BY LISA TRUESDALE

Noteworthy news, entertaining nonsense

Get along, little camels

A camel and a pyramid, smack dab in the middle of the Nebraska prairie. Seems odd, until you realize you’re entering the tiny Hall County village of Cairo.

In 1886, when the Grand Island & Wyoming Railroad reached this site about 16 miles northwest of Grand Island, a small town quickly sprang up.

“There were no trees anywhere,” said Sherry Kissler, an area native who vol-

unteers at the Cairo Roots Museum. “I guess people thought it looked like a desert.” So naturally, the folks in charge came up with the most desert-y moniker they could think of for their new “oasis” – they named it “Cairo” after the capital of Egypt, on the edge of the Sahara.

The camel is a horse-sized statue, complete with long eyelashes. The pyramid is a triangular metal welcome sign. Both are popular roadside attractions for travelers along the Sandhills Journey National Sce-

nic Byway. The Middle East theme continues throughout the village, with street names like Mecca, Nile, Suez, Berber and Syria. The town’s tried-and-true motto is “The Oasis of the Prairie.”

Other than that, Nebraska Cairo isn’t much like Egypt Cairo at all. It’s home to only around 800 people, not 10 million. And it’s pronounced “CARE-oh,” not “KY-roh.”

Forget walking like an Egyptian. In this town, it’s walk like a Nebraskan.

Welcome to CARE-oh, not KY-ro, in Central Nebraska, where trees were once nothing but a mirage. Now this camel could snack on leaves.

Alan Bartels

FLAT WATER

Omaha’s first successful woman athlete wasn’t just spinning her wheels

BY EILEEN WIRTH

On the last night of a tense six-day race in 1889, a capacity crowd filled Omaha’s new cycling coliseum to cheer on local sensation Lillie Williams in a national women’s cycling competition. Fans paid 50 cents a ticket – double the usual price – to see the final three hours of the cumulative 18-hour race, which the Omaha Bee proclaimed the most interesting sporting event that Omaha had ever witnessed.

Williams, who was soon dubbed “the Nebraska Cyclone,” did not disappoint the 30,000 spectators who packed the coliseum that week. Not only did she sprint fast enough to make up time lost during a crash on the third night; she set the women’s 18-hour cycling record and won a gold medal. The next year she was named the national women’s cycling champion after winning another six-night race in Omaha. She quit her job in the Omaha Bee’s composing room for a successful career in professional cycling.

Williams was a product of the national cycling boom that began in the 1870s and was Omaha’s first successful woman athlete. She remained a rarity for nearly a century until the federal Title IX legislation opened sports to widespread female participation. Her chosen sport was not an accident. Bicycling gave women so much freedom of movement that suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony said it had “done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.”

Spectators were fascinated by the sight of women in racing costumes of tights with close-fitting jackets or jerseys and colorful sashes and caps. Women’s races were often treated more as spectacles than serious sports, as they sometimes raced against men and even horses and greyhounds. Their sport was controversial because it flouted conventional ideas of female fragility. In 1894 the sports magazine Referee said it robbed competitors of “almost all visible attributes that we commonly associate with

Williams was dubbed “the Nebraska Cyclone” for her speed around the cycling track. She quit her full-time job to become a professional athlete, an extraordinary feat in her time.

womankind,” outraging “true gentlemen.” In the mid-1890s, cycling’s governing body refused to sanction races involving women.

Williams left Omaha after her early races but continued to compete. Eventually, she became a national fencing champion and competed in swimming and motorcycle racing.

After Williams’ groundbreaking success, competitive local sports for women almost disappeared until the 1970s. In 1972, Title IX became the law of the land; access to women’s sports had arrived.

Excerpted from The Women Who Built Omaha, by Eileen Wirth. Bison Books Paperback, 205 pp, $23

Alice Olson Roepke Collection

Counting feathered friends for conservation

BY JOSHUA HARDIN

Vicki Morgan of the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies checks an array of nets at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area near Scottsbluff for a rainbow of temporarily captured American goldfinches, red crossbills, orange-crowned warblers and eastern bluebirds. This sample represents just a few of the colorful species that spread across Nebraska skies.

Before releasing the birds back into the wild, Morgan measures each one and attaches a featherweight numbered band around a leg for observers to record when the animal is seen again. Banding allows

carries many Swedish specialty items including: Swedish Meatballs

- Lutefisk

- Bond-ost

- Lefse

- Knackabrod

Herring

- Ostakaka

Vicki Morgan handles a red crossbill at Wildcat Hills State Recreation Area near Scottsbluff. Her efforts with the Bird Conservancy contribute to understanding of bird populations.

Joshua Hardin

the Conservancy to collect information on bird population sizes in all or a portion of 16 states across western North America to prioritize and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation efforts.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, more than 45 million people nationwide watch birds recreationally, which generates nearly $100 billion in revenue each year. This includes money birders spend on equipment and travel benefiting local communities. Birds also help control pests and disperse seeds, among other benefits to humans.

Data collected by the Conservancy is shared with organizations like the National Audubon Society, whose volunteers track birds annually from Dec. 14 to Jan. 5 during the Christmas Bird Count, a tradition since 1900. Both avian census methods contribute to understanding the health of ecosystems in the Great Plains and beyond. These are programs worth chirping about.

Understanding bird populations helps with the evaluation of conservation efforts. Birds are essential to ecosystems; they help control pests, pollinate plants and disperse seeds.

Joshua Hardin

We invite NL readers to welcome a new year with a new calendar

BY MEGAN FEENEY

From our viewpoint, 2023 is going to be a beautiful year. Editors at Nebraska Life combed through thousands of photographs to fill our 2023 calendar with stun-

ning images of nature, wildlife, agriculture and architecture from throughout the state.

This year’s calendar cover image features Bellevue photographer Ken Smith’s shot of a waterfall at Platte River State Park in Cass County.

Smith adores Nebraska’s wide-open spaces and its old countryside buildings. In another photo for our 2023 calendar, Smith captures a snowy scene of the Elijah Filley Stone Barn – an 1874 limestone masterpiece with a heartwarming story. Filley hired local farmers who’d struggled financially to build the barn so that they could support their families and stay in Gage County.

Each page in our 2023 calendar reflects our state’s beauty and tells the stories of its rich landscapes and lives. We feature work

A limestone barn built in Gage County in 1874 provided work for farmers in need.

by some of our state’s best freelance photographers; in addition to Ken Smith’s photos, the calendar showcases pictures by Jayson Basilio, Jesse Attanasio, Rick Rasmussen, Erik Johnson, Derrald Farnsworth-Livingston, Katy Bodenhamer, Roy Swoboda, Kyle Mock and Francis Whidden.

We loved sharing 2022 with you and look forward to being part of your extraordinary new year. To purchase a calendar, visit nebraskalife.com, or call us at 1-800-777-6159.

Ken Smith

WATER

Nebraskan invention contributed to democratic governance

BY MEGAN FEENEY

Nebraska voters are preparing to exercise their right to vote in the midterm elections – and many will do so by mail. The Cornhusker State is one of the most successful states administering mail-in voting. Three out of four of Nebraska’s registered voters voted in the 2020 election – and, among them, 50 percent voted by early mail-in ballot.

But before Nebraskans could vote from the privacy of their homes, they voted in public, where they also required privacy. One historical device to facilitate that privacy – the Douglas Voting Booth – was invented in Nebraska at the turn of the 20th century.

A woman named Elizabeth Jane Douglas pledged $20,000 to a missionary from

Tibet without the funds to deliver. Then she had a dream with the vision of an elderly, white-bearded man who urged her to create collapsible voting booths.

In the dream, the man said these booths would secure her the fortune she required to meet her promise and to help her family prosper.

She built a prototype and, with her husband, applied for and received a patent in 1906. They began to produce their booths in Beatrice, then Los Angeles and then, in 1912, built a factory in Crete.

The Crete-based Douglas Manufacturing, run by four generations of the

family, was in business for 105 years producing the metal-framed booths with red, white and blue plastic curtains.

Eventually, mail-in voting, electronic voting and plastic voting booths became more popular, and the company closed its operations. But for many years, Douglas Voting Booths witnessed history in the making and contributed to democratic governance.

It all began with a Nebraska woman with moxie who overpromised to a charitable cause, a strange dream, and a family willing to help their matriarch see her vision through.

One Stop Shop FOR ANY OCCASION

Bring this ad in for a free bag of Baker’s Chocolates with purchase. Plants, garden decor, educational toys, and so much more.

NEBRASKA ANIMALS

Challenge your brain with our Nebraska quiz. Questions by

1 What critically endangered subspecies of tiger beetle is found nowhere in the world except (appropriately) the saline wetlands of Lancaster County?

2 In 2021, fishermen in Blair reeled in a 136-pound specimen of what kind of catfish? That’s nearly twice as heavy as the largest ever channel catfish (Nebraska’s state fish).

3 Once completely extirpated, elk gradually returned to Nebraska during the 20th century. It’s becoming increasingly common to refer to elk by what six-letter “w”-word derived from a Native American term meaning “white rump”?

No peeking, answers on page 73.

Nebraska’s beef cows are ruminants, which means that they use specialized organs called the rumen, reticulum, omasum and abomasum to carry out what basic biological process?

5 Formally dubbed Sturnella neglecta because J. J. Audubon thought it was overlooked, what species is the official state bird of not only Nebraska but also Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming?

Jesse Attanasio

YOGESH RAUT

Don Brockmeier

6 Wild deer populate every Nebraska county.

7 Among the canid (dog-like) species that can be found in Nebraska are the swift fox, the red fox, the Great Plains wolf and the coyote.

8 Nebraska is the northernmost state with a native armadillo population, but be wary if you see one in the wild! Armadillos have been known to transmit leprosy to humans.

9 All three bird species that are namesakes of Major League Baseball teams — Baltimore oriole, blue jay and cardinal — breed in forests along Nebraska’s Platte River.

10 Southern flying squirrels have recently been sighted as far north as Lincoln. Like all flying squirrels, they soar through the air by flapping their front legs up and down like wings.

Nebraska’s signature eventoed ungulates include the American bison, the bighorn sheep and the pronghorn. Which of those three is scientifically classified in a different taxonomic family from the other two?

a. pronghorn

b. American bison

c. bighorn sheep

12 A certain Nebraska amphibian takes its name from the shape of the keratinized projections on its hind legs that allow it to dig into sandy soil. What is that animal called?

a. plains spadefoot toad

b. plains heartfoot toad

c. plains clubfoot toad

Which two crane species are native to Nebraska?

a. whooping crane and sandhill crane

b. common crane and whooping crane

c. sandhill crane and common crane

Summer is a great time for spotting butterflies in Nebraska. Two of the most prevalent species, monarch butterflies and viceroy butterflies, both exhibit what coloration?

a. black and orange

b. blue and yellow

c. purple and green

15 Which of the following is NOT the common name of a lizard species native to Nebraska?

a. seven-lined racerunner

b. many-lined skink

c. lesser earless lizard

Pat Schoenfelder

Big smiles, big plates and big stories are on offer at this landmark bar, which features a variety of game trophies from history.

AJ Dahm

PAXTON’S SALOON Taxidermy

A bar in western Nebraska serves local beef with a side of hunting history.

by TOM HESS

AS THE HOUR hand on a North Platte railyard agent’s pocket watch ticked closer to midnight, 29-year-old Rosser “Ole” Herstedt waited in the sooty, freezing darkness. It was Dec. 5, 1933, and Prohibition would end one minute into the next day. A state official broke the seal on a shipment of beer that had arrived by rail. Ole muscled kegs of Budweiser onto a borrowed school truck. Years before, he’d been a star pitcher for his hometown of Paxton in western Nebraska. Now a new future would unfold. For the first time in his adult life, it was legal to buy and sell alcohol in Paxton. And Ole was going to have fun with it.

Ole served his first drinks in Paxton from the back of the truck that very night. Soon after, he set up his bar in a building that his parents owned on North Oak Street. He outfitted it with a handsome walnut bar he’d won in a baseball game years back when organizers couldn’t come up with the $50 they owed him.

Cash sales from his bar, which he later named Ole’s Big Game Lounge, returned to him far more than the $50 baseball winnings might have. The walnut’s warm allure and Ole’s friendly banter made him the money to pursue his other great passion – big game hunting in Africa, India, South America and Siberia.

Today, Tim Holzfaster, the second and only other owner of the bar, serves burgers made with local beef and bison and regales customers with stories about the bar’s colorful founder. Holzfaster bought the place from Ole in 1988 and renamed it Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge. He’s tweaked a few other things too, but the big game trophies Ole collected a half century ago fill the walls, glass cases and dark corners.

Ole died in 1996, and he left behind few written records of his adventures. Framed photographs of the big game he shot include only brief captions. What’s known about Ole’s history is what he told Tim and the few waitstaff then who still serve today.

Of all the animals at Ole’s, Tim makes special mention of the Siberian wolverine awash in the glow of blood-red light in the darkness behind the windowless bar. Tim said Ole told him that the wolverine frightened him more than the much bigger polar bear encased in glass at the entrance.

A COUPLE DRIVING westbound had spotted Ole’s billboard miles before the Paxton exit off I-80. They exited, drove a mile north, parked in front, walked past the polar bear and chose a brighter table by the windows over a darker booth by the wolverine. Ole’s seems to them like a hunter’s museum, with Tim the trustworthy curator. Holzfaster pulls up a

chair and leans into the first-timers’ table, which tilts slightly, and describes for them his childhood in the very place he’s sitting.

Paxton is in Keith County, which borders Colorado and runs on Mountain Time. Drivers arriving from North Platte on U.S. Highway 30 see piles of pipe produced by the town’s biggest employer, Titan Industries. It’s the town that Holzfaster, like Ole before him, loves best.

Like most kids who grew up in Paxton, Holzfaster hung out in a room next to Ole’s bar when it had two snooker tables, four eight-ball tables and adult supervision. It was one of the only places for young people to socialize, outside of school and church. Ole’s mother, Hattie, kept the children in check, yelling at them if they got too wild. She enforced the rules: No smoking, no drinking and no cussing.

Holzfaster would give Hattie a dime and get a cue ball and a brush. The billiard balls clacked. The kids groaned over their misfortunes and laughed at

others, then brushed the tables when the last ball dropped into a pocket. The mood was lighter than it was next door at the bar, where men gathered to drink whisky and beer and smoke cigars and filterless cigarettes. The smoke hung thick in the air.

Ole and his childhood friend and fellow high school athlete Martin “Keg” McCaig held court at the walnut bar, striking up conversation with the hunters, fishers and ranchers who walked in. Ole started drinking Seagram’s V.O. Whisky and Coke at 8 or 9 a.m. and called it a night around 10 p.m.

When Holzfaster attended elementary school, Ole gifted him a Hamm’s Beer sign in 1970 that Holzfaster had admired. He kept it above his bed through high school. As Holzfaster grew into adulthood, he got to know Ole better than just about anyone else in Paxton and earned the man’s trust and affection. Both men were hunters with undying loyalty to their hometown.

A local hunter of ducks, geese and pheasants, Holzfaster has not added his own trophies to Ole’s wildlife collection.

Ole’s history is hung on the wall at the bar he opened after Prohibition ended. An avid big game hunter, he traveled the world in search of trophies. He was a heavy drinker and a smoker who’d regale his customers for hours with tales of his adventures abroad.

Joshua Hardin

Chris Amundson

Current owner Tim Holzfaster grew up spending time in the bar he now runs with rules that honor his grandmother.

Hunters make Ole’s an annual destination. Arden Krugerud of Denver makes a point of dining at Ole’s every year on his way to South Dakota for pheasant hunting. Rather than drive straight through in one day, he and his longtime friends leave Denver in the afternoon, dine on prime rib at Ole’s and spend the night in North Platte. They get a laugh every time over the moose Ole shot. The moose’s name is Henry, the same as a member of Krugerud’s group. And they can’t stop wondering how much Ole spent in current dollars on his international hunting trips. Tim tells Krugerud that Ole spent “every dime he made at the bar on his outdoor adventures.”

As a fellow hunter, Tim keeps in touch with the men. He has their contact info on his computer and phone. Love of hunting tales explains Ole’s display of a broken wooden airplane propeller. Ole’s dinner server Sue McConnell tells the story of the propeller, and so many others she’s heard since 1989, the year she began waiting on tables at Ole’s.

Hunters were aboard the prop-driven plane hunting for coyotes, when one of them shot through the propeller. The plane lost altitude but landed safely near Lake McConaughy. There were no injuries, except to the misfiring hunter’s ego. Ole was not on the plane.

Ole’s fame as a hunter and bar host grew, attracting celebrities from near and far. McConnell remembers serving a meal to actor Robert Duvall, whose autographed picture hangs in the dining area. The actor dined and played pool at Ole’s after the airing of the 1989 TV miniseries Lonesome Dove. Much of the novel on which the miniseries is based takes place in nearby Ogallala.

The bus of NFL Hall of Fame coach John Madden arrived one day, and the coach ordered out bone-in ribeye. Nebraska coach Tom Osborne paid a visit, as did Nebraska politician Bob Kerrey.

Of all the celebrity photos hanging in the restaurant, the one that seems most endearing shows a smiling Ole with the late actress Amanda Blake, who played Miss Kitty in the 1950s TV series Gunsmoke. Blake signed it: “To the best tavern operator this side of Long Branch,” the name of her character’s fictional bar. Most of Ole’s

Nebraska beef is on the menu. The bar’s new owner, Tim Holzfaster, doesn’t hunt big game, but he does hunt ducks, geese and pheasants. Many hunters on their way to enjoy Nebraska’s outdoors stop at Ole’s for a bite. Celebrities, like Robert Duvall, have also visited.

Joshua Hardin

Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse (both)

Sherlyn Edwards

Ole’s Big Game Steakhouse

Joshua Hardin

Ole is gone, but as long as his place with the walnut bar stands he won’t be forgotten.

big game hunting expeditions occurred in the 1960s, but he entertained at the bar for decades longer. The wildlife lured people to his door, but Ole’s good cheer brought them back. No wonder Blake’s encouragement would strike a chord; a Hollywood actress had affirmed him.

Before Holzfaster bought the bar in 1988, his grandmother, Dorothy Meyer, made him promise two things: Emphasize food over booze, and close the doors for Christmas. Holzfaster kept his promise to Grandma Dorothy. Ole’s is open 364 days, and 85 percent of Ole’s sales is food.

The only big game sizzling in the kitchen is the bison burger. That’s preferable to the idea of eating polar bear, and besides, the bison is local and flavorful, as is the restaurant’s popular special, chicken fried steak, the prime rib and the perennial favorite BLT. The first timers order the bison and the BLT. The meals don’t need fancy names to impress.

After the meal, the first timers visit Tim’s steak supplier for the past 40 years, third-generation butcher Mark Hehnke. Mark works in the back of the store his grandfather founded a century ago, up a block and across North Oak St. from Ole’s. He’s happy to talk to Ole’s customers. Hearing Mark describe how he prepares the chicken fried steak meat gives the first timers an appetite for a repeat visit. Mark tells them he hand-cuts top-third choice or higher Nebraska corn-fed eye of round, tenderizes it and ages it at least 30 days.

Ole’s stories live on among those who rest their elbows on his walnut bar, admire the trophies, order a Seagram’s and Coke, and lift their glass to his memory. Tim’s legacy will be his success in squeezing a kitchen and dining tables among the animals, his staff serving meals from a menu that proves to be as big a draw as the big game. Just ask the hunters devouring prime rib at the table next to yours.

Alan Bartels

HUSKER POWER SHINES ON

by MEGAN FEENEY

Fireworks illuminate the night, and loyal Husker fans keep the spark for football burning through good times and bad.

Aaron Beckman

AT MEMORIAL STADIUM,

a Nebraska Cornhusker game is about to begin. The crowd chants, “Husker! Power! Husker! Power!” More than 80,000 voices roar for their team. A brief hype video plays on the enormous screen. A player proclaims, “There is no place like Nebraska.” Fireworks explode. Music swells. The clapping and stomping make the whole stadium vibrate.

Then, on screen, the players, dressed in red and white, emerge from behind a door, walking down a tunnel. The crowd erupts. Shoulders back and heads high, filled with excitement and adrenaline, the players push open the double doors embellished with a large N and surge onto the field through the haze of smoke.

The band launches into a riotous tune. The Husker Spirit Squad members leap into the air, their smiles flashing. The University of Nebraska flag and the American flag wave in the Lincoln sky. The crowd is a frenetic red sea.

The Huskers’ Tunnel Walk tradition is arguably the best entrance in college football. But it’s just the start of the game. The team will give their all during the next three and a half hours. So will the fans, despite their chronic heartbreak.

Husker fans pack the stadium bedecked in red and sometimes even wearing corncobs on their heads. They’ve stayed loyal to a team that has struggled.

Coach Scott Frost’s recent firing was the disappointing conclusion to the 2017 hopeful hire of the hometown hero and former Cornhusker quarterback.

Nebraska’s team hasn’t lacked talented players under Frost, but the team hasn’t been able to put it together to win. So many losses happened in the final moments of each game. For some fans, it became a sad joke.

Herbie Husker always has time for fans. The university’s longest running mascot, Herbie enjoyed a makeover in 2003 and another update in 2022 that revised his hand to make the “number one” gesture.

Aaron Beckman

Jeremy Buss

The Huskers’ Tunnel Walk is one of the most exciting traditions in college football. At right, interim head coach Mickey Joseph urges his players on as Garrett Nelson from Scottsbluff readies himself for play.

Jeremy Buss

HUSKER

Aaron Beckman

The University of Nebraska Spirit Squad includes three groups: the Cheer Squad, Scarlets Dance Team and mascots Herbie Husker and Lil’ Red. These athlete performers keep the crowds amped at football, volleyball and basketball games and serve as school ambassadors.

Aaron Beckman

ers

Memorial Stadium’s field throbs with Nebraska talent on game days. Musicians, athletes and perform-

entertain crowds.

Aaron Beckman

Wide receiver Wyatt Liewer, from O’Neill, lunges for the ball. Husker football is a family tradition. His father, Jamie, also played.

Jeremy Buss

But with change comes hope – and Nebraska’s hiring of Mickey Joseph to serve as interim head coach has also made history. It’s the first time the University of Nebraska has had a Black head coach in any sport. Like Frost, Joseph once played quarterback for Nebraska for Coach Tom Osborne. The university is now conducting a national search for a new coach.

Since Osborne left in 1997 after an undefeated season and 24 years of coaching the Huskers, Nebraska has seen five different coaches: Frank Solich, Bill Callahan, Bo Pelini, Mike Riley and Scott Frost.

Nebraska Life contributors Aaron Beckman and Jeremy Buss have covered the post-Osborne era as photographers. They expect the energy that Husker fans bring to every game to continue.

One of the best things about the current team is how many athletes from Nebraska are playing for the Cornhuskers, Beckman said. He watched those kids come up from playing in high school. Although the team hasn’t improved its record during his time shooting, the players have better interaction with fans than ever.

“After the game, some kids know where to hang out to get autographs after the players are showered, outside the stadium,” Beckman said.

As upset as fans are, keeping things in perspective is essential. Of all the games he’s shot, Buss said the one that sticks out the most is the first Huskers game post9/11. Instead of featuring the players coming through the tunnel walk, it was first responders.

Buss has never since heard such a tremendous cheer over Memorial Stadium. At that moment, people in the crowd weren’t just Huskers or Nebraskans but part of something even more extraordinary. They were Americans.

For 60 years, balloons soared over Memorial Stadium after Husker touchdowns. A helium shortage in 2022 ended the tradition, but other Nebraska customs, like pumping shoes in the air during kick off, continue.

Jeremy Buss

Stocking Stuffers

By MEGAN FEENEY

AS THE CHRISTMAS season approaches, Nebraska shoppers don’t need to look to the North Pole for gifts. Nebraska’s local food producers offer the perfect items to sweeten anyone’s stocking.

1 SCRUMPTIOUS

Java All-Purpose Seasoning

Holen One Farms, $7 holenonefarms.com

It was the middle of the night in Loomis, and Michael Holen couldn’t get back to sleep. Resigned, he snapped on the History Channel. A Civil War show told the story through the eyes of the camp cook.

Sometimes spices weren’t available, so the cooks would rub coffee or chicory on the meat. After the war ended, many of these cooks went on to work on wagon trails and, later, cattle drives – and used the same ingredients.

Holen began experimenting with making his own blend. He mixed coffee, turbinado sugar, peppers and spices to create Java All-Purpose Seasoning, a sweet, zesty and earthy spice that not only tastes great on meat but also imparts next-level yumminess to vegetables and salads.

In fact, there’s not a Holen grandchild – among 25 – who won’t eat their veggies, so long as Grandpa’s “magic sprinkle” is on hand.

That’s a coffee product that can help parents sleep well at night.

From spice to honey, eggnog to nonalcoholic spirits, Nebraska Life has readers covered with this list of yummy holiday treats from producers across the state. Santa, take note.

Valerie Mosley

Fat Head Farms

Killer Bee Honey, $18 fatheadhoney.com

The latest buzz in artisanal honey is hot, hot, hot. Spicy honey adds a sweet heat to flatbreads, fried chicken, sandwiches –even desserts.

Fat Head Honey in Clarkson offers floral and spiced varieties of the sticky stuff, but for those in search of something with more kick, there’s Killer Bee Honey. Infused with Carolina reaper pepper, it delivers a pleasant pow that’s perfectly balanced by sweetness.

Nebraska natives Kathy and Brian Suchan run Fat Head Farms in Clarkson. Brian is a fourth-generation beekeeper. Kathy was hooked as soon as she began keeping her first bees while living in South Carolina.

The two met when Kathy sourced honeycomb from Brian. They became friends – and then, their relationship blossomed into something even sweeter. They married and Kathy joined Brian on the Clarkson farm, where they raise their family bulldogs and a bounty of blissed-out, buzzing bees.

Now that’s bee-autiful.

Duck Fat Spray

7 oz can, $11 duckfatspray.com

From the state that brought you food inventions like Dorothy Lynch and KoolAid, now there’s another yummy innovation set to take the nation by storm with much less damage to walls. Here comes … Duck Fat Spray. Yes, Duck Fat Spray.

Traditionally duck fat has played an enormous role in French cuisine – not Nebraskan dishes. But Omaha inventor Dennis Schuett thinks that may change. Duck fat has a high smoke point of 380˚ – meaning you can cook meats at high heat and achieve the ultimate sear – and a light flavor that adds a subtle richness.

Schuett is the first person in the world to figure out how to put that deliciousness in a spray can. And unlike other non-stick cooking sprays, there are no chemical propellants. Instead, the fat is in a bag in the can and surrounded by compressed air. Push the button and voila, the air squeezes the bag to release the spray. Spray it on potatoes, meats and vegetables galore and hit the grill as hot as you like.

Nebraska Life taste tests have revealed that this Nebraska invention is all that it’s quacked up to be.

Valerie Mosley

Jessica Vettel

Cornhusker Kitchen

Holiday cooking requires a tasty fat, like Duck Fat Spray (top) and fun flavor combinations, like sweet and spicy, as in the honey (above), to take a dish to next-level deliciousness.

Burbach’s Countryside Dairy Eggnog, $5 burbachscountrysidedairy.com

During the wee hours of a cold winter morning on a Hartington farm, Lisa and Dean Burbach rise from their warm bed and get to work milking their herd of Holstein and Jersey cows. But the job doesn’t end there.

Since 2005, the Burbachs have bottled their own milk on the farm and in glass bottles. The freshness and the old-school containers (an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic) have created fans throughout Nebraska – especially coffeehouse owners who say Burbach’s milk elevates their brews. Baristas say the cream is much creamier, and the whole milk froths better. Kids gulp specialty flavored limited release milks like chocolate, blue raspberry, strawberry and banana.

In addition to producing and selling milk throughout the year, during the holiday season, the dairy also offers a creamy, slightly spiced eggnog that will even make converts of the egg nots.

5

Fuehrer’s Cheespred

16 oz, $8 fuehrerscheespred.com

For 60 years, Nebraska holiday tables have featured Fuehrer’s Cheespred. The family-owned product was the result of a pivot in a young World War II veteran’s business.

In 1946, after returning home from service in World War II, Eddie Fuehrer started a market in Sutton that offered fresh meat and, later, produce and German-style bologna and sausages. Then, in 1960, Eddie and his wife Laurie introduced Fuehrer’s Cheespred, a creamy dippable concoction made from American and cheddar cheese, green peppers, pimientos and garlic. Concurrently in the 1960s, food regulations for meat product processing became more stringent, so the Fuehrers decided to focus on their popular Cheespred.

After Laurie and Eddie’s deaths, their children, Dee and Jerry, took over. The recipe hasn’t changed but the business has grown. Today Fuehrer’s Cheespred is available in 75 grocery stores throughout Nebraska.

Megan Feeney

Creamy Nebraska treats, like Burbach’s glass-bottled eggnog and Fuehrer’s Cheespred, will have every guest at a holiday soiree springing off the sofa for seconds.

It’s a testament to a family business that navigated a challenge. And there’s nothing cheesy about that.

6 The Perennial Homestead

Elderberry Oxymel, $16-32 theperennialhomestead.com

At their Omaha homestead, Ali and Scott Yahnke combine locally grown elderberries with Nebraska honey, apple cider vinegar and ginger to make their Elderberry Oxymel. The rich purple syrup livens up a glass of seltzer water or adds class to a cocktail. Nearby, their 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son play.

For the Yahnkes, nothing is more important than family. It’s why Scott decided, in 2020, to give up his full-time job to work alongside Ali at their business, The Perennial Homestead, an artisan food online marketplace.

Nonalcoholic cocktails are all the rage, because they’re healthy and sophisticated

the headache. Oxymel tastes great mixed with seltzer or zero-proof spirits

BUZZ SAVORIES GIFT SET

Give the gift of deliciousness with the Buzz Savories Christmas Gift Set. Buzz Savories products are all-natural and made right here in Holdrege, Nebraska. BuzzSavoriesLLC.com

Meg Sperry

without

(next page).

It made sense to incorporate the diversity of farm-crafted products they loved. Before launching The Perennial Homestead, Ali and Scott had made and sold caramels under the name Snowshoe Candy Co. and run a market farm. At home, they like to mix the oxymel with extra virgin olive oil and toss it in a salad with a handful of herbs and goat cheese. Family dinners are where their products taste the best.

Sandhills Elixir

Zero-Proof Spirits, $29 sandhillselixir.com

The holidays are a festive time to enjoy special food and drinks. But the drinks don’t need to be alcoholic to be celebratory. In recent years, zero-proof spirit offerings have surged in popularity.

Into this niche stepped Omaha couple Andrew and Erica Wassinger. Figuring out how to extract Nebraska fruit or herbs to make a zero-proof spirit and market it was a challenge they were particularly suited for: Andrew is a food scientist; Erica is a venture capitalist.

Andrew experimented with different Nebraska ingredients – sage, chokecherry and elderberry, among others. A nonnegotiable ingredient was water from the Ogallala Aquifer in the Sandhills. The Wassingers enlisted the help of Valentine Bolo Beer brewer Chris Herstrom to help make their product.

The Sage Zero-Proof Spirit is a good Christmas stocking choice because its tasting notes – peppery with hints of pine – pair nicely with rich seasonal dishes. Cranberry is also a classic.

Drinking these, there’s no chance you’ll end up on the naughty list.

“Ewenique” SKI N C

Nathaniel Jensen Photography

SHARE NEBRASKA with others by sending our baskets lled with delicious Nebraska products. Di erent sizes and products available. Also nd the perfect wine in the largest selection in Nebraska! Your source for Nebraska souvenirs. Check out our large selection of gift baskets at FromNE.com.

START YOUR DAY with a glass of milk from Burbach’s Countryside Dairy. With our flavor variety and speedy store delivery, it’s fresh and ready for your family. Taste the difference of milk bottled on our family farm in Hartington.

START YOUR DAY with yogurt or a glass of milk from Burbach’s Countryside Dairy. With our flavor variety and speedy store delivery, it’s fresh and ready for your family. Enjoy yogurt without preservatives, artificial ingredients or gelatin and taste the difference of milk bottled on our family farm in Hartington.

Visit BurbachsCountrysideDairy.com to find a store near you!

Hartington, NE • 402-283-4625

Seconds-worthy Stuffing

recipes

and photographs

by DANELLE McCOLLUM

AS NEBRASKA FAMILIES gather for holiday celebrations, hugs and laughter warm the heart. Almost equally comforting are the casserole dishes of hot stuffing coming out of the oven. Savory, rich, herbaceous and sometimes even featuring elements of sweetness with dried or fresh fruit, stuffing is among the most sought-after sides. These three recipes by our friend Danelle McCollum not only pair perfectly with a holiday meat dish – they can even serve as a hearty main course.

Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

This festive recipe features juicy apples and dried cranberries, savory pork and a traditional herbal blend. Make it moister, if that’s the preference, or add less vegetable stock for a crispier dish. However it’s done, good luck keeping guests from trying to sneak a peek in the oven.

Mix dried bread cubes and cornbread in large bowl; set aside.

In large skillet, cook the sausage until done; remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add butter to skillet to melt. Add onions, chopped celery, sage, rosemary and thyme and sauté for about five minutes.

Add butter mixture to bread mixture, along with sausage, chopped apples, cranberries and parsley. Add stock gradually until stuffing is as moist as you would like. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon mixture into large casserole dish or 9×13-inch pan and bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes, or until heated through.

6 cups cubed, dried bread or stuffing mix

2-3 cups crumbled cornbread

1 lb seasoned ground sausage

1 cup diced onion

1 cup chopped celery

2 tsp ground sage

1 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp dried rosemary

2 medium apples, cored and chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

Salt and pepper to taste

Croissant and Mushroom Stuffing

What’s better than a buttery croissant? How about stuffing made from buttery croissants? The only difficult part of this recipe is having the discipline to leave the croissants alone long enough to become slightly stale on the counter. The tender, melt-in-your mouth result is worth the wait.

Place croissant pieces in large bowl. In large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add celery, onion, mushrooms, garlic and ground sage and cook until vegetables are tender, 6-8 minutes.

Add vegetable mixture to croissants in the bowl, along with fresh chopped herbs and toss to mix well. In small bowl, whisk together the broth and egg. Gradually add the broth mixture to stuffing until everything is well moistened (you may not use all the broth). Season stuffing with salt and pepper, to taste.

Transfer the stuffing to lightly greased casserole dish and bake at 350° uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges and hot in center.

6 large, stale croissants, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup butter

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup onion, diced

8 oz mushrooms, coarsely chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 tsp ground sage

1/3 cup fresh chopped herbs (parsley, sage, thyme, etc.)

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth

1 egg

Salt and pepper, to taste

Sweet Corn Spoonbread Dressing

Combining the creamy mouthfeel of corn pudding and the earthy heartiness of cornbread, this stuffing makes Cornhuskers’ dreams come true. Even better – it comes together in a snap to satiate hungry guests.

Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add celery, onion, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper, and cook 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender.

Add milk, water and sugar to pot and bring to boil (careful, mixture may bubble and splatter). Reduce heat and gradually whisk in cornmeal, stirring until mixture is thick and smooth and liquid has been absorbed.

Remove from heat and stir in corn and baking powder. Let mixture cool to room temperature, stirring often so it doesn’t clump. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in small bowl until frothy. Add 1/3 of the eggs to cornmeal mixture and stir to incorporate. Stir in remaining eggs until well mixed.

Spread mixture into lightly greased 3-quart baking dish. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes, or until set and golden brown.

3 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup diced onion

1/2 cup diced celery

1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 cups whole milk

1 cup water

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup cornmeal

1 11 oz-can sweet corn, drained

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

Won’t you dish with us?

We’re ravenous to taste your favorite family recipes. Nebraska-sourced ingredients and stories that accompany beloved dishes feed our stomachs and our souls. Please submit by emailing kitchens@nebraskalife.com, and thanks!

GOOD LIFE Poetry

Nebraskans reflect on the light of gratitude and unexpected gifts as the days grow shorter. So many of those gifts come from the good earth, the broad skies and the life surrounding us. We are thankful for our family, friends and communities.

Thankful

Myron Hitz, Plainview

Life-giving rain on the Fourth of July, A gift from God made me feel like I was on a natural high!

What could be better than seeing liquid gold being Swallowed up by a thirsty one-inch crack. I’m guessing a promise from the sender that in a few days the rain will be back!

Back to lifting my spirits as only the good Lord can do. Knowing fully well that He is looking after myself and you.

“Yes,” unexpected gifts are always the best kind to receive. It never hurts for one to keep the faith and believe.

Rubber Dolls

Mary Ann Marko, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

My little brothers were around 3 years old, (not quite a year apart in age). Christmas was coming and they wanted a doll. It was in the years following WWII –although I don’t remember knowing there had been a great war.

Rationing had lifted; rubber was again available for commercial use and Santa brought them each a rubber baby doll. They held out their arms for their blanketed bundles and retreated to their rocking chairs. Wish fulfilled, they were uninterested in any other packages.

It was years later –Mom and Dad long gone –when I looked back in wonderment at the wisdom and bravery of parents, living on a farm in Western Nebraska, giving their sons dolls.

Nebraska Sun

Bonnie Johnson-Bartee, Norfolk

She cycles with me past sunflowers, rivers, open pastures. She bakes me a soft caramel, cheeks and nose kissed pink. I seal her heat, for the season’s pop. Grateful her tan warms me through winter.

Per Bengston/Alamy

Among the many people Nebraskans are grateful for, our state’s servicewomen, servicemen and their families top the list.

The Farmer

Patty Abrahamson, Holdrege

What drives a Farmer to love the land

With his heart and some of his soul?

It’s a blessing and curse rolled into one

The hard work does take a toll.

The young Farmer charges into each day

A plan well-rehearsed in his mind. When evening comes – another day done some plans have been left far behind.

Fickle weather can turn on a dime you see And cancel his plans for the day.

It’s a fact seasoned Farmers know all too well

Mother Nature always gets her way.

Years move along with an eye to the sky Seasons change as he tends to the soil. Some laughter, some tears as the days fly by He feels blessed by his chosen toil.

He knows the farm like the back of his hand

He bonded with the land from day one. He used up his youth and the best of his back Working from early dawn.

He finds joy every day as he gives his all

He is bound to his love for the land.

He sees the beauty of a crop growing tall And finds pride in the toil of his hands.

Time puts a bend to his back, hands are rough, There are lines on his face from the sun.

Hours in the weather he has pushed himself

Working ’till each season was done.

Some regrets mixed with joy for the life he has lived

He did the best he knew how.

God entrusts His land for a lifetime

Another Farmer will get his chance now.

Fall Nebraska Wind

Jerry Gronewold, Kearney

The wind blows gentle like a harp on fall leaves

Yellow colors from fall paint the leaves.

Brown earth stirs the dust of early fall

Red and orange fill the horizon with large brush strokes.

River scenes brush wind waves of blue on golden cottonwoods

Cattle in morning wait for cool fall wind from north.

Sun glows on wind that touches the Nebraska hills

The wind sings its fall song for all to hear and enjoy.

Clouds dance like the old waltz on the 1930 phonograph

Distant sounds of fall coming to the Plains.

The dust devils play like children from a rural school

Wind speaks many languages on great rolling hills.

Quiet trees wait for wind to start the fall dance

Old flowers bend like an old man but smile and seeds fly.

Gust comes like grandpa’s deep breathing in his rocking chair

Night calls the wind to sleep another day and wait for the sun.

Christmas Eve Eve

Steve Krout, Papillion

Twas two eves before Christmas, cloudy and cool

I’m out to take pictures, some think me a fool.

To Prairie Queen Lake I went without dread

With visions of photos arrayed in my head.

Off down the trail I started with glee

But no birds or animals anywhere did I see.

The cold got to me, my spirits went down I made a short walk and then turned around.

This week I’d been lucky, I’d had a good run

But this day was empty, I was having no fun.

Then what to my wandering eyes did appear

Two tiny young Mink, on the shore far, not near.

They scampered and circled and ran to and fro

I hustled and hurried, down and cold no mo.

Across the ice, they ran to my side of the lake

I started looking for somewhere, my pictures to take.

My camera was clicking, my trip was complete

Two minks in one day, a Merry Christmas treat.

Merry Christmas everyone!

NEBRASKA LIFE is seeking poems about beloved pets. We prefer poems that mention Nebraska in some way. Send to poetry@nebraskalife.com or to the mailing address at the front of this magazine.

Jeff W. Gates/U.S. Air Force

FEATURE

FLYING HIGHER TOGETHER A SPECIAL

To celebrate Nebraska Life’s 25th birthday, we’ve profiled other unique Nebraska institutions in our past two issues. In the final part of our series, we spotlight Boys Town, Orphan Grain Train and Crane Trust.

by MEGAN FEENEY

FEATURING Boys Town • Crane Trust • Orphan Grain Train

Seeing whooping cranes, an endangered species, soar demonstrates the wins Nebraskans achieve with cooperation.

Rick Rasmussen

Mike Buckley/Boys Town

CARRYING ONE ANOTHER

BOYS TOWN • 1917

FATHER FLANAGAN, the founder of Boys Town, watched older children take turns carrying a younger boy stricken by polio up and down the stairs at Boys Town. Father Flanagan asked one of the older boys if bearing the weight was difficult.

YEARS OF HELPING FAMILIES

“He ain’t heavy, Father,” the boy responded. “He’s my brother.”

Flanagan founded the orphanage for boys in December 1917. This “City of Little Men” soon outgrew the boarding house at 25th and Dodge Street in Omaha. Flanagan purchased Overlook Farm on the city’s outskirts and continued to develop modern juvenile care methods that nurtured the whole child.

By the 1930s, hundreds of boys lived at the Village of Boys Town, which included a school and dormitories. Hollywood spread the story in the 1938 movie Boys Town. In 1973, Boys Town replaced dormitory living with the Family Home Program. Children live in homes with married couples – Family-Teachers – who care for them. Today with sites across the United States, a state-of-the-art research hospital and a Boys Town National Hotline, Boys Town touches countless lives.

One of those lives is JR Casarez’s. He benefited from the love and attention he received in one of those homes – but it took time and a lot of persistence from Boys Town to make it stick.

Casarez was born in the Detroit metro area. His father was incarcerated soon after, and Casarez was removed from his mother’s

Boys Town began as a group home for young men but has since grown to include a co-ed school, Family Home Program, national hotline and state-of-the-art research hospital.

Mike Buckley/Boys Town

care and went to live with his grandmother. He went back to live with his mom when he was 6. Within a year, a gang recruited him. Just weeks before his 10th birthday, the Drug Enforcement Agency captured Casarez’s mother and placed her in a witness protection program on a murder and drug trafficking case. Casarez faced a choice, too: juvenile detention or Boys Town. He only lasted six months at Boys Town. The culture shock of quiet Omaha and the kindness he experienced were weird to him.

“I oddly missed the chaos,” Casarez said. He earned a summer pass to return to Detroit and didn’t return. Then National Executive Director of Boys Town, Father Valentine Peter, called Casarez’s grandmother to voice his opposition to Casarez’s departure in no uncertain terms.

“I can still hear Father Peter cursing at my grandmother, telling her that I had to come back or I would have zero chance to graduate high school and would likely end up dead or in prison,” Casarez said.

Casarez bounced around living situations again and was expelled from school for fighting. Soon he was in a judge’s chamber. He had another chance: jail or

Boys Town teaches and empowers children and families and supports children’s mental, physical and spiritual health so they can reach their full potential. Whether it’s healing broken hearts or working with special medical needs, Boys Town is there.

Boys Town? Father Peter welcomed him back to Boys Town that fall.

Boys Town hadn’t given up on Casarez – so he decided he wouldn’t give up on himself. This time, he excelled academically and in athletics. He graduated college and became a head varsity wrestling coach for Humboldt Table Rock Steinauer Public Schools. He bought his first home, managed restaurants, married, and had a child. Feeling called to serve, he returned with his family to Boys Town, where he and his wife were Family-Teachers for nearly three years.

Today he lives with his family in Detroit, where he continues “to do the work defending and fighting for the vulnerable that Father Peter tasked to me before he passed,” Casarez said. He’s forever grateful for his time in Omaha. “Boys Town allowed me to live and have a family.”

Mike Buckley/Boys Town

HABITAT HEROES

CRANE TRUST • 1978

44 YEARS OF PRESERVING CRANE HABITAT

AT FIRST, the river is quiet. Visitors to Crane Trust position themselves in heated blinds; they speak in hushed whispers. The March sun begins to set over the Big Bend reach of the Platte River. The sky is a watercolor painting of gold, pink and blue.

Then, in the distance, gray clouds form. But unlike the still-life colors surrounding them, the clouds move quickly, as if operating in time-lapse, growing until it’s apparent that these are not celestial elements but thousands of migratory sandhill cranes – what the visitors have come to see.

These visitors – from Nebraska, throughout the U.S., and even abroad –hold their collective breath at first sight of the spectacle. Their quietness contrasts with the calls of tens of thousands of sand-

hill cranes and the honks and quacks of countless ducks and geese that settle on the sandy, shallow water.

As the sandhill cranes descend upon the river to roost for the night, their ancient rattling calls fill the sky. Cranes recognize their family members’ tones. Their dance-like displays thrill viewers. They stretch their wings, bob their heads and leap into the air.

In the blind, Crane Trust guests pass binoculars around and snap photos. They know that if they are lucky enough, they might even see a rare whooping crane, the tallest bird in North America, with snowy white plumage and a crimson cap. In the 1940s, this species was nearly lost. Crane Trust helps safeguard endangered whooping cranes and protect other migratory birds by preserving essential habitats. These birds are necessary for a healthy ecosystem and bring tourist dollars to Nebraska communities.

Crane Trust protects nearly 10,000

In summer, Crane Trust does survey work for fish, reptiles, amphibians, prairie plants, insects, small mammals and migrating birds. The work gauges ecosystem health.

Emma Brinley Buckley/Crane Trust

acres of land throughout the Central Platte River Valley, where the staff removes invasive weeds, clears overgrowth and restores native prairie. In addition, studying migrating sandhill crane numbers helps scientists understand the effectiveness of habitat management practices. Rare whooping cranes, often outfitted with GPS devices to track them on their 5,000-mile round-trip migration, also help Crane Trust scientists and land managers evaluate their habitat management.

To expand its land management efforts, Crane Trust planted a pollinator garden and introduced genetically pure bison for ecological and genetic research. This is an outdoor lab that everyone can enjoy.

Ten miles of nature trails wind through the property, offering guests a relaxing place to hike. A 35-foot observation tower and two bridges reveal beautiful prairie and Platte River views. More than 200 species of birds flit about grasses, and insects hum. Recently, a resident river

otter thrilled guests with its curious hijinks close to the Wild Rose Ranch, where guests on the VIP Crane Viewing Experience drink and dine before heading out on guided tours. Afterward, they retire to well-appointed onsite cottages.

The public-facing amenities are a relatively recent development. In 1978, Crane Trust was formed as part of a $7.5 million settlement in a lawsuit over a hydroelectric dam on the Platte River. It is the only 501c3 nonprofit created by a federal lawsuit. But until 2010, Crane Trust’s land was closed to the public and reserved for scientific research.

Beginning that year, tourism became a funding source to continue Crane Trust’s work. Cooperating with local Nebraska landowners, Crane Trust continues to find more opportunities to grow its mission and natural resources.

A visit to Crane Trust facilities is a holiday with a heart and a boost to the cranedo attitude that defines Nebraska.

A sandhill crane and a whooping crane show off their best moves with a flurry of feathers. The birds’ athletic ability thrills Crane Trust visitors, who watch from VIP heated blinds.

Paul Julian Crane Trust

NEBRASKA-BORN RELIEF

ORPHAN GRAIN TRAIN • 1992

A WILDFIRE scorched New Mexico last summer, destroying grasslands, homes and businesses. Small-scale ranchers living on the margins faced selling off their livestock to prevent their herds from starving. The Norfolk-founded charity Orphan Grain Train rallied to deliver three truckloads of hay and corn stalks and five trailers containing 200 round bales. Sixty New Mexican ranchers received the gifts. Because of Orphan Grain Train, the farmers could move forward and rebuild their lives.

YEARS OF HELPING THOSE IN NEED

Since 1992, the Christian Orphan Grain Train has sent nearly 4,000 semi-trailer trucks of food, clothing and medical supplies to 69 countries and several U.S. disaster sites.

Shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union, Rev. Ray S. Wilke, the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Norfolk, returned from a mission trip to Latvia and Russia inspired to help desperate people. He made a tour of six states, raised $66,000, and then approached another Norfolk resident, Clayton Andrews, president of Andrews Van Lines, with an enigmatic question. “Do you want to do the greatest thing you’ve ever done in your life?” Without asking what it was, Andrews said yes.

Andrews’ knowledge of packing and shipping items overseas helped the organization grow. Orphan Grain Train has since become a national network with 29 regional divisions across the United States composed of volunteers who raise funds, gather clothing and relief supplies, and pack them to ship and distribute to orphanages, schools, churches and hospitals around the world.

Orphan Grain Train supplies food, blankets, clothing, hygiene products and medical supplies to impoverished communities along the Texas-Mexico border,

in the Appalachians and at Native American reservations. They’ve delivered food and a shower unit to Kentucky volunteers who are rebuilding after mid-December’s devastating tornadoes. They’ve also purchased roofing materials for homes in Louisiana damaged by Hurricane Ida.

Nationwide, volunteers pack boxes destined for places abroad, from the Republic of Georgia to South Sudan, from Romania to Panama, with toys and walkers, dried beans and school bags, diapers and bikes, crutches and books.

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine added to the world’s humanitarian crises. Millions of Ukrainians fled their homes. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died. The conflict has cost Ukraine nearly $114 billion in damage. The country’s grain exports are down by half,

After wildfire devastated parts of New Mexico last summer, Orphan Grain Train mobilized hay relief to 60 ranchers. OGT’s donation allowed the farmers to survive a difficult time.

Ken Krusemark/Orphan Grain Train

which has exacerbated the looming threat of famine in East Africa.

These problems can feel overwhelming, but armed with their faith and commitment to using their talents and resources in service, the volunteers at Orphan Grain Train have gathered and shipped food, sleeping mats, hygiene supplies and other requested items to the war-torn nation. Orphan Grain Train has also brought five families to Norfolk and helped them get established in the community. There are plans to bring more.

Less than two percent of what is donated goes to administrative or fundraising purposes; Charity Navigator, a charity assessment organization, gives Orphan Grain Train four out of four stars.

It’s a unique distinction for a nonprofit that began in Nebraska when two Norfolk residents said yes to helping those in need and then convinced more than 3,000 volunteers worldwide to do the same.

92% of 2020 grads found work or continued their education.

91% of 2020 employed grads are working in Nebraska.

83% of 2020 grads are continuing their education in Nebraska.

Bishop Harvey Chabinga, right, with Christ Mandate for Missions Church in Malawi, has received clothing, fortified meals and bikes from Orphan Grain Train for his congregations.

Orphan Grain Train

Ken Krusemark/Orphan Grain Train

ASHLAND

NEBRASKA MUSEUMS

Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, p 63

FREMONT

Dodge County Historical Society, p 65

GRAND ISLAND

Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, p 65

KEARNEY

Museum of Nebraska Art, p 65

The Archway, p 62

LA VISTA

Czech and Slovak Educational Center and Cultural Museum, p 65

LEXINGTON

Dawson County Historical Society Museum, p 65

MADISON

Madison County Historical Society Museum, p 65

OMAHA

Boys Town Visitor Center, p 54

Durham Museum, p 62

Omaha Children’s Museum, p 64

ST. PAUL

Museum of Nebraska

Major League Baseball, p 64

WOOD RIVER

Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center, p 61

YORK

Clayton Museum of Ancient History, p 63

Sidney group shines lamplight on history

BY MEGAN FEENEY

ON A FROSTY, dark winter evening, local guides take guests on lamplit tours of Fort Sidney and the Post Commander’s Home. The special tours begin on the Friday after Thanksgiving and go through December. It is a special way to visit the historic attractions during the holiday season and also a good reminder to be thankful for modern conveniences, like electricity.

The Fort Sidney complex includes the Powder House (built in 1872), a double set of Married Officers Quarters ( built in 1884 and now the home to the Cheyenne County Museum) and the Post Commander’s Home (built in 1871).

Fort Sidney, first called Sidney Barracks, was built in 1867 to protect railway workers from members of local Native American tribes hostile to Eu-

ropean-American presence. In 1869, its location moved to its current position and it was renamed. During the 1870s, it was a major supply depot on the Sidney-Blackhills Trail. There was a hospital, guardhouse, bakery, stables and other structures. After soldiers subdued many Native American tribes, Fort Sidney closed in 1894 and its buildings were mostly sold. Today, historical markers provide a history of the old railroad town and the trails to Black Hills’ gold fields.

Community groups decorate the Post Commander’s Home with Christmas trimmings during the holiday season. Witnessing these historic places by lamplight transports visitors back in time to a Wild West where silent nights could be a little discomforting indeed.

Guests travel to a Christmas past in Sidney, where local guides show visitors buldings constructed to protect railway workers.

Chris Amundson/AJ Dahm

Learn about the Tribe’s history and how we came to be in this area.

and federal holidays

View rare artifacts from the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Roman Empire! Young and old can experience the museum’s Little Kingdom interactive area. Uncover objects in an archaeological dig, “live” in an ancient house and “shop” a Roman market. Admission is FREE with donations always accepted.

A Home Run for Baseball Fans!

In downtown St. Paul, explore memorabilia of American Major League Baseball players from Nebraska. Also, we now have information on over 160 players.

We are now open on Saturdays and Sundays by appointment only, otherwise, Open Mon–Fri, 10 am–4:30 pm

Paul, NE

Explore Fremont’s

Georgian Architecture

The May Museum takes you back to turn-of-the-century Fremont life. Tour the landscaped grounds, a Nebraska Arboretum Site.

Open late April-late Dec. Wed-Sat, 1:30-4:30 pm | Final tour available at 3:30 pm

Admission: $5 for Adults, $1 for Students Free for ages 5 and under

Louis E. May Museum

Dodge County Historical Society

MayMuseum.com 402-721-4515 | 1643 North Nye Ave | Fremont

HONORING OUR VETERANS in Madison

Visit our large redesigned Military displays with items from Civil War to present day servicemen and women. Flags, uniforms, helmets, metals, etc. and many scrapbooks. Don’t miss Maj. Gen. Horace L. McBride’s display of medals and memorabilia from his command of 80th Infantry Division in Europe during WW II. Also enjoy 1,100 lighted Christmas village with Santa train for kids to run.

Hours 1:30-5 pm Mon-Fri or call for appointment 402-454-2313

madisoncountyhistory.org learning24hrs@gmail.com

212 S. Kent St. • Madison, NE

Discover the story behind the art of Nebraska, online at mona.unk.edu

Visit this unique cultural experience in LaVista!

Explore our exhibits featuring the Immigration Room, Music Room, Sokol Room and Josef Lada calendars from the 1940s. Our gift store offers many beautiful Bohemian items from the Czech land.

8106 S. 84th St. • LaVista 402-686-9837

MUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART

Reopening in 2024!

Grant Reynard, Untitled (winter landscape with house), oil on canvas, n.d., Gift of Brendan & Vernie McDonald Family, Museum of Nebraska Art Collection

Create memories with your family & friends this winter at Stuhr Museum! The Glaciarium is open now through March. Check our website for skating hours, tickets, and more information. 3133 W. Hwy 34 • Grand Island, NE (308) 385-5316

Nebraska Traveler

TAKING TO THE ROAD FOR FOOD, FUN AND FESTIVITIES

by BECKY McCARVILLE

MUSIC

RIVER CITY MIXED CHORUS

DECEMBER 10 • OMAHA

Santa hands kids candy as they arrive to enjoy a choral performance with their parents. Voices harmonize, singers dance in sync, and brass and saxophone players lead the band. Humor, hijinks and a celebratory atmosphere are all part of the entertainment at the family-friendly annual River City Mixed Chorus holiday celebration.

The grandeur and unmatched acoustics of the Holland Performing Arts Center will set the stage for RCMC’s Winter Concert, “Wrapped in Rainbow.” Chorus members describe the experience as “electric, grand, magical.” The chorus has performed at the 2,000-seat Holland six times since 2015 – the Holland and the historic Orpheum Theater are now the only stages in Omaha large enough to accommodate the chorus and instrumentalists. RCMC performed its Winter Concert at the Orpheum Theater for the first time in 2021.

As one of the oldest LGBTQ+ mixed choruses in the United States, River City Mixed Chorus has been an inclusive group of sopranos, altos, tenors and basses since its start in 1984. RCMC began as a group of nine to 10 friends organizing a performance for Metropolitan Church of Omaha and has grown to about 130 members, delighting audiences with energy-filled performances.

“I think it speaks to Nebraska’s spirit as being a place for everybody,” Artistic Director Dr. A. Barron Breland said.

With auditions and rehearsals at First United Methodist Church in Omaha for over two decades, the choral group produces two-to-three major concerts every year. Churches and organizations throughout Omaha book the choir, which also takes road trips to perform in Lincoln, North Platte, Hastings and Pella, Iowa. In addition, the chorus has partici-

pated and performed in festivals throughout North America. “We’re all part of the Omaha community, and we can all celebrate the great parts of Nebraska together,” Breland said.

RCMC doesn’t just provide social opportunities, community activities and an artistic outlet for its members. It also reaches the audience in meaningful ways. For example, the chorus has a collection of cards and notes from audience members testifying to the impact of their artistry.

“We are people who love to sing, celebrate love and joy,” Breland said. “It’s joyful because people get to be themselves. We always bring it back to love.”

Tickets for the Holland performance are available through ticketomaha.com.

WHERE TO EAT MULA

Mula is the place to go to satisfy cravings for traditional Mexican street food. A jalapeño infused margarita and sweet and spicy charred pineapple sets the stage for vibrant dishes like camarón, chorizo and barbacoa street tacos and fried chicken tortas. 3932 Farnam St. (402) 315-9051

WHERE TO STAY THE OFFUTT MANOR

Visitors explore a revitalized historic mansion and estate built in 1894 in Omaha’s Gold Coast District with views of the Joslyn Castle. 140 N. 39th St. (402) 370-9211

WHERE TO GO

FILM STREAMS’ DUNDEE THEATER

Dedicated to presenting film as an art form, Film Streams features new releases along with art films, local, foreign, classic and silent films, discussions and cinema education at both its charming Dundee location and the Ruth Sokolof Theater in the North Downtown Omaha neighborhood. 4952 Dodge St. (402) 933-0259

Choir makes a joyful noise in Omaha with its annual holiday concert at the Holland Center.

Corrie Suhr/Visit Omaha

OUTDOORS

PIONEERS PARK LINCOLN

As light sparkles off the early morning hoarfrost and bison shuffle through the prairie, visitors catch echoes of Nebraska’s past in Pioneers Park southwest of Lincoln. In 1862, the Homestead Act began a great westward movement through the country as pioneers sought land claims in the West. Many passed through Nebraska, and many more stayed.

Pioneers and bison once traversed rolling, picturesque Nebraska prairie, now a rare site in a state transformed by agriculture. “We’re fortunate to have this,” said Andrea Faas, Pioneers Park Nature Center coordinator and naturalist. The park was established in the 1930s and consists of 668 acres of wetlands, woodlands and a tallgrass prairie.

A top-ranked sledding destination does not come to mind when considering this evenly tilted landscape, but Pioneers Park boasts one of the best spots in the country for coasting downhill. The assistance of two ramps leading down a slope creates an exhilarating ride. As snowfall gathers so do eager explorers and sledders. Cross-country skiing and snowshoeing through the park make for popular winter activities. Other attractions include the Christmas bird count held on Dec. 18 this year and an encounter with a small herd of bison kept on the grounds.

Indoor points of interest include Hud-

son Cabin and two interpretive nature center buildings housing hands-on exhibits educating about the Great Plains and the prairie ecosystem. The Cabin, originally built in 1863 on land acquired through the Homestead Act, bears witness to those settlers who stayed in Nebraska.

Eight miles of winding trails present new scenes around every corner of the natural environment. The adventurous spirit of the pioneers is encouraged, according to Faas. “We want people to explore.” Just be sure to layer up for the windswept landscape. – Mason Lee

WHERE TO EAT LEE’S CHICKEN RESTAURANT

This old-school joint started in 1945 has been under the same ownership for more than 40 years. A hot chicken dinner with all the fixings tastes mighty fine after playing outside in the snow. 1940 W. Van Dorn St. (402) 477-4339

WHERE TO STAY THE ROGERS HOUSE

This 1914 Victorian brick abode offers seven different suites with stunning Christmas décor. Fresh breakfast cooked daily might feature brioche French toast, lobster benedict, steak and egg burritos, bananas foster or crepes. 2145 B St. (402) 476-6961

Cold weather doesn’t scare Nebraskans from going out and having fun, whether for a theater excursion or a farming expo.

events you may enjoy

NOVEMBER Other

Malcolm X

Nov. 4, 6 • Omaha

Opera Omaha opens its 2022-23 season at the Orpheum Theater with a new production of X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X. The show premiered 36 years ago and will go to The Metropolitan Opera in New York in fall 2023. Many of the opera companies that the production will travel to are locations significant in the life and death of Malcolm X, including Omaha, where he was born. The show is co-produced with Detroit Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera and Seattle Opera. 409 S. 16th St. (402) 6618501

Smooth Saxophone

Nov. 13 • Brownville

Steven Banks is a saxophone soloist who’s earned praise for his “glowing mahogany tone.” His playing transcends audiences with wonder and delight as part of the Brownville Concert Series. This relaxing evening supports arts programming in southeast Nebraska. The show begins at 2 p.m. 126 Atlantic St. (402) 825-3331

Gateway Farm Expo

Nov. 16-17 • Kearney

The 53rd annual Gateway Farm Expo, the longest-running farm show in Nebraska, will take place at Buffalo County Fairgrounds in Kearney. With agriculture as Nebraska’s biggest export, these shows help make vital local and national ag connections. The farm show features 400 ag exhibitors showcasing the latest agricultural products, services and technologies. 3807 Avenue N. (308) 236-1201

Rick Neibel/Nebraska Tourism

Where’s Waldo? Well, about 20 paces behind Waldo Junior at the Jingle Bell Run in North Platte.

FITNESS

PLATTE RIVER FITNESS SERIES

NOV. 24, DEC. 3 • NORTH PLATTE

A Christmas tree trailed by Christmas lights runs down the streets of North Platte. A gigantic reindeer – powered by eight runners inside of it – doesn’t fly but trots. A baker keeps pace with an oven and gingerbread people. Other thematic joggers include a running nativity scene with the animals, an athlete carrying a baby Jesus; Santa and his elves; snowmen; snow globes; and the cast of Toy Story. Athletes aren’t hallucinating yuletide characters as they traverse the North Platte Trails Network on a frosty Nebraska morning. It’s the annual Jingle Bell Run, the biggest athletic event organized by Platte River Fitness Series and the culmination of the racing season, where as many as 500 to 600

athletes gather to celebrate the magic of the season, starting with the Family Mile, followed by the 5K.

Starting at the North Platte Rec Center, athletes run along the wooded trail near the banks of the South Platte River, then onto Buffalo Bill Trail and across the river bridge with expansive views.

“In every way, there is warmth and welcome,” said Platte River Fitness founder and series director Trudy Merritt.

Merritt started the grassroots initiative 21 years ago to help create a culture of physical activity in North Platte and the region. At that time, the focus was on finding ways for people to engage in healthy physical activity through different

Get refreshed and refueled in Sidney/Cheyenne County, Nebraska. We offer every comfort a road-tripper needs right off Interstate 80, including restaurants, hotels, gas stations, convenience stores and more. Escape the long stretch of road with us.

The North Platte Telegraph

events throughout the year.

Over the years, through sharing people’s stories, the organization has created strong community connections.

“It doesn’t matter who you are, the shape you’re in, or where you are on life’s journey, everyone is an athlete, and everyone belongs,” Merritt said.

Like a man who was going through cancer treatments and continued to race. Now, he’s cancer free. The people, his fitness family, have kept him going, said Merritt.

Platte River Fitness offers 18 races a year. Local businesses and organizations sponsor and support them. Entry fees go to local charities and other organizations. There’s also a cash prize for the best Jingle Bell costume.

Platte River Fitness chooses local vendors for all its races, including a highly sought-after hooded Jingle Run sweatshirt designed by a local artist. Race entry fees are kept low so that cost is not a barrier.

Costume size can be, however. Years ago, as people gathered in the rec center before the race, that reindeer with eight

runners inside couldn’t fit through the regular-sized doors.

Apparently, it’s not just Santa that finds places a bit of a tight squeeze sometimes; and it doesn’t always have to do with cookies. Organizers had to open the large garage doors to allow the reindeer entry. All 16 of the reindeer’s human legs made it in for a quick warm-up before the race began. Now dash away, dash away all!

Nov. 24: Turkey Trot 5K & Family Mile

Dec. 3: Jingle Bell 5K & Mile platteriverfitness.com

WHERE TO EAT

NORTH 40 CHOPHOUSE

A crystal chandelier hangs above the circular bar, surrounded by top-shelf liquor and a wall of curated wines. This is the backdrop for chef-inspired cuisine, featuring wet- and dry-aged Nebraska beef, Creole dishes and craft cocktails, enjoyed by wranglers and the haute alike. 520 North Jeffers St. (308) 221-6688 north40.bar

WHERE TO STAY MCNEIL HOUSE BED & BREW @ PALS BREWING

With just a two-minute walk from Pals Brewing Co., the cozy McNeil House is nestled in the woods, steps away from the walking/bike path. Saunter over to Pals Brewing for handcrafted beer, wine, cornhole, volleyball, a Grain Bin Bar and live music – located on two acres of land. 4520 S. Buffalo Bill Ave. (308) 221-6715

WHERE TO GO DUSTY TRAILS

When outdoor adventure calls, Dusty Trails answers with tanking, horseback riding and tubing. A bus tour showcases sandhill cranes’ migration. A petting zoo destresses animal lovers. The Winter Riding Academy is open to all skill levels ages 6 years and up to stay active during winter. 2717 N. Buffalo Bill Ave. (308) 530-0048 dustytrails.biz

Photo: Arturo Banderas

Cheerful lights illuminate Nebraska’s parks and edifices to ensure a holly jolly Christmas this year.

SIGHTSEEING

NEBRASKA RADIATES WITH CHEER

MINDEN, OMAHA, BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA CITY

During the cold, dark winter months, festive light displays, Christmas music and blooms brighten Nebraskans’ spirits.

Minden has been putting together Santa-approved Christmas celebrations for over a century. A full season of events kicks off the Friday after Thanksgiving. Downtown activities include the lighting of lights, the crowning of Miss Christmas City and a parade. The Minden Opera House, a lovingly restored center for the arts in south-central Nebraska, is one of the stars of the show. The Kearney Courthouse also receives an extravagant Christmas makeover that makes it shine. mindennebraska.org

At Omaha’s Lauritzen Gardens’ annual

Bright Night event, guests may visit glimmering gardens at extended hours. Also in time for the season: the Holiday Poinsettia Show features abundant blooms of red and white. Families roast marshmallows over a crackling fire and enjoy holiday music. lauritzengardens.org

Nebraska City’s Arbor Day Farm Lied Lodge also offers a traditional holiday tableau. White lights adorn bare trees outside; inside, the lodge is trimmed to the brim. The historic mansion in Arbor Lodge State Historical Park makes spirits merry and bright. arbordayfarm.org

In Bellevue, community members with the Light Up Bellevue committee cooperate with the Bellevue Communi-

ty Foundation to put on the Christmas in Olde Town Holiday Lights & Musical Light Show at Washington Park, now in its fourth year. Families enjoy walking through light tunnels, viewing sparkling Christmas characters and watching trees made of lights dance to holiday pop hits. It’s an absolutely enchanting event for all ages. lightupbellevue.org

– Megan Feeney

WHERE TO EAT SWINE DINING

From full slabs of ribs to 1/2 smoked chickens, entrees at this Old Towne Bellevue eatery attract hungry families who spread out at casual tables. 204 E. Mission Ave. (402) 292-7427

WHERE TO STAY COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT

Conveniently located within walking distance to a cinema, eateries and shopping, this contemporary hotel features clean, comfortable rooms and an indoor pool. 3730 Raynor Pkwy. (402) 408-5300

WHERE TO GO BELLEVUE LOG CABIN

This trapper-built log cabin, constructed in 1835, is likely the oldest standing building in Nebraska. Originaly built in Missouri River floodplains, it was later moved to its current location. 805 Hancock St.

Holiday Centerpieces

Nov. 17 • Bellevue

Don’t stress about the overwhelming choices when it comes to decorating for the holidays. Let nature be your guide at Fontenelle Forest, where participants can create a custom, nature-inspired holiday centerpiece with the help of Deborah Woracek, a Fontenelle Forest team member. Fontenelle Forest will provide natural items and decorative accessories. Attendees can also bring personal items to use. 1111 Bellevue Boulevard North. (402) 731-3140

North Pole Express

Nov. 19 • Grand Island

Children travel from Grand Island to the North Pole during this special Stuhr Museum holiday event. After boarding an authentic rail car in their PJs, kids enjoy music and storytelling. Best of all, parents can leave their littles for the event and grab a cup of cocoa in the Stuhr Building. 3133 West Highway 34. (308) 385-5316

8th Annual Parade

December 3rd at 5:30 PM

BIRDING CHALLENGE

Open to all ages and all countries!

At least one of your birding locations must be at the Red Willow State Recreation Area.

Omaha Turkey Trot

Nov. 24 • Omaha

Doubling down on tradition on Thanksgiving Day, runners, joggers and walkers can don Thanksgiving-inspired costumes for the 6th annual Turkey Trot. Cake Creations donuts energize participants to cross the finish line and post their selfies on Instagram, #turkeytradition. The event starts and ends at TD Ameritrade Park. 1200 Mike Fahey St. nebraskaruns.com

DECEMBER

Christmas Show

From Dec. 2 • Manley

Why pick one production when a theater can do them all? In Manley, the Lofte Theatre presents Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!) This hilarious romp takes the audience on a Christmas adventure from Victorian England to the tropics. lofte.org

Wahoo Winterfest

Dec. 2-3 • Wahoo

Last minute shopper? Cross names off your shopping list or treat yourself with an array of artisan-made items, up-cycled finds, antiques and junk at Wahoo Winterfest held indoors at Saunders County Fairgrounds. Food will be available.

635 E. 1st St.

High Plains Christmas

Dec. 3 • Gering

Hayrack rides, roasting marshmallows, coffee around a bonfire and writing letters to Santa are cozy wintertime fun activities for the whole family to enjoy. The letters to Santa will be sent via Pony Express to Santa’s Village in downtown Gering. Food and beverages are available for purchase. High Plains Christmas is also a kickoff to the Trees Along the Trail Christmas tree decorating contest. 2930 Old Oregon Trail. (308) 436-1989

Make spirits bright this holiday season with a getaway to Lied Lodge at Arbor Day Farm. Cozy up to the fire, experience Christmas at the Mansion, and ring in the new year with music, food, and fun. We’re your home for holiday cheer.

Visit today and share in the spirit of the season in Nebraska City. Getting away doesn’t have to mean going far away.

Craft Show

Dec. 3 • Valentine

Get into the gift-giving spirit at the Winterfest Craft & Gift Show/Bake Sale at the Cherry County Fairgrounds in Valentine. Support local and shop small with handcrafted goods from local makers. Valentine Chapter P.E.O. sponsors the bake sale. 120 S. Green St.

BSA Big Give Luncheon

Dec. 12 • Omaha

After Somali pirates captured Captain Richard Phillips, he relied on his Scout training to help him through the dramatic events. He speaks at this free event with opportuniites to give to BSA. BSABigGive.org

The Princess Bride

Dec. 9 • Omaha

“As you wish.” The Princess Bride: An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes at Holland Performing Arts Center will

SEWARD COUNTY

bring actor Cary Elwes, who played Westley in the 1987 iconic movie, to the stage to give an insider’s view of the movie that has it all. After a screening of the film, Elwes will participate in a moderated discussion. Hopefully, Prince Humperdinck won’t capture Westley as he spills secrets from the set. Farm Boy, fetch me those tickets. 1200 Douglas St., Omaha. (402) 345-0606

Historic Homes

Dec. 11 • Norfolk

Celebrate a burgeoning holiday tradition at Elkhorn Valley Museum. In its second year, the museum will host merry activities throughout the day, including Santa in the cabin, snacks, wine and beer tasting, a Christmas tree lighting at Verges Park, and tickets available for purchase to visit historic homes in some of Norfolk’s oldest neighborhoods. 515 Queen City Blvd. (402) 371-3886

Grinch

Dec. 22-24 • Lincoln

Who is as charming as an eel? A bad banana with a greasy black peel? Who’s got termites in their smile and the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile? That’s right, it’s the Grinch. And he’s on his way to Lincoln. The timeless story How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical hits the stage at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. liedcenter.org

Wooly Tours

Stromsburg

Ever wonder how warm woolen sweaters and mittens are made? People can book tours at The Fiber Mill to see how wool is transformed into yarn. With a yarn shop, custom milling for sheep farmers and its line of Nebraska-made yarns to sell to shops around the country, this niche business caters to Nebraska’s growing wool industry. 214 3rd St. (402) 405-1971

TRIVIA

False. Flying squirrels glide through the air thanks to a gliding membrane

a. Pronghorn

a. Whooping crane and sandhill crane

a. Black & orange

a. Seven-lined

Page 2 A longhorn steer adds stately drama to a winter pasture.

Page 2 A buck senses a human presence.

Page 3 A blue jay adds color to this snowy scene at Lake Wanahoo in Saunders County. Page 4 Fox kits tussle and play.

Nov.

Dec.

ATURALLY EBRASKA

Getting Skunked Outdoorsman nourished by memories afield

by ALAN J. BARTELS

AMAGAZINE EDITOR friend

told me recently about a family fishing trip where nobody caught a fish. Her story reminded me that some of my best fishing memories don’t include catching fish.

Fishing and hunting opportunities abound in our country, and Nebraska has some of the best. Traveling the world with the U.S. Army showed me that the people of many other nations are not so fortunate.

So, if our expectations of stringers and live wells filled with the day’s catch are dashed, or visions of trophy bucks, ducks, or other hunting quarry don’t come to fruition, I hope my outdoor brothers and sisters replace disappointment with gratitude for days afield and opportunities to share time with friends and family. I truly believe that there is no such thing as getting skunked.

I’m setting myself up by saying this, but it irks me a little when November and December roll around, and people ask, “Did you get YOUR deer?”

Although it is not intended to come across this way, that innocent question sounds to me like maybe harvesting a deer is a given. I’ve been lucky to harvest at least one deer each year since taking my first one when I was in my 20s (I just jinxed myself), but it’s not like choosing a watermelon out of the produce section at the grocery store.

Successful hunting and fishing trips involve much work, preparation and discipline. Prayers don’t hurt, and there’s a reason people ask fishermen if they had any luck. The truth is that success afield and on the water is largely out of our control.

Sometimes the only thing that gets reeled in is the memory of a good time.

Call it luck, divine intervention or happenstance; there are no guarantees in the outdoors. I appreciate the opportunities that Nebraska’s outdoors offers and consider the successful catch or harvest to be the icing on the camouflaged cake.

Dad bought me a Zebco 404 rod and reel combo and a paper sack of fishing hooks, bobbers, sinkers and other gear after we moved to Meadow Grove when I was about to begin eighth grade. Buffalo Creek was a quick hike west of our house, and the Elkhorn River was barely a mile

north of town. As trains passed over the tracks above our fishing spot, crawdads, carp and bullheads were frequent catches from the creek.

Forty years later, those tracks have been replaced by the Cowboy Trail. When I look at Buffalo Creek today, that stream sure looks narrow. It’s about the same width it was back then. But in my memory, it was a gigantic world of outdoor adventure to get lost in for hours at a time.

A small pond adjacent to the river was a regular destination for my friends and me. We’d drop our bikes in the weeds next to the bridge and embark on daylong adventures.

One afternoon we were fishing when something pulled my rod and reel into the water.

I set the hook like those bass fishing pros you see on TV. Then – nothing. I thought I was snagged on a log when something began a steady march toward the other side of the pond. The rod was bent in a steep curve, and I was sure the line would break any second. I would gain a little on it, then lose a little. After around 5 minutes, I pulled the ball of moss to the shore – and the feisty 30-pound snapping turtle lunged toward me from inside. I had never seen a turtle so big.

I hope that big guy is 50 pounds or more now and still taking bait from fishermen in Madison County.

We didn’t catch any fish. But my friends and I did bring something home from Nebraska’s outdoors that day – a memory that we’ll keep for a lifetime. When you aim to harvest memories, you can’t miss. There is no such thing as getting skunked.

LAST LOOK EDITORS’ CHOICE

photograph by DON BROCKMEIER

AFTER A BIG turkey dinner, many Nebraskans like to go for a stroll and enjoy the autumn sunshine. In Eustis, these turkeys had the same idea.

Photographer and Eustis resident Don Brockmeier popped out of his car to capture the shot. The road and city water tower provided perfect leading lines. And if the turkeys decided to crank to their top speed of 25 miles per hour? Well, Brockmeier has experience covering fast runners.

The 80-year-old Eustis resident first got serious about his photography decades ago when his daughters were running track and field in high school. The team was doing exceptionally well – winning regional competitions and even state – but there was no one covering it. So he decided to do it.

He sold the images to the county paper, which ran and returned them to Brockmeier, who gave them to the athletes. Hooked on capturing action, he took a camera to the 1984 Olympics and then traveled the world shooting nature and wildlife.

Despite his wide-ranging travels, Brockmeier has taken many of the best shots in Nebraska. And we gobble, gobble, gobble them up.

IN EACH ISSUE, Last Look features a reader’s photograph of Nebraska – landscapes, architecture, attractions, events, people or wildlife.

Submit your best photographs for the chance to be published in Nebraska Life. Send digital images with detailed photo descriptions and your contact information to photos@nebraskalife.com or visit nebraskalife.com/contribute.

This image was created with an Olympus E-M1 camera with a Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm f2.8 lens with MC-14 teleconverter at 80mm, exposed at ISO 400, f/22 for 1/250 of a second.

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