November/December 2016 60Plus

Gwen Lemke Contributing Editor, 60PLUS In Omaha

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HE WONDERFUL HOLIDAY times

are here. All year, I look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the time spent with the company of family— children and grandchildren, and their significant others.

Earlier holidays were spent with extended family members. But as the family grew and got older, that hasn’t always been easy.

Suddenly the once-tiny grandchildren are all grown up and living in different towns.

For my parents, it was a balancing act to stay connected during the holidays. They would spend Thanksgiving with my sister, Barbara, in Kansas City. Then, they would have Christmas with us in Omaha.

Now, I hear from my adult and teenage grandchildren living away from Omaha that they plan to visit for the holidays (even though some are traveling long distances). It’s great to have them excited about it.

I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded by family for the holiday seasons. But we will miss those who cannot join. We will especially miss the family’s patriarch, my husband Raymond. He always enjoyed the holidays so much. Our joyous gatherings will carry forward his legacy.

Wishing you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Gwen

MARIA BONITA'S MATRIARCH Miriam Lopez

RADIO TALKING BOOK SERVICE Narrating the Written Word for the Visually Impaired

THE CASTLE IN PLATTSMOUTH Nebraska Masonic Home NOVEMBER

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BY KARA SCHWEISS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN / DESIGN BY RACHEL JOY

THE CASTLE IN PLATTSMOUTH

The Nebraska Masonic Home is located at 1300 Avenue D in Plattsmouth.

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OMAHA MAGAZINE

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HE BUILDING KNOWN as“The Castle” is hard

to miss while driving through Plattsmouth on Webster Boulevard. Its imposing grey stone structure boasts Elizabethan towers and arched doorways fit for a Scottish king. For its 100 or so residents, however, The Nebraska Masonic Home is a warm and caring place to spend their retirement years.

“This is their home,” executive director Mary Stockton says. “And the Masonic Home is like a home to me after working here 12 years.”

As a continuing care retirement community, the facility provides a range of options that can change with the needs of residents: independent apartment living, assisted living, nursing care, and special care for residents with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. Residents enjoy a range of activities and outings as well as amenities and services from housekeeping to state-of-the-art dining facilities.

But not just anyone can take up residence at the Nebraska Masonic Home. It has exclusively served eligible members of Masonic organizations—like Scottish Rite, York Rite, and Shriners International—and their eligible female relatives (wives, widows, mothers, daughters, sisters, NOVEMBER

FEATURE

grandmothers, and granddaughters) since 1903. It is the only Masonic retirement facility in the state.

“Masons support their brothers, and Masons take care of their families,” Stockton says. “Masons, on the whole, are a very generous, caring group of gentlemen.

They are the most philanthropic that I’ve ever seen…

Whatever they can do to help, they’re there.”

That generosity manifests through The Nebraska Masonic Home Foundation, which provides support for both the facility and individual residents who require financial assistance; the facility does not participate in government funding through Medicare and Medicaid.

Employee turnover is unusually low compared to the norm for retirement communities and nursing homes, Stockton says, and the staff includes employees at all levels who have reached 10, 15, or 20-year anniversaries. Some have been on the job even longer.

Marilyn McLaughlin, a CNA/CMA, will reach 30 years with the Nebraska Masonic Home next spring.

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Female relatives of Masons also stay at the Nebraska Masonic Home.

OMAHA MAGAZINE

The Alzheimer's/ Dementia Special Care Unit

“The staff and residents are nice, considerate, and respectful. You feel as soon as you walk in that you just want to be here and help,” McLaughlin says, adding that a manageable workload allows direct care staff like herself to provide quality care. “I couldn’t go and work anywhere else after working here.”

Chris Abbott, the facility’s administrative assistant and admissions coordinator, joined the Nebraska Masonic Home 26 years ago and says she had a positive impression immediately.

FEATURE

“MASONS, ON THE WHOLE, ARE A VERY GENEROUS, CARING GROUP OF GENTLEMEN. THEY ARE THE MOST PHILANTHROPIC THAT I’VE EVER SEEN… WHATEVER THEY CAN DO TO HELP, THEY’RE THERE.” -Mary Stockton

“I had never been in a nursing home, and I was just amazed when I walked in the door. I could smell good food cooking. The people were wonderful, the residents were well-dressed and clean…26 years later I’m still at it and I’m not going anywhere,” Abbott says. “Residents get care not like anyplace else; it’s a place where people are made to feel wanted. We care about residents, and we care about their families.”

Stockton agrees: “It really is a privilege to know and care for them.”

Visit thenebraskamasonichome.org for more information.

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BY KARA SCHWEISS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY RACHEL JOY

Radio Talking Book Service Station Manager Paul Stebbins

Scan this page with the LayAR app for a tour of the RTBS studio.

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OMAHA MAGAZINE

FEATURE

RADIO TALKING BOOK SERVICE

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Narration for the Visually Impaired

a smooth, pleasant voice with articulate delivery. As the station manager for the nonprofit Radio Talking Book Service, his knowledge of the technical side of radio production and programming is impressive.

AUL STEBBINS HAS

His extensive background in broadcasting and engineering is obvious by his professional demeanor. Not so apparent is what he shares with listeners: “I’ve been a user of services like ours for over 40 years. I’ve been blind since birth.”

Stebbins, now in his mid-60s, was born 14 weeks premature at a time when hospitals used excessively high levels of oxygen in incubators. The practice saved lives but was a risk factor for retinal damage in babies and contributed to Stebbins’ permanent vision loss.

Stebbins, a Chicago native, credits his parents with fostering his independence. His mother introduced him to a career in radio in 1961 when she founded a station “from the ground up,” an endeavor which lasted for a decade.

“For a blind person, radio was such a natural medium because it’s all sound-oriented; it’s all audio,” Stebbins says. Although he was a natural on the air, he was more interested in the technical side of things. So, after attending technical college, he worked for stations in various markets including Denver and San Francisco. He even did a brief stint in television.

“I worked for a year in game shows…I wanted to do news and sports,” he says, wryly. “I even did Wheel of Fortune for a while, and that was

fun. In fact, the director said he didn’t know for three days that I was blind.”

In 2007, a contact in Albuquerque told him about a position open at the well-regarded RTBS, one of the oldest services of its kind in the country. It only took one visit and a near-immediate offer to convince Stebbins to relocate to Nebraska, and now he is on hand to celebrate the station’s 42nd year.

RTBS uses radio as the main platform for its two primary services, The Radio Talking Book Network and Listening Link. Visually impaired listeners in Nebraska and southwest Iowa are entitled to a special receiver that allows them to access programming, which is also available online. It’s difficult to estimate listenership, Stebbins says, because RTBS has placed receivers in facilities like retirement centers where multiple users have access. The organization’s leaders know they are not reaching everyone who could benefit from the service and continually look for ways to increase awareness.

“We try to bring a variety of things, and our programming runs the gamut. It’s not like a usual radio station,” Stebbins explains. “We really try to enhance the lives of our listeners.

We like to inform and entertain.”

Traditional radio stations generally focus on news-talk or music programming, so RTBN provides other material that wouldn’t typically be accessible to visually impaired individuals. Its human-voiced programming includes daily current events content from larger Nebraska community newspapers and magazines (including this one), grocery and retail ads, special interest shows from

"IT’S VALUABLE TO ME BECAUSE I CAN’T READ THE NEWSPAPER, AND IT’S NICE TO KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE WORLD. I THINK MY RADIO STAYS ON 24/7."

-Naomi Marion health and sports to cooking and gardening, and entertainment including nostalgic dramas from the golden age of radio, and audio from movies with special narration describing visual elements. RTBN also carries some National Public Radio programs like Morning Edition and Weekend Edition and exchanges programs with other reading services throughout the country.

RTBS’s Listening Link program provides educational content for post-secondary students.

Many volunteer opportunities are available at RTBS, volunteer coordinator Sybil Mahan says, and close to 100 volunteers provide reading services. Potential readers have to go through an audition process because “It is a talent to read out loud,” she explains. Some RTBS readers do professional voice talent gigs and have in-home studio space, but to maintain high audio quality, most readers report to the RTBS studios in the organization’s offices at 7101 Newport Ave. near CHI Health Immanuel Medical Center.

Volunteers tend to stick around, Mahan adds.

“We have had people here for 26 to 30 years and that’s pretty wonderful to have.”

“It’s a good service and people here are just so good to work with,” Stebbins says.

RTBN strives to meet the needs of listeners who not only share the common trait of visual impairment but represent all ages and countless interests, Stebbins says. So, they broadcast a wide variety of programs with very little replay 24 hours a day. Because RTBN doesn’t use ratings research services like Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron), direct listener feedback helps shape content decisions.

Naomi Marion, a listener and RTBS board member, began listening to RTBN after losing her vision eight years ago.

“It’s valuable to me because I can’t read the newspaper, and it’s nice to know what’s going on in the world,” she says. “I think my radio stays on 24/7."

Visit rtbs.org or call 402-572-3003 or 800729-7826 for more information.

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OMAHA MAGAZINE

ACTIVE LIVING

Suzanne Wilke The Road Less Traveled

BY LUKE BULLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY KRISTEN HOFFMAN

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S

UZANNE WILKE PULLS up to her

dog grooming store and exits her white Pathfinder with an exuberant wave and a giant smile on her face. She walks indoors and is immediately greeted with a barrage of barking dogs and friendly smiles. She picks up a chair and suggests we talk outside. “It’s too nice to be inside.” As we make our way to the storefront, we are greeted by multiple friends and customers picking up or dropping off their furry loved ones. Wilke greets everyone with the same friendly demeanor.

Wilke, who turns 60 in December, is a cancer survivor and owner of Bark Avenue Omaha, a grooming and daycare center for dogs. Her business is expanding, servicing 60-100 dogs per day. She is a rare breed whose ethics come from hard work and determination. Not satisfied with a mundane routine, she keeps herself active. “I hope to always keep that mentality, to stay busy enough where I don’t really have to worry about staying young,” Wilke says.

Her passion for dog grooming started at a young age. When she was 14, she started helping out at her aunt’s grooming shop. “There is just an art to it,” she exclaims. “My brain clicked, and it just came naturally to me.”

So it would only make sense that from then on Wilke would follow her love for dogs and eventually begin her own business.

A year after a stroke, Suzanne Wilke enjoys four-wheeling as a hobby.

NOVEMBER

Though Wilke’s love for grooming only increased over the years, by age 23, in 1979, she took an apprenticeship with a plumber’s union as the only female apprentice. Wilke’s father, who was also a plumber, let her know that he wanted his daughter to have a career.

“I was focusing on grooming, but my dad was always saying, ‘you need a career,’ and I didn’t want to do anything that confined me." >

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ACTIVE LIVING

< After a few years of her apprenticeship, Wilke was no stranger to physical labor and eventually left the plumber’s union to begin a more promising job as a Union Pacific Railroad freight welder.

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“I was the only woman to do that.”

She smiles and explains some of her duties.

“I welded hopper cars and did physical labor down in the shops of the Union Pacific Railroad.” Wilke continued to work at Union Pacific until 1988.

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As Wilke began to figure out what career she wanted to pursue, she did not abandon her true passion, grooming dogs on weekends.

She never lost her clientele regardless of what she was doing. “I still have clients that I had 35 years ago. Because they still have dogs.”

Unfortunately, in 1991, Wilke was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma, a rare malignant tumor.

Wilke battled her way to make a full recovery only a year later. With a rare cancer, treatment was never easy. “They really didn’t know what to do for me.” However, she knew that there was something more. “I’ve always sat back and tried to understand what my purpose was. There’s got to be a purpose for me to be here.” After recovery, Wilke continued to work part time grooming dogs, but in 2000 she decided to open Bark Avenue.

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As time progressed, Wilke maintained a healthy lifestyle both mentally and physically. She was in a position to do what she loved and make a living at it. However, in November 2015, Wilke suffered from a stroke that affected her speech and ability to walk.

“It took me from November until the end of March to feel like I could get everything the way I needed it.” Much like other situations in her life, Wilke took this head on and conquered it. She shows no signs of health problems only a year after her stroke.

Today, she still grooms dogs on a daily basis and exercises every day. “There are all kinds of things we do in our lives that we feel passionate about,” says Wilke, who also enjoys camping, riding motorcycles, and four-wheeling.

Michelle Vilak, a good friend of Wilke and manager of Bark Avenue, says, “(She’s) the hardest working woman I have ever met. She’s inspirational and my best friend.” After spending an afternoon with Wilke, truer words could not have been said.

Visit barkavenueomaha.com for more information.

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The head chef of Maria Bonita Mexican Cuisine

THE MATRIARCH BEHIND THE SCENES

Miriam Lopez NOVEMBER

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OMAHA MAGAZINE

PEOPLE

BY LEO ADAM BIGA PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY RACHEL JOY

T

HE BRIGHT FLAVORS and colors of Hidalgo,

Mexico, pop at family-owned and operated Maria Bonita Mexican Cuisine. Matriarch and head chef Miriam Lopez authentically re-creates the food she recalls from her native land.

Tropical floral motifs by Omaha artist Mike GirÓn decorate the 5132 L St. restaurant, as well as the family's two food trucks.

"The colors not only inspire us and make us remember where we come from but also transmit some of our culture and the way we envision life, which is colorful and positive," eldest daughter Itzel Lopez says. "Our culture is really within us."

She and her two sisters help mom continue a proud legacy of strong, accomplished Latinas.

Miriam and husband Miguel opened the eatery in 2011 at 20th Street and Missouri Avenue. Business boomed before Miguel fell ill.

"He was our backbone," Itzel says. "For us, family's always been more important than business, so we said, 'Let's take a break and get our dad where he needs to be.'"

Maria Bonita closed; however, the customers refused to leave. Itzel says, "Our customers really didn't let us go, but the only way we could continue what we'd started was to go on wheels. So, we acquired our first food truck right in 2011, and in 2014 we acquired our second food truck."

A new brick and mortar was sought to serve sit-down diners and to prep-host catering gigs. Thus, the former Sizzler site became the new Maria Bonita in 2015.

"Same food, same concept, just bigger," says Itzel.

They opened it with help from the Nebraska Enterprise Fund. With Miguel recuperating in Mexico, Miriam wants it to be like coming to the Lopez casa for "a home-cooked family meal," adding, "The kitchen is the home of the home."

"These are dishes my mom will cook at home," Itzel says. "Everything my mom does she makes with love.

Mom wants to see tables full of families enjoying a good dinner. That's something we grew up with.

Every Sunday after church we come and enjoy our own food here."

"THE COLORS NOT ONLY INSPIRE US AND MAKE US REMEMBER WHERE WE COME FROM BUT ALSO TRANSMIT SOME OF OUR CULTURE AND THE WAY WE ENVISION LIFE, WHICH IS COLORFUL AND POSITIVE. OUR CULTURE IS REALLY WITHIN US." -Itzel Lopez Miriam says she doesn't use "complicated recipes, processes, and ingredients," adding, "This is very different—this is simple food the way I remember when I was a kid. My memories are all about food—about my mom all the time cooking for everybody."

She inherited her mom's cooking talent, and her folks paid for culinary training. She worked as a line cook in Mexico and America. "All the time I was learning—I learned a lot." Even though the hours are long, she finds joy. "All the time people ask me, why you work so hard?

But I don't feel like I'm working. It's special—that's the difference. They think it's for the money, but it's not for the money. It's passion. I love this. It's my dream."

Miriam's college-educated daughters have jobs and lives of their own, and she wants them to be successful.

"It's my faith for them. Happiness is everything."

"We move by faith in our family," says Itzel. "We're just hard working women. All we have to do is just follow that."

Itzel says she admires her mother's "consistency and perseverance" and how "she molds the family to the same mission."

“We’re a good team, each with different roles and strengths, all of us guided by Mom and her passion for food."

Mother and daughter are "proud" their family of "Mexican transplants and language learners" has come so far here.

A rotating traditional Mexican buffet is served daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Visit mariabonitaonline.com for more information.

The Orpheum combines French, Italian, Czek, Greek, and other architectural influences.

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OMAHA MAGAZINE

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NOSTALGIA

Reviving the Orpheum Theater’s Many Architectural Styles

BY KIM REINER PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY RACHEL JOY

MAHA’S ORPHEUM THEATER was designed

to impress. Those vaulted, gilt ceilings. The 1920s Czech crystal chandeliers and gold leaf and ivory finishes. Its similarities to the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles are intentional. The Orpheum’s architects were inspired by the French Renaissance.

But, the French weren’t the sole inspiration.

The architectural styles found within the Orpheum Theater are as eclectic as the performances on stage. Designed to be a vaudeville house in 1927 by the firm Rapp and Rapp, lush Louis XIV influences mingle and complement other styles, particularly Italian. Look up as you enter the Orpheum by the ticket booth and inside the second set of entry doors. The French grandeur blends with urns and grapes typical of Italian architecture on the ceilings.

“What the audience sees is Rapp and Rapp’s interpretations,” says Ed Hurd, who has spent several years researching the history behind the theater. He calls them interpretations because burgundy draperies and some chandeliers inside aren’t typical of French Renaissance design.

“Omaha’s really lucky this place didn’t meet the wrecking ball,” says Hurd.

In 1971, the theater had fallen into disrepair—nets under the ceiling kept plaster from falling on the audience. The following year, the building was purchased and donated to the City of Omaha and renovations began. The lobby space grew and a permanent concession area was added. While the city still owns the building, Omaha Performing Arts assumed management in 2002 and began its own extensive renovations.

While heavy duty work has been done backstage and on-stage, plenty has been improved in the front of house.

That’s where James Bond comes in. Not THAT James Bond.

The James Bond of Custom Artistic Finishes in Omaha, who has been touching up the Orpheum’s interior for years. He was hired to restore and accurately reflect what the building was like, says Squires. The fact that no one notices his touch-ups reflects the quality of his craftsmanship.

“OMAHA’S REALLY LUCKY THIS PLACE DIDN’T MEET THE WRECKING BALL.” -Ed Hurd

Other architectural elements sneak in elsewhere, such as a 1920s Greek Romanesque feel in the Exhibition Lobby and English-looking flowers and symmetrical design found on the ceiling by the ticket booth.

Hurd, as the performance rental director for Omaha Performing Arts, the nonprofit that manages the theater, started digging into the story of the Orpheum in order to better sell the venue to touring artists. The strategy has worked.

“Without exception, the artists are amazed by the quality of this theater and the beauty,” says Joan Squires, president of Omaha Performing Arts.

Most of the elements found in the theater’s lobbies and its concert hall are original to the building, including the furniture, wrought iron grill work, draperies, marble, plaster sculpture, and the terra-cotta drinking fountains.

It wasn’t always so well maintained.

NOVEMBER

Bond is a former artistic apprentice to Salvatore Nespolo, the lead foreman on the original Orpheum renovation in the 1970s. He meticulously applied gold leafing, or gilding, throughout the bottom floor of the Orpheum, restoring the luster once tarnished by smoke damage. The extensive retexturing and color matching on the Lauritzen Lobby ceiling is another example.

“I’m very proud of every bit of the work I’ve done here,” says Bond.

Through the hard work of Bond and others, the ornate theater’s appearance has been restored to the level it deserves.

“What saved this building is the love people have for it,” says Hurd.

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