March/April 2011 Omaha Magazine

FACES • STYLE • HOME • EVENTS • ART • DINING

PAGE 41

Billy McGuigan:

More Than Buddy MARCH/APRIL

2011

Omaha's Best Lawyers in America® Greenest of the Green Grey Plume Named Greenest Restaurant in America

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Luxury Homes CoLLeCtion 12219 N 179 Circle

$1,500,000

810 N 143 Court

$1,285,000

14210 Hamilton Street

$990,000

Allow yourself a little luxury! Waterfront ranch home is simply amazing. All the amenities one could ask for. Runco movie theater room, sunken bar, 2 laundry rooms. Outside living area, firepit and the pool. Truly one of Omaha’s best!

Class, elegance, functionality, and much more! Hickory wood flooring, granite & marble counter tops, large bedrooms, gorgeous bathrooms & great attention to detail. This is truly a must-see home.

McNeil custom designed home. Three beautiful fireplaces, year round sunroom overlooks professionally landscaped yard.

Main floor Master with his/hers baths. Second floor Master with fireplace. Private main floor sitting room.

Jeff Rensch • 391.5333

Eryka Vincentini • 689.0470

Sharon Marvin • 689.2380

5109 N 196 Street

$944,500

3323 N 140 Street

$925,000

One of a kind 2 Story home. Spacious eat-in kitchen, hearth area w/ 2 sided fireplace. Sunroom, formal living area & study. Master bedroom includes nice walk-in closet. Lower fabulous wet bar, walk out LL to pool & landscaped yard.

Custom built elegant ranch over-looking 18th green on Champions golf course, walls of glass offer views of beautiful inground pool and course. Inviting kitchen/hearth room featuring granite, white cabinetry, 2 pantries, wood floors w/separate dining area.

Jeff Rensch • 391.5333

Sharon Marvin • 689.2380

1409 N 190 Street

$725,000

Walkout ranch in Silverleaf Estate. Beautiful park-like yard.

Vaulted ceilings, 8 ft doors, hearthroom kitchen. Master bedroom and bath are stunning! Lower level with large family room and bar area. Lots of storage. Beautiful mix of tile and wood.

$699,000

$699,950

Incredible custom-built Ranch home on a secluded acreage. 4+ acre lot located in a Natural Wildlife Corridor w/an abundance of wildlife, natural prairie grasses & views for miles. Exotic hardwood floors, 3 FP’s, Thermador appliances, home theater.

1412 N 189th Street

$760,000

Treed acreage. Double island, cherry cabinets, granite counters, hearthroom stone fireplace, built-ins & covered deck. Fantastic main fl office, amazing master suite & bath. Walk-out lower level w/ full kitchen, billiards area, surround sound, 2 bedrooms.

Jeff Rensch • 391.5333

Susan Hancock • 215.7700

Roxanne Dooley • 319.9678

7763 CR P35, Blair

11811 N 58th Circle

9903 S 165 Street

10955 N 58 Plaza

$695,000

Great horse lovers delight. 3 out buildings 60 x 120, indoor riding arena, 4 stall 30x40 with hot & cold water, 30x24 storage building.

3 bedrooms, 4 baths. Hard surface road, 10 min to downtown or 114th & Dodge.

Morrie Korthals • 690.5003

$675,000

Incredible turn-key horse acreage south of Blair. Custom built 2 sty w/ 5,100+ FSF, 6 BR, 6 BA, finished walkout basement, lovely main floorr MBR, spacious open living area w/ custom kitchen & hearth rm. Many quality amenities and upgrades.

Custom 2 story in Silverleaf Estates. 5 bedrooms/6 baths. Gourmet kitchen w/massive granite island, birch cabinets, SS appliances, hearthroom with fireplace. Extra large bedrooms. LL features media area, rec room, exercise room.

Tom Sternberg • 980.6336

Roxanne Dooley • 319.9678

803 Western Hills Drive

$625,900

Incredibly livable floor plan and immaculate home. Master bedroom has high ceilings and built-ins. Great room is spacious with a 14 foot ceiling and the view of the backyard, pond and golf course. Main level kitchen/hearth room/Dinette.

Don Ozanne • 681.7898

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– Omaha Performing Arts Season Ticket Holder, Orpheum Theater Loge, Row D, Seat 4

Enjoy the brilliant artistry of Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater, the Mediterranean sensuality of Compañia Nacional de Danza 2, and the breathless athleticism of Trey McIntyre Project.

Dance as distinctive as the performers themselves. Known throughout the world, yet available right here at home.

TICKETS START AT $19*

402.345.0606 • TicketOmaha.com *Tickets to Alvin Ailey® American Dance Theater start at $25.All prices, performers, dates, and times are subject to change.

FEATURES COVER STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

BILLY MCGUIGAN

publisher

todd lemke managing editor

corey ross

FEATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

RAINBOW BRIDGE

PAGE 28

MARCH/APRIL 2011 VO LU M E 2 8 • ISSUE 1

city editor

sandra lemke assistant editor

OMAHA HOME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

linda persigehl

BEST LAWYERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

art director/graphic design

OMAHA FASHION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

assistant graphic design

FEATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

GREY PLUME

DEPAR TMENTS

matt jensen

john gawley photography

image director: bill sitzmann head photographer: philip s. drickey

EDITOR’S LETTER .......................................................................... 8

technical advisor

FOR STARTERS .......................................................................... 10

contributing writers

tyler lemke

carol nigrelli • shannon smith angelika stout(intern #17) molly garriott • john fischer leo adam biga • niz proskocil david williams • lainey seyler

CALENDAR OF EVENTS ................................................................. 12 OMAHA ART: MATTHEW PLACZEK ................................................. 18 OMAHA FEATURE: SUSHI CITY ...................................................... 22 GENERATION O: JON TVRDIK ........................................................ 25

vice president

OMAHA FACE: JEREMIAH NEAL ................................................. 33

account executives

greg bruns

OMAHA FACE: MATT ACORD ........................................................ 36 OMAHA STYLE: PAM FINN ............................................................ 38

ART

g w e n l e m k e • gil cohen vick i voet • stacey penrod sales associates

alicia smith hollins • dara newson katie anderson

GALA ........................................................ 105

editorial advisors

Cover story: UNO Women’s Walk ...............................................................................…

108

Behind the Mic: Rudy Ruettiger ...................................................................................... .

112

Hope for Haiti ..............................................................................................................................

114

402.884.2000

Calendar of events ...................................................................................................................

116

To subscribe to

Omaha Heart Ball ......................................................................................................................

117

Girls Nite Out ...............................................................................................................................

118

TOYO .................................................................................................................................................

119

Downtown Omaha Inc. Gala .............................................................................................

120

At Ease .............................................................................................................................................

120

UNMC Skate-a-thon ................................................................................................................

121

Ak-Sar-Ben Kickoff .....................................................................................................................

121

Cathedral Flower Festival .....................................................................................................

122

Cheers to the Angels ..............................................................................................................

122

DINING OUT

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Omaha Food: LePeep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Chef Profile: Enzo Zurlo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Wine & Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Pages 27-122 are included for city readers and subscribers only but can be viewed at www.readonlinenow.com.

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Opening On Day 2011 Tickets Sale March 12th 10am

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APRIL 15 402.738.5100

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7

Corey Ross Omaha Publications' Managing Editor

Now: check out Omaha Magazine online. Using flipbook technology to give you a whole new magazine reading experience.

The Rewards

Roll In One was a Best of Omaha® rewards card.

The other was a newly expanded home section. Both have been greeted with success.

The other new addition was our expanded home section, named Omaha Home, which debuted at 36 pages and this issue grows to a robust 52. You’ll also find Omaha Home as its own stand-alone magazine at businesses that offer home-related products and services.

The rewards card is your plastic passport to experience what some of the Best of Omaha® businesses have to offer. If you haven’t yet activated your card, go to www. bestofomaha.com to register and learn more about the card, or request one, and see a list of participating businesses.

The intent of Omaha Home is to provide entirely local content that gives readers a range of ideas to inspire them in improving their own home environment. We seek to do this through a mix of home profiles, trend stories and columns written about a range of home-related topics.

As of press time, the range of businesses participating included everything from restaurants to boutiques to catering to fitness.

At most establishments, all you have to do is show your card and you can receive such benefits as 10 percent off your purchase at Pitch Pizzeria or $180 off a six-month membership at Black Clover Fitness. Koca Chiropractic offers a greatly discounted consultation and health analysis.

The initial home section was greeted with much approval from readers and advertisers alike and especially earned plaudits for its look, which seeks to be more visual than the rest of Omaha Magazine.

In our Best of Omaha® issue, there were two significant debuts.

The rewards will grow throughout the year, so continue to check the website for updates on participating merchants.

In this issue, Home makes its encore with a look at, among other things: the renovated carriage house of Omaha artist Eddith Buis; the Aspen-like backyard of Dr. Luke Nordquist; the art-filled townhome of local art collector Carol Gendler; tips for improving your garage space and a look at the transformation of a timber frame home near Ashland.

The Best of Omaha® results were again greeted with much anticipation by the public and the usual degree of debate that the results annually stir.

Hopefully these stories inspire you and give you a reason to take a fresh look at your space, as winter gives way to spring and we embrace a return to a more active time of year.

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march/april | 2011

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Dear Visitors: Pages 27-122

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For those visitors interested in reading the rest of this issue of Omaha Magazine go to www.readonlinenow.com and read the entire magazine as well as past issues of all of our publications. For those interested in subscribing to Omaha Magazine please visit www.omahapublications.com.

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Omaha

This is

Jeff Dunham in Concert Qwest Center Omaha March 4th Jeff Dunham’s 100 city “Identity Crisis” tour continues to pack major venues worldwide. The show consistently delivers a cutting edge comedy experience that has catapulted Dunham and his comedic crew; Walter the Grumpy Retiree, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, the beer-fueled redneck Bubba J and the manic purple creature Peanut into the consciousness of the nation and comedy fans around the globe. 8 pm show. Tickets are $45.50 and available at all Ticketmaster retail locations, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 1 (800) 745-3000, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

This four-day multi-event extravaganza will have attractions for adults and children alike. The 2011 Expo’s featured areas will include: A Room Design Showcase and Courtyard Garden by the Greater Omaha Remodeler’s Association – NARI Chapter; A new home completely decorated with a backyard garden display; a fountain café and food court; and continuous entertainment and kid’s

45th Annual Omaha Home & Garden Expo & Omaha Lawn, Flower & Patio Show March 3-6 -- Qwest Center Omaha The Omaha Home & Garden Expo unites with the Omaha Lawn, Flower and Patio Show to become the most complete showcase of the latest products and services for the home—inside and out! This year’s show will combine all the latest ideas for today’s home consumers, from kitchens, bathrooms and home improvement products and services, to the smells of SPRINGTIME! via a stroll through the area’s largest and most colorful showcase of beautifully landscaped gardens with ponds, waterfalls and blooming flowers. Uniting the two shows into one presentation becomes “the Home and Garden Event of the year in the Omaha area,” says Show Director Mike Mancuso.

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www.omahapublications.com

activities, including an interactive Exotic Animals Show.

The Show creates consumer excitement with nationally known experts and personalities' presentations throughout the Expo. Meet the popular host of the Travel Channel’s “Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo” and author of “A Fork on the Road: 400 Cities 1 Stomach,” as well as nationally known garden expert and author Pat Stone. Designer Michael Moloney , star of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," will also be at this year’s Expo.

The 45th Annual Omaha Home & Garden Expo and Annual Omaha Lawn, Flower & Patio Show exhibits will be open to the public Thursday, March 3, from 5 PM to 9 PM; Friday, March 4, from 11 AM to 9 PM; Saturday, March 5, from 11 AM to 8 PM and Sunday, March 6, from

www.readonlinenow.com

11 AM to 5 PM. Produced by Mid-America Expositions, Inc. Qwest Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. Adult Admission $7.00; Children 12 & Under $ 3.50; Under 5 are FREE. $1 off discount coupons available at area Bag ‘N Save grocery stores.

Opera Omaha's Madama Butterfly April 15 & April 17 Orpheum Theater | Slosburg Hall Back for an encore performance after achieving nationwide success, this wildly-popular 2006 Omaha production features the original breathtaking designs from world-renowned Omaha artist Jun Kaneko. Get ready for more sellout performances with vivid colors, lovely arias, artful dialogue and Puccini’s rich musical

compositions in this poetic journey through love and tragedy. Set in 20th century Nagasaki, Cio-Cio-San, known as the sweet Geisha Madama Butterfly, and U.S. Navy Lieutenant Pinkerton celebrate their wedding. She patiently awaits his return, unaware he has married another woman.

Cast: Mihoko Kinoshita as Madama Butterfly, Mika Shigematsu, Gerard Powers, Todd Thomas and Jason Ferrante. Conducted by Joseph Rescigno Directed by Leslie Swackhammer. Sponsored by First National Bank of Omaha. For a detailed synopsis of the two-act opera, a list of the complete cast, and artists’ biographies, go to operaomaha.org. Performances are Friday, April 15 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 17 at 2:00 pm. Tickets start at $19 – click ticketomaha.com or call 402.345.0606

march/april | 2011

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CALENDAR of events

www.visitomaha.com

Compiled by Linda Persigehl Through 5/29: From Houdini to Hugo: The Art of Brian Selznick.

Joslyn Art Museum. Step into Brian Selznick's world with images of characters as diverse as the great Houdini, wordsmith Walt Whitman, celebrated singer Marian Anderson, and Hugo Cabret — an orphan who lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station. From Houdini to Hugo includes over 100 original drawn and painted pictures from 17 books, among them: The Houdini Box, Barnyard Prayers, Walt Whitman: Words for America, The Doll People, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, Our House, When Marian Sang, The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins, and Frindle. Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat/10am-4pm; Thurs/10am-8 pm; Sun/noon-4pm; closed Mon. Admission: $8 adults; $6 seniors and college students; $5 youth (ages 5-17); ages 4 and younger free. 2200 Dodge St. 342-3300.

More info at www.joslyn.org.

The "Mama Mia!" National Tour comes to the Orpheum 3/3-3/6.

CHECK IT! Dates and times are current as of press time but please call ahead to confirm.

ONGOING EVENTS Through 3/4: Drawing Omaha From Manhattan. Astonishing, dramatic, large-scale "narritive noir" images in charcoal, many of which are set in his native Nebraska. Recurring daily. Creighton University Lied Art Gallery, 2500 California Plz. Daily/1-4pm (402) 280-2261 Admission: Free. For more info, visit www.creighton.edu/liedgallery

of the nation’s revered sixteenth president, this exhibition reveals Lincoln the man, whose thoughts, words, and actions were deeply affected by personal experiences and pivotal historic events. Hours: Mon&Wed-Sat/10am. Admission: $7 Adults; $6 Seniors 62+; $5 Ages 3-12; Free 2 & Under. 801 S. 10 St. 444-5071. www.durhammuseum.org.

Through 3/13: Fantastic Mr. Fox. The Rose Theater. The town's three meanest farmers – Boggis, Bunce and Bean – are fed up.

Gone are the chickens and ducks each morning – and gone, too, should be the fox that keeps stealing them. Joining forces, they resolve to end the nightly raids. But foxes are clever and the Fantastic Mr. Fox is the cleverest of them all. Taking his game underground, he challenges the dimwitted farmers to keep their eyes on the prize! Based on the book by Roald Dahl. The Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. For tickets and show times, visit www. rosetheater.org

Through 3/27: Schoolhouse to White House: The Education of the Presidents. The Durham Museum. Focusing on the early education of American Presidents from Herbert Hoover through George W. Bush, the familyfriendly School House to White House exhibition engages visitors of every age and interest.

Documents and photos drawn from the collections of the National Archives Presidential Libraries reveal fascinating details about children that would grow up to be presidents. Hours: Mon&Wed-Sat/10am. Admission: $7 Adults; $6 Seniors 62+; $5 Ages 3-12; Free 2 & Under. 801 S. 10 St. 444-5071. www.durhammuseum.org.

Through 3/20: With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition.

The Durham Museum. In commemoration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth

Through 4/1: Take Time for Tea 1820-1950. General Crook House. Tea pots! Tea cups! Tea accoutrements and memorabilia throughout the years. Come and enjoy this walk through the past.

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Hours: Tues-Fri/10am-4pm; SatSun/1pm-4pm. Admission: $5 adults($6 Nov-Dec); $4 students; $3 ages 6 to 11; Free for children under 6. 5730 N. 30 St. 455-9990. www.omahahistory.org.

Through 4/9: Vera Mercer: Still Lifes. VERA MERCER: STILL LIFES is an exhibition of 11 major photographic works by the Omahabased photographer Vera Mertz Mercer. STILL LIFES is Mercer's first-ever solo exhibition in the United States and seeks to establish a critical dialogue in her home surrounding her current work. Mercer's large-scale photographs of food, vegetables and animals are decadent and comical, grotesque and alluring.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. 12th & Leavenworth streets, 341.7130. More information soon at www.bemiscenter.org Through 4/9: Another Nebraska: Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellows. The Bemis Center is proud to present Another Nebraska, an exhibition of the 2010 Nebraska Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship awardees. The nine exhibiting artists work across myriad media and contemporary art strategies.

Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. 12th & Leavenworth streets, 341.7130. More information soon

at www.bemiscenter.org Through 4/10: Big Backyard.

Omaha Children's Museum. Kids can climb, bike, camp and hike in the biggest backyard under one roof! Explore 10,000 square feet of outdoorsy fun including the newly restored Richman Gordman Zooland Animals.

Members: Free. Non-members$2 with regular admission. 500 S. 20 St. More info at www.ocm.org.

Through 4/15: Fast Bikes, Fast Cars, Fast Planes. Strategic Air & Space Museum. This exhibit consisting of motorcycles and race cars, will find itself strategically placed among the aircraft in the museum…a fun way to spend a few hours! 10am-5pm, Closed Wednesdays until Memorial Day. Admission: $10 adults; $5 children (ages 4-12); military and senior discounts. I-80, Exit 426, Ashland. 402-944-3100. More info at www.SASMuseum.com.

Through 4/30: “The Secret Garden” Spring Flower Show.

Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha’s Botanical Center. Step into Lauritzen Gardens' spring flower show, and be greeted by a tropical jungle with a huge pool, several waterfalls and a sandy beach surrounded by flowering orchids and bromeliads. Sweet citrus fragances will fill the area with

orange and grapefruit trees. The garden will burst with vivid colors. 9 am to 5 pm daily. Standard garden admission rates apply: $6/adults; $3/ages 6-12, free/ members and children under 6. Members are admitted free.

Hours: 9am-5pm. 100 Bancroft St. 346-4002. More info at www. omahabotanicalgardens.org Through 5/8: The Glory of Ukraine. Joslyn Art Museum.

Comprising two distinct and rarely seen collections, The Glory of Ukraine is a two-part exhibition that forms an unprecedented celebration of the spiritual and national treasures of this large Eastern European nation. Icons and other religious objects from the famous churches, cathedrals, bell towers, and underground caverns of the nearly 1,000-yearold Monastery of the Caves join artifacts of ancient civilizations from the private PlaTar collection for a visually rich and historically intriguing presentation. Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat/10am-4pm; Thurs/10am-8 pm; Sun/noon4pm; closed Mon. Admission: $8 adults; $6 seniors and college students; $5 youth (ages 5-17); ages 4 and younger free. 2200 Dodge St. 342-3300. More info at www. joslyn.org.

MARCH 3/1: James Taylor in Concert.

The Orpheum Theater, Slosburg Hall. 8 pm show. The legendary James Taylor has earned 40 gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards and 5 Grammy Awards for a catalog running from 1970’s Sweet Baby James to his Grammy Award-winning efforts Hourglass (1997) and October Road (2002), to his Grammy Award- nominated Covers, his last solo release.

Above all, there are the songs: “Fire and Rain,” “Country Road,” “Something in The Way She Moves,” “Mexico,” “Shower The People,” “Your Smiling Face,” “Carolina In My Mind,” “Sweet Baby James,” and many more. 8 pm show. Tickets $68-$88. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

3/3-3/6: "Mamma Mia!" The Orpheum, Slosburg Hall. MAMMA MIA! is the ultimate feel-good show that has audiences coming back again and again to relive the thrill. Now it’s your turn to have the time of your life at this smash-hit musical that combines ABBA’s greatest hits, including Dancing Queen, with an enchanting tale of love, laughter and friendship. Whether it’s your first visit or your fourteenth, every time feels like the first time at MAMMA MIA! Tickets $28-$65.

Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

3/4: Jeff Dunham in Concert.

Qwest Center Arena.

Jeff Dunham’s 100 city “Identity Crisis” tour continues to pack major venues worldwide. The show consistently delivers a cutting edge comedy experience that has catapulted Dunham and his comedic crew; Walter the Grumpy Retiree, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, the beer-fueled redneck Bubba J and the manic purple creature Peanut into the consciousness of the nation and comedy fans around the globe. 8 pm show.

Tickets are $45.50 and available at all Ticketmaster retail locations, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone

www.omahapublications.com

march & aPriL

2011

CONVENIENCE HAS BENEFITS You get used to the unexpected when you live in a luxury condominium at Midtown Crossing.

Opportunities to shop, eat, play and relax turn up every time you step outside your front door.

Ronald Reagan's 4th grade class. Schoolhouse to the White House: The Education of the Presidents at the Durham Museum.

1 (800) 745-3000, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

3/5: Blues at the Crossroads.

Holland Performing Arts Center, Kiewit Hall. 8 pm show. Born in 1911, Robert Johnson was the king of Delta blues. Celebrate his mythic legacy with Big Head Todd & The Monsters, Hubert Sumlin, Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm, and David “Honeyboy” Edwards – a 95-year-old guitar legend who played with Johnson the night he died. Sponsored by Mutual of Omaha. Tickets $19-$58. Tickets $28-$65. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

3/10-3/13: “Young, Gifted, and Black: Smouldering Fires.” The Rose Theater. Young, Gifted, and Black is an ensemble of AfricanAmerican youth who explore issues by performing the works of great African-American playwrights. Recommended ages: 10-adult. Tickets are $6 (not included in membership) The Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. For tickets and show times, visit www.rosetheater.org 3/10-4/2: Three Tall Women. Blue Barn Theatre, Directed by Susan ClementToberer. Wickedly funny, and told with uncompromising truth, Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama takes a long, hard look at the arc of one human life from the perspectives of three different generations: one woman in youth, one in middle age, and one lying on her death bed. As the elder woman reflects on her life, she develops clarity of mindthat transcends her debilitated body. “A perfect illustration of why theater is an indispensable art." —NY. Thursday-Saturday at 7:30pm. One Sunday show on March 20th at 6:00pm. No performances March 24-27. Call (402) 345-1576 to make your reservations. More info at www. bluebarn.org.

3/11: Willy Nelson & Family in Concert. Orpheum Theater, Slosburg Hall. 8 pm show. The iconic Texan, Willie Nelson, is

the creative genius behind historic recordings like “Crazy,” “Hello Walls,” “Red Headed Stranger” and “Stardust.” His career has spanned six decades.

His catalog boasts more than 200 albums. He’s earned every conceivable award and honor to be bestowed a person in his profession. He has also amassed reputable credentials as an author, actor and activist. Tickets $45-$75. Tickets $28-$65. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

3/16: Avenue Q at the Orpheum, Slosburg Hall.

7:30 pm show. Avenue Q is Broadway’s smash-hit 2004 Tony Award®-winner for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. A hilarious show full of heart and hummable tunes, Avenue Q is about trying to make it in NYC with big dreams and a tiny bank account. Called “one of the funniest shows you’re ever likely to see” by Entertainment Weekly, Avenue Q features a cast of people and puppets who tell the story in a smart, risqué and downright entertaining way. The New Yorker calls it “SUBVERSIVE and UPROARIOUS!” Tickets $25-$55. Tickets $28-$65. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

3/17: Lady Gaga in Concert.

Qwest Center Arena. She is described as an exhibitionist, multi-talented singer-songwriter with a flair for theatrics.

She creates her own concepts, costumes, lyrics and melodies.

Her work is called fierce - a conceptual show with a vision for pop performance art. She is Lady Gaga, and she is bringing the Monster Ball World Tour to Qwest Center Omaha! Tickets $51.50-$177. Tickets available at all Ticketmaster retail locations, Ticketmaster charge-byphone 1 (800) 745-3000, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

3/19-3/20: “Broken Mirror #11” at the Rose. Hitchcock Theater, Rose Theater. “Broken Mirror #11” examines the complex issues that affect real girls in today's cover-girl world. Each

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Sales Center Hours Mon - Fri 10am - 6pm Sat & Sun 12noon - 5pm

This is not an offer to sell, or solicitation of an offer to buy, real property. Purchasers should review the Federal Property Report prior to signing a contract. No federal or state agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. Prices, plans, products, and availability are subject to change without notice. Artists’ renderings are shown for illustrative purposes only. Designated Broker: Sandra S. Lent, Shoreline Marketing, Inc., 360 N. Michigan Ave. Ste. 910, Chicago, IL 60601, (312) 750-1610. ©2011 Midtown Crossing, a Mutual of Omaha Mixed-Use Development. All Rights Reserved. All contents herein are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

march/april | 2011

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CALENDAR of events year, the company of young women use poetry, improvisation, comedy, music, and more to create a dynamic piece of new theater. Exciting, daring and thought-provoking; it's a mustsee for anyone who is (or knows) a teenage girl. Recommended ages: 10 to adult. Tickets are $6 (not included in membership.)

The Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. For tickets and show times, visit www.rosetheater.org

"Young Frankenstein," the classic Mel Brooks movie, brought to life on the stage. Orpheum Theater, 3/9-4/3.

3/26: Kenny Chesney in Concert. Qwest Center Arena.

"Goin' Coastal" Tour with special guests Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker. Few artists consistently pack Qwest Center Omaha the way Kenny Chesney does! From the minute fans arrive in the Arena, it’s obvious they are in for a good time. With numerous awards, more than a dozen albums certified gold and thirty plus top ten singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, Kenny Chesney knows how to show fans a great evening! Tickets available at all Ticketmaster retail locations, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 1 (800) 745-3000, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

3/26-3/27: 2011 Orchid Show.

Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha Botanical Center. The annual Orchid Show put on by the Greater Omaha Orchid Society will take place at Lauritzen Gardens. The event will feature orchid displays from local, regional, national and international vendors and growers.

Visitors will get the opportunity to see prime specimens of these exotic plants up close. Prizewinning orchids are juried by experienced orchid judges sanctioned by the American Orchid Society. Hours: 10 am-4 pm both days. Admission: $6/adults; $3/ ages 6-12, free/members and children under 6. 100 Bancroft St. 346-4002. More info at www. omahabotanicalgardens.org.

3/27: Lewis Black in Concert.

The Holland Performing Arts Center. 7:30 pm show. Prolific funny man, actor, author, and stand-up comedian/ranter LEWIS BLACK will be live onstage as part of his "In God We Rust" tour . His live performances provide a cathartic release of anger and disillusionment for his audience. LEWIS yells so they don't have to. He is a passionate performer who is a more pissedoff optimist than mean-spirited curmudgeon. LEWIS is the rare

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"Flat Stanley" at the Rose Theater, 4/11-4/17.

4/6: Lord of the Dance at Orpheum Theater. 7:30 pm.

Described by the New York Post as "fascinating, rewarding and above all, entertaining," and by the Los Angeles Times as "a showpiece extravaganza," Lord of the Dance is a mesmerizing blend of traditional and modern Celtic music and dance. The story is based upon mythical Irish folklore as Don Dorcha, Lord of Darkness, challenges the ethereal lord of light, the Lord of the Dance. Battle lines

4/9-7/10: Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs. Created by the Newseum, Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs, is a dramatic display of award-winning Pulitzer photography. From the poignant shot of an ailing Babe Ruth watching his number being retired at Yankee Stadium, to the U.S. Marines raising an American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, the photographs illustrate the enduring power of the still image. The exhibit includes each of the photographers and photo staffs who have won the prize since the Pulitzer board began awarding it to photographers in 1942. The Durham Museum, 801 S. 10 St. 444-5071.

Hours: Mon&Wed-Sat/10am.

Admission: $7 Adults; $6 Seniors 62+; $5 Ages 3-12; Free 2 & Under. www.durhammuseum.org.

www.readonlinenow.com

SEPHor a

APRIL 4/5: Janet Jackson in Concert.

Qwest Center Arena. The legendary Janet Jackson brings her “Up Close and Personal” tour to Qwest Center Omaha this spring. Her largest world tour ever, this will be like no other she has performed. The setting will be intimate, with a special stage arrangement for a smaller house and closer connection to her audience. Jackson will make the most of the setting, delivering her number one hits in the way only she can. Tickets $49.50-$125. Tickets available at all Ticketmaster retail locations, Ticketmaster charge-byphone 1 (800) 745-3000, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

4/9: Gold Medal Olympian to Visit Boys Town. United States Olympic bobsled gold medalist and Shelby, Neb., native Curt Tomasevicz made a special visit to the Boys Town Nebraska/ Iowa campus to speak to youth about pushing through to succeed. As part of the first U.S. bobsled team to win the gold in more than 60 years, Tomasevicz knows the value of teamwork and what can be accomplished when you push yourself. For more information, go to www. visitboystown.org

SEPHor a

3/29-4/3: Young Frankenstein.

The Orpheum, Slosburg Hall.

The classic Mel Brooks movie is ALIVE! You’ll have a monstrously good time at this fiendish re-imagining of the Frankenstein legend. Bright young Dr. Frankenstein (that’s Fronkensteen) is attempting to create a monster – with hilarious complications. The brains behind the laughter is mad genius and three-time Tony®-winner Mel Brooks himself! Tickets $25-$62.

Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811 (TTY).

are drawn, passions ignite and a love story fueled by the dramatic leaps and turns of dancers’ bodies begins to build against a backdrop of Celtic rhythm.

The action is played out over 21 scenes on a grand scale of precision dancing, dramatic music, colorful costumes and state-of-the-art staging and lighting. Tickets $39-$59. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811 (TTY).

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comic who can cause an audience to laugh themselves into incontinence while making compelling points about the absurdity of our world. Tickets $28-$65. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

march/april | 2011

15

Spring indoor floral Show A Tropical Paradise

100 Bancroft Street | Omaha, Nebraska 68108 | www.lauritzengardens.org

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Harlem Globetrotters at the Qwest, 4/16.

4/11-4/17: “The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley” at the Rose. Main Stage at The Rose Theater. The bulletin board above Stanley's bed comes loose and falls right on top of him! The next morning, he wakes up flat…really, really flat. He can slide under locked doors, roll up like a mat and even act as a trampoline for his friends. Slipping inside a large envelope, Stanley decides to mail himself around the world on a musical adventure to Honolulu, Washington D.C., Paris and beyond. Free with membership, or $16 for nonmembers. Recommended ages: 4-adult. 60 minutes. The Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. For tickets and show times, visit www.rosetheater.org 4/14-5/8: “My Occasion of Sin” at Shelterbelt Theatre.

“MY OCCASION OF SIN” is a new drama in one act by Monica Bauer. George, owner of a South Omaha music store and leader of the Polka Kings, tries to evolve with the growing trend of rock and roll. Luigi, a North Omaha jazz drummer, longs to restore the Dreamland Ballroom to its former jazz Mecca glory.

Meanwhile, 16 year old South O girl, Mary Margaret, is staging her own revolution…in music.

Set against the turbulent backdrop of the 1969 race riots, “MY OCCASION OF SIN” meets at the intersection of North and South Omaha, of polka and jazz, of black and white… 3225 California St. 402.341.2757.

More info at www.shelterbelttheatre.org.

4/15: The Second City at The Holland. 8 pm. The Second City’s legendary comedy clubs in Chicago and Toronto have been called home by hilarious American icons like Tina Fey, Joan Rivers, and Bill Murray.

Don’t miss this outrageous new tour, taking unbridled comic pleasure in the foibles of politicians, celebrities, and significant others. Tickets $19-44. Tickets $28-$65. Call Ticket Omaha: 402.345.0606, 866.434.8587 or 402.341.1811.

4/16: Harlem Globetrotters.

Qwest Center Omaha. The Harlem Globetrotters, who have contributed more innova-

tions to the game of basketball than any other team in history, have implemented the firstever 4-point shot as part of all of its games on the team’s 2011 “4 Times the Fun” North American tour. 2 pm and 7 pm performances. Tickets $21.50$99. Tickets available at all Ticketmaster retail locations, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 1 (800) 745-3000, online at Ticketmaster.com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

4/26-5/1: "Les Miserables."

Orpheum Theater, Slosburg Hall. Cameron Mackintosh presents a brand new 25th anniversary production of Boublil & Schönberg’s legendary musical, "LES MISÉRABLES," with glorious new staging and spectacular reimagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo.

The London Times hails the new show “a five star hit, astonishingly powerful.” The Western Mail says “an outstanding success – the best version yet.”

Tickets $30-$78.

4/27: John Mellancamp in Concert. The "No Better Than This" tour, designed as a uniquely formatted evening with, brings Mellencamp's music to theater-sized venues, a rare opportunity to experience one of America's most iconic songwriters and performers in an intimate setting, highlighting all phases of his artistry. Ticket Prices: $130, $96.50, $76.50, $46.50.Tickets available at all Ticketmaster retail ticket center locations, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 1 (800) 7453000, online at Ticketmaster. com or at Qwest Center Omaha Box Office.

4/30-5/1: The 4th Annual Omaha Health, Wellness & Fitness Expo—The Mind Body - Spirit Fair. The premier event in the city and the Midwest for health, wellness and fitness! Beauty, nutrition, free health review, retirement, retirement living, healthy eating and cooking, and so much more! Sat., April 30 -- 11 am to 5 pm, and Sun., May 1 -- 11 am to 4 pm. Free Admission. For more info, visit www.omahahealthandwellness.com.

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17

Story by Carol Crissey Nigrelli Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

OMAHAART

Matthew Placzek

Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital

While illuminating the night sky, this Omaha sculptor's works are lighting up faces and bringing smiles to young and old alike

Since

early November, commuters idling at the busy intersection of 84th and Dodge have enjoyed a clear view of five children fashioned from bronze and positioned outside the new Specialty Pediatric Center of Children’s Hospital.

Each of the three girls and two boys, sculpted in carefree poses, grasps an umbrella. Their little faces radiate pure joy.

“My son absolutely loves them,” raved Tara Cowherd, a local singer, referring to year-and-a-half-old Liam. “He just stares out the window and says, ‘Oh wow, oh wow!’”

Little Liam’s reaction to the figures, known collectively as “Imagine,” is exactly what Omaha artist and sculptor Matthew Placzek (pronounced PLAH-check) hoped for. The title of the work reflects the deep inspiration that went into his latest creation.

“I tried to imagine what parents and families and children feel like when they go to the hospital. The children might be scared,” said Placzek. “If I can bring a few minutes of joy to that experience then I have done my job.”

The real magic of “Imagine” kicks in after dusk. Not only do the children’s umbrellas light up, but a tower of umbrellas inside a glass-encased stairwell behind the figures illuminates the entire block.

“It’s so appropriate and very whimsical to see the all the umbrellas,” said Omaha resident Mary Lynn Hallett. “Sometimes I’ll take 84th Street home instead of 90th just so I can take in all the colors.”

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www.omahapublications.com

Photo courtesy of Children's Hospital

The spectacular sight required a spectacular bit of engineering. Nineteen sculpted umbrellas wind their way up a self-supporting spire five stories tall. The largest umbrellas measure seven feet in diameter.

“The stairwell is pretty tight,” recounted Placzek. “We cut the spire into six sections, hoisted them into the stairwell, and welded the pieces together on the spot. Then we welded the umbrellas onto the spire. It was a three-week install.”

While “Imagine” conveys a feeling of nurturing and caring, Placzek’s earlier public art project outside the Qwest Center, entitled “Illumina,” embodies sheer fun. Six larger-thanlife bronze street performers, anchored by a giant stainless steel clock, greet patrons as they enter Omaha’s premier entertainment venue.

The sculptor’s state-of-the-art light show, which he also designed, reveals the humanity of his creations: the worldwise face of the sax player; the grace of the French mime; the euphoria of the trumpeter.

But no sculpture speaks more eloquently of Placzek’s 20-year love affair with Omaha than “Labor,” a tribute to the men and women whose hard work and pain made this city a reality. Located along the riverfront, the 271-ton bronze monument is breathtaking in scope and realism. One can almost see the sweat pouring down the faces of the five ironworkers. The realism doesn’t stop there.

“We used the original ladles from the old smelting plant and incorporated them into the piece,” explained Placzek. “The plant was located on the same site as the monument.”

Placzek, who grew up in Grand Island, Neb., appreciates and honors Omaha’s history. His bright, open-spaced studio, located at 37th and Leavenworth, used to be a roller skating rink.

“I fell in love with the hardwood floors,” he quipped.

While his smaller sculptures, “tabletop” pieces as he calls them, are all over the world, Placzek says he’s expanding his commissioned large-scale designs. But his philosophy remains the same.

“My goal has always been to create pieces of art and sculpture that people can relate to.

That’s something inside of me.” www.readonlinenow.com

Give your community a musical gem.

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since 1972

The Durham Museum’s 2011 schedule of summer camps includes many favorites and some new programming too! Each week, a new subject will be featured including history, art, science, popular culture, tness, and health. With innovative curriculum taught by certied teachers, you will be sure to nd a camp that interests your child.

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801 South 10th St. • Omaha, NE 68108 • (402) 444-5071 • durhammuseum.org march/april | 2011

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feature

Story by Molly Garriott Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

Rainbow Bridge Director Michelle Julian and her assistant Kathy Theisen with Michelle's pooch, Reese.

Over the Rainbow Nebraska Humane Society's Rainbow Bridge program helps pet owners grieve, honor "best friends"

If

you’ve ever known the joy of having a pet, then you’ve also have probably experienced the pain of losing your furry companion. It’s a sorrow keenly felt, no less significant because the departed doesn’t speak or walk on two legs.

Pets offer us unconditional love. When you walk through the front door at night, they greet you happily with unabandoned affection. They don’t make demands, expecting you to fix the leaky faucet or take out the garbage. They don’t complain about work or rehash yesterday’s disagreement. They may eat the paper rather than bring it to you, but even then they are lovable in their transgressions.

So saying good-bye to your pet is painful. You’ve lost a friend and suffer the added pain of having others (non-pet owners?) think you slightly dotty for feeling it so. But the Nebraska Humane Society is perfectly poised to understand this pain and address it in a sensitive manner.

In 2003, the Nebraska Humane Society established a pet cremation program called Rainbow Bridge. The name is derived from a poem of the same name which chronicles how pets reach heaven with assistance from their loving owners. “The idea has been suggested by a couple of our core supporters who had lost pets. They felt that because animals are such an integral part of the lives of NHS staff, we would have a unique empathy

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www.omahapublications.com

with people who lose pets,” says Pam Weise, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at the Nebraska Humane Society. The shelter retains all proceeds of Rainbow Bridge to help fund medical rehabilitation for ownerless animals.

“I can’t think of a better tribute to a loved pet,” says Nebraska Humane Society CEO Judy Varner.

The program has expanded in the last seven years. When it first was established, the Humane Society notified veterinary clinics in town the service was available. Rainbow Bridge averaged about 40 cremations per month that first year. It doubled that number by 2005.

Currently, it performs between 100 and 150 cremations a month. Pet owners have nearly a dozen urns or containers from which to choose to house their pet's remains as well as clay paw prints and small lockets to hold their departed pet’s ashes.

The euthanasia is performed by the family vet. “Our wish is that every pet is held by his owner and leaves this life comfortably and without fear,” says Weise.

The shelter is not the right environment for this. Many of the animals at the shelter are in distress, and incoming animals sense this immediately. Certainly, homeless animals or those beyond hope for adoption are euthanized at the shelter. The staff is trained to focus on the animal, not the humans involved. Thus, grieving owners are better served at the veterinarian's office.

Weise says of Rainbow Bridge program director Michelle Julian: “She is a gentle woman with a calming presence who knows that cremation is the last link people have with their pets. When people entrust their pets to her, she takes that responsibility very seriously.”

Weise says cremation is “the natural process of returning the body back to the earth elements.” Owners can commemorate their pet by spreading the ashes at their pet’s favorite place. Or they can permanently commemorate their pet with a memorial brick placed on the shelter’s front walk and in the memorial garden. Grief support, unique to the Nebraska Humane Society, is also available, making Rainbow Bridge a service for both animals and their loving owners.

For more information about Rainbow Bridge and the Nebraska Humane Society, call 4447800 or visit www.nehumanesociety.org. www.readonlinenow.com

The Rainbow Bridge inspired by a Norse legend

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill, Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run, When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next, Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play, Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed, Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care, Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back, Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met; Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past, The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart, Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever, And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together. © 1998 Steve and Diane Bodofsky. All Rights Reserved

march/april | 2011

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www.omahapublications.com

By Niz Proskocil

feature

Sushi City Omaha's appetite for sushi now rivals that of steak

When Jordan

Delmundo has a taste for toro, a hankering for hamachi, or wants to nosh on nigiri, he heads straight to his favorite sushi spot to get his fresh fish fix.

With the growing number of sushi restaurants that have opened across the metro area in recent years, Delmundo and other sushi fans now have a sea of options when someone says, “Let’s do sushi.”

A city with a long reputation for its steak, Omaha has caught sushi fever. One gauge of the Big O’s big appetite for sushi is the number of new restaurants springing up throughout the city. Among the newcomers are Wasabi Sushi near 144th Street and West Maple Road, and Okinawa Sushi & Grill at 122nd and L Streets.

Local restaurant owners and sushi lovers say the popularity of the rice-and-fish specialty from Japan is due to several factors, including boredom with traditional meat-and-potatoes dishes, greater familiarity with Asian cuisines, and growing concerns about healthy eating.

“Fish is good for your heart. It’s healthier,” says Randy Gao, owner and manager of Wasabi Sushi, which opened last August.

Sushi consumption nationwide is on the rise, according to data from market research firm NPD Group. For the year ending November 2010, there were 230.7 million servings of sushi ordered at restaurants in the United States, compared to 219 million in the same time period the year before.

For Delmundo, the appeal of sushi is a combination of its fresh ingredients, pure and satisfying taste, and pleasing presentation.

“The kind of sushi I like, it’s simple. It speaks for itself in its flavor and presentation,” Delmundo says. “It’s very clean tasting, not heavy.”

In addition to restaurants, people are just as likely to find sushi at the mall food court and supermarket Baker’s, Whole Foods Market, Hy-Vee and Trader Joe’s are among local grocers that offer grab-andgo containers of sushi.

The word sushi refers to short-grain sticky rice seasoned with vinegar, sugar and salt. What you put on top, inside or around it makes it a certain type of sushi. Maki, nigiri and sashimi are among the most common, and they’re typically served with pickled ginger, wasabi and other condiments.

Considered Omaha’s first sushi restaurant, Sushi Ichiban opened in the mid-1980s in a converted IHOP building near 80th and West Dodge Road. Renamed Sakura Bana, the restaurant relocated to 74th www.readonlinenow.com

and Dodge Streets three years ago. Further west, some of the area’s sushi hotspots include Blue Sushi Sake Grill and Hiro Sushi. Both businesses have a presence in downtown Omaha, as well.

Omaha sushi fan Lisa Hug says it’s exciting to see how sushi has caught on in her hometown. “It’s pretty mainstream now,” she says.

“I think it’s a good thing that we have options here. It lets people experience different levels of quality.”

Living in San Francisco for seven years, Hug developed an appreciation for sushi and enjoyed having her pick of hundreds of Bay Area sushi bars. In Omaha, one of her favorite spots is Sushi Japan Yakiniku Boy at 144th and West Center Road. She’s drawn not only to the fresh-tasting sushi, but the restaurant’s warm, casual atmosphere and traditional flair.

At northwest Omaha’s Hiro Sushi, which features an open kitchen, diners can watch as chefs unleash their sushi-making skills on delicately rolled maki, fish-topped nigiri and precisely cut sashimi.

“Our sushi chefs are chefs, but they’re also artists,” says Charlie Yin, manager of Hiro 88, which opened last April near 13th and Jackson Streets. “Presentation is very important. Cutting the raw fish is a skill you need to learn.”

Yin’s family opened the original Hiro Sushi eight years ago near 130th Street and West Maple Road. Business is strong at both locations, says Yin, adding that he’s noticed more parents bringing in their young kids to enjoy sushi as a family.

“It shows that people are more open to it now,” Yin says.

For those new to sushi or people hesitant to eat raw fish, he suggests trying such items as Hiro’s crunch roll or Husker roll. Both feature fully cooked ingredients.

“If they’re open to trying something raw,” he says. “Tuna is very, very easy to eat. It’s very mild.”

Even restaurants primarily known for American or European-style cuisine have found that including sushi on their menus has paid off.

“It’s incredibly popular,” says Joe Rosner, general manager of Crave, which opened last fall at Midtown Crossing. Not being a traditional Japanese restaurant allows chefs there to put “our own twist” on sushi, he says.

“It’s more of an Americanized sushi. We’ll thin-slice an English cucumber or shave a piece of mango. We like to incorporate jalapeño, chili oil, fruit and citrus for acidity.”

Whether done in the traditional style or with a modern twist, sushi, Rosner says, is no longer just a trend in Omaha. “It’s here to stay. Definitely.” march/april | 2011

23

GENO

Story by Shannon Smith Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

When

Jonathan Tvrdik was a kid, he told himself he only had two options for his future: he would either live until he was 25, or he would live until he was 100. At 28, Tvrdik is embracing his destiny, and keeping busy.

Tvrdik redefines creativity, doing everything from music (through his band, Back Wind), to graphic design, to painting and film through his production company, H-Minus Productions.

In the perfect test of his diverse talents, Tvrdik started a new project for 2011, called “365ive.com.” Tvrdik posts fresh art on the website every day, anything from a snippet of a song he’s working on, to a digital print of Edith Piaf.

“Making yourself do the work every day in various different fields makes you reevaluate how you approach those mediums, for one; and two, it makes you search for inspiration in things that normally you would just pass off,” Tvrdik said.

Tvrdik attributes his skill with so many different platforms to the supportive environment he’s always been surrounded with. From his parents, who took him to a book-publishing workshop when he wrote a book as a fifth grader; to his wife, who rolls her eyes when he comes home with a new project he wants to pursue, but talks him through his plans every day.

“I’m never where I want to be, for better and for worse,” Tvrdik said. “I have a long list of little things... I just hope that in five years I get some of them accomplished so I can replace them with more things.”

www.readonlinenow.com

Jon Tvrdik

march/april | 2011

25

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Our skilled team of experts pay attention to every detail and help you create your own distinctive look throughout your home.

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cover story

More Than Buddy After years of performing as Buddy Holly, Billy McGuigan proves he’s no one-show wonder with his act paying tribute to The Beatles.

Story by Leo Adam Biga Photos by minorwhitestudios.com 28

march/april | 2011

www.omahapublications.com

cover story

Undertaking a Beatles tribute show is no small order. Besides the task of replicating the sound of the most popular band of all time, there’s the matter of mastering the Beatles’ catalog – all 230 songs worth.

“It took us six months,” says Billy McGuigan, creator of Yesterday and Today, a Beatles tribute show he performs with two of his brothers.

Yesterday and Today completed a triumphant third year at the Omaha Community Playhouse in January to prove the show’s staying power.

Yesterday and Today consists mainly of the band fielding requests from the audience and performing them.

McGuigan and the band members don’t wear wigs or attempt accents.

He doesn’t want anything getting in the way of pure music immersion.

And thanks to their comprehensive preparation, the band is ready for any request that comes their way.

Those who know McGuigan know he’d never settle for anything less.

“What I find remarkable about Billy is not only his talent and ability to sing and play just about anything,” says Playhouse Music Director www.readonlinenow.com

march/april | 2011

29

cover story

Jim Boggess, “but his single-minded dedication to be true to whatever music he is playing. He will not rest until it is right.”

That same dedication, preparation and passion is what made Rave On, McGuigan’s renowned Buddy Holly act, the success it was, and Rave

“Billy

connects with ALL people.

That's what makes him a charismatic presence."

On paved the way for McGuigan’s Beatles tribute.

It’s no coincidence The Beatles were a favorite of McGuigan’s father, Bill, who passed on a musical legacy to his three sons.

Growing up a military brat, home was wherever his U.S. Air Force-indentured father got stationed. Having a dad who played guitar and dug The Beatles immersed Billy in all things Fab Four, especially Paul McCartney.

“All we did was sit and listen to music,” McGuigan says. “I remember McCartney’s ‘Tug of War’ came out and my dad going, ‘OK, you gotta listen to this. This is your first new McCartney album.’ He stuck headphones on me. I hear those songs now and l’m just like, ‘Ahhh, yeah.’ I mean, that was music for me. It was always there.”

The elder McGuigan died of leukemia in 1996.

30

“It was awful,” Billy says. “I was just starting out in life and we had that moment where we’d become friends. He was proud of what I was doing.”

Before the untimely death, the bonding forged through music continued in Omaha, where the fam-

march/april | 2011

ily moved in 1990. McGuigan didn’t set out to pay forward his father’s music bequest, but he has. After dabbling in theater and fronting his own band, he found his niche with Rave On. Replicating that success with Yesterday and Today meant getting his siblings to sign on, which took some doing. It meant leaving regular jobs for the uncertainty of show biz and being away from wives for weeks. Then there was McGuigan’s ambitious idea of learning the entire Beatles’ canon.

Every time a new player joins the band, it’s a crash course all over again, he says.

What distinguishes the show from similar acts is that McGuigan fields audience requests and asks folks to explain why the songs are special to them. Then his improv skills take over. McGuigan and his broth-

ers also share their connection to the music and often reference their father on stage.

“Completely, because what we found out is it’s really a tribute to him,” Billy says. “This is the music he taught us. We would sit around and play these songs all the time.

He created it. This is the inheritance we got.”

McGuigan’s road to becoming a rock star came after some less successful efforts at finding his voice.

Colleen Quinn, general manager of Funny Bone, is McGuigan’s manager and business partner. She’s witnessed his progression from early days, which included attempts at improv comedy, bartending and fronting a cover band.

It was through Buddy Holly, Quinn says, that McGuigan finally found his niche.

“Billy connects with all people.

That’s what makes him a charismatic presence,” she says. “He thoroughly loves performing Buddy and Beatles songs, and it shows. He relishes hearing people’s requests and reasons for loving the music as he does.”

The Buddy role came after serendipity intervened for McGuigan while vacationing in London, where he and his wife caught a West End production of The Buddy Holly Story.

He saw his future on stage.

“I thought, If I ever got the chance to do that I think that’s something I could do because he sings, he plays guitar and he gets to be a rock star.

Thinking, never in a million years...”

Only a couple months later, he got a call from Boggess asking him

www.omahapublications.com

cover story

to be their Buddy. He didn’t need to think twice.

But first there was the matter of an audition. McGuigan invited OCP's Boggess and artistic director Carl Beck to catch his band at a Benson biker bar. He recalled that night: “So there we were, 10 people, all in leather, and then Carl and Jim and the band. We started playing ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and they (the Playhouse duo) left probably half way through, and I was like, This was my shot and I just lost this gig. I called Jim the next day and he said, ‘No, you got the job. You’re the right guy. We knew it right away.’”

Life hasn’t been the same since.

“Everything at that point changed,” says McGuigan, “and I don’t know why. It was like something clicked in me, and I said, ‘I’m

www.readonlinenow.com

going to take this role seriously -- I’m not going to pull the typical Billy.’ I learned the script two days after I got it, learned all the music, went and got guitar lessons, which I’d never done before. I went to the gym before rehearsals even started.

I lost 40 pounds. I was fit.”

He steeped himself in Buddy ephemera, reading books, studying films. Watching one documentary, The Real Buddy Holly Story, became a daily ritual.

“That’s what I absorbed. That’s where my Buddy came from - that and whatever I could bring to it.”

McGuigan appeared in Rave On on Feb. 3-4, at Harrah’s casino. A summer amphitheater gig is now in the works and The Beatles show returns to the Playhouse in December.

McGuigan is looking to hand-off

Rave On to someone else so he can focus more on Yesterday & Today. He expects to direct The Buddy Holly Story sometime and to one day maybe take a leading role in a show like Jesus Christ Superstar.

Beyond that, it’s more touring.

Quinn hints McGuigan may even be bound for Europe and Australia.

For now, McGuigan says The Beatles show has given him the time of his life.

“Every aspect of that show turns me on. When it works, there’s nothing like it. The music is great, it’s what I’ve always wanted to sing.

Then you look over and there are your brothers, and then there’s your friends who have gone on this journey with you, and you have an audience getting (into it). How can it get better than that?”

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OMAHAFACES

Story by Corey Ross Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Lost and Found Artist Artist Jeremiah Neal recovers his life and talent to create the centerpiece of an artistic homage to the late musician Luigi Waites

Stroking

a scruffy black beard with a patch of gray, Jeremiah Neal looks at his black and white portrait of Luigi Waites hanging in the Dale Clark Library and to

Neal, it might as well be the Louvre.

The portraiture of Waites is comprised of three images of the late renowned local musician interspersed with bars of music from “Nostalgia in Times Square,” one of Waites’ signature pieces.

The work is the centerpiece of an exhibit organized by Omaha Creative Institute consisting of 27 artistic homages to Waites, who died last April.

The exhibition was unveiled at a reception at the downtown public library in January and will move on to be displayed at Metro Community College’s Fort Omaha Campus.

From there, Neal’s work will travel to Mr. Toad’s (April and May) and then the Dundee Dell (June), two of the venues where Waites played frequently.

That Neal would be the artist to head the exhibition could not have seemed more unlikely just a year ago. Unemployed, homeless and struggling again with a long-time drug addiction, Neal had entered the Siena/Francis House, the region’s largest homeless program. www.readonlinenow.com

march/april | 2011

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Some doodles he did and a piece called “Man Reaching for the Moon” caught the attention of Siena/Francis House Executive Director Mike Saklar, who encouraged Neal to pursue a lost talent he’d recently rediscovered.

Neal’s August 2010 exhibit at the Hot Shops Art Center, at annual show for the Siena/ Francis House, was noticed by local artist and teacher Eddith Buis, who asked him to create an oil painting for a the Waites tribute.

For the 54-year-old Neal, to see something he created be showcased is an aweinspiring experience.

“It’s like some guy singing in the shower and ending up on ‘American Idol.’ I’m doing zero to 60. I just appreciate all the people who have supported me,” Neal says.

“I’m just lucky to be alive in some senses.”

Neal’s story is one of a failed recovering athlete who turned into a recovering addict and now a reborn artist.

Growing up in Muskegon Heights, Mich., Neal was a high school football star and aspiring artist who planned to be an art teacher if his dreams of playing pro football didn’t materialize.

He fell far short of the pros when an injury in junior college ended his career and caused him to forgo a waiting scholarship from the University of Tennessee.

An unsuccessful rehab led to depression, drug use and a downward spiral. Neal entered the military, but later left the Air Force, lost and confused and living in California.

“I was playing the blame game,” he says.

“Everything was somebody else’s fault. You keep trying to run away from your problems.”

Essentially homeless, Neal bounced between family members’ homes before a brother in Omaha suggested he come there and look for a job. Art made it happen.

A former high school teammate paid Neal $700 to paint a picture of his son, Michael Huff, a rookie for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders.

“I used the money to buy a bus ticket to Omaha to try to clean up and get my life on track,” he says.

Neal’s continued drug use cost him a job, but a piece he was hired to do for his employer led to an unwitting artistic breakthrough. Neal had been asked to paint a portrait of former President John F. Kennedy striking a contemplative pose on an airplane.

Neal didn’t have a chance to finish the piece before he was dismissed from his job. www.omahapublications.com

He resurrected the unfinished work when he decided to enter the Siena/Francis Show at Hot Shops. Somewhat tongue-in-check, he titled the work “Unfinished Business.”

“JFK didn’t get to finish his presidency, and I didn’t get to finish my picture.”

Buis noticed the piece and praised its distinctive artistic style.

“And that became my style—unfinished,” Neal says.

The portrait of Waites was done in the same manner, using black, white and greys.

Buis says it had the same understated effect.

“It’s almost like an under-painting,” Buis says. “It just sang. I like the subtlety of it. It think it’s much more powerful that way.”

Neal says working in black and white suits his eye.

“I like it because it makes it easier for me as an artist. I see in black and white with my eyes anyway. I’m a dark edge guy.

Bright yellows and sunny oranges don’t appeal to me. I don’t do flowers, unless they’re black and white.”

Neal created his piece from three photos he was given from The Omaha WorldHerald archives, two of Waites performing and one of him seemingly deep in thought in front of Mr. Toad's.

Neal only met Waites once, a chance encounter at the Summer Arts Festival a year or two ago that Neal only recalled when Buis showed him the photos.

“When I met him originally, I didn’t know who I’d met,” Neal says. “He was real engaging—a nice, friendly guy. We just had a brief conversation.”

“It was memorable enough that I can say I saw him alive. I felt honored that they asked me to paint him.”

Describing his life as in a Renaissance period, Neal is hoping his Waites painting will lead to a continued rebirth of his art career and the salvation of a life gone astray.

“I’m reflective about my life and what I’ve done with it. I feel like Ebeneezer Scrooge.

I’m waking up from my past and realizing I’ve still got time on my hour glass. I’m painting furiously now. I don’t want to stand before my Lord and have him say, ‘I gave you talent. What did you do?’

“I’ve got talents and skills, and I’m supposed to be in action. I’m a man of action now.”

For more information about the Luigi Waites tribute, go to www.omahacreativeinstitute.org. www.readonlinenow.com

march/april | 2011

35

OMAHAFACES

Story by Lainey Seyler

Matt Acord Destined to Dive

That career reached a major milestone on Sept. 14 of last year, when he and seven members of the Army’s Golden Knights team won the gold in 8-way formation skydiving at the Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships in Chicago, placing him at the top of an elite group of divers in the country.

The team performed 10 freefall dives in one day over sunny downtown Chicago, clinching the gold medal by earning the most points. The team has less than 50 seconds to perform up to 10 pre-described formations while diving in excess of 120 miles per hour. They grip onto handles on each other’s jump suits to form what might be akin to a human pyramid in mid-air.

36

march/april | 2011

Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

November 4, 2001, is a memorable day for 29-year-old Matt Acord. It was the day the Bellevue, Neb., native completed his first freefall dive. He calls it the catalyst for a new career.

www.omahapublications.com

Photo courtesy of U.S. Golden Knights Photo courtesy of U.S. Golden Knights Photo courtesy of U.S. Golden Knights Photo courtesy of U.S. Golden Knights www.readonlinenow.com

“It’s a race against the clock to see how many (points) you can get,” said Acord. “The weather was great that day,” he continued.

“All day, it was building excitement. It was the first time since 1999 that [the Golden Knights] had won. It was huge to bring that home for the Army. It was awesome.”

Acord enlisted in the Army in 1998 and served on the 101st Airborne Division Parachute Team out of Fort Campbell, Ky., where he performed that first dive. He later served on the 501st Special Troops Division and on the 1st Special Warfare Training Group. It wasn’t until 2006 that he was asked to try out for the Army’s competition team, the Golden Knights. The group is often showcased at special events for the Armed Forces, showing off intricate maneuvers with a team of parachuters. To date, Sergeant Acord has completed more than 4,500 jumps. The team, which trains together in North Carolina, competes against the best teams in the country and the world.

Acord’s career has taken him around the world for dives, including Russia (where the team clinched the silver medal in the world championship), Hawaii, and even Yankee Stadium. The latter was unpopular with Acord’s family, who are big Red Sox fans.

He hopes to someday be able to dive into Fenway Park.

However, it’s the more simple events that pump up Acord. “I’ve done shows where my family is there,” said Acord. “Those were probably the most fun for me. It was a big thrill to show them. They’ve seen the Golden Knights before, but to see me was a really cool experience.”

Acord’s father, brother and a stepbrother still live in the Omaha area. He said his mother used to get nervous when he dove, but now she can’t see him doing anything else.

“I don’t want to call my job dangerous because it’s very safe,” said Acord. “I have learned to appreciate things more though.”

Acord trains by doing more than 1,000 jumps per year with his teammates or in tandem with Army VIPs or active-duty soldiers on their first jump.

Said Acord, “I would love to jump in Australia or Japan, but I work with the best people in the world. They’re my best friends. I work with them everyday and get to jump out of airplanes. You really can’t ask for much more.”

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OMAHASTYLE

Photo by: minorwhitestudios.com

Pam Finn’s day begins in the wee hours, at 4 a.m., and she pretty much doesn’t stop all day long. The busy entrepreneur designs bags for many of the top branded athletic companies (like sportswear giant Adidas), as well as oversees several of her own companies. Much of her business is done in Asia and requires overseas travel.

She and husband Kevin Jackson also have two young kids. Daughter Tehra is 12; son Brandon is 8. Both were adopted from Asia. “I cannot imagine my life without my loving and beautiful children.”

While her schedule is hectic, Finn says she wouldn’t have it any other way. “For 21 years, I have been making bags and living with a foot in each hemisphere. East…and West….I love it!”

With a flair for design, Finn also has a love of fashion. “My style is professional, with the spirit of the Orient flowing through many of my key pieces. I love the [Asian] people, the culture and the clothing styles.”

She does a lot of her shopping in Hong Kong, and follows a few designers, including Shanghai Tang. “I love the silks and cashmeres they use. Also the details of jade used for the buttons. Bracelets are also very special to my accessory looks.

I always wear a religious antique medal bracelet.”

Pam Finn 55

38

Comfort, beauty and softness are all very important to Finn when choosing her clothing. So, too, are clothes that travel well.

“I have specific cashmere travel sets that I wear for international flights, and I pack certain St. John suits for more formal meetings, as the fabrics always looks crisp, even after being in a suitcase for a day.”

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This is not an offer to sell, or solicitation of an offer to buy, real property. Purchasers should review the Federal Property Report prior to signing a contract. No federal or state agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. Prices, plans, products, and availability are subject to change without notice. Artists’ renderings are shown for illustrative purposes only. Designated Broker: Sandra S. Lent, Shoreline Marketing, Inc., 360 N. Michigan Ave. Ste. 910, Chicago, IL 60601, (312) 750-1610. Š2011 Midtown Crossing, a Mutual of Omaha Mixed-Use Development. All Rights Reserved. All contents herein are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

www.omahapublications.com

OMAHA HOME: from the editor MARCH/APRIL 2011 VOLUME 1 • I S S U E 2 publisher

todd lemke managing editor

corey ross city editor

sandra lemke assistant editor

linda persigehl art director/graphic design

matt jensen assistant graphic design

john gawley photography

image director: bill sitzmann head photographer: philip s. drickey technical advisor

tyler lemke contributing writers

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Home

Finds a Home in Omaha

In January, Omaha Magazine rolled out an expanded home section and stand-alone magazine titled Omaha Home that sought to bring our readers an entirely locally produced publication about matters pertaining to the home.

The feedback following the debut issue clearly indicates Omaha Home has already found a home in Omaha.

The following is a look at responses from some of the advertisers and feature subjects in the debut issue: “Omaha Home has been so beneficial to Tweed Couch.

Everyone was so helpful from photography to describing the shop's unique qualities. They then pulled it all together into a wonderful piece to be so proud of. I cannot tell you how many times our clients have said they read our article in Omaha Home.”

- Diane Flynn, Tweed Couch “Omaha Home features the stories and articles that our client demographic is interested in reading. The content is local and the magazine prints beautifully. Whenever we have ads or feature articles in an issue, we are welcomed by positive feedback from our clients, family and friends. Being a part of this magazine is both a pleasure and a great asset to our business."

- Lindi Janulewicz, Marketing Director, Interiors Joan and Associates

“We've advertised in many publications, but the response to our ad in Omaha Home has surpassed them all! Customer feedback has been excellent! We, along with our customers, love the look and layout of this new magazine. Thank you, Omaha Home!”

- Nancy Erb, PEARSON & COMPANY “I have had great feedback on my profile and it has produced great conversation about residential architecture and has created potential future business. Much of the feedback is also specifically about the new look and wider scope of the Omaha Magazine. Thank you for using your publication to promote the working community and the great city of Omaha!”

- Architect Suzanne Rohrig, AIA

Other positive feedback about the issue largely revolved around the look of the publication and its heavy visual emphasis.

The encore issue has the same elements as the original, only more of them. The second issue jumps from 36 pages to a robust 52.

In this issue, Omaha Home brings you features about, among other things: the renovated carriage house of Omaha artist Eddith Buis; the Aspen-like backyard of Dr. Luke Nordquist; the art-filled townhome of local art collector Carol Gendler; tips for improving your garage space; a look at the transformation of a timber frame home near Ashland; and a neighborhood profile of Dundee.

Any comments, requests or submissions for Omaha Home can be sent to stacey@omahapublications.com. We appreciate your feedback and readership. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

Comments? Send your letter to the editor to: letters@omahapublications.com All versions of Omaha Magazine are published bimonthly by Omaha Magazine, LTD, P.O. Box 461208, Omaha NE 68046-1208. Telephone: (402) 884-2000; fax (402) 884-2001. Subscription rates: $19.95 for 6 issues (one year), $24.95 for 12 issues (two years). No whole or part of the contents herein may be reproduced without prior written permission of Omaha Magazine, excepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted, however no responsibility will be assumed for such solicitations. Best of Omaha®™ is a registered tradename of Omaha Magazine.

Owned and managed by Omaha Magazine, LTD www.readonlinenow.com

Sincerely,

Stacey Penrod, Account Executive and Contributing Editor for Omaha Home Omaha Home appears as its own magazine and as a section within Omaha Magazine.

To view the full version of Omaha Magazine, or to subscribe, go to www.readonlinenow.com. march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: contents

FEATURE

DEPARTMENTS

Covery Story: Environmental Makeover … H36

At Home: An Artful Place … H10

Spotlight: In the Garage … H34

COLUMNS

In The Neighborhood: Historic Dundee … H14

Green: Everything Including the Kitchen Sink … H40

Real Estate: What You Must Know About Omaha's Housing Market … H21

Outdoor Living: A Touch of Aspen … H18

New on the Block: The Details Have It … H44

Builder Profile: Brother Builders … H22

Party Planning: Celebrate St. Pat's … H46

Shopping: What's New … H24

Condo Living: Condominium Momentum … H48

Mortgage: It's a Great Time to Buy a Home … H39

Design profile: Marco Lade … H26

Pets: Charlotte & Claire… H50

Inspection: Is a Pre-Sale Inspection for You? … H43

Transformations: Wood and Warmth … H28

Tech: Apple-Based Home Automation System … H35

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OMAHA HOME: at home Story by Judy Horan Photos by www.minorwhitestudios.com

An Artful Place An eclectic array of artwork adorns the townhome of local art lover Carol Gendler Carol Gendler’s passion for art started sizzling 55 years ago when she and her late husband were married.

“We bought two pieces of art before we even had a wall to hang them on,“ she remembers.

The collection Gendler started with her husband has grown to cover every wall, table, and even the couch in the home they built together.

Her art-packed townhome in west Omaha is an ideal venue for arts events. The 4,100-square-foot home attracted 82 people continued on next page

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march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: at home

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to a Bemis Center patron party. It was a delight to the sight for 50 guests at an Omaha Creative Institute show featuring local artists.

Omaha Creative Institute Director Susan Thomas noted Gendler’s discerning eye for art. “(She) has created one of the most eclectic, yet important, collections of art you’ll find in Omaha or anywhere else.”

Thomas also noted her ongoing support for local artists.

“They create the type of art that appeals to Carol ---’art that is a little odd and often colorful and interesting.’”

Gendler serves on the boards of both the Bemis and the Omaha Creative Institute, as well as on the board of WhyArts?

“WhyArts? provides art activities for people with disabilities of all ages,” she says.

But plants compete with art for her heart. Greenery fills her sunroom. She has been a Lauritzen Gardens board member.

Sometimes the two loves cross over. A small sculpture of Jack from the fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk” climbs a live stalk on a philodendron plant at the front door.

A tour of her home reveals other unique and fun artwork, such as: • Two sculptures, called “Pick-A-Little” from a “Music Man” song, created by local artist Kaitlin Applegate, greet guests at the door. One whispers a secret. In the dining area, a soft sculpture of a woman sits on a shelf looking down at diners, and a headless sculpture features a dress made of bottle caps and plastic signs.

• Guests entering the bathroom are startled by two “women”— one brushing her teeth, another wearing only a bra and socks. The ceramic artwork is called “8:45 in the Morning.”

• A rocket ship made of junk, including a vacuum cleaner tank, flashes its landing lights in the great room.

• A kimono brought by Gendler’s daughter Amy (one of three children, all of whom work in art-related professions) from her home in Beijing hangs on a wall.

Gendler also has three grandchildren.

Even after five decades of collecting art, Gendler makes no claim to interior design talents. She decorates with an artist’s eye.

“I bought what I enjoyed, not what was decorative.” www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: in the neighborhood Story by

by Wendy TownleyPhotos Photosbybyminorwhitestudios.com ?????

Story Molly Garriott

Historic Dundee Omaha's first suburb remains "heart" of city

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Full disclosure is in order here: I live in Dundee. We walk our dog around Memorial Park and pick up the bike trail along Happy Hollow Boulevard. My children learned to ice skate on the rink constructed in the sunks (the green space between the two veins of the boulevard) every winter. eCreamery is one of our favorite haunts, and my husband and I never miss a Dundee Days celebration.

You see, Dundee has something for everyone. It is a true neighborhood community, a throwback to earlier times when you lived, went to school, worshipped, shopped, dined and were entertained all within walking distance. I do not have to get into my car if I need a gallon of milk; I just pop around the corner to Grandpa’s C-Mart and hassle Keith who works the counter there. It’s a two-forone deal. I can send my children to fetch a baguette from The Bread Oven for that night’s dinner. My husband can walk into the barber for a quick hair cut.

Dundee is a beautiful, historic part of our city. Developed in 1880 by Patrick Mulhall, it has been dubbed Omaha's first suburb. Its borders are, roughly, Elmwood Park to the south, Lafayette Street to the north, Memorial Park to the west and 48th Street to the east. Or as Dan Rock, lifetime Dundee dweller, puts it, “If you can walk to the Dell, you live in Dundee.”

It has always been a stable neighborhood, but the recent development of the midtown and downtown areas has made housing in the eastern part of the city a prime location. www.readonlinenow.com

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in the neighborhood Rock, who is the neighborhood’s flower basket coordinator, says people are investing significant amounts of money into their homes, more so than in previous years. The sound of electric saws and hammers is a common one in Dundee.

Pride in individual homes extends to a more communal pride with such endeavors as the flower basket project. Each year the DundeeMemorial Park Neighborhood Association coordinates hundreds of volunteers to plant, hang, water, and fertilize the 480 baskets of begonias that hang from the neighborhood’s historic street lamps. Rock likens the flower baskets to a natural calendar; spring is here when volunteers hang baskets on Mother’s Day, when the white watering truck trundles down your street you know it is summer, and the baskets coming down in autumn marks the end of another growing season.

Though considered a west Omaha development when the neighborhood was first established, Dundee’s housing is architecturally varied. Tudors stand beside Prairie style homes, stucco bungalows keep company with brick colonials. Realtor Peter Manhart is raising his family in Dundee where he also grew up. He says the Dundee housing market remains strong in difficult economic times. The median home price is $258,000 and the average time on the market for a Dundee home is just 71 days.

Its populace is as diverse as the style of homes that dot its tree-lined streets. I love that professionals driving BMWs live within shouting distance of college students who drive old Dodge Darts with bumper stickers that read “Coexist.” Or that retirees chat with neighborhood green thumbs in the Dundee Community Garden just across 49th street from the Underwood Towers. And that kids pop into Great Harvest for an after-school snack and in a few hours later, young adults and couples will fill the sidewalks heading to one of the numerous restaurants and watering holes.

Ben Rouch, president of the DundeeMemorial Park Home Association, thinks the people of Dundee are what make his neighborhood unique. At association meetings, he’ll witness how members with different backgrounds and beliefs work together to make their neighborhood a friendlier, safer, more interesting place to live. He believes in the “art of engagement,” knowing that people who are invested in their community are responsible for making it the special place that it is. www.omahapublications.com

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OMAHA HOME: outdoor living Story by Corey Ross Photos courtesy of Dr. Luke Nordquist

A Touch of Aspen Dr. Luke Nordquist's backyard in Legacy is a creation inspired by Colorado

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Stress Relief Step into Dr. Luke Nordquist’s backyard in Legacy and it not only feels like you’ve left the city, it feels like you’ve left the state.

Secluded by towering mature Austrian pines is a tranquil park-like setting where guests can soak in the forested scenery, and the warmth of a sunken fire pit, while relaxing to the sounds of a babbling creek and the scent of pine needles.

Cliff Poling of Best Lawns and Landscape Design Group turned Nordquist’s vision for a backyard with an Aspen, Colo., feel into suburban reality three years ago.

“I gave Cliff an idea of what I was looking for, and he ran with it,” Nordquist says.

Cliff transformed a flat, relatively unused section of Nordquist’s yard into a pictur-

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esque and tranquil sanctuary. The transformation required earthmoving to create natural-appearing berms, which encircle and buffer the sunken patio and fire pit.

The new terrain allowed for a two-tiered creek that flows over three waterfalls, across cattail beds, and continues to meander through the landscape. The project was brought to life with the planting of numerous trees and plant material, including river birch, white pines, spruces, serviceberries, redbuds, and grasses. Large Colorado moss boulders and lime stones completed the natural scene that Dr. Nordquist and his wife, Rachel, were looking for.

The couple wanted a backyard escape that harkened the fond memories they have of camping together. They wanted that experience for not only themselves, but also their four children.

“We both grew up doing a lot of camping, especially in Colorado and the Black Hills,” Nordquist says.

For now, a grassy area that can accommodate a tent next to the creek suffices.

The camping experience gains an even more realistic feel when wild turkey or deer wander into the backyard, which Nordquist says happens quite frequently. In fact, Nordquist awoke one morning to find a turkey sitting on his grill looking in the kitchen window.

Thanks to the fire pit, the backyard gets year-round use, and S’mores have become a family staple. The waterfall is shut off in the winter months but returns in the spring to support hydrangeas and decorative grasses.

Near the waterfall is a statue of three children playing. Nordquist bought the piece for Mother’s Day three years ago to honor his children, then soon found out the statue needed updating with the addition of a fourth child.

Thanks to Cliff Poling’s work, the Nordquists have an exquisite backyard experience that has been the perfect complement to a magnificent home and given them a truly special place to entertain or simply escape.

“When you’re back here, you really can’t see the street or the cars,” Luke Nordquist says. “It’s secluded, so it’s like a little getaway from life.” www.omahapublications.com

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OMAHA HOME: real estate

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What You Must Know About Omaha's Housing Market

Homes for sale rose during 2010, and with the expiration of the buyer tax credit, sellers are now willing to re-price their homes to match shifted market value. We’re off to a strong start in 2011, as I expect accelerated market activity as business conditions in Omaha are strong. Demand peaked in the early summer of 2010, however our market has remained steady compared to my colleagues in hard-hit national markets. So what does this all mean? The market responds to predictability and stability, and as interest rates stay at 50-year lows, we enjoy a very healthy real estate market in Omaha.

If you’re looking to buy a home this year, meet with a mortgage broker early to prepare your personal finances as there is more work needed to qualify after the 2008 banking crisis. If you’re looking to sell your home, take a look at improving your kitchen and bathrooms, as you’ll receive the best return on your investment when you sell. Also, here’s my insider secret to selling your home: pay close attention to “staging,” a real estate term we use to adjust the lighting, pictures, furniture, and other home elements to project a “lifestyle” your buyer wants. Residential homes are purchased on emotion, rarely logic--so put your best foot forward! For more tips on buying or selling your home in Omaha, visit my video blog www.teamelliott.net march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: architect | builder | remodeler profile Story by Linda Persigehl Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

Richie Pohlad

Jay Pohlad

Brother Builders Jay and Richie Pohlad, Pohlad Custom Homes, Inc.

Builder brothers Jay and Richie Pohlad of Pohlad Custom Homes, Inc. have been in business together since 1997.

Last year, they unveiled a new showroom in Legacy that showcases their design style.

Jay Pohlad took some time in January to discuss their business and the state of custom home building.

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Q. HOW DID YOU CHOOSE CUSTOM HOME BUILDING AS A CAREER? A. Through out high school and college, I worked on different construction jobs and fell into a position of doing finish carpentry in Lincoln and later in Omaha. Richie (my brother and partner) had recently graduated from college and pursued the framing construction trade. As I was approaching graduation in Lincoln with a finance degree, Richie bought me some tools for Christmas and said, “Trust me — construction is what you want to do for a living.” Soon after, I started my own finish carpentry business in residential homes. In the meantime, Richie had started his own residential framing business and was making large strides.

Q. WHAT ARE BUYERS LOOKING FOR TODAY? A. We like to build homes that are more creative and unique than your average home. In today’s market, people seem to want more style and coziness than large square footage. Therefore, we are designing homes to be more functional and entertaining at the same time.

Q. THE ECONOMY HAS, OBVIOUSLY, HIT THE HOME BUILDING INDUSTRY HARD. DO YOU SEE A RECOVERY YET? A. I would have to say things are looking up. Rates are still at an all-time low and money is cheap to borrow these days. You know how they say to “buy low and sell high”? Well the same goes for building. The cost of building materials, labor and interest rates are only going to go up from here.

Q. WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION COME FROM, AND WHAT DRIVES YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS? A. Richie and I have always been intrigued by construction. The fascination of taking a stack of lumber and creating a breath-taking structure is priceless. We like to be very creative and bring new concepts into our homes and stay on the cutting edge of new design. I believe the key to the building industry is to never get stuck in a rut. You have to keep being creative all the time. www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: shopping Story by Heather Heier Lane Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

What's from your local Favorite new finds

NEW retailers Allens Home

Allens Home is proud to feature the works of local and national artists, including this mushroom footstool

by Omahan Amy Morin (d.b.a.

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Fun furniture pieces and interesting accessories to add flair and warmth to any home are found throughout their store at 7808 L St. Visit www.allenshome.com

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Linen Gallery

The Souffle throw, by Yves DeLorme, is 50% wool/50% alpaca. Spring green on one side, it reverses to a silvery grey on the other. Imported from France. Retails for $350. Available at The Linen Gallery at Regency Court or online at www.

LinensandDown.com.

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Tweed Couch

A classic Hi-Hat table in antique brass or nickel. An eye-catching architectural accent to any living space. Retails for $315 each at Tweed Couch Interiors in Rockbrook Village, 2806 S. 110th Ct. www.tweedcouch.com

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OMAHA HOME: design profile Story by Linda Persigehl Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Marco Lade started Artisan Woods in 1986. His company specializes in architectural woodwork but isn’t limited to wood when doing design work.

Depending on the workload, Lade oversees a staff of six to eight, some of whom have been with him for more than 20 years.

Below, Lade shares some insights into his company, his design influences and his favorite projects.

Who has been your biggest influence as a designer?

Marco Lade

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My biggest influence was my younger brother, Aaron. I was always busy doing and he was busy dreaming. He came to work for me one summer during his high school years and somehow, from him, I caught an entirely new perspective on how to approach my work. I didn’t have to wait for clients to tell me what they wanted. I could provide that direction. Design is a form of dreaming.

You see something that doesn’t exist and impose that on a raw environment until the imaginary becomes reality.

That’s intriguing to me.

What kinds of pieces do you make at Artisan Woods?

We make highly customized kitchens, bars, wine cellars, libraries, offices and furniture, as well as elements that are a little more unusual, such as ceiling and wall panels, as well as light fixtures. We do our own design work as well as our own finish work on virtually all of our products. My work with ID Studio involves all the usual phases of any design project with a heavy emphasis on lighting plans. Lighting is a real passion of mine. It’s often overlooked or undervalued, but it can make or break even the best of projects.

www.omahapublications.com

Tell us about one of your notable recent projects.

One of our recent challenges has been to build, finish and install cabinetry and millwork for a large private residence in a remote area in the mountains of Utah. The logistics of working on something so inaccessible over the last 2 1/2 years have been challenging, but it’s also been very satisfying. We’ve worked with skilled artisans from around the country on this project and elevated our skill set significantly in the process.

Thank You for Voting Us Best of Omaha® for 6 Years! www.jimsmovinginc.com

How is your work evident in your home?

We live in Dundee, so our home reflects the traditional side of the design world, with a few modern touches to keep things interesting.

Our shop is in a warehouse district and my office reflects my modern side. I find it to be an inspirational environment. My intent was to demonstrate the transformation of really raw space into something quite appealing.

What would be your dream project?

My ultimate dream project will be our final home, which I look forward to, at some point in the future.

Though my personal aesthetic leans to the modern, I can see creating a home that showcases a level of woodworking that is rarely seen anymore. In the meantime, my dream projects are those where the customer is not too specific on their requirements, providing a lot of freedom to do what I do. Good design takes courage, not only from the designer, but primarily from the client. Courage to let go. Good design takes risk and not everyone is interested in that. I find that I thrive on that sort of thing.

If you weren’t a designer, what would you be doing?

I love music and have played drums for over 30 years. If I could have done anything else, it would be music, without a doubt.

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To find out more about Marco Lade check out www.artisanwoods.com www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: Transformations

Story by Diane Luxford, ASID Photos by McClelland Photographers, Mac McClelland

Wood and Warmth

A timber frame home outside Ashland is accented by contemporary touches and arts and crafts

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The room is cozy & inviting and the eye is drawn to the contemporary art on the walls of the second floor loft.

When Diane Luxford’s client approached her to work on her new home, she came prepared with a long list of desires and a vision.

Luxford loves contemporary touches with a little influence of arts and crafts, and the home owner asked for a little cross talk of Frank Lloyd Wright in the design elements.

The result is a beautiful home, ready for entertaining and family gatherings at a moment’s notice, with functional areas for business and house guests.

The owner, Helen Raikes of Lincoln, wife of the late Senator Ron Raikes, put together her dream design team. The team included Luxford, architect Kurt Suhr of Lincoln, timber frame builder Mark Bohn of Ashland, and good friend and design assistant Vicki Bromm of Wahoo for this

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OMAHA HOME: Transformations

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The fireplace creates a focal point for the great room & employs a combination of natural stone veneer, brushed black granite, natural wood & stucco on the taped chimney.

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OMAHA HOME: Transformations

Walls of warm gray & muted red wrap the staircase.

ADVANTAGES OF A TIMBERPEGÂŽ TIMBER FRAME HOME

By Kurtis Suhr Architecture One, Lincoln, Neb.

Energy Efficient: Timberpeg timber frame homes are enclosed with a continuous insulation system, often structural insulated panels, making them extremely energy efficient.

Design Flexibility: Interior load bearing walls are usually not needed, resulting in an open and flexible floor plan design.

Aesthetic Flexibility: Unlike log homes, the exterior look of a timber frame home can reflect any style while still highlighting the beauty of wood on the interior. Durable: The timber frame system of building has proven the test of time with many structures still standing and structurally sound for centuries.

Quick and Simple On-Site Construction: Much like a giant three-dimensional puzzle, the timbers fit together to form snug and solid joints.

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timber-frame home near Ashland.

The client’s design vision matched Luxford’s perfectly. Luxford had experience working on a couple of large log and arts and crafts homes in the area, as well as new construction and remodeling projects. The architect and builder had worked together on a few other timber frame homes, so the team was well prepared.

Luxford and the team carefully processed all of the selections for the home, starting with the plumbing fixtures. Other areas requiring design decisions included: the front door; interior and exterior stone; granite countertops; hand railings and balusters; custom cabinetry; appliances; electronic devices; interior and exterior decorative lighting; knobs and hardware; carpet; wood floor; tile floors and backsplashes; paint colors; furniture; accessories; area rugs and countless other decisions that were necessary to build a new home.

A combination of conventional building methods and the timber frame building method were employed to construct the home. The frame itself is a fascinating medley of things old and new. It takes complex computer engineering to calculate the loads and structures and yet a timeless technique of pegged joinery to hold it all together.

The color palette had a foundation of warm gray and natural wood tones.

Luxford chose one fabric that was used on a chair in the great room as the inspiration for the palette. That fabric gave direction for the major paint colors, area rugs and stones used in the great room. Other colors used were historic colors of the arts and crafts era (1890- 1920), which are typically muted and muddy. A few brighter colors appear on the tapestries by Mary Zicafoose on the second story loft walls and brighter citrus orange tones grace the seating in the dining room and kitchen. Heavy doses of black and white appear in the lower level, a cue from the family photos and the client’s background in photo journalism in black and white, with warm wall colors of green and gold reflective of the farmland that surrounds this inviting countryside home.

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Transformations is a regular feature of Omaha Home that spotlights a local interior design transformation by an ASID designer. The copy and photos are provided by the designer. Homeowners’ names may be withheld to respect privacy. www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: spotlight Story by Linda Persigehl Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

In the Garage Tips for creating a functional space

As homeowners, many of us allow our garages to become catch-alls. We pass thru them every day, dumping things as we enter and exit because it’s more convenient than finding a proper, permanent home. The result is often an unorganized, dirty mess of a space that we’re embarrassed to allow visitors to see.

We spoke with several experts in garage storage and flooring to learn their tips for creating a functional space that will not only enhance the look of your home, but will also save you time and reduce the stress level in our lives. No more, “Where the heck IS that SCREWDRIVER!?”

View your garage as an extension of your home; not just for parking or storage, but as a space for social gatherings, i.e. football parties, graduation celebrations, holiday entertaining.

Go through your garage at least twice annually and apply the one-year rule: if you haven’t used an item in a year, pitch it or find a new home for it, such as the attic or basement. You’ll be able to find the garage items you actually need much faster.

Maximize the space you have using the right storage solutions. Modular/grid systems allow you to keep adding on storage as needed. Flexible wall storage allows you to free up floor space and move tools around as needed per the season. And pegboards and slatwall and wire shelving all help organize smaller items, are easy to install, and are available at low cost at your local home store.

When possible, store things inside cabinets rather than on open shelving to avoid things gathering dust and looking messy. Label cabinets with signage or color-coding If your budget allows, custom-built cabinets from a closet company or cabinet shop are the way to go.

Most offer design, build and installation services.

Keep items off the garage floor for easy sweeping and wet-washing. Use an epoxy floor covering on your garage floor to provide a neat, polished look, and to allow easy maintenance and prevent deterioration of concrete. A cleaner garage may also translate to a cleaner entryway and carpets.

A clean, organized garage not only reflects well on you, the homeowner; it also may prompt a quicker home sale and higher sale price if you’ve put your home on the market.

So, whatever your motivation, get in that dirty garage and get a move-on!

Thanks to the following for contributing to this story: Terry Schroder of Garage Floor Coating; Josh Erickson of Affordable Closets; and Robert Horstman of In the Garage.

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Apple-Based Home Automation System

In recent years, Apple has taken the world by storm.

Whether it is the ubiquitous iPod, the wildly successful iPad, or the latest generation of iPhone, Apple products seem to be finding their way into a larger percentage of consumers’ hands daily.

Enter the world of home automation. It wasn’t long ago that clients wanting to control various items in their homes, such as lighting, audio/video, motorized shades, HVAC and security, had to rely on control systems that utilized various proprietary touch panels.

These panels would be placed in a wall or on coffee tables. They are almost universally difficult to use, and heaven forbid somebody drops one! They cost a fortune to replace.

EchoTech, based out of Omaha at 120th and I St., has a better solution to this dilemma for their clients.

Echo Tech is the area’s premier Savant dealer. Savant offers luxury home theater and home automation solutions, engineered to simplify life-not complicate it. It features the industry’s only Apple-based control and automation solution.

At the end of a long day, imagine reaching for an iPad instead of a clunky remote control. One touch of the “Home” button deactivates your security system and illuminates a path of lights throughout the house.

Your favorite music starts playing, and the jets on the hot tub are activated. Another tap closes your privacy shades, dims the lights and cues up the movie of your choice in your home theater.

Visit www.savantav.com or www.echotechomaha.com for more information.

www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: cover story Story by Wendy Townley Photos by MAW Photography

Environmental Makeover Eddith Buis' carriage house is updated to a green dream home

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Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

Tucked away among the traditional homes near 36th and Pacific Street sits a cozy residence that’s anything but ordinary. Wipe your feet, say hello, and look around as you enter the recently renovated (and very contemporary) twostory home of Omaha artist Eddith Buis.

Known for organizing public art projects—J. Doe and Bench Marks come to mind— Buis worked with local architect Eddy Santamaria to completely renovate her 1907 carriage house into an artistic piece of architecture whose focus is very “green.”

Buis and her then-husband bought the main brick home, long a rental building, in www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: cover story 1983, and renovated it into lovely apartments.

After her husband moved on, Buis continued improving on the building, mainly focusing on the landscape. By 2007, the main house property was in good shape, but required a lot of care, so Buis decided to sell the main house, and spend all of the profits on the carriage house property, which had been a rental for years.

Buis and Santamaria met through the Hot Shops Art Center and worked in tandem during the remodeling and construction stages of the home. Buis sought inventive storage and good light when envisioning the remodeled home, and Santamaria certainly delivered.

By re-situating the stairs into the open living area, Santamaria was able to recapture considerable wasted space on both floors, allowing for much better flow from one area to another. An abundance of natural light streams through horizontal and vertical windows on the home’s first and second floors. In fact, Buis rarely uses artificial light during the daytime hours. And for an artist, she says, natural light is the ideal for any creative activities.

The home was remodeled using Earthfriendly and green construction materials, with natural woods as a large part of the overall look and design.

Storage abounds throughout the home, but it’s not immediately visible upon first glance.

Shelves, closets, cozy pantries and hidden drawers are all part of the redesign, and Buis uses the space economically. What appears at first to simply be a floating wall to display a sculpture is actually, on the opposite side, deep shelves for Buis’ plentiful collection of books.

It’s no surprise that Buis’ home is filled with original art. Oversized paintings and sculptures abound—pieces by both Buis and her close friends. While redesigning the home, Buis wanted her new space to have a cozy feel for entertaining, but also serve as an ideal setting to display her extensive and diverse art collection.

For Santamaria, an artist and an architect, the renovation project proved uniquely satisfying.

“Eddith had an open pallet for her home design,” Santamaria says. “Most artists tend to move from the concrete to the abstract. In architecture it is the opposite; one tends to move from the abstract to the concrete.”

Santamaria says he views the home as a reflection of the changes that naturally occur in life: “Eddith’s house is smiling now, saying, ‘Look at what I’ve become!”

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OMAHA HOME: mortgage Story by: Damon Riehl Vice President of Consumer Lending First National Bank

It’s a Great Time to Buy a Home Springtime is here, and the time to buy a home is now, thanks to great selection, price, and low mortgage rates. Over the past few years, Omaha has weathered the economic storm better than most cities in America, although our unemployment rate, property values and confidence have been impacted.

These factors however provide Omaha residents with a unique, maybe once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Homes are more affordable. The convergence of lower home prices, large selection of homes, and historical low mortgage rates allow you to get more home for your money.

Some Omaha residents have heard it is difficult to get a mortgage. Yes, credit and income standards have increased, but many believe that conditions were too generous over the past decade and are now simply moving back to normal levels.

There continues to be numerous mortgage loan products available to support home purchases of which offer many features to meet customer needs. These include Conventional, FHA, VA, and NIFA, the Nebraska state program. These programs provide options including; low down payment, low to moderate income and average to good credit profiles. The NIFA mortgage programs combine home buyer education along with lower interest rate loans and other options to help reduce down payment requirements.

First National Bank offers a full suite of mortgage options and was just voted the Best Mortgage Lender in the “Best of Omaha” survey for 2011. For more information, contact a Mortgage Specialist at 402-602-5660 or visit us online at firstnational.com/mortgage. march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: green Story by David Williams Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Everything...

Including the Kitchen Sink Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s ReStore Outlet offers construction material bargains that battle landfill overload H40

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www.omahapublications.com

We Always Give You Your Space!

402.391.4444 www.affordableclosets.com

Under a canopy of eerily inert ceiling fans, we walked through a labyrinth of appliances, plumbing fixtures, paint cans, hardware and cabinetry on our way to the office area of ReStore, the Habitat for Humanity of Omaha retail space that offers do-it-yourselfers and smaller commercial remodelers an alternative to big box stores, an alternative that is as affordable as it is ecofriendly.

Valerie Spellman Batt Custom Stained Glass, Repair, Classes, Gifts www.paintedlightglass.com 402.708.9696 Located in the Hot Shops Art Center, #202

Amelia O’Donnell, Habitat’s community outreach coordinator, had just led me on a tour (heads up, a parade of doors unloaded from a truck was marching by) in the 14,000 sq.-ft.-space. The store, now in its 10th year of providing open-to-the–public sourcing solutions, might as well have the motto “everything … including the kitchen sink.”

“One of the fun parts of my job is to use social media (search Habitat ReStore Omaha on Facebook or visit www.habitatomaha.org) to highlight what may have just come in the door, and make sure continued on next page www.readonlinenow.com

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OMAHA HOME: green

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people know of all the nice things we have down here,” O’Donnell said as we passed a towering jumble of … what the heck were those things, anyway? “And I also make sure they know what we might need for our wish list of donations.”

Proceeds from the ReStore operation fully funded three of the 27 Habitat for Humanity homes built in Omaha last year and contributed more than half the cost of a fourth project.

While nonprofits have been especially hard hit by the sour economy, the ReStore operation has experienced a pair of recordbreaking sales/donations years, all driven by savvy shoppers and thoughtful donors.

David Klitz is director of the soup-tonuts store that employs eight paid staff and a small army of volunteers involved in any number of adult job training programs.

Most of the merchandise, he said, finds its way to ReStore from homeowners and businesses that are remodeling. The gently used offerings are also complimented by an array of brand-new selections, overstock, and write-off efforts of generous area retailers who are otherwise competitors.

“But there’s more to it than that,” Klitz added. “The more goods we can take in and divert from the landfills, the better off we all are,” he said of the green, planetfriendly initiative.

Habitat for Humanity’s mission of building community through home ownership often takes a “vacant lot” approach to restoring Omaha’s older neighborhoods.

“We’re all about rebuilding communities.

We take empty lots and return those spaces to the community in creative ways,” Klitz said of putting the word ‘neighbor’ back into ‘neighborhood.’ It’s a mission backed in Omaha by 7,000 hammer-wielding volunteers organized much like Amish barnraising brigades of old.

Their favorite oddity of late?

"Probably the coolest was a complete and pristine bathroom set: bathtub, sink, and toilet, all in lavender. It didn't last a week," Klitz said of the retro ensemble purchased by a woman who goes gaga for mid-century, Atomic Age décor.

“In the end, we’re a construction materials thrift shop,” O’Donnell said, “but who knows what surprises we’ll get in next week?” www.omahapublications.com

KING O Home Ad Thirdpg FOR PRINTPage 1 2/2/2011 3:46:45 P

OMAHA HOME: inspection

Story by Tom Sutko Photos provided by AmeriSpec Inspection Services, Omaha/Lincoln

Is a Pre-Sale Inspection for You? In today’s real estate market, the traditional home inspection, purchased by the buyer, is often used as leverage against the seller to renegotiate the sales contract. Since home inspections are done on most homes sold, these inspections in all likelihood are costing sellers tens of thousands of dollars in loss of equity/profit, not to mention the loss of commissions for those agents involved as well. The remedy: a pre-sale home inspection purchased by the seller.

A pre-sale home inspection, or preinspection, can be a very powerful tool for both the seller and the listing agent. The benefits include: • Protecting your equity – A traditional home inspection is a condition of sale for most buyers, and is completed after the home is under contract.

Since most sales contracts have a short window of time to complete the transaction, buyers sometimes use the findings to reduce the sales price. The seller often is faced with a decision to fix the problems or reduce the selling price. Unfortunately, sellers are often unable to get competitive bids due to the time constraints, and are either forced into taking a single bid for the repair or renegotiating the sales contract. Seasoned brokers note that most buyers have a tendency to overexaggerate the true cost of repair by a factor of 5. In other words, if it would cost you $200 to repair windows, buyer will deduct $1,000 from the selling price to cover the same repair. This can make the renegotiating process difficult. www.readonlinenow.com

• Smoother transaction/closing – Without the addenda and renegotiations that often follow a traditional home inspection, the real estate transaction/closing process is definitely smoother.

Brokers who religiously use pre-sale home inspections say it saves an average of 15-20 hours of time per transaction.

• More buyers – What better way to make your home stand out from others on the market, especially those on your same street. Some inspection services (including AmeriSpec) give the client a yard sign that can be put in the yard next to your broker’s sign. Once the pre-inspection is complete, your broker can add a comment to your MLS listing, which most likely will also increase your foot traffic -- and increase the likelihood of selling your home. Research shows that pre-inspected homes sell an average of 15 days sooner than homes that aren’t pre-inspected.

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• Seller peace of mind – Eliminate the anxiety and frustration of rushing to complete repairs or renegotiate the sales price after a traditional home inspection. A pre-inspection identifies issues up front, and allows the seller to make repairs on your schedule and budget.

Why risk losing a potential buyer?

A properly performed pre-sale home inspection done by a certified home inspector (ASHI) can bring 3-5 times the VALUE vs. the cost of the inspection itself. To learn more about pre-sale home inspection, contact an ASHI-certified firm today.

march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: new on the block Story by Linda Persigehl Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

The Details Have It Two new retailers offer accessories and fixtures that will make your home stand out

Birdhouse Interiors / Birdhouse Collectible

Jessica McKay may be a new kid on the block, but with a decisively funky personal style and a unique design house located in the hip, revitalized Mastercraft Building, she is definitely the up-andcoming interior designer to watch. McKay remembers enjoying art as a child in New Mexico, but says she fell instantly in love with design when she and her husband, Christopher Van Buskirk, bought and renovated their first home in historic Field Club. McKay was hooked. So after a few years, a new neighborhood, and another home redo—the duo eventually opened Birdhouse Collectible last August. With a showroom that is almost as interesting as McKay’s style, and only open just twice a week or by appointment, Birdhouse is not the kind of place you will easily stumble upon. Which is probably part of their plan. McKay adores one-of-a-kind objects, and purposefully fills her small showroom with unique and limitededition items.

Look for beautiful furniture

by Omaha artist Peter Cales, whose pieces seem Arts and Crafts-inspired, but with modern elements. You will also find lots of interesting things, like funny mustache flasks, from tiny independent vendors McKay finds on etsy.com. And don’t forget to check out the art. A big part of McKay’s job is helping clients find truly exceptional artwork, so to make it easier they also host openings for contemporary artists to show their work.

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A big part of that is helping customers find truly exceptional artwork. “Interior designers do not always use original art, which is bit of a pet peeve of mine,” admits McKay. With that in mind she and her husband consider Birdhouse Collectible a bit of an art galley—hosting art openings for contemporary artists to show their work. For showroom hours, or to make a design appointment, contact McKay at 402.577.0711, or visit www. birdhouseinteriors.com.

Mustache flasks from a tiny independent vendor McKay found on etsy.com And don’t forget to check out the mustache flasks from a tiny independent vendor McKay found on etsy.com. Art is also extremely important to McKay, so Birdhouse also hosts art openings for contemporary artists to show their work. For showroom hours, or to make a design appointment, contact McKay at 402.577.0711, or visit www.birdhouseinteriors.com.

B+T Corporation

Charles Gifford and Michele Van Deventer, former New Yorkers with thriving careers in architecture, have begun a fresh start here in Omaha.

The couple opened their distinctive storefront shop, B+T (Bath & Tile Corp.), 1727 Howard Street in the historic Flatiron Building, in October. B+T operates as a showroom for architects and designers, though Gifford says the public is encouraged to visit the store and free to ask for design assis-

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tance. Their adjacent Flatiron Studio offers architectural-design services.

The shop’s focus on high-end, designer bath fixtures grew out of Gifford’s work overseeing fabulous projects involving extreme bathroom makeovers. Such projects allowed him to become well-versed in the various product lines and manufacturers on the market. Since moving to Omaha, he’s established relationships with select local, national, and international vendors. Their 2,600-square-foot store carries more than a dozen manufacturers, including: Toto, St. Thomas Creations, Rohl, La Cava, Blanco, Terra Bella, to name a few.

Van Deventer said, “We both realized the bathroom probably is the first gesture many homeowners who buy and renovate feel the impulse to do. And when you look at the stuff, the faucets and what not, it’s like jewelry almost. It’s really beautiful, the materials and elements and textures. I mean, it’s just mechanically, exquisitely engineered.”

Thus, B+T’s tag line -- “architecture for the bath.”

Gifford says his store offers very unique products, including several lines of paperless toilets and B+T Label bath furniture, designed and fabricated locally.

“We’re also honored to be [famed lighting designer] Cedric Hartman’s lighting showroom in Omaha.”

A design emphasis extends to the shop itself, with its open, retrofit-feel panel displays, lighting system and work-sample table. Recycled materials are used throughout.

They hope just as the Old Market is an arts-entertainment district, their shopstudio will encourage various designers to locate around them to form a design district. Call B+T at 763-4449 or visit www. architectureforthebath.com.

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OMAHA HOME: party planning Story & Photos courtesy of Jennifer Snow, Catering Creations

Celebrate St. Pat's Serve up traditional Irish dishes with a twist

St. Patrick’s Day, the Irish Catholic holiday that honors the Patron Saint of Ireland, is often celebrated with parades, wearing green, and yes, drinking beer. Many believe St. Patrick’s Day has become so widely popular among many locals due to its time of year, as it is often seen as the first “green” before spring.

Let’s say you want to celebrate this fun holiday, but you’d rather avoid the crowds in the local Irish Pub. Try some simple entertaining tips to host your own St. Patrick’s Day celebration in your home, starting with this fabulous St. Patrick’s Day menu with “Green” in mind!

• Caraway & Swiss Cheese Puffs, Filled with Corned beef, Sauerkraut & 1000 Island Dressing • Shrimp & “Green” Basil Pesto Gallettes with Oven Dried Tomatoes • Tandoori Chicken Skewers with “Green” Chile Cilantro Yogurt Dipping Sauce • "Shamrock” Stuffed Mushrooms filled with Cheeses and Zesty “Green” Veggies

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• ”Green” Guacamole & Pineapple Black Bean Salsa served with Fresh Tortilla Chips • Warm Creamy Smoked Salmon & “Green” Spinach Dip with Boursin Cheese Served with Sliced Baguette • Roasted Baby Potato & Andouille Sausage Skewers with a Spicy “Green” Herb Mayonnaise • Strawberries Filled with “Green” Lime Cheese Cake, “Green” Sugar Cookies Filled with Chocolate Ganache & Peppermint Candy • “Green” Leprechaun Petite Fours As with any party, set up the food buffet in an area that will avoid overcrowding and that will not block event flow. Set up the beverages away from the food to encourage mingling. Place a few garbage receptacles around your home...you’ll appreciate this at the end of the night for less cleanup for you. And if all else fails, hire a professional caterer to do the menu design, setup and cleanup. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy yourself! www.omahapublications.com

SPECIALIZING IN

Reuben Puffs Caraway Swiss Cheese Puffs Filled with Reuben Salad Caraway Swiss Cheese Puffs 2 C Milk 2C Flour 1T Caraway Seeds 1t Salt 1⁄4 t Black Pepper 1⁄2 C Grated Swiss cheese 7-8 Whole Eggs 4 T Butter Prep: In a medium saucepot bring to a simmer the milk, caraway, salt, pepper, & butter. Add flour and stir to incorporate well.

Continue to simmer for a couple of minutes. Take this mixture and place in a mixer with a paddle attachment and turn on low speed for 1-2 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and make sure that each one is well incorporated before adding the next one. Add Swiss cheese and mix well. Place mixture in a piping bag without a tip and pipe the dough to a small golf ball size onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper. Push down the little peaks in the dough that form on the tops from piping. Bake at 325 degrees in a convection oven for 15-22 minutes. Let them cool and then cut them in half horizontal. Finish by filling them with Reuben Salad (recipe below).

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Reuben Filling 1⁄2 lb. Quality Sliced Corned Beef 1⁄4 C Sauerkraut 1⁄2 C Grated Swiss cheese Thousand Island Dressing Prep: Dice the corned beef and mix in sauerkraut and Swiss cheese.

Add just enough dressing to moisten the salad. Put Reuben Salad inside Caraway Swiss Cheese Puffs and serve.

Guacamole 4 Ripe Avocados 2 Roma Tomatoes - Diced and seeded 1⁄4 Red Onion - Small Diced 1t minced Garlic 1-2 Jalapenos - Small Diced Juice of 1 lime 1-2 T Chopped Cilantro Pinch of ground Cumin Tabasco - a few drops to taste Salt & Pepper to taste

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Prep: Mix all ingredients together and serve immediately with freshly fried or baked tortilla chips.

Tip: If making your dip and storing ahead of time, drizzle top with a little extra lime juice and cover tightly with plastic wrap, touching all edges and the top of the guacamole. The acid from the limejuice and the lack of air reaching the avocados in your dip will reduce the browning effect that occurs naturally when avocado is exposed to air. www.readonlinenow.com

Visit our outdoor showroom located on the corner of 216th & West Maple Road. march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: condo living Story by Aaron Michaels Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

The second tower of Riverfront Place.

Condominium Momentum Buyers still snatching up downtown condos, now at reduced prices

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www.omahapublications.com

The state of the Omaha condo market - vibrant and booming with interest and opportunities around every corner just a few years ago - is in a good news/bad news situation these days.

If you are in the market and have pre-approved financing, there are many high-end vacancies at great values. You pretty much have your pick of available properties, some priced significantly lower than they were or would have been three to five years ago.

On the other hand, if you bought at the height of Omaha’s downtown condo boom between 2004 and 2006, or are a developer of condos, your properties are most likely undervalued and difficult to sell, although sale and resale values are strong compared to markets in like-sized and larger cities in the United States.

But hold tight and don’t despair. Many local real estate agents are convinced by recent trends that the market will rebound -- but most likely not for another few years.

“When it was hot, people were excited to live and work downtown; they paid good prices, and there were many different types of condos available downtown,” said Gena Schriver, once affiliated with condo sales for the old Burlington Station on 10th Street, a project which remains on hold almost five years after its announcement.

“Omaha is still a good market for condo sales and buys, but the rules and requirements have changed since 2007 because of what happened nationwide in the housing market.”

Something for Everyone While some cities’ downtown housing markets have struggled and continue to struggle, Omaha’s has largely remained steady because of its continued appeal and diversity.

The same can be said for the mixture of old and new condos on the market that keep buyers with varied interests, wants and needs looking for their best fit.

“Each building becomes a neighborhood with its own distinct feel, whether it’s a renovation of an old building or construction of a new one,” said Mike Moylan of Shamrock Development. www.readonlinenow.com

“There was talk that the Omaha market was oversaturated at the height of the condo market, but that was never the case.

“Interest in condos slipped when the market dropped, but it never completely fell off.

Residential sales impacted condo sales because many empty nesters who wanted to sell their single-family homes and move into a downtown condo weren’t able to because they had difficulty selling their house. It wasn’t really about the condos themselves.”

Proof of this is the recent completion of the newly constructed jLoft condominiums at 12th and Jackson Streets in the Old Market, and the near completion of the second tower of Riverfront Place along the Missouri River.

At the same time, renovations have led to recently completed condos at the Brandeis building on 16th and Douglas Streets and the Beebe + Runyan building at South 9th Street near the Old Market within the past couple of years.

One proposed renovation that still has yet to happen is the conversion of the Burlington Station on South 10th Street into 15 luxury condos. The project ran into several difficulties when the housing market crashed, but Schriver said plans to continue the project on some scale are still in the works.

Dude, Where Can I Park My Car? Just as there are interests in location and renovation vs. new construction, there are several amenities real estate agents are seeing as must-haves from condo buyers -- especially in downtown.

“Parking is the top question I get; where can I park, how many spaces do I get with this unit, etc.,” said Tasha Moss of Urban Omaha. “People are also very interested in outdoor living spaces as many of them are coming from homes with backyards and open spaces. These two factors are definite drivers in where they look and eventually want to buy.”

Schriver added that several other questions arise from prospective buyers concerning high-end finishes -- “granite countertops are expected in properties now but some ask about stainless steel appliances and other amenities” -- as well as proximity to restaurants and other downtown attractions.

“People want to move downtown because of everything it has to offer -- restaurants, theater, symphony, Qwest Center, etc. -- and that leads them in different directions,” Schriver said.

“People also want to know about association fees and what they cover as well as if there is an inclusive workout facility, pool, extra

bedrooms, etc. Price range definitely dictates most of these things.”

Moylan agrees, adding that living downtown is a choice, and with that choice comes certain expectations and conveniences.

“I get many people relocating from other cities, and while they are definitely satisfied with the positive difference in price from where they are relocating, they are choosing to live downtown because of proximity to work and other things they have become used to in other cities,” Moylan said.

Wall Street Bounceback?

While speculation continues as to whether or not the proposed Wall Street Tower, originally announced in 2005 as a 32-story glass tower, is going to happen, Jill Anderson of CBSHome Real Estate is confident the project will happen in some form. The building is set to fill the current vacant city block north of the Union Pacific headquarters at 14th and Dodge Streets.

When it will happen, however, remains unknown.

“The developers are still securing financing for the project and can’t start anything without that,” said Anderson, who represents sales for the Wall Street Tower project among others. “Once they get the go ahead, it will happen. Everyone involved wants to see it happen because it will be unlike any other condo development in downtown Omaha.”

According to reports in 2009, while the building is expected to remain at 32 stories it will be much narrower than in the original designs as the number of condos has dropped from 192 to 96. The developer originally proposed 282 units in 2005, when the condo market was exploding and financing was easy to acquire.

And just as condos followed the housing market decline, the recovery of condos will also lag behind houses. Anderson sees the recovering in Omaha taking the next few years to rebound, although a complete rebound make take more than three years as the economy also continues to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

“When the housing market fell, condos were quick to follow, which made getting financing for new construction very difficult to get,” Anderson said. “Lending requirements for condo developers as well as for buyers has changed dramatically over the past few years, and that is affecting condo builds and sales more than a lack of interest. But as things continue to improve economically, so will sales of both homes and condos.” march/april | 2011

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OMAHA HOME: pets

Story by Molly Garriott Photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Pampered Pets Charlotte & Claire

Marian and Harold Andersen.

Marian and Harold Andersen’s two dogs are not pampered pets in the Parisian poodle-manicured beyond canine recognition-sense. But the couple’s Cocker Spaniels, Charlotte and Claire, are well-loved.

They have the run of the Fairacre home’s east wing. A mound of doggie chews, stuffed animals, and tugs, rivaling the toy baskets of any wellappointed nursery, is tucked into a corner of the kitchen. Each has their own cushioned bed in the sunny breakfast nook. These “wild women of Prairie Avenue,” as Marian calls them, are only permitted in the light-carpeted living room when the Andersens are present.

But they do enjoy free reign of the backyard. Charlotte, 6, loves to nestle in beside Marian when she sits by the pool. Claire, 8, secures the perimeter from invading squirrels and rabbits and gets her fill of “reading the canine news,” quips Marian.

The couple has owned Cocker Spaniels for over 25 years. Besides being a manageable size, they are “relatively low-maintenance,” says Harold. But then he qualifies his own assertion: “Well, we spend more money on visits to the beauty parlor for baths and trims than we did raising our children.”

Maybe Charlotte and Claire would assimilate to life in Paris after all.

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Do you have a story that you’d like to share?

Let us know at: editor@omahapublications.com

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march/april | 2011

accessories 153rd & W. maple road

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Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh, P.C., L.L.O. is a firm of 11 lawyers with offices at 100 Scoular Building in Omaha. The firm concentrates its practice in the areas of business litigation and commercial transactions, family law, employment and employee benefits, estate and financial planning, and taxation.

Lieben Whitted congratulates Jeff Lieben, David Houghton, John Slowiaczek, Jim Cavanagh and Virginia Albers for being named to the Best Lawyers in America. Jeff is listed in the areas of employee benefits law, tax law and trusts and estates, David is listed in commercial litigation, John and Virginia are listed in the field of family law, and Jim is listed in bankruptcy and creditor rights and commercial litigation.

100 Scoular Building • 2027 dodge Street • omaha, ne 68102 • telephone: 402-344-4000 • Fax: 402-344-4006

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BEST LAWYERS from

The Best Lawyers in America® 2011 Omaha Magazine is proud to bring you the Omaha results of The Best Lawyers in America®, widely regarded as the preeminent referral guide to the legal profession in the United States. What makes this list the “go-to” guide? Two reasons: one, lawyers are not required to pay a fee for a basic listing in the guide. Two, inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® is based entirely on confidential peer review.

This list is excerpted from the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, the preeminent referral guide to the legal profession in the United States. Published since 1983, Best Lawyers® lists attorneys in 80 specialties, representing all 50 states, who have been chosen through an exhaustive survey in which thousands of the nation's top lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The 2011 edition of Best Lawyers is based on more than 2.2 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The method used to compile Best Lawyers® remains unchanged since the first edition was compiled more than 25 years ago. Lawyers are chosen for inclusion based solely on the vote of their peers. Listings cannot be bought, and no purchase is required to be included. In this regard, Best Lawyers® remains the gold standard of reliability and integrity in lawyer ratings.

The nomination pool for the 2011 edition consisted of all lawyers whose names appeared in the previous edition of Best Lawyers®, lawyers who were nominated since the previous survey, and new nominees solicited from listed attorneys. In general, lawyers were asked to vote only on nominees in their own specialty in their own jurisdiction. Lawyers in closely related specialties were asked to vote across specialties, as were lawyers in smaller jurisdictions. Where specialties are national or international

in nature, lawyers were asked to vote nationally as well as locally. Voting lawyers were also given an opportunity to offer more detailed comments on nominees. Each year, half of the voting pool receives fax or email ballots; the other half is polled by phone.

Voting lawyers were provided this general guideline for determining if a nominee should be listed among “the best”: “If you had a close friend or relative who needed a real estate lawyer (for example), and you could not handle the case yourself, to whom would you refer them?” All votes and comments were solicited with a guarantee of confidentiality – a critical factor in the viability and validity of Best Lawyers® surveys. To ensure the rigor of the selection process, lawyers were urged to use only their highest standards when voting, and to evaluate each nominee based only on his or her individual merits. The additional comments were used to make more accurate comparisons between voting patterns and weight votes accordingly. Best Lawyers® uses various methodological tools to identify and correct for anomalies in both the nomination and voting process.

Ultimately, of course, a lawyer’s inclusion is based on the subjective judgments of his or her fellow attorneys. While it is true that the lists may at times disproportionately reward visibility or popularity, the breadth of the survey, the candor of the respondents, and the sophistication of the polling methodology largely correct for any biases.

For all these reasons, Best Lawyers® lists continue to represent the most reliable, accurate and useful guide to the best lawyers in the United States available anywhere.

Best Lawyers® lists are available at www.bestlawyers.com. “Best Lawyers” and “The Best Lawyers in America” are registered trademarks of Woodward/White, Inc.

photo by Patrick Drickey, Stonehouse Publishing Co. www.readonlinenow.com

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BEST LAWYERS ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION JAMES M. BAUSCH Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather One Pacific Place, Suite 600 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-397-1700 JOHN C. BROWNRIGG Erickson & Sederstrom 10330 Regency Parkway Drive Regency Westpointe, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3761 402-397-2200 D. NICK CAPORALE Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 J. TERRY MACNAMARA McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 MATTHEW G. MILLER Matthew G. Miller 6910 Pacific Street, Suite 200 Omaha, Nebraska 68106 402-415-0713

JOHN S. ZEILINGER Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 BANKRUPTCY AND CREDITORDEBTOR RIGHTS LAW ROBERT J. BOTHE McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 JAMES B. CAVANAGH Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000 ROBERT V. GINN Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000 RICHARD D. MYERS McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp First National Plaza, Suite 500 11404 West Dodge Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 402-492-9200

MICHAEL G. MULLIN Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000

JERROLD L. STRASHEIM Jerrold L. Strasheim 3610 Dodge Street, Suite 212 Omaha, Nebraska 68131 402-346-9330

BANKING LAW JOYCE A. DIXON Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

DONALD L. SWANSON Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

LAWRENCE E. KRITENBRINK Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

STEVEN C. TURNER Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

DAVID H. ROE McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

T. RANDALL WRIGHT Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

STEVEN C. TURNER Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

BET-THE-COMPANY LITIGATION THOMAS J. CULHANE Erickson & Sederstrom 10330 Regency Parkway Drive Regency Westpointe, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3761 402-397-2200

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JOHN R. DOUGLAS Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300 JAMES P. FITZGERALD McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 CHARLES F. GOTCH Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300 THOMAS E. JOHNSON Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 MICHAEL F. KINNEY Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300 WILLIAM M. LAMSON, JR. Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300 WAYNE J. MARK Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000 JOSEPH K. MEUSEY Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000 JOHN P. PASSARELLI Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 COMMERCIAL LITIGATION STEVEN E. ACHELPOHL Steven E. Achelpohl 1010 Historic Library Plaza 1823 Harney Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1900

JAMES M. BAUSCH Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather One Pacific Place, Suite 600 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-397-1700 KIRK S. BLECHA Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 JAMES B. CAVANAGH Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000 THOMAS J. CULHANE Erickson & Sederstrom 10330 Regency Parkway Drive Regency Westpointe, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3761 402-397-2200 KELLY R. DAHL Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 THOMAS H. DAHLK Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000 STEVEN D. DAVIDSON Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 WILLIAM G. DITTRICK Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 JOHN R. DOUGLAS Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300 MARK F. ENENBACH McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

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JAmeS P. FitzgerALd McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

wAyne J. mArK Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

wAyne J. mArK Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

gerALd L. FriedrichSen Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

BArthoLomew L. mcLeAy Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000

chArLeS F. gotch Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

JoSePh K. meuSey Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE LAW denniS J. FogLAnd Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

wiLLiAm F. hArgenS McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 dAvid S. houghton Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000 thomAS e. JohnSon Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 JoSePh e. JoneS Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000 michAeL F. Kinney Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300 wiLLiAm m. LAmSon, Jr. Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300 gerALd P. LAughLin Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

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roBert d. muLLin, Jr. McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 John P. PASSAreLLi Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 roBert m. SLoveK Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 PAtricK g. viPond Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300 edwArd g. wArin Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 CONSTRUCTION LAW P. Scott dye Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 LAwrence e. KritenBrinK Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

PAuL c. JeSSen Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500 CORPORATE LAW Joe e. ArmStrong Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 thomAS r. BurKe Erftmier Law 11808 West Center Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68144-4434 402-504-1460 Joyce A. dixon Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000 donALd L. erFtmier, Jr. Erftmier Law 11808 West Center Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68144-4434 402-504-1460 denniS J. FogLAnd Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 roBert L. FreemAn Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000 r. crAig Fry Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250

dAvid e. gArdeLS Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000 StePhen e. gehring Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather One Pacific Place, Suite 600 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-397-1700 gAry m. gotSdiner McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp First National Plaza, Suite 500 11404 West Dodge Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 402-492-9200 deryL F. hAmAnn Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 dAvid L. heFFLinger McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 John w. herdzinA Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250 michAeL m. huPP Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500 thomAS e. JohnSon Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 howArd J. KASLow Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250 John S. KAteLmAn Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

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BEST LAWYERS mArLon m. LoFgren Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500 m. ShAun mcgAughey Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

todd A. richArdSon Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000 t. PArKer SchenKen Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

roBert J. murrAy Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300

Bruce d. voSBurg Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

dougLAS d. murrAy Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

roger w. weLLS McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

richArd e. PutnAm Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

r. thomAS worKmAn McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp First National Plaza, Suite 500 11404 West Dodge Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 402-492-9200

John S. zeiLinger Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 CRIMINAL DEFENSE: NON-WHITE-COLLAR Steven e. AcheLPohL Steven E. Achelpohl 1010 Historic Library Plaza 1823 Harney Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1900 J. wiLLiAm gALLuP J. William Gallup 209 South 19th Street, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68102-1827 402-341-3400 ALAn g. StoLer Alan G. Stoler 1823 Harney Street, Suite 1004 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1733

CRIMINAL DEFENSE: WHITE-COLLAR Steven e. AcheLPohL Steven E. Achelpohl 1010 Historic Library Plaza 1823 Harney Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1900 J. wiLLiAm gALLuP J. William Gallup 209 South 19th Street, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68102-1827 402-341-3400 edwArd g. wArin Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 EDUCATION LAW eLizABeth eynon-KoKrdA Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

For more than a century, Fraser Stryker has served the evolving needs of our clients by building a community of professionals of outstanding caliber to provide clients with the highest quality of service.

Back row from left to right are Joseph E. Jones, Patrick J. Barrett, Robert L. Freeman, Robert W. Rieke, Michael F. Coyle, and Wayne J. Mark. Front row from left to right are Stephen M. Bruckner, Daniel J. Wintz, and Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. (Not Pictured: Joseph K. Meusey) We congratulate our lawyers recognized in Best Lawyers in America, 2011 edition: Patrick J Barrett (Labor and Employment Law); Stephen M. Bruckner (Environmental Law); Michael F. Coyle (Personal Injury Litigation); Robert L. Freeman (Corporate Law and Mergers and Acquisitions Law); Joseph E. Jones (Commercial Litigation); Wayne J. Mark (Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, andConstructionLaw);JosephK.Meusey(Bet-the-CompanyLitigation,CommercialLitigation,Legal Malpractice Law, and Personal Injury Litigation); Robert W. Rieke (Real Estate Law); Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. (Labor and Employment Law); and Daniel J. Wintz (Employee Benefits Law).

Additionally, we congratulate Pat Barrett, who was named the Best Lawyers’ 2011 Omaha Labor and Employment Lawyer of the Year. www.readonlinenow.com

409 South 17th Street • 500 Energy Plaza • Omaha, NE 68102 (402) 341-6000 • www.FraserStryker.com

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EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW gAry n. cLAtterBucK Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 Peter c. LAngdon Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 t. geoFFrey LieBen Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000

Steven P. cASe McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 KeLLy r. dAhL Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 John P. heiL Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

rAndAL m. LimBecK Jackson Lewis 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-391-1991

thomAS c. mcgowAn McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

gAry w. rAdiL Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

michAeL S. moSteK Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

John e. SchemBAri Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000

ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY LAW J. Scott PAuL McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

dAnieL J. wintz Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000 ENERGY LAW rAndALL c. hAnSon Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW John A. AndreASen McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 StePhen m. BrucKner Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

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FAMILY LAW virginiA ALBerS Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000 PAtricK A. cAmPAgnA Lustgarten and Roberts 1625 Farnam Street, Suite 900 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1920 Steven J. LuStgArten Lustgarten and Roberts 1625 Farnam Street, Suite 900 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1920 michAeL B. LuStgArten Lustgarten and Roberts 1625 Farnam Street, Suite 900 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1920

donALd A. roBertS Lustgarten and Roberts 1625 Farnam Street, Suite 900 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-346-1920

Andrew e. grimm Andrew E. Grimm 4242 Farnam Street, Suite 267 Omaha, Nebraska 68131 402-552-3483

John S. SLowiAczeK Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000

wAyne B. henry Stinson Morrison Hecker 1299 Farnam Street, Suite 1501 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-342-1700

FIRST AMENDMENT LAW michAeL c. cox Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500 FRANCHISE LAW gAry r. BAtenhorSt Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather One Pacific Place, Suite 600 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-397-1700 John w. herdzinA Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250 John P. PASSAreLLi Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 michAeL L. SuLLivAn Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 GOVERNMENT RELATIONS LAW dAvid J. KrAmer Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 HEALTH CARE LAW vicKie BrAdy AhLerS Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

John r. hoLdenried Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 JuLie A. KnutSon Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 Amy L. Longo Ellick, Jones, Buelt, Blazek & Longo 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 280 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-390-0390 thomAS r. PAnSing, Jr. Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-5500 BArBArA e. PerSon Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 chArLeS v. SederStrom Erickson & Sederstrom 10330 Regency Parkway Drive Regency Westpointe, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3761 402-397-2200 KAren m. ShuLer Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500 PAtriciA A. zieg Stinson Morrison Hecker 1299 Farnam Street, Suite 1501 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-342-1700

ALex m. cLArKe Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 www.omahapublications.com

BEST LAWYERS IMMIGRATION LAW A. Stevenson Bogue McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 Amy L. Erlbacher-Anderson Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

Amy L. Peck Jackson Lewis 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-391-1991

Edward D. Hotz Hotz, Weaver, Flood, Breitkreutz & Grant 444 Regency Parkway Drive, Suite 310 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-557-0063

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LAW Terrence P. Maher Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

Robert D. Mullin, Jr. McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

James E. O'Connor Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

Stanley A. Krieger Krieger & Krieger 9290 West Dodge Road, Suite 302 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-392-1280 M. Angela Krieger Krieger & Krieger 9290 West Dodge Road, Suite 302 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-392-1280

INSURANCE LAW Thomas A. Grennan Gross & Welch 1500 Omaha Tower 2120 South 72nd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124-2342 402-392-1500

Gregory B. Minter Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

Michael G. Mullin Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 Terrence D. O'Hare McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW Jill Robb Ackerman Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 Denise C. Mazour McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 James E. O'Connor Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 John P. Passarelli Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000

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denniS L. thomte Thomte Patent Law Office 2120 South 72nd Street, Suite 1111 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-392-2280 Bruce d. voSBurg Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

roger J. miLLer McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

wiLLiAm m. LAmSon, Jr. Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300

John S. zeiLinger Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

Scott S. moore Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS LAW Teresa Beaufait Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

MUNICIPAL LAW timothy m. Kenny Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250

roBert F. roSSiter, Jr. Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

denniS J. FogLAnd Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

thomAS g. mcKeon Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW PAtricK J. BArrett Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

r. J. StevenSon Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

roBert L. FreemAn Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

NON-PROFIT/CHARITIES LAW howArd FredricK hAhn Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

A. StevenSon Bogue McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

LAND USE & ZONING LAW Steven d. JohnSon Steven D. Johnson 1864 South 155th Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68144 402-334-7729

gAry m. gotSdiner McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp First National Plaza, Suite 500 11404 West Dodge Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 402-492-9200

PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION michAeL F. coyLe Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

roBert t. cAnneLLA Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

LEGAL MALPRACTICE LAW John r. dougLAS Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

Keith A. green McGill, Gotsdiner, Workman & Lepp First National Plaza, Suite 500 11404 West Dodge Road Omaha, Nebraska 68154-2584 402-492-9200

chArLeS F. gotch Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

chriStoPher r. hedicAn Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

JoSePh K. meuSey Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

dAvid L. heFFLinger McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

thomAS A. grennAn Gross & Welch 1500 Omaha Tower 2120 South 72nd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124-2342 402-392-1500

thomAS F. hoArty, Jr. Byam & Hoarty 317 American National Building 8990 West Dodge Road Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-0303

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAW John r. dougLAS Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

m. ShAun mcgAughey Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

michAeL F. Kinney Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

deAn g. KrAtz McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

chArLeS F. gotch Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

todd A. richArdSon Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

michAeL F. Kinney Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

roger w. weLLS McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FINANCE LAW dAvid e. gArdeLS Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

timothy d. Loudon Jackson Lewis 10050 Regency Circle, Suite 400 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-391-1991

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wiLLiAm m. LAmSon, Jr. Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300 JoSePh K. meuSey Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000

www.omahapublications.com

BEST LAWYERS Michael J. Mooney Gross & Welch 1500 Omaha Tower 2120 South 72nd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124-2342 402-392-1500

PRODUCT LIABILITY LITIGATION Charles F. Gotch Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

Patricia S. Peterson Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000

Robert D. Mullin, Jr. McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

Michael F. Kinney Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

REAL ESTATE LAW John Q. Bachman Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-5500

Michael G. Mullin Kutak Rock The Omaha Building 1650 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2186 402-346-6000 Robert E. O'Connor, Jr. O'Connor Law Firm 2433 South 130th Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68144 402-330-5906 E. Terry Sibbernsen Sibbernsen & Strigenz Westroads Office Park, Suite 330 1111 North 102nd Court Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-415-0704 John F. Thomas McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

PROFESSIONAL MALPRACTICE LAW Patrick G. Vipond Lamson, Dugan and Murray 10306 Regency Parkway Drive Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-7300 PROJECT FINANCE LAW T. Parker Schenken Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 PUBLIC FINANCE LAW Charles J. Addy Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 Richard J. Pedersen Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

A

Jon E. Blumenthal Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 Max J. Burbach Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500 James D. Buser Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-5500 P. Scott Dye Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

John H. Fullenkamp Fullenkamp, Doyle & Jobeun 11440 West Center Road, Suite C Omaha, Nebraska 68144 402-334-0700 Lee H. Hamann McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070 Dennis P. Hogan III Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-5500 Robert J. Huck Croker, Huck, Kasher, Dewitt, Anderson & Gondringer 2120 South 72nd Street, Suite 1200 Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-391-6777 Larry A. Jobeun Fullenkamp, Doyle & Jobeun 11440 West Center Road, Suite C Omaha, Nebraska 68144 402-334-0700 Steven D. Johnson Steven D. Johnson 1864 South 155th Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68144 402-334-7729 John S. Katelman Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

The Douglas Building 209 South 19th Street, Suite 400 Omaha, NE 68102 Phone: 402-341-3400 Fax: 402-341-2188

native of Alberta, Canada, J. William Gallup graduated from the University of Nebraska with bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He earned his J.D. degree from Creighton University in 1964. After serving as a city, state and federal prosecutor, he has been in private practice since 1971. He is a Fellow of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers, an organization open by invitation only to the best criminal lawyers in the United States. In 1982, he was elected president of the organization. He is also a past president of the Nebraska Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Respected by his peers, Mr. Gallup has been named one of America’s six top “Murder” lawyers, along with Richard “Racehorse” Haynes and Bobby Lee Cook. An editor for the Criminal Law Advocacy, as well as an author, he has had numerous articles published in legal journals and has lectured at seminars in 38 states and Canada. He practices in state and federal courts and has been admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a veteran of both the US Army and US Marine Corps. www.readonlinenow.com

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BEST LAWYERS michAeL F. Kivett Walentine O'Toole McQuillan & Gordon 11240 Davenport Street Omaha, Nebraska 68154-0125 402-330-6300 LAwrence e. KritenBrinK Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 michAeL d. mAteJKA Woods & Aitken 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 525 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-898-7400 FrAnK J. mihuLKA Woods & Aitken 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 525 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-898-7400 roBert w. rieKe Fraser Stryker Energy Plaza, Suite 500 409 South 17th Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2663 402-341-6000 SECURITIES LAW denniS J. FogLAnd Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500 dAvid L. heFFLinger McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

dAvid L. heFFLinger McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

dAvid L. heFFLinger McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

nicK r. tAyLor Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

PAuL c. JeSSen Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

ronALd c. JenSen Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

Kurt F. tJAden Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

howArd n. KAPLAn Law Office of Howard N. Kaplan 9290 West Dodge Road, Suite 205 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-8988

PAuL c. JeSSen Koley Jessen One Pacific Place, Suite 800 1125 South 103rd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124 402-390-9500

JeFFrey d. toBerer Stinson Morrison Hecker 1299 Farnam Street, Suite 1501 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-342-1700

t. geoFFrey LieBen Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000 thomAS r. PAnSing, Jr. Pansing Hogan Ernst & Bachman 10250 Regency Circle, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-397-5500 JeFFrey J. PirrucceLLo McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

michAeL d. JoneS Ellick, Jones, Buelt, Blazek & Longo 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 280 Omaha, Nebraska 68114 402-390-0390 ShAron r. KreShA Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

These lists are excerpted from The Best Lawyers in America® 2011, which includes listings for more than 41,000 lawyers in 91 specialties, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

t. geoFFrey LieBen Lieben, Whitted, Houghton, Slowiaczek & Cavanagh Scoular Building, Suite 100 2027 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-344-4000

The Best Lawyers in America® is published by Woodward/ White, Inc., Aiken, South Carolina and can be ordered directly from the publisher. For information call 803-648-0300; write 129 First Avenue, SW, Aiken, SC 29801; email info@ bestlawyers.com; or visit www.bestlawyers.com. Online subscriptions to Best Lawyers® databases are available at www.bestlawyers.com

gAry w. rAdiL Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

thomAS J. mALicKi Abrahams Kaslow & Cassman 8712 West Dodge Road, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3450 402-392-1250

TRUSTS AND ESTATES thomAS r. BurKe Erftmier Law 11808 West Center Road, Suite 100 Omaha, Nebraska 68144-4434 402-504-1460

gAry w. rAdiL Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

TAX LAW howArd FredricK hAhn Husch Blackwell Sanders 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 2100 Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-964-5000

dAnieL J. duFFy Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas 8805 Indian Hills Drive, Suite 300 Omaha, Nebraska 68114-4070 402-390-0300

SuSAn J. SPAhn Fitzgerald, Schorr, Barmettler & Brennan Regency One, Suite 200 10050 Regency Circle Omaha, Nebraska 68114-3794 402-342-1000

deryL F. hAmAnn Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

deryL F. hAmAnn Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

guy LAwSon McGrath North First National Tower, Suite 3700 1601 Dodge Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102 402-341-3070

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WORKERS' COMPENSATION LAW John iLiFF Gross & Welch 1500 Omaha Tower 2120 South 72nd Street Omaha, Nebraska 68124-2342 402-392-1500

michAeL L. SuLLivAn Baird Holm Woodmen Tower, Suite 1500 1700 Farnam Street Omaha, Nebraska 68102-2068 402-344-0500

Woodward/White Inc., has used its best efforts in assembling material for this list but does not warrant that the information contained herein is complete or accurate, and does not assume, and hereby disclaims, any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions herein whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. All listed attorneys have been verified as being members in good standing with their respective state bar associations as of August 1, 2010, where that information is publicly available. Consumers should contact their state bar for verification and additional information prior to securing legal services of any attorney.

Copyright 2010 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC. All rights reserved. This list, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission. No commercial use of this list may be made without permission of Woodward/White, Inc. No fees may be charged, directly or indirectly, for the use of this list without permission.

“The Best Lawyers in America” and “Best Lawyers” are registered trademarks of Woodward/White, Inc. For more information on The Best Lawyers in America®, see their website, www.bestlawyers.com. www.omahapublications.com

(back row) Lauren Fox, soccer; UNO Director of Community Relations Pam Schwarting; Women's Walk founder Connie Clausen; UNO volleyball coach Rose Shires; Logen Watts, soccer; and Dani Suponchick, golf. (front row) Brittney Hanssen, volleyball; Kerry Pivovar, socccer; and Katelyn Tschida, soccer.

COVER STORY: WALKING THE WALK

The expanded UNO Women's Walk enters its 26th year of raising funds to support female athletes

IRISH IDOL

"Rudy" Ruettiger aims to inspire Camp Fire luncheon crowd

YOUR INVITATION TO OMAHA’S CHARITY AND SOCIETY SCENE

HEART BALL

The American Heart Association's annual gala celebrates past, present and future

Where our level of care matches our level of caring

Dr. Mahoney Cardiologist

From everyday needs to life-changing events, this is where you want to be. With state-ofthe-art technologies and treatments, a national ranking in the top two percent for saving lives following a heart attack and a special trust built over generations. Methodist is where innovation meets compassion. And that’s the meaning of care. bestcare.org ©2011 Methodist Health System

The Salvation Army 2011 D.J.’s Hero Awards Luncheon Featured speaker: Apolo Anton Ohno May 9, 2011 • 11:45 a.m.

Qwest Center Omaha Table of 10 $850 D.J.’s Hero Award nominations accepted through 3/11 Download an application or reserve a seat - www.GiveSalvationArmy.org

Apolo Anton Ohno Eight-Time Olympic Medalist & Most Decorated U.S. Winter Olympian in History

Show your card, get a discount!

Omaha Marine Center 10% off the tagged price of all in-stock Water Ski Pro Shop and boating accessory merchandise. Excludes parts and special order items. Not applicable to previous purchases, may not be combined with other offers and discounts.

Black Clover Fitness Save $180 off a 6 month membership.

Attitude on Food Catering Book any event during the months of January and February for any date in 2011 and receive 10% off food.

Gerst Painting $100.00 off any job $995.00 or more.

Pitch Pizzeria 10% off any purchase.

Dr. Christopher Stanosheck Invisalign Promotion - $250 off treatment for qualified Invisalign patients.

House of J 50% off all Christmas merchandise.

Basic Tease 10% off custom bikini.

Jerico’s Free Order of Bruschetta with dinner order.

Steven D. Wegner, DDS $50.00 discount on complete New Patient Exams.

Camp Bow Wow $5 off any service, not valid on holidays, one time per customer.

Millard Sprinkler With loyalty card, get a free rain sensor with purchase of new sprinkler system.

Grand China Buffet Visit our location with your rewards card and receive 10% off our buffet.

Ted & Wally’s Four scoops for the price of three!

Interiors Joan and Associates 30% off all in stock merchandise. One item per customer, one time only. Does not include delivery.

Godfather’s Pizza Get a FREE medium 1-topping pizza with purchase of any large speciality pizza at regular price.

Koca Chiropractic Clinc All for only $20.11 - A $195.00 value! One-on-One Consultation with the doctor. X-rays (if necessary), State0f-the -Art Computerized health Analysis, A Complete Report of the Findings.

Kajoma’s Boutique 20% off one regular priced item, one per visit.

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cover story

Story by Corey Ross Photos courtesy of UNO

Walking the Walk

Now going on its 26th year, the UNO Women's Walk has paved and paid the way for many local female college athletes

T

he stories from the early days of women’s athletics at the University of Nebraska Omaha aren’t as much about wins and losses as they are about cramped locker rooms, shared uniforms and looming budget cuts.

There was little glamorous or extravagant about women’s sports in the late '60s and '70s, and then in the '80s the state legislature started forcing athletic programs to make sacrifices to survive, or do more to foot the bill.

At UNO, the response in the women’s athletic department was to start a walk to bolster support for female athletes, and thus the Women’s Walk was born in 1986.

A novel concept at the time, 84 walkers turned out to raise $12,000 - much more than the goal of $5,000 and plenty to support athletic scholarships.

“That was a lot of money at the time,” says Connie Clausen, who organized that walk and has participated in every one since. “Our scholarships were $400-$500.”

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Clausen was Coordinator of Women’s Athletics – “I think I gave myself that title” – at the time, as well as coach of all three women’s sports teams. Facilities for women’s sports were so sparse that her office was in a shower in the women’s locker room.

Clausen is now part of a women’s athletic department that proudly offers eight sports, and this year’s walk on April 30th will go a long way toward supporting those athletes in their endeavors.

The walk is being expanded to an entire weekend this year and has been renamed the Women’s Walk Festival. The opening Friday will feature an appearance

by Olympic gold medalist gymnast Carly Patterson. The walk and 5k fun run to Ak-Sar-Ben Village – new this year – begins at 10 a.m. on the 30th.

UNO women’s volleyball coach Rose Shires says Patterson’s appearance will hopefully draw parents and their daughters, who can use Patterson as a role model, just as Shires expects her athletes to be.

For that matter, all of UNO’s nearly 150 female athletes participate in the

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cover story walk, which is how it has been from the beginning. It’s that lead-by-example attitude that has drawn others to participate, Clausen says.

“We have to be willing to work for ourselves,” Clausen says, characterizing the spirit of the walk in the department.

The nearly 1,000 or more walkers who join them are symbolic of the support in the community, Shires says, adding she uses pictures from the walk when she’s recruiting.

“I show them there are a 1,000, 1,200 women willing to spend their time fundraising for them,” Shires says. “These walks provide us the financial support to excel.”

While the money the walkers raise is important to the effort, it’s the corporate dollars that have allowed the event to flourish.

Omaha Print was the corporate sponsor of the first walk. LB Hayes, wife of Omaha Printer owner Harvey Hayes, was one of the founders of the walk along with LuAnn Weber, wife of then Chancellor Del Weber.

The next year, Diet Pepsi signed on and has remained the title sponsor with an increasingly sizable donation, Clausen says.

At $152,000 at press time, this year’s corporate allotment is already a record, Clausen says. Proceeds from the walk are expected to push the 26-year total past $4 million. Corporate dollars have carried much of that load.

A group of community women, called the strike force, donate their time to secure corporate funds. Clausen says. That’s how Lori Scott, this year’s chairperson, originally became involved.

The last few years, the walk has raised more than $250,000. A full scholarship at UNO is $14,600, but many athletes receive partial scholarships, meaning the walk dollars go a long way for support.

This will be the fourth women’s walk for senior UNO golfer Dani Suponchick, who says the walk is a big part of the experience of being a UNO athlete.

“It’s an amazing experience to see all those people come out to support you,” she says. “It’s great to see how much people are willing to give.”

But the money raised for scholarships is only part of what makes the walk www.omahapublications.com

a rewarding experience for athletes.

They also make career connections, Suponchick says.

“You build relationships in the community and people get to know you on a first-name basis,” she says. “It’s about more than the scholarship.”

Junior volleyball player Brittany Hanssen says the participation in the walk by all UNO female athletes sends a message of gratitude to donors.

“It’s a way for all our athletes to show our appreciation to our supporters,” she says. “The benefit of it is you get to meet people who could eventually set you up with internships and help you in your career.”

In turn, the athletes get to share their experience of being a UNO athlete. For Suponchick, that’s meant invaluable opportunities.

“I’ve been able to travel the country and in the meantime be able to get an education,” she says. “The opportunities it brings about are once-in-a-lifetime.”

When her college days are over, Suponchick plans to stay involved in athletics by using her degree in physical therapy.

“I’d love to stay around here and work with athletes, maybe high-school age,” she says. “I had a knee injury in high school that I had to rehab. This would be kind of like giving back.”

Shires has seen many of her athletes enter the local community professionally and remain, as educators, business leaders and other people of influence.

Besides their degrees, those former athletes use many of the skills attained on the playing field to advance their careers.

And many owe that opportunity to the Women’s Walk, Shires says.

Shires credits the walk, and the opportunities it provides her athletes, as being a reason for her remaining at UNO for 23 years.

Shires says, “The fact that I’ve stayed here is a true testament to what I believe the University of Nebraska Omaha stands for, what I can accomplish at this university, and what a student athlete stands to gain for being involved.

“The Women’s Walk has allowed us to not just remain the same, but to be one of the cutting-edge women’s athletic programs in the nation.” www.readonlinenow.com

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behind the mic... Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger Story by Corey Ross. Photos courtesy of Rudy International.

Left: Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger. Below: Ruettiger is carried off the field after his final game at Notre Dame.

Irish Idol

Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the inspiration behind the hit movie “Rudy,” now travels the world with his message of determination and hope

W

hen Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger walked onto the Notre Dame football team in 1974 standing 5-foot-6 and weighing 165 pounds, he was barely noticed.

Decades later, however, his legend looms large thanks to years of determination, one tackle, and a hit movie about his experience.

The movie “Rudy” earned Ruettiger immortality in the pantheon of inspirational sports figures. He now travels the world spreading the movie’s message of determination and hope.

Ruettiger will appear in Omaha on March 30th at Camp Fire USA’s annual luncheon. Besides being an inspirational speaker, Ruettiger heads the Rudy Foundation, which seeks to “develop and support programs that positively impact the lives of children cognitively, emotionally, physically and spiritually.”

Ruettiger recently took a few minutes to talk to Omaha Magazine about his upcoming visit to Omaha.

Q. Your foundation has the Rudy Awards to recognize children who make exceptional efforts to overcome obstacles, set goals and stay on track to reach their dreams.

What’s your impression of today’s youth? Do you still find a level of drive and determination similar to what you had? Any recent examples come to mind?

A. A couple things with youth today.

Everything is much faster today because of technology, much quicker information. It’s kind of a good and bad, because they can get bad information as well as good, and need to be influenced on the good. For example, bullying is through technology now. We’re used to getting

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bullied face to face. All that landscape is changing. You have to still do the same thing to make kids realize how it affects them and their future. We recognize kids with tremendous character and a commitment to do good. We bring that out and show them it’s good to have courage, character and make a commitment.

We have a middle school, high school and college award. The kicker from Nebraska (Adi Kunalic) was a runner-up for the college award last year.

Q. Kids have a reputation for not being as willing to be role players or reserves these days. Do you see that?

A. Absolutely. Kids have a self-entitlement attitude today. We have to get back to

humility and earning your way. It’s good to work hard and good to earn things. You respect it more. That’s where pride comes in. The entitlement is a real issue, especially athletes. They’re given everything.

Q. How familiar are kids with the movie? Has it transcended generations? Does it still have the same impact?

A. It’s a new generation now. The kids who saw it when it came out (1993) are now in positions of leadership. They study it in church, school, at home. It’s a timeless movie, timeless message.

www.omahapublications.com

Q. And you were actually in the movie?

A. I did actually have a cameo in the movie. I’m a fan in the stands during the last game where he made his famous tackle. I’m sitting right behind Ned Beatty (Rudy’s dad in the movie) and Ned actually tugs on my shirt when everyone is cheering. I’m wearing a coat and hat.

Q. Where did you go to college before Notre Dame?

A. I went to Holy Cross Junior College for two years and then transferred to Notre Dame. Holy Cross is located across the street from Notre Dame so it was easy for me to stay involved with Notre Dame and spend a lot of time on campus. I had to work very hard at Holy Cross for those two years. It was during his time at Holy Cross that I was diagnosed with dyslexia. In order to maintain a “B” average, I really had to learn how to study. With the help of teachers and tutors, I was able to really focus on grades and get the job done.

After three rejections, my dream to attend Notre Dame finally come true.

Q. It’s not well known that you were a championship boxer at Notre Dame as well. Tell us a little about your boxing career.

A. I did it to keep myself in shape, and I was in the Navy, too. No one has ever asked me how I paid for Notre Dame. The Navy was how I paid for Notre Dame.

Q. How often do you go back to Notre Dame? Still attend games?

A. I go back once a year to do a book signing. We pick the game based on my schedule. I speak about 90 to 100 times a year to a range of groups, from lawyers to accountants to church groups to kids, which is pretty unique, I think.

Q. Do you see Notre Dame football returning to the glory days?

A. Notre Dame is always in my glory days, win or lose. They have a high standard, and that’s what counts. That’s what matters. www.readonlinenow.com

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the scoop

By Corey Ross. Photos courtesy of UNMC.

Help and Hope for Haiti Book for charity tells story of UNMC’s work among earthquake devastation

I

n January, the University of Nebraska Medical Center released “Help and Hope for Haiti,” a book that documents UNMC’s work to provide relief amongst the crisis that developed after Haiti was devastated by an earthquake in January of 2010.

Proceeds from the book will benefit UNMC’s Haitian Relief and Outreach Fund.

The relief effort, and the book, were quite personal to UNMC’s Dr. Ruben Pamies, a native of Haiti. The book contains an essay by Pamies, titled “A Heavy-Hearted Homecoming,” that captures the emotions of seeing his home country in ruins.

“It was like a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from,” Pamies writes. “I felt numb, overwhelmed by all kinds of emotion: sadness,

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anger, helplessness, self-pity, grief and a genuine concern for my colleagues that I brought to Haiti with me.”

The book is an eyewitness look at this disaster and how five volunteer teams from UNMC responded to the challenges and also a tribute to the resiliency and patience of the Haitian people, says Kristine Gerber of Omaha Books, UNMC’s publishing partner.

The book is organized into three sections: Earthquake relief, disaster recovery and rebuilding. The contents are a combination of original pieces and coverage provided by UNMC and local media outlets during the course of the disaster and the recovery.

The book’s 154 pages contain numerous powerful photographs that capture the devastation, the medical care being administered, www.omahapublications.com

and the Haitian people themselves and their culture. The first photo inside the book shows a large crack in the ground created by the magnitude 7.0 quake. It’s accompanied by an essay from an woman who experienced the quake firsthand.

In his foreword, UNMC Chancellor Harold Maurer, M.D., promises continued support for the relief efforts in Haiti.

“It is our hope that Haiti will recover steadily from its continuing challenges, with a rebuilt infrastructure and government, to become an energized, thriving country. We are proud to play a part in this process.”

For more information about the book, go to www.unmcbookstore.com. The book is available locally at The Bookworm, Barnes and Noble and the UNMC Bookstore or online at www.amazon.com.

Table Toppers The Omaha Symphony Guild’s annual Table Art benefit this year will be feature the MacKenzie-Childs line of ceramics.

Since 1983, Mackenzie-Childs has made handcrafted ceramics, each piece a oneof-a-kind collectible. The New York-based company also designs and hand-decorates furniture and other home furnishings.

The luncheon, which features an array of table displays — everything from historical china to Omaha family collections — will take place on April 1st at the Georgetowne Club.

The honorary chair for Table Art 2011 is Mary Ann Pederson and Omaha Symphony Guild President is Donna Foley.

Proceeds from the event will be used to support the award-winning music education programs of the Omaha Symphony.

For more information about the Omaha Symphony Guild or Table Art 2011, contact Sheila Nelson at 598-7385 or go to www.omahasymphonyguild.org LLS to Honor Man, Woman of Year The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is changing the format of its annual fundraiser to honor a man and women of the year.

The honorees will be celebrated at a dinner on May 14 at the Hilton Omaha www.readonlinenow.com

The winners will be determined based on funds raised during a 10-week campaign, beginning in March, to help find a cure for blood cancers.

“The campaign includes individuals in the community who agree to utilize their leadership abilities and resources to conduct their own fundraising campaigns to help The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fund blood cancer research and provide education and support services for patients and their families,” says Man & Woman of the Year Campaign Manager Rhonda Smallwood.

“Successful candidates are people who are passionate about finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Candidates are ambitious, social, philanthropic-minded and have a competitive spirit. They have the ability to successfully market themselves and are well connected in the community.”

Winners will be announced the night of the event.

For more information, contact 344.2242 or Rhonda.smallwood@lls.org.

Wine Festival Moving, Beer Fest Beginning Urban Events, Inc. is moving its popular wine event and founding an event for beer enthusiasts.

The Riverfront Wine Festival is moving from the riverfront to AkSarBen Village. This third annual event will take place on April 19-20 at the new Stinson Park at 67th Street, which promises to have green grass, a state-of-the-art stage and plenty of parking, according to event organizers.

The Junior League again will be the beneficiary of a portion of the ticket proceeds.

Following the wine festival, Urban Events will debut Beer Fest on May 20-21 at Lewis and Clark Landing. Beer Fest will feature more than 100 unique craft brews and imports from 25 breweries. Beer-related seminars and food pairings will be offered throughout the event.

Omaha Magazine is a sponsor of Beer Fest and the Riverfront Wine Festival.

For more information, go to www.riverfrontwinefestival.com.

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galas, etc.

A two-month look at upcoming fundraisers and other charitable events

March 2 Project Harmony’s Speaking of Children luncheon Qwest Center, www.projectharmony.com or 595.1326.

What it is: Andrew Bridge, a children’s rights advocate, author and former foster child, will be the featured luncheon speaker.

Bridge spent 11 years in the Los Angeles County foster care system and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School. He has spent the majority of his legal career representing impoverished children across the country, and is a devoted advocate and pioneer for children in foster care. He is currently Director of the Child Welfare Initiative in Los Angeles and will speak of ways to improve the fundamental reform of our nation’s child welfare systems and of his life with his mother, a young, mentally-ill woman, of her efforts to keep and care for him, and of his life in foster care without her from the age of seven until 18.

Where the money goes: Proceeds will support Project Harmony programs and services to fight child abuse.

March 4 The 17th annual Junior League of Omaha American Girl Fashion Show The Happy Hollow Club, 1701 S. 105th St., Through March 6, 493.8818 or www.juniorleagueomaha.org.

What it is: A fun-filled event for girls, their families, friends and favorite dolls. Historically inspired clothing and matching dolls from the American Girl collections will be featured in seven shows over three days.

Where the money goes: The American Girl Fashion Show helps support the Junior League of Omaha’s children’s projects.

March 5 Cruise Award for the Stephens Center Champions Run, 6 p.m., clhanley@ cox.net or mstamm1@cox.net.

What it is: A cruise-themed event to support the Stephen Center. Music will be provided by the Fishheads.

Where the money goes: Proceeds support the Stephen Center’s programs to help community families and individuals overcome addiction, homelessness and poverty.

March 12 The Nebraska Medical Center’s Kaleidoscope La Vista Conference Center, 6 p.m., 552.3510.

What it is: “An International

Affair, Advancing Science for a Global Purpose” is the theme for this year’s University Hospital Auxiliary Kaleidoscope event. Howard E. Gendelman M.D., Professor and Chairman, Director of Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative Disorders at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), and his wife, Bonnie Bloch M.D., are the honorary chairs for the event.

Where the money goes: Proceeds will help to fund the new Clinical Research Center, which will be located at The Nebraska Medical Center’s main campus.

Irish Fest 2011 for Catholic Charities Qwest Center, 5:30 p.m., 829.9261 or kathyg@ccomaha.org What it is: Irish Fest is Omaha’s longest running fundraiser to feature live entertainment. This year’s act is the local band Finest Hour, featuring Broadband Horns.

Where the money goes: Proceeds support the mission of Catholic Charities to “serve, empower and advocate for people in need.”

The 13th annual Blue Jean Ball for Make-A-Wish Mutual of Omaha Dome, 6:30 p.m., 333.8999 or akros@nebraska.wish.org.

What it is: Omaha’s most casual fund-raiser. Dressed in denim, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Nebraska supporters will partake in dinner and auction before dancing to the music of Tunafish Jones. This year’s theme is “Wild about Wishes.”

Where the money goes: Proceeds from this event support The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Nebraska, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Hunt for Sight Wild Game Feast benefiting Prevent Blindness Nebraska Council Bluffs Country Club, 6:30 p.m. dinner, 505.6119.

What it is: A wild game dinner to support Prevent Blindness Nebraska. Guests will treated to a menu of exotic fare.

Where the money goes: To provide needed vision screening and education, training and Vision Care Outreach, which helps people in need receive free routine eye examinations and glasses.

March 19 Spotlight Gala for Voices for Children DC Centre, 6 p.m., www.voicesforchildren.com.

What it is: Voices for Children’s annual gala honors the organization’s supporters from throughout the state.

Where the money goes: Proceeds will support the efforts of Voices for Children to advocate for children through research and public education.

Holt International Gala Dinner and Auction Embassy Suites LaVista, 5:30 p.m., www.holtinternational.org/events or events@holtintl.org.

What it is: Holt International is the country’s oldest and largest inter-country adoption agency.

This year’s event will commemorate Holt International’s 55th anniversary of serving homeless children. Molly Holt, director of the Ilsan Center and daughter of founders Harry and Bertha Holt, will be the honored guest at this year’s Omaha auction.

Where the money goes: All proceeds from the auction event will be designated to update the Center and provide ongoing, quality care for the children and other residents.

March 26 The 2011 Omaha Press Club Show Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs, 5:30, www.opcshow.org.

March 30 Campfire USA Luncheon featuring “Rudy” Ruettiger Holiday Inn, 397.5809.

What it is: Former Notre Dame walk-on Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, the inspiration behind the movie “Rudy,” is the featured speaker.

Ruettiger is now a motivational speaker who is particularly partial to children and has a foundation to support kids.

Where the money goes: Proceeds support Camp Fire programs.

April 1 Table Art Georgetowne Club, noon, 5987385 or go to www.omahasymphonyguild.org.

What it is: This event features beautiful, unique and elaborate table art creations. The MacKenzie-Childs line of ceramics will be featured. Since 1983, Mackenzie-Childs has made handcrafted ceramics, each piece a one-of-a-kind collectible.

The New York based company also designs and hand-decorates furniture and other home furnishings.

Where the money goes: Table Art supports programming for the Omaha Symphony.

April 4 The 9th annual Tribute Luncheon for Nebraskans for Lifesaving Cures Happy Hollow Club, 11:30 a.m., 390.2461.

April 15 The Metro Omaha Medical Society’s Medical MESS Joslyn Art Museum, 393.1415 or www.omahamedical.com.

What it is: A unique comedic performance featuring musical parodies with a medical theme, written and performed by Metro Omaha Medical Society physician members.

Where the money goes: Silent auction proceeds benefit the Metro Omaha Medical Society Foundation.

April 16 The 6th annual Kicks for a Cure Creighton University, Through April 17, www.kicksforacure.org.

What it is: A slate of high school and college soccer games on Saturday proceeded by a banquet and soccer clinic the day before.

Where the money goes: Funds support cancer research at Creighton and UNMC. April 28 Habitat for Humanity’s Women’s Power Luncheon Coco Key Water Resort, 457.5657 ext.

106 or kwells@habitatomahaorg.

What it is: An annual luncheon to celebrate supporters of the Women’s Build. Rhonda Disefano of Weitz Company will be honored.

Where the money goes: Proceeds will help fund future home building initiatives for families in need.

What it is: This year’s version of the Press Club show is titled “Schlegelkegger” in honor of out-going Creighton University President father John Schlegel.

What it is: A luncheon to honor Nebraskans who’ve made a difference in the world through passionate support of medical research. This year’s luncheon will honor Sue and Walter Scott.

April 29 Feather Our Nest Fontenelle Nature Association, 6 p.m., www.fontenelleforest.org.

Where the money goes: Omaha Press Club Show proceeds support scholarships for journalism students at UNL, UNO and Creighton.

Where the money goes: Funds support the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures in its mission to promote, support and advocate for research to advance our quality of life and economy.

What it is: The Fontenelle Nature Association annual benefit. This year’s theme is, “The Beginning of a Mammoth Adventure,” celebrating the upcoming Ice Age Exhibition.

Harmony In Art, The Old Market Artists Gallery Spring Show at Hot Shops 1301 Nicholas St., www.projectharmony.com or 595.1326.

What is it: An open house at the Hot Shops to benefit Project Harmony. In addition to the art and artists of the Old Market Gallery, the open house will include food, drink, and live music.

Where the money goes: Fifteen percent of all art sales that evening and 100 percent of raffle proceeds will be donated to Project Harmony for its efforts to fight child abuse.

April 9 Destination World’s Fare for the Omaha Community Playhouse, Sponsored by Act II Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St., 7 p.m., 553.4890, ext. 145.

What it is: This benefit allows you to travel the world without ever leaving Omaha by providing cuisine and entertainment from exotic destinations. This year’s itinerary is Las Vegas, Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens, India and Vienna.

Where the money goes: ACT II is a support group dedicated to the promotion of the Omaha Community Playhouse.

Where the money goes: Proceeds raised by FON will provide hands-on nature education for children in our community.

April 30 MS Walk Civic Auditorium, 8:30 check-in, 9:30 walk, erin.mitchell@nmss.org or 402-505-4000 x 10.

What it is: A 1-, 2- or 3-mile charity walk to support the MS Society.

Where the money goes: All proceeds benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Charitable events for Gala’s calendar of events can be submitted to Corey Ross at corey@omahapublications or 884.2039.

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www.omahapublications.com

Omaha Heart Ball American Heart Association gala celebrates 23rd year, raises $400,000 Story courtesy of the American Heart Association. Photos by John Gawley & by Tree Photography.

V

olunteers and friends of the American Heart Association looked into their Crystal Ball at the past, present and future at the 23rd Omaha Heart Ball, presented by The Nebraska Medical Center and UNMC Physicians in February at Embassy Suites, La Vista.

To date, the event has raised nearly $400,000 for lifesaving research discoveries and educational programs related to cardiovascular diseases -- our nation’s top killer.

The 2011 Heart Ball, themed Crystal Ball, was chaired by Hal and Mary Daub. Paul and Lori Hogan served as honorary chairs.

Randy Ferlic, M.D., was honored during the program with the association’s Spirit of the Heart Award for his contributions to the medical field and the local community. In 1985, Ferlic led the team that performed the first heart transplant in Nebraska. Last year, The Nebraska Medical Center performed 21 transplants, a 50 percent increase over the 14 transplants performed in 2009.

Children’s Hospital & Medical Center Heart Princess Hannah

Hetherington was crowned at the patron party at the beginning of the evening and her story was shared with ballroom guests in a video. In 2009, shortly after she turned 14, Hannah was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a heart condition where the muscular walls of the left ventricle become abnormally thick.

The funding raised by the Omaha Heart Ball provides critical resources for lifesaving surgery techniques and discoveries that aid people such as Hannah. American Heart Association-funded research has led to the heart-lung machine, clot-busting drugs, CPR, heart valves and pacemakers, to name a few. In the past five years, the American Heart Association has funded more than $4.7 million for research at Nebraska universities. Nationally, the association has funded more than $2.9 billion since 1949.

To learn about association programs and upcoming events, visit www. heart.org/Omaha or search “American Heart Association Omaha” on Facebook.

Top Left: Ann, Hannah, Mitchell & Jack Hetherington. Top Right: Jorge and Leah Parodi (Captured by Tree Photography). Above Left: Paul and Lori Hogan, Mary and Hal Daub. Above Right: Matt and Jessie Forrest (Captured by Tree Photography).

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Girls Nite Out Comedian benefit entertains 630 Girls Inc. patrons, raises $90,000 Story and photos courtesy of Girls Inc.

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n January, Girls Inc. treated 630 female patrons to three of a girl’s favorite things – shopping, dining and laughter.

Its annual Girls Nite Out event, held at the Mutual of Omaha Dome, featured ventriloquist Lynn Trefzger and raised more than $90,000 for Girls Inc. programs.

Trefzger is a well-known ventriloquist/comedienne who travels with a trunk full of zany characters that have accompanied her to stages throughout the country.

“Everyone really enjoyed Lynn,” said event chair Jodie Mackintosh. “She was so engaging with the audience and generous with her time with the girls, members of Girls Inc. prior to the show. She was remarkable.”

The evening was presented by the girlfriends, a volunteer guild dedicated to supporting Girls Incorporated of Omaha in its efforts to inspire girls to be strong, smart, and bold through fund-raising, friend-raising and advocacy.

“Our committee is so committed to this event because the work Girls Inc. does is so important to our community,” said Terri McDonnell, honorary chair. “Girls Nite Out gives us a great opportunity to bring new friends to the organization in a fun and casual way.”

For information the Girls Inc. program, go to www.girlsincomaha. org or call (402) 731-2108.

Top: Jackie Breyfogle and Kelli Clayton. Top right: Kelsi Long, Tammi Darr-Sladek, Shelli Klemke, Colleen Woodward and Regan Mackintosh. Above: Nancy Hornstein, Emilie Wells, Kathy Wells and Lora Wells. Right: John Ewing (Girls Inc. Board of Trustees President), Roberta Wilhelm (Executive Director), Lynn Trefzger and Jane Allamong (Director of Finance).

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Youth Movement For the 78th year, TOYO honors outstanding young professionals Story and photo courtesy of the Omaha Jaycess.

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s it has done since 1933, the Omaha Jaycees honored 10 outstanding professionals in January at its annual TOYO (Ten Outstanding Young Omahans) awards at the Qwest Center.

TOYO nominees must be between 21 and 40, strive for excellence and have a strong commitment to both community service and professional and personal development.

The following is a look at the 2010 TOYO recipients: • Mike Battershell, an account executive at Bergman Incentives, where he consults with regional businesses regarding branding through promotional products.

• Jessica Gall, Education Project Director for the Plains States Region Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a non-profit, civil rights organization. Gall has served as a resource for parents, educators, and students in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas on issues of cyber-bullying and anti-bias and diversity education for nearly three years.

• Daniel J. Lawse, principal/owner of Verdis Group and Coordinator of Sustainable Practices at Metropolitan Community College.

• Sharif Z. Liwaru, School Engagement and Attendance Incentive Program Coordinator at University of Nebraska at Omaha/ Building Bright Futures.

• Marjorie M. Maas was recently been named Director at Nebraskans for the Arts, the state’s lead advocacy organization for arts-related legislation.

• Carla J. O’Donnell-Rizzo serves as the Program Manager for Camp Fire USA Midlands Council, Inc., where she currently supervises five elementary Out of School Time Programs and the Teen High Program.

• Kerri R. Peterson is Executive Director of Live Well Omaha, a catalyst organization that provides a platform for dialogue about community health and how to impact health in a sustainable way across the community.

• Jacqueline A. Pueppke is a partner at Baird Holm LLP whose practice focuses on commercial real estate, asset-based and agricultural financing, commercial real estate acquisitions and leasing, and commercial workouts.

• Beth Riley is Director of Legacy Giving at Child Saving Institute, where she is responsible for developing significant, long-term relationships with donors to support the child welfare organization’s endowment.

• Nichole M. Turgeon is Director of Fund Development at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands. She is responsible for managing the agency’s development and marketing programs including giving from individuals, foundations, and corporations; special events; stewardship; advertising and public relations and grant writing.

Back row: Beth Reilly, Jacqueline Pueppke, Jessica Gall, Nichole Turgeon and Mike Battershell. Front : Carla O'Donnell-Rizzo, Daniel Lawse, Marjorie Maas, Sharif Liwaru and Kerri Peterson.

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Downtown Difference-Makers Downtown Omaha Inc.'s biennial gala celebrates those who have shaped downtown Story courtesy of Downtown Omaha Inc. Photos by Roger Huphries. he eighth biennial gala for Downtown Omaha Inc. in January at the Hilton Omaha honored seven Omahans for their contributions to downtown growth and development.

The honorees were: • Christian & Debra Christensen, Bluestone Development, for Architectural Planning • Steve Jensen - City of Omaha and Downtown Omaha Master Plan, for Economic Development • Jack Becker, Executive Director of Joslyn Museum - Joslyn Sculpture Garden, for Cultural Arts • Betty Davis for Spirit of Community • Molly Skold, Marketing Director for Midtown Crossing Visionary Award • Terry Moore, Septemberfest for Special Events/Festivals The event drew 250 guests and raised $17,000. Co-chairs were Paula Steenson of Paula Presents! and Joyce Caldwell of Gallup.

Themed “Celebrating Downtown Sports,” guests were encouraged to wear their favorite team apparel. Cheerleaders, players and mascots from Omaha Beef, the Lancers, the Nighthawks, and the Omaha Roller Girls were present at the cocktail hour.

Downtown Omaha Inc. was formed in the early ‘60s by downtown business and community leaders to create a group who twice a month could get together to network and learn what new things were happening downtown. Its mission is to inform, promote and unite the downtown community.

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At Ease Sen. Bob Kerry appears at Lutheran Family Services luncheon to support programs for veterans Story and photos courtesy of Lutheran Family Services.

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enator Bob Kerrey returned to Nebraska in January for the At Ease luncheon, a benefit for the Lutheran Family Services program that provides trauma treatment and therapeutic support for active military, veterans and their families. Adrian Whitsett of KETV, an Iraqi war veteran, served as emcee for the event, which was held at the Qwest Center.

Kerrey was introduced by Omaha philanthropist and fellow Vietnam veteran Ken Stinson, who currently chairs the Nebraska Military Support Coalition. Stinson and his wife Ann also served as honorary chairs for the At Ease luncheon.

Kerrey, a Vietnam veteran and Medal of Honor winner, told the sold-out crowd that programs like At Ease have the best chance to successfully bring struggling service members back into civilian life.

Kerrey says he battled nightmares after his wartime experience - and gave an impassioned and personal speech about what it is really like for young men and women who go into battle. He says people expect veterans to come home unaffected by what they’ve seen and experienced – and that’s just not realistic. It’s nearly impossible, he says, to return home normal.

Kerrey praised Scott Anderson, the founder and primary fundraiser for At Ease, and Lutheran Family Services, which houses and manages the program.

Kerrey said, “(I salute) the work of people like Scott and Lutheran Family Services who believe that love is a force which can be organized and applied to the damaged hearts and souls of our returning veterans.”

For more information, go to www.downtownomahainc.org.

Above: Molly Skold of Midtown Crossing and Hal Daub.

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Top: Bob Kerrey and Adrian Whitsett. Above: Scott Hazelrigg and Ken Bird.

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Parkinson's Skate-a-thon Ak-Sar-Ben Kickoff UNMC skating benefit draws 2,400, raises $40,000 Story and photos courtesy of UNMC.

New members are greeted, retiring members saluted at Ak-Sar-Ben luncheon Story and photo courtesy of the Ak-Sar-Ben Women's Ball Committee.

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Top: Skate-a-thon participants. Above: The Junior Omaha Lancers.

Above: Retiring Ak-Sar-Ben members Jeannie Dudzinski, Ann Blunk, Patti Pryor, Mary Johnson (Advisor), Kelley Stuckey and Heather Russell.

NMC’s inaugural Skate-a-thon for Parkinson’s, held over two days in January at the University of Nebraska Medical Center ice rink, raised around $40,000 for Parkinson’s disease research and care.

Around 800 people skated at the event, which was a 24-hour fundraiser. Nearly 2,400 people attended and 150 volunteers helped make the skate-a-thon a success in its first year at UNMC. For the past three years, the skate-a-thon was held in the flooded backyard of Colleen and Ted Wuebben. Colleen Wuebben has Parkinson’s and is a patient of UNMC’s John Bertoni, M.D., Ph.D. “The turnout and support was amazing and the event was an absolute blast,” Colleen Wuebben said. “We thank UNMC for all its help and support this year, and we can’t wait until next year.”

The previous skate-a-thon fundraising record was about $10,000. Proceeds will support Parkinson’s research.

The event featured a full slate of activities include an on-ice reenactment of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” a “Shiver Skate” in which participants skated 10 laps in minimal clothing, skate games and several figure skating exhibitions.

www.readonlinenow.com

he 2011 Ak-Sar-Ben Women’s Ball Committee welcomed six new members and bid a grateful farewell to six retiring members in January at its annual kick-off luncheon at the Happy Hollow Club.

The six new members of the Women’s Ball Committee are: Kelli Draper, Kathy Langdon, Susan McGillick, Christine Stevens, Ann Tjaden and Stacy Wilson. Each new member was presented with a gold crown pin and a red rose.

Honored for their service were retiring members - including Mary Johnson, chairman of the 2009 Women’s Ball Committee, who completed four years of service - Ann Blunk, Jeannie Dudzinski, Patti Pryor, Heather Russell and Kelley Stuckey.

The 2011 Women’s Ball Committee Chairman is Kyle Robino.

Steve Martin is chairman of the Coronation Ball Committee and Bill Cutler is Coronation Ball Committee Advisor. Amy Schmid will serve as past Chairman and Advisor to the Women’s Ball Committee.

The 2011 Coronation and Scholarship Ball will be held on Oct. 22 at the Qwest Center Omaha.

At the luncheon, it was announced that they 114th Coronation and Scholarship Ball accomplished its objective by recognizing over 200 families for their community service and by providing a venue to raise funds to support the Ak-Sar-Ben Scholarship Program.

Through the efforts of the Coronation Ball Committee and with generous community-wide support, $658,530 was contributed to the Ak-Sar-Ben Scholarship Program, allowing 249 Heartland Scholars to attend universities and colleges in the 2010-11 school year.

This accomplishes the stated Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben mission to build a better Heartland for all.

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Festive Flowers

Cheers to the Angels

The Saint Cecilia Flower Festival celebrates the culture of Omaha's Mexican sister city

Angels Among Us wine event supports cancer cause Story and photos courtesy of Angels Among Us.

Story courtesy of the Archdiocese of Omaha.

Photos by Mark Kresl.

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Above: A look at two of this year's exhibits.

Top: Wade & Christine Behlen, Drew & Kristin Lundgren, Kevin O'Mara, Renee Vokt, Roberta & Jason Tonjes.

Middle: Heather Hellbusch, Kay Crocker, Sarah Zatechka, Cherri Castro, Shelley Hourigan. Above: Craig & Jane Pohlman, Nancy & Jeff Siegert, Pam & Lyle Knox, Polly & John Huebert.

early 8,000 guests ventured to Saint Cecilia Cathedral, 701 N. 40th St., in January for a flower festival with a Mexican flair.

The three-day Cathedral Flower Festival, titled “Xalapa! City of Flowers,” honored Omaha’s sister city in Mexico. All of the floral displays celebrated Mexican culture, and in particular, the city known as the cultural center of the state of Veracruz.

The exhibition involved collaboration with Omaha’s Sister City organizations, the Mexican Consulate, the South Omaha business community and the support of Lauritzen Gardens. The 40-plus art objects selected for exhibition and inspiration for the floral designers were from the Cathedral Spanish Colonial Collection.

Throughout the festival, dozens of musicians and vocalists performed in the Cathedral and gave demonstrations and lectures in the cultural center.

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he second annual wine event “Cheers to the Angels” for Angels Among Us drew 200 people to Champions Run in February and raised $10,000.

Angels Among Us is a non-profit organization that financially assists families with a child battling cancer living in or being treated in Nebraska. In its four years of existence, Angels Among Us has distributed $500,000 and helped over 100 families.

The event was held at Champions Run and was co-sponsored by Republic National Distributing. Guests were able to bid on silent auction items while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres.

www.omahapublications.com

We all have a sister, a mother, a daughter, a granddaughter, a girlfriend...Someone who loves getting all dressed up (or maybe it’s YOU!) They don the dress, the earrings, the necklace, the shoes....They indulge in a mani-pedi, wash-rinse-repeat, curl, pluck and primp. It’s a lot of work getting all dolled up. But as they say, no pain, no gain.

So as spring approaches, partake in a little window shopping.

Someone you know just might need a mother-of-the-bride dress, prom dress, cocktail dress, symphony dress, girls’ night out dress, anniversary dress, or head-turning, jaw-dropping kinda dress like the ones modeled here by some of Nebraska’s own spring beauties. Fashions by Sublime Couture.

Morgan, left, wears an ivory Sherri Hill dress, $990, and gold stretch crystal bracelet, $53.25. Jen, right, wears a white Bustier gown, $550, and crystal stone earrings, $19.95. photography by christian behr, story by john gawley, clothing & accessories from sublime couture, hair & makeup by melanie rose

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Jasmine is no stranger to natural beauty. Originally from Vaudeville-Le-Haut, Lorraine, France, a four-hour drive from Paris, she grew up surrounded by beautiful vistas of the French countryside. Today she calls Lincoln, Neb., home. Jasmin is wearing a pink one-shoulder gown, $1,510, crystal stone earrings, $18.95, and Silver Festive shoes, $54.95.

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Dress, shoes and accessories provided by Sublime Couture.

With such a beautiful, exotic look, you might think we found Jen on an island in the South Pacific. True, Jen’s family comes from Japan, though she resides in Omaha and is a UNO graduate. Jen earned two degrees, Business Administration (Marketing) and Communications (Journalism).

She wears a MacDuggal Couture dress, $399.

Dress provided by Sublime Couture.

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At a towering height of 5’10� barefoot, Morgan stands out in whatever she wears. A graduate of Millard West High School, she is currently studying Math Education at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Morgan wears a lemon dress by MacDuggal, $550, and crystal stone earrings, $19.95.

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Dress and accessories provided

by Sublime Couture.

feature

by David Williams photos by minorwhitestudios.com

Greenest of the Green

Clayton Chapman's new Omaha eatery The Grey Plume named Greenest Restaurant in America

Having your business recognized with a major award early in the life of an enterprise would be a huge feather (some would say plume) in your cap. But receiving that honor even before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and then having the award trumpeted in Time magazine a mere seven days after your doors open makes for one of those impossibly dizzying, “just can’t buy this type of attention” success stories. www.readonlinenow.com

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feature

For Clayton Chapman, it all came before a 26th candle could be placed on his birthday cake.

With the December opening of the Grey Plume in Midtown Crossing, Chapman and his partner, Chicagobased chef Michael Howe, launched what Time has called “the greenest restaurant in America.”

The seasonally driven restaurant, whose name incorporates a nod to Chapman’s son, Grey, had earned the distinction from the Green Restaurant Association as the first ever to attain the status of its 3-Star SustainaBuild Certified Green Restaurant program. Certification requires that restaurants: have a full-scale recycling program that includes composting; be Styrofoam-free; promote high levels of water and energy efficiency; and utilize food and furnishing sourcing with the highest attention to sustainability.

“We’re overwhelmed with where we are right now,” Chapman said. “It’s a fantastic honor, but it doesn’t change the fact that we must immediately return to what we need to do… in terms of constantly growing and bettering ourselves.”

We dodged a blur of white aprons in the honeycomb of activity that precedes any day’s lunch rush, as the gregarious Chapman beckoned with a “C’mon, let’s take a look around.”

The honeycomb theme was repeated at our starting point, the spacious chef ’s table that occupies a corner of the bar. Chapman swears that his interior designer assured him that the bar’s color palette was a muted French Blue, but all this decidedly untrained eye could process was (naturally) a gray somewhat deeper than the battleship variety.

“This is my favorite table in the whole place,” he said of the site where daily chef meetings yield to the tasting menu soirees that unfold each evening. “I found this up at a place in Lake Okoboji.”

That mysterious, character-revealing blemish in the center of the table that he wouldn’t dare have touched up? Could that distinctive honeycomb pattern be the faded ghost of a roll of chicken wire haphazardly stored decades ago atop an expanse of oak, in a time when the notion of “farm-totable” was a way of life instead of a latter-day, back-to-basics, eco-friendly dining movement?

The table sits atop recycled barn wood flooring. Don’t be confused here if you have yet to visit the Grey Plume. Think “barn wood” and many may

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feature

“This is my favorite table in the WHOLE place. I found this up at a place in Lake Okoboji.” www.readonlinenow.com

conjure images of the over-processed, overlacquered, over-sanded material that has had its very soul stripped in the process of being installed in some faux-folksy space.

Not here. There is nothing “over-anything” in the Grey Plume, save for an overthe-top commitment to being green and the freshest of locally sourced foods.

The low-luster, scratchy, warts-and-all flooring led us into the beige-hued, white tablecloth dining area capped by 19-foot ceilings.

“We’ve opened a fine dining restaurant,” Chapman said, “but we wanted one that has the feel and comfort of home. It’s fun to try to break the mold of fine dining a little bit. We offer all the services that you expect with the experience, but in a totally comfortable environment.”

The outer edge of the 61-seat, L-shaped dining area is girded by almost 70 uninterrupted feet of comfy, upholstered bench (gray, of course) below an ocean of airy glass.

The end result is a juxtaposition of the finished and the rustic, the sleek and the cozy.

It’s a daunting task to write of a menu when the bill of fare is so very seasonal, especially when a January press deadline seems eons away from when this magazine nestled into your lap. One could easily point to the array of house-made breads, butter, soft cheeses and coffees roasted onsite, but the rest of the constantly changing menu—the menu that really counts as you read this story— is to be driven, as Chapman put it, “by the very best that we can get today.”

The significance of ‘today’ was punctuated when Chapman challenged me to locate the restaurant’s freezer, that place where good intentions go to die.

I failed miserably.

“Here it is,” he beamed in patting an energy-efficient cube of chrome no larger than a pair of dorm room fridges melded together. It’s contents? Most of the interior was gobbled up by homemade ice cream.

His is the simplest of philosophies: “This is all about giving back, about consuming less than you could think possible,” said the culinary phenom who once led the V. Mertz kitchen at the tender age of 21.

“I like to tell people we’re like the Prius,” he added. “We’re as green as we can possibly be.”

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OMAHAFOOD

Story by: Mystery Reviewer

Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

LePeep Bountiful menu, country charm make breakfast spot shine

They

say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. At no place is that more true than at LePeep. Located in the North Park Shopping Center at 117th and Blondo, LePeep serves breakfast, brunch and lunch seven days a week. Each LePeep restaurant is locally owned and part of a licensing group out of Aspen, Colo., with about 60 restaurants total in 12 states, including three in the Omaha area. It would seem that this restaurant group has been enjoying success just about everywhere they go for the past 20 years.

The ambiance at LePeep is that of a charming southern farm house, with bright yellow walls and white trim. There are lots of fresh flowers and tasteful decorations. The restaurant is very clean and the tables

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LePeep

2012 N. 117th Ave unit E106 Omaha, NE 68164 402-991-8222 Ratings: (out of 5*) Food & Beverage **1/2 Service

***

Ambiance

***

Price

Inexpensive

Overall

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www.omahapublications.com

8410 K Street • Omaha, NE 68127 • (402) 290-3915 www.endlesspossibilitiesomaha.com

www.readonlinenow.com

20% off any personal training package! (new endless possibilities clients only) Simulcast Racing from All the Top Tracks Over 600 TV’s • Plus Big Red Keno

Watch and Wager with Us! Kentucky Derby Sat. May 7 Happy Hours:

Mon-Wed 5pm-9pm

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6303 “Q” Street • 402-731-2900

Great Lunches & Dinners Daily Specials

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Students of all faith backgrounds are welcome.

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are appropriately spaced with comfortable chairs and quality tableware. The restaurant is very busy, especially on the weekends, but even so, the wait is usually very short. The service at LePeep is excellent.

Friendly, well-trained servers are very quick and efficient, which is something that I consider to be important at breakfast.

The food at LePeep is definitely a step up from some of the larger coffee shop chains, though that’s not really saying much. The menu is made with fresh ingredients and cooked to order. The selections are numerous, and I’m pretty sure that most people will be able to find their favorite breakfast dish on the menu. I have found most everything that I have tried to be quite enjoyable.

On a recent visit, I had the French Toast ($6.49), which was very good. Thick slices of Vienna bread, with just the right amount of rich custard batter, cooked to a perfect golden brown and dusted with powdered sugar. I was a little disappointed that the maple syrup was imitation, but it really did not take away from what I thought was a stellar french toast. My breakfast partner had the Eggs Benedict ($8.99). Again, it was well-executed with perfectly poached eggs, golden brown-toasted English muffin, good quality Canadian Bacon, and a creamy hollendaise that probably originated from a mix. The one disappointment was the potatoes, which in my book can make or break a breakfast. These were just unimpressive cubes of frozen potatoes, barely seasoned, and tasted as though they had sat for a considerable amount of time since they were oven-roasted. On a brighter note, the dark roast house coffee was excellent, and the orange juice was equally good.

Outside of the big coffee shop chains, our Omaha restaurant choices for a good, fresh-cooked breakfast are very limited.

LePeep has earned itself a spot on my list of local favorite breakfast places, and I look forward to eating my way through the large menu.

Cheers!

Let us help you beat the winter blues by shaping up for sunshine!

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OMAHAFOOD

L E G E N D (average price per entrée) $1 to 10 - $, $10 to 20 - $$, $20 to 30 - $$$, $30 and over - $$$$

MC, V, AE, DC

AMERICAN

Get a Little Saucy.

BREWSKY'S FOOD & SPIRITS TWO OMAHA LOCATIONS 614-2739, 153rd & Q Sts.; 201-2739, 84th & Park Drive; Brewsky’s Food & Spirits opened its first restaurant/bar in Lincoln, NE in 1990. Brewsky’s now boasts six restaurants in Lincoln and Omaha. Our menu (created by Certified Executive Chef Ed Janousek) surprises people that are expecting the normal “bar food” found at most sports bars. The menu consists of steaks, burgers, chicken, wraps and about everything in between. We offer all the sports packages on our banks of TVs as well. The atmosphere created, the quality of the food served and the modest prices charged define Brewsky’s. We’ve been voted Best Sports Bar in Omaha for three consecutive years (Omaha magazine). Come let us WOW you!

SPEZIA SPECIALTIES FRESH SEAFOOD • ANGUS BEEF INNOVATIVE PASTA • RISOTTO GNOCCHI • FRESH SALMON DAILY

SATURDAY LUNCH [11am–4 pm]

$10

OFF ANY TICKET OVER $25 NO CASH VALUE. EXPIRES 12/31/2011

COCKTAIL HOUR MONDAY – SATURDAY 4 – 6 PM ALL COCK TAILS, GL ASS WINE AND BEERS ARE HALF PRICE

BUFFALO WINGS AND RINGS Wings done to perfection. We use only the freshest wings and top them off with our signature sauces that can be combined to create 45 different flavors! If you are a fan of Boneless Wings, then you are in for a treat!

We use only fresh tenders that are hand cut, lightly breaded and served up hot and juicy. Our menu also features Gyro’s with homemade cucumber sauce, ½ lb burgers, Wraps, Salads, and Sandwiches. We have a full bar and party room for groups not to mention 39 Plasma TV’s. Located in the L Street Marketplace at 120th and L.

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS • 402-391-2950 CENTRAL LOCATION • 3125 SOUTH 72ND STREET • EASY ACCESS OFF I-80 • 72ND STREET EXIT

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Upstream Brewin Best Micro g Co brewe m ry p

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20 PL 11 • FIRST

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1620 S. 10th 1 mile south of Qwest Center 345-8313 • www.casciossteakhouse.com

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The Original Whiskey Steak 2121 S. 73 St. Just 1/2 block South of Doubletree

Thank you for voting

(402) 391-7440 best brick oven pizza

www.DroverRestaurant.com

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Sonoran Style Cooking Made Fresh Daily.

Catering and Party Rooms Also Available.

7555 Pacific St. 399–8006 380 N.114 St. 330–5707 Omaha, Nebraska

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2202 South 20th Street – Omaha

Family Restaurant • Fine Steaks Chicken • Seafood Party Rooms Available

Wave Bistro Asian Asian Fusion Fusion Cuisine Cuisine

402-496-8812 4002 N. 144th St.

e hottest new dining NOW OPE N estination

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• Kids Eat Free Sundays

NOW FEATURING SUSHI & SASHIMI DINNERS Mid Tempura Sukiyaki • Shrimp Try Our tow at Teriyaki Steak • Cantonese n Cr Two Famous Dinners • Family Style for ossi or More • Intimate Tea Rooms ng Available • Reservations Where Preferred in Tea Rooms.good

steaks and good service Open 5pm Mon.- Sat. Closed Sun. never go out of style.

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7215 BLONDO 397-5049 Serving Steaks, Seafood, Omaha Chicken, and more.

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DAVE AND BUSTER'S 778-3915 132ND & WEST CENTER Have a drink and then go play. Or play, and then grab a bite to eat. At Dave & Buster's, it's totally your call. You can start with a delicious meal in our Grand Dining Room. Then move on to some games in our Million Dollar Midway. Check out our drink specials with your friends-or ones-in lively bar ary American Fare meet• new Music & our Entertainment areas. The options are many! How you do it is up to • Daily Happy Hours | $3 you.www.daveandbusters.com

One Block N of Maple & W side of 144th

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CRAVE 402-345-9999 (MIDTOWN CROSSING) 200 South 31st Avenue #4103. Omaha’s hottest new restaurant! CRAVE’s menu offers sandwiches, wood-fired pizzas, pasta, burgers, certified angus steaks, seafood and salads, plus a grand sushi bar.

Compliment your meal with a bottle of wine from the 150-plus bottle selection. Open daily for lunch and dinner. www.craveamerica.com.

MAI TAI LOUNGE OPEN

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4:30 P.M.

a f é 402-731-4774

27th & L Sts. Five minutes from downtown

DUNDEE DELL 553-4010 (OMAHA) 5007 Underwood. 11 AM until 1 AM every day, Monday-Sunday. Famous for Fish n’ Chips since 1934.

Single malt & scotch tastings open to the public four times a month. Private tastings also available. We serve food from 11 AM to Midnight Sunday through Thursday, and from 11AM to 12:45 AM Friday and Saturday. We also serve a fantastic Sunday brunch from 11AM - 2 PM on Sundays. $

Bellevue Benson 21st & Cornhusker 71st & Ames 934-2300 333-6391

Eagle Run 130th & Maple 779-8600

Voted Best BBQ Nine Consecutive Years Council Bluffs 50 Arena Way 256-1221 (by the MAC)

Lakeside 173rd & West Center 333-8001

Millard 120th & L 829-1616

Where good steaks and good service never go out of style.

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ossing 68131 999 america.com

ue Bellev rd illa and M ave Now H oms!

Ro Party

Johnn s

Serving Steaks, Seafood, Chicken, and more.

L E G E N D (average price per entrée) $1 to 10 - $, $10 to 20 - $$, $20 to 30 - $$$, $30 and over - $$$$

MC, V, AE, DC www.readonlinenow.com

Lunch & Dinner

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the original

ADV109

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402-731-4774

27th & L Sts. Five minutes from downtown

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We Are More Than Coffee!

25

Comfort Food, Cocktails & Coffee

Y E A R S

QUAKER STEAK AND LUBE 712-322-0101 (COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA) 3320 Mid America Dr. Council Bluffs, IA."The Lube" serves over 70 million wings annually, has bottled sauces for retail sale and has won the title of "Best Wings USA" Mondays are kids eat free from 5 to 9pm and Tuesdays are all you can eat wings for $12.99 all day. The Metro's only, Quaker Steak and Lube also offers great steaks, ribs and burgers. Live Music again this fall on Friday nights.www.quakersteakandlube.com.

P R E M I U M H OMEMADE

12th & Jackson • Old Market • 341-5827

The Greek Islands Full Bar • Carry Out • Dine In Catering For All Occasions Open Seven Days A Week Thank you for voting us Best of Omaha

3821 Center 346-1528

Visa, MC, Diners & AMEX Accepted

Breakfast . Brunch . Lunch Dinner . Dessert . Coffee . Gelato Paxton Building 14th & Farnam • 884-0900 For Reservations Book Online CraneCoffeeOmaha.com

Thanks to our customers for voting us the “Best Burger in Omaha”

UPSTREAM BREWING COMPANY TWO OMAHA LOCATIONS 514 S 11th St. (402) 344-0200. Upstream features an extensive menu of new American pub fare including: appetizers and thin-crust pizzas, superb steaks featuring “Omaha Steaks”, fresh fish, pasta, salads, sandwiches and a great children’s menu. Fresh, handcrafted beer and root beer on tap. Extensive wine list.

Call ahead for group reservations or to be placed on our waiting list. Visit our classic, upscale poolroom located on the second level.

BBQ FAMOUS DAVE’S BARBEQUE 829-1616 (OMAHA) Famous Dave’s has been voted Omaha’s favorite barbeque by Omaha Magazine’s readers and the Reader’s Choice. Real hickory smoked ribs, brisket, pork and a great selection made-from-scratch recipes. Open lunch and dinner 7 days a week. Six Omaha-Metro area locations: Bellevue - 21st & Cornhusker, Benson - 71st & Ames, Eagle Run - 130th & Maple, Lakeside - 173rd &Center, Millard - 120th & L, and Council Bluffs by the MAC. Take out and catering available.

ITALIAN DON CARMELO'S 2 LOCATIONS (OMAHA) Tradition - Excellence - Value! Two locations: Rockbrook Village (933-3190) and 204th & Dodge (289-9800) Omaha's First and Finest NY Style Pizza, Stromboli, Calzone, Oven-Toasted Hoagies, Philly Cheese Steaks, Pasta, Salads, Beer & Wine. We also feature take-out and delivery and can cater your special event large or small. Stop in for daily lunch specials 11am -2 pm!

Stella’s Bar and Grill

“Serving World Famous Hamburgers since 1936” 106 Galvin Rd • Bellevue, NE • 402-291-6088 • Open Monday-Saturday, 11:00 am - 9:00 pm 136

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GRISANTIS 330-0440 (OMAHA) 10875 W. Dodge Rd. Grisanti's (serving Omaha & Lincoln for over 20 years) is a fun, casual classic Italian restaurant that offers an extensive menu featuring a full selection of house-made and imported pasta, homemade soups & salads, pizza, flatbreads, seafood, chicken, steaks and desserts. Large portions of affordably priced menu selections are prepared with the freshest ingredients available. www.grisantis.net LO SOLE MIO RISTORANTE ITALIANO 345-5656 (OMAHA) 3001 So. 32nd, Ave. Located in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by charming homes.

Inside you will find a friendly staff, simple elegance with art & statues of Italy, the aromas of home cooked food & the sound of Italian music welcomes you. At the table everyone is greeted with homemade bread, a bowl of fresh tomatoes & basil, a bowl of oven roasted garlic cloves, special seasoned olive oil, & at night, a jug of Chianti, to set the stage for a wonderful experience! Large variety of pasta, chicken, veal, seafood, & even a delicious New York steak. Traditional dishes such as lasagna, tortellini, & eggplant parmigiana are also available. Lunch offers all of the above, along with panini, salads & one of the best pizza in town. Patio seating, full bar, & a great wine list complete this "Simply Elegant, Simply the Best" restaurant. No reservations, except for private rooms.

NICOLA’S 345-8466 (OMAHA) 13th & Jackson. Nicola’s offers a distinctive, tempting menu of upscale Italian dishes, including Lobster Ravioli, Classic Carbonara & Mediterranean Lasagna in an alluring environment. Also enjoy an Extensive Wine List & Full Bar on our Outdoor Garden Patio while you dine. Nicola’s also offers Catering & Desserts To Go for your private party or business gathering.

OSCAR'S PIZZA AND SPORTS GRILLE (OMAHA) Oscar's Pizza and Sports Grille is West "O"s number one family sports bar and grille. With over 30 HDTVs and four HUGE screens, you will never miss your favorite team. Got a large group? No problem!

Oscars has a party room. Call for availability. Open 7 days a week.

PASTA AMORE 391-2585 (OMAHA) 108th & West Center road (Rockbrook Village). Pastas are made fresh daily, including tortellini, fettuccine and capellini. Daily specials and menu items include a variety of fresh seafood and regional Italian dishes, such as Linguini Amore and Calamari Steak, Penne Florentine, Gnocchi, Spaghetti Puttanesca and Osso Bucco. Filet mignon also offered for those who appreciate nationally renowned Nebraska beef. To complement your dining experience, the restaurant offers a full bar and extensive wine list. Be sure to leave room for homemade desserts, like the tiramisu and cannolis.

Lunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Dinner: 4:30 p.m. Reservations recommended. AE-MC-V. $$

L E G E N D (average price per entrée)

Private Rooms Catering & Delivery 330-0440 fax:330-5433

www.grisantis.net

10875 W Dodge Rd. (Old Mill & 108th)

Sundays Brunch Buffet 10-2 Mon evenings Kids eat free Wednesdays: 1/2 off all bottles of wine

Always a Large Selection of Fresh Fish

4150 south 144th street • omaha • 894-9411

S U S H I B A R & G R I L L

625 & Up Luncheon Specials $

M0n-Sun 11am-3pm

2 Maki Rolls 3 Maki Rolls Bento Box Chinese Lunch ASIAN CUISINE

Now Catering and Delivering!

Happy Hour: Monday - Sunday 3pm-5pm Late Night Happy Hour: Fri. & Sat. 9pm-Close Mon-Thur: 11am-10pm • Fri-Sat: 11am-11pm • Sun: 12pm-10pm

$1 to 10 - $, $10 to 20 - $$, $20 to 30 - $$$, $30 and over - $$$$

MC, V, AE, DC

www.readonlinenow.com

12240 L street | omaha, ne | 991.0022 | www.okinawa-omaha.com march/april | 2011

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PITCH COAL-FIRE PIZZERIA 590-COAL (2625) 5021 Underwood Ave. Coal-fire flavor and fresh, hard-to-find-elsewhere ingredients. That's Pitch in historic Dundee. Unless you've been to the Northeast recently or Naples, Italy, you probably haven't experienced a pizza like it. Coal-fire is a part of an Italian pizza-making heritage. Coal-fire ovens generate 1,000 degrees of heat that produces a crisp, light crust with a distinct but slight charcoaled flavor. It's Naples, old-style cooking. Pitch your own ingredients on top or try one of our signature pizzas that blend the freshest meats and veggies with our traditional sauce. The result: an authentic pie that you won't mistake for any other. www.pitchpizzeria. com

Omaha’s Only Authentic German Restaurant Locally Owned Since 1976

Pan Fried Chicken Wednesdays Catering All Occassion Cakes, Pies & Strudel 5180 Leavenworth 402-553-6774 www.gerdasgermanrestaurant.com

Race cars and Motorcycles hanging from the ceiling!

Corvettes in the dining room! Over 30 T.V.s to watch your favorite games. We have a full menu with Ribs, Salads, Burgers, Sandwiches and of course Steak! We feature Jumbo size Chicken Wings with 18 different types of Award-Winning sauces. Our Atomic hot sauce is so hot that you have to sign a waiver to eat them!

SAM AND LOUIE'S MULTIPLE LOCATIONS www.samandlouiesnyp.com. Sam and Louie's is a casual family dining restaurant, with an oldies feel.

We specialize in New York style pizza, but have a wide variety of options for any taste bud. Serving hoagies, pastas, calzone, stromboli, salads and more. Offering ice cold beer, wine, and now Gluten Free Pizzas!

3320 Mid America Drive • Council Bluffs, IA 51501 712.322.0101 • www.quakersteakandlube.com

We’ve perfected the wing.

No need for the prayer.

SPEZIA (OMAHA) 3125 South 72nd Street (3 blocks north of the I-80 interchange). Choose Spezia for lunch or dinner, where you’ll find a casual elegance that’s perfect for business, guests, get-togethers, or any special occasion. Exceptional food, wine and service, with a delectable menu: fresh seafood, Angus steaks, innovative pasta, risotto, gnocchi, cioppino, lamb, entrée salads. Mediterranean chicken, flatbreads, fresh salmon daily. Enjoy a full bar, Italian & California wines, Anniversary Lovers Booth (call to reserve), private dining rooms, and wood-fired grill. Open Mon-Sat. Cocktail hour: 4-5 pm-all cocktails, glass wine and beers half price. Evening reservations recommended. Call 391-2950.

Nine tasty sauces. Cold beers on tap.

And more than 40 big-screens featuring NFL Sunday Ticket.

bwromaha.com 402.614.7300

L Street Marketplace (12240 L Street)

Over 750 Single Malts

ZIO’S PIZZERIA SEVERAL OMAHA LOCATIONS Three locations: 7834 Dodge St. (391-1881), 12997 W. Center Rd. (330-1444), and 1109 Howard St. in the Old Market (344-2222). DELIVERY, DINE-IN, and CARRY-OUT. Serving New York style pizza by slice or whole pies, calzones, hoagies, pastas, salads and garlic breads.

Zio’s pies are hand-stretched and baked in old-world ovens. Zio’s offers 35 of the freshest toppings. Taste the freshest pizza at Zio’s. Family dining – open seven days a week. Lunch special and beer and wine available. $

500 Kinds of Liquor • 230 Kinds of Beer Omaha’s Best Fish & Chips 5007 Underwood • Omaha, NE 68132 • (402) 553-9501 • www.dundeedell.com

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ZURLO'S BISTRO ITALIANO 13110 BIRCH DR STE 100 (EAGLE RUN) Zurlo's is the choice for those who like a comfortable setting, and modern atmosphere...whether relaxing on the outdoor patio, or sharing a glass of wine in the bar, your experience will be enjoyable. Chef Enzo has created a classic and innovative menu with signature items such as Salmon crostinis, Chicken Gilda, and our own Brick Oven Pizzas that are sure to please. Made fresh every day, our bread, pastas, dressings, and sauces make "Zurlo's" your favorite Omaha spot for dining.

SM

Pizzeria

www.ziosPizzeria.com

Thank you for voting us #1 again!

LIGHT & EASY O’CONNOR’S IRISH PUB & GRILLE 934-9790 (OMAHA) 1217 Howard St. Comfortable, relaxing atmosphere.

Great before and after games. O’Connor’s offers pub style food: burgers, reubens, daily specials and homemade soups. The pub offers all the traditional Irish favorite libations: Guinness, Harp and Irish whiskey. Grill hours: Mon.Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. $

MEXICAN FERNANDO’S TWO OMAHA LOCATIONS Two locations: 7555 Pacific St. (339-8006), 380 N. 114th St. (330-5707). Featuring Sonoran-style cooking made fresh daily. Catering and party rooms also available.

Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 4 p.m.-9 p.m. AE-MC-V. $ ZEMOG'S Locally owned and operated, Zemog's is not your traditional Mexican Restaurant. Fun and festive décor combined with a passionate love of flavorful food that fills you up without emptying your wallet. Our freshly made-to-order guacamole to legendary nachos, we strive to make the best food from the freshest ingredients available.

ORIENTAL MT. FUJI INN 397-5049 (OMAHA) 7215 Blondo St. For Japanese dining in the traditional atmosphere, take time to visit Mt. Fuji Inn. Specialties include fresh Sushi and Sashimi, Sukiyaki and Shrimp Tempura. Also featuring Cantonese Chinese dinners and appetizers. Dining in individual tea rooms is available by reservation. Enjoy one’s favorite beverages in the Mai Tai Lounge. Cocktail hour: Mon.-Thu. 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Dinner: Mon.-Thu. 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.Sat. 5 p.m.-11 p.m. AE-DC-V. $

For Parties Call 330-1444 up to 60 people

Hand-Streched New York Style Pizza!

391-1881 7834 Dodge St. 330-1444 12997 W. Center Road 344-2222 1109 Howard

•Pizza • Calzones • Pasta • Salads• Hoagies • Appetizers • Lunch Specials

* Full Service M-F Nights & Sat. Sun. All Day

* Self-Service Lunch M-F

* We Deliver Downtown!

Come & experience what all of Omaha is talking about!

HIRO 88 URBAN CHIC IN OLD MARKET HIRO 88 o l d m a r k e t 1308 Jackson St. 933.5168 [outdoor dining]

HIRO WEST w e s t 3655 N 129th St .

933.0091

omaha

[south of 129th & maple]

{ Happy Hour Specialties } Mon-Fri 3-6, 10-Close Sat 10-Close

Select Sushi Rolls, Drink Specials & Appetizers L E G E N D (average price per entrée) $1 to 10 - $, $10 to 20 - $$, $20 to 30 - $$$, $30 and over - $$$$

MC, V, AE, DC www.readonlinenow.com

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Open for Lunch & Dinner Mon-Fri 11AM-11PM Sat Open 3-12PM

Sunday Brunch from 10am-2pm Dinner 3-9PM Great Happy Hour 3-6:30pm (Drink & appetizer specials)

Try our new Lunch Menu

Contact Enzo for catering your large or small events!

Gift Cards available

“New” Lunch Menu

13110 Birch Dr Ste 100 402-884-9500 • www.zurlos.com

WAVE BISTRO ASIAN FUSION CUISINE 496-8812 (OMAHA) 4002 N 144th St (One Blk N. of Maple St&West Side of 144th St) Step into a world where green waves suspend in the air, an intimate interior as mouth watering aromas waft thru the air. White linen table cloths, show plates & flowers. Wave Bistro presents the best Asian Cuisine in Omaha with a European twist. One of a kind dishes from scratch such as Cashew Crusted Salmon to Tea Smoked Duck-a balance between contemporary & traditional food to create an exciting dining experience. Full service bar. Mon-Thurs 11:00AM-9:00PM,Fri-Sat 11:00AM-10:00PM. All Credit Cards Accepted.

SEAFOOD

TasTe The GourmeT side of mexican cuisine Sip the finest margarita Taste guacamole made fresh at your table Savor fresh seafood and steaks with authentic sauces

CHARLIE’S ON THE LAKE (OMAHA) 144th and F streets (894-9411). Charlie’s is the only fresh-fish daily seafood restaurant in Omaha. Featuring a relaxed, yet contemporary atmosphere that is fun for all ages. Besides fresh seafood, Charlie’s is the home of the James Bond style martini, shaken not stirred, in over 20 varieties, in addition to over 60 wines. Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Dinner: Mon.-Thu. 4:30 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 4:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Sun. 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m. $ HIRO SUSHI 2 LOCATIONS Hiro Sushi, 3655 N 129th St, 402-933-0091. Hiro 88, 1308 Jackson Street, 402-933-5168. Home to one of Omaha's largest Sake selections. Hiro offers the best in both bar selection and expertly rolled sushi. The menu draws on Asian Fusion cuisine and Asian inspired tapas. Join us for Lunch, Happy Hour or call to plan your private party.

Midtown Crossing

120 South 31st Avenue Omaha 402.345.6000 follow us on facebook and twitter cantinalaredo.com 140

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NICOLA’S IN THE OLD

SPECIAL DINING GERDA’S GERMAN RESTAURANT & BAKERY 402-553-6774 (OMAHA) 5188 Leavenworth St (402-553-6774) Omaha’s only Authentic German Restaurant. A little piece of Germany in Omaha. Gerda herself makes homemade spaetzle, schnitzels and rouladen. Fresh made soups, red cabbage, sauerkraut and dumplings are a few other treats. Stay for dessert of black forest cake or grab fresh bakery for breakfast on your way out. www.gerdasgermanrestaurant.com GREEK ISLANDS 346-1528 (OMAHA) 3821 Center St. Greek cuisine with specials every day at reasonable prices. Well known for our Gyro sandwiches and salads. We do catering and can accommodate a party for 65 guests. Carryout and delivery available. Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. AE-DC-MC-V. $

EAT HERE!

402-933-2509

108TH

OKINAWA SUSHI 991-0022 (OMAHA) Located at 12240 L Street. Featuring the finest Chinese and Japanese cuisine with a variety of sushi. Enjoy the casual family friendly atmosphere. Hours: Mon-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat 11 a.m.-11 p.m. and Sunday 12 noon-10 p.m.

CALL NOW!

BAG N SAVE

MARKET

The Official Restaurant of the Holland Performing Arts Center’s Broadway Series

WE DELIVER!

Q STREET

WWW.ZEMOGS.COM

Enjoy a distinctive & tempting menu of upscale Italian dishes, including Lobster Ravioli, Classic Carbonara & Mediterranean Lasagna. Offering an Extensive Wine List, Full Bar, Outdoor Garden Patio, Catering Follow us on... & Desserts To Go. NICOLASINTHEOLDMARKET.COM phone number

345.8466

location

13TH & JACKSON

O’Connor’s Irish Pub 1217 Howard St. • Omaha, NE 68102 402-934-9790

HORSEMEN'S PARK 402-731-2900 (OMAHA) Horsemen’s Park located at 6303 Q Street. Happy Hour Mon-Wed from 5-9 p.m. - $1 pints, $1.75 domestic bottles and $2 well drinks. Tuesday - 25¢ wings from 3-8 p.m. Wednesday - $5.95 Steak Night after 5:00 p.m. Thursday - 75¢ tacos and $1.75 margaritas after 5:00 p.m. Friday – $7.95 Prime Rib Dinner after 5:00 p.m. Daily specials 7 days a week.

Open daily at 10:00 a.m. Check out our website at www.horsemenspark.com.

JAIPUR BREWING COMPANY 402-392-7331 (OMAHA) 10922 Elm St. Rockbrook Village. A casual restaurant in a ralaxed atmosphere. Lunch; Chicken Tikki Naan with Chutney; Tandoori Chicken & Muligatanny soup.

Dinner entrees include fresh vegetables dishes, grilled colorado lamb sirloin, Sushi grade Ahi, Tandoori marinated grilled salmon, Tandoor grilled beef tenderloin, to name a few. Wide selection of wines & liquor, on site brewed beer. Lunch: Thurs. & Fr. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Dinner: Sun.-Thurs. 5:30 p.m.-9:45 p.m.; Fri & Sat. 5:30 p.m.-10:45 p.m.

L E G E N D (average price per entrée) $1 to 10 - $, $10 to 20 - $$, $20 to 30 - $$$, $30 and over - $$$$

MC, V, AE, DC www.readonlinenow.com

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MARRAKECH AT THE BRANDEIS BRANDEIS BUILDING (OMAHA) 210 South 16th Street, Suite 104, Omaha, Nebraska 68102 Marrakech at the Brandeis Food Court- Indulge your senses with the fresh, nutritious and aromatic ingredients found in our gourmet Moroccan spiced sandwiches and soups. We invite you to savor the uncompromising quality found in such offerings as our; Pepper Crusted Salmon Wrap, Tomato and Eggplant and our Tomato, Braised Short Rib Baguette and Vegetable soup.

1979

Thank You Omaha

TED & WALLY’S ICE CREAM 341-5827 Come experience the true taste of homemade ice cream at 12th & Jackson in the Old Market. Since 1986, we've created gourmet ice cream flavors in small batches using rock salt & ice. We offer your favorites plus unique flavors like Margarita, Green Tea, Guinness, and French Toast. Special orders available.

STEAKHOUSES

From the Rotella Family 801 CHOPOUSE AT THE PAXTON 402-341-1222 1403 Farnam St. Designed with a 1920's era New York Chophouse in mind, 801 is the epitome of elegance. You will not forget the crisp white tablecloth fine dining experience. From their USDA prime grade beef and jet-fresh seafood from all over the world, 801 Chophouse is truly the best Omaha has to offer. Open 7 nights a week.

DINNER / BANQUET ROLLS & BREADSTICKS www.rotellasbakery.com march/april | 2011 142 Rotella_March.April 2011.indd 1

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PI CASCIO'S STEAK HOUSE 402-345-8313 Since 1946, Cascio’s Steak House has been Omaha’s #1 steakhouse. The Cascio family established high standards of top quality food which is carefully prepared and promptly served by the friendly staff.

Minutes south of the old market. The perfect place to hold your entire banquet and party needs Cascio’s has 7 party rooms handling groups of 10-400 people. www.casciossteakhouse.com

8 Metro Locations

Owners Jon Mumgaard, Brian Kitten and Jim Mumgaard

SamAndLouiesNYP.com

Come for the food, stay for the fun large parties and families welcome

153rd & Q Streets, 614-2739 84th & Park Drive, 201-2739 www.brewskys.com

Thanks Omaha, for voting us THE DROVER 391-7440 2121 S. 73rd Street (just 1/2 block of Doubletree) Famous for the original Whiskey Steak. Truly a one of a kind Midwestern experience. Excellent food, wine, service and value. Rare……..and very well done. Reservations accepted. Lunch: Mon–Fri 11am – 2pm. Cocktail Hour 3-6pm Dinner nightly at 5pm. Reservations accepted. AE,Dc-MC-V $$$

Z Z E RIA

Best Sports Bar 4 straight years!

NY Style Pizza • Hoagies • Pastas Calzone • Stromboli Salads Ice Cold Beer • Wine Now Serving Gluten Free Pizzas!

$5.00 OFF Any 16” or 18” Pizza expires 4.30.2011 • no cash value

JOHNNY’S CAFÉ – SINCE 1922 731-4774 (OMAHA) 27th and L streets. Years of quality dining and hospitality make Johnny’s Café a restaurant to remember.

Serving only the finest corn-fed beef the Midwest has to offer. Aged steaks and prime rib are the specialties, with homemade bread and pies to complete one’s meal.

An excellent wine list adds to the enjoyment at one of Omaha’s original restaurants. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. AE-MC-V. $$

L E G E N D (average price per entrée) $1 to 10 - $, $10 to 20 - $$, $20 to 30 - $$$, $30 and over - $$$$

MC, V, AE, DC www.readonlinenow.com

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CHEFPROFILE

Story by Angelika Stout Photo by minorwhitestudios.com

Enzo Zurlo

Not

Zurlo's Bistro Italiano

surprisingly, Zurlo’s Bistro Italiano is christened for its owner and chef, Enzo Zurlo. Zurlo has been an Omaha resident since 2005, and jumped at the opportunity to open his own restaurant in March 2010. Zurlo originates from New York — something his Westchester accent makes obvious — where he got his humble beginnings in the cooking profession as a youngster in his uncle’s pizzeria. Although he misses friends and family in the East, he has no misgivings about making his home here in the Midwest.

Enzo Zurlo’s high-energy personality is perfectly mirrored in the innovative, yet

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classic cuisine and the invigorating earthy, green décor. Committed to fresh ingredients, Zurlo’s menu features handmade pastas, soups, sauces and breads. He even grows his own fresh herbs on a picturesque patio on the south side of the restaurant. Zurlo has also embraced local fare, incorporating meats from Nebraska, Iowa and Colorado into his menu.

Zurlo’s menu features a wide variety of italian favorites from the classic Veal Parmigiana, to the exciting Chicken Gilda, prepared with prosciutto, asparagus, melted mozzarella, with a marsala sauce, and served with Potato Croquettes (a customer favorite—fried mashed potatoes). Zurlo laughingly says his favorite dish to prepare

is also his favorite dish to eat: the Jumbo Scallops—porcini-dusted, with a roasted garlic fennel cream sauce. There is no doubt you can satisfy your italian craving at Zurlo’s.

Though he is self- and family-taught, Zurlo lacks no enthusiasm for his profession. “I love coming to work, I love being here… It’s my dream, my passion.” Zurlo’s Bistro Italiano, though relatively new on the Omaha scene, is rapidly becoming a popular eatery for local residents. “First-timers come in and become regulars!” He describes his restaurant as “Omaha’s hidden secret,” and with any luck, it won’t be for long.

For more menu information, visit www.zurlos.com. www.omahapublications.com

Thank You Omaha!

For voting Oscar’s Pizza & Sports Grille Best Hot Wings!

Your West Omaha Hangout for all March Madness Basketball Games.

OMAHA PRIME 341-7040 (OMAHA) 415 S. 11th St. (Old Market). Only restaurant featuring complete Prime beef. Open six days a week, Mon.-Sat. 5 p.m.-close. $$-$$$

Online at

PICCOLO’S RESTAURANT 342-9038 (OMAHA) 2202 S. 20th St. One of Omaha’s finest traditions, where quality steaks are served at low prices. Especially designed for a family outing or a business social. The specialty is tasty prime rib, served for the last 60 years under the crystal ball. Daily lunches: Mon.-Fri. 11 a.m.1:30 p.m. Dinner: Mon.-Thu. 5 p.m.-10 p.m.; Fri.-Sat. 4:30 p.m.-110:30 p.m. Daily and night specials.

SULLIVAN'S STEAKHOUSE 342-0077 (OMAHA) 222 South 15th St. (Old Market). A vibrant neighborhood American Steakhouse featuring steaks, seafood, handshaken martinis and live music. With 20 locations nationally, we offer comfortable fine dining in a lively atmosphere.

Whether it's for business or pleasure we look forward to quickly becoming your favorite local steakhouse.

www.readonlinenow.com

OscarsPizzaAndSportsGrille.com Carry-Out

(402)758-1910

Best of omaha 2011

PASSPORT RESTAURANT 344-3200 (OMAHA) 1101 Jackson St. An elegant, but simplistic ambience highlights this upscale Old Market eatery. Serving Prime grade beef. Open at 5 p.m. six days a week. $-$$

17330 Lakeside Hills Plaza Omaha, Nebraska

Pasta Amore

LUNCH: Mon.-Fri.: 11a.m.-2p.m.

DINNER: Mon.-Sat.: 4:30p.m-Close Private Party Rooms Business Luncheons Catering Rockbrook Village • (108th & Center) (402) 391-2585 • Fax: 391-0910 www.pastaamore.net

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WINE & FOOD

Story by John Fischer

Sauvignon Blanc A most versatile white wine

SAUVIGNoN

Blanc grapes are grown worldwide and make a distinctive wine with unusual aromatics. The most remarkable components of its flavor profile are the distinctive green vegetal, gooseberry, citrus, herbal, and black currant flavors. The wine has a racy tartness, which reduces the weight of foods and invigorates and enhances their flavors. What’s more, its medium body allows it to pair with a wide variety of dishes.

Because of its green flavors, Sauvignon Blanc is a great match with green vegetables such as asparagus, artichoke, spinach, and bell peppers, the likes of which are difficult to match with most other wines. It is a perfect wine for green salads with vinaigrette dressing and other light, tart foods, as the high acidity of the wine will not be intimidated by the tartness of the dish. Fish, often served with a fresh squeeze of lemon, have a strong affinity to tartness, which Sauvignon Blanc can readily provide. Salty foods

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such as ham, sausage, corned beef and the like need wines with good acidity, and Sauvignon Blanc can fill the bill.

By contrast, many California Chardonnays are full-bodied and lack tartness. Full-bodied wines should only be paired to full-boded dishes. Unfortunately, because of its lack of tartness, pairing Chardonnay with full-bodied foods often makes the combination cloyingly heavy and overly rich. I find it peculiar that Chardonnay commands such a major role on the menu of most restaurants in spite of the fact that the wine is rather limited in its ability to pair with foods.

If you need a white wine to match to a particular food and are in doubt, try a Sauvignon Blanc. You will be amazed at the number of dishes that it can be paired with. It’s a wonderful match with cheeses (especially goat cheese), most fish, shellfish, and poultry dishes. If, in your mind’s eye, a dish can be enhanced with a squeeze of lemon, it will most likely make a great match with Sauvignon Blanc.

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