Omaha Magazine - March/April 2020 - The Goat Issue

THE RANCH BOWL DOCUMENTARY · THE MYTH & MYSTERY OF TOM KRONEN · ACADIAN GRILL

M A R C H / A P R I L 2020 U.S.

200 ENDANGERED GOATS, ONE EPIC FLOOD SAV ING THE SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND GOATS

$4.95

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FROM THE EDITOR // LETTER BY DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN, MANAGING EDITOR

TORNADOES, FISH, BASKETBALL Spring in the Midwest

P

unxsutawney Phil promised an early spring. I’m not sure what mystical effect a giant rodent has on the seasons, but I look forward to the green grass and warm weather March and April promise.

This issue we feature an article about the Venezuelan community in Omaha.

Venezuela was once one of the most prosperous countries in South America, boasting a large oil industry in the 1970s. The oil industry began to wan in the 1980s, and over the last 40 years, the country has become far less prosperous. Venezuela has also has seen much political strife.

Thus, many Venezuelans have come to America, leaving their homes and families behind to start a new life. A few local Venezuelan immigrants tell of their life in Omaha in our feature well.

We also have an article about the San Clemente Island goats of Nebraska.

Omaha Magazine’s former intern Kamrin Baker visited the goats and their humans, John Carroll and Chad Wegener, at Willow Valley Farms. I admit that it’s a story I would gladly have written myself.

One reason I hope spring comes early is the ability to be outdoors. My husband Wade and I’s way of being in nature is visiting a campground, while former editor Doug Meig’s way is sitting on a boat with a fishing rod. He traveled to Minnesota to fish for muskie a few times last year, and his story is our adventure feature.

Being outdoors is a welcome change, as during the cold winter months, we mostly sit around watching TV. Wade also spends about an hour a day playing a strategy-based computer game. While he limits himself to an hour each day, others spend multiple hours each day, in some cases making money doing so.

Benjamin Lupo, known in the online

gaming world as DrLupo, is making enough money playing video games that he quit a high-paying IT job to become a full-time gamer. His story is another of the main articles.

Winter being bleak and gray as it is in the Midwest, a lot of families curl up on the couch in front of screens and stay there until the trees begin to bud. That may be one reason why network television broadcast one beloved movie each year (usually in January or February) from 1959-1991. That movie was The Wizard of Oz. The story has some interesting Omaha connections, which are theorized by Bruce Johansen, Ph.D., in this issue.

Late winter/early spring also brings the Lenten season for many Christians, with Ash Wednesday being Feb. 26. The day before Lent begins is Mardi Gras, a day of feasting and revelry especially popular in New Orleans. Omaha is lucky to have a few places to taste southern specialties, including Acadian Grille, which Niz Proskocil reviews.

If meatless Fridays are in order throughout March and part of April, one place to consider is Malara’s Italian restaurant, our dining feature this round. The menu includes comfort-food favorites such as eggplant parmesan and fettuccini alfredo, along with pasta carbonara or a sandwich with Italian sausage and peppers for those who choose.

A different take on a sandwich with sausage is the Vietnamese Banh mi. Chloe Tran has made a business of bringing Omaha a place to eat high quality Banh mi, and her story is our chef profile.

Our fourth feature this month is about Omahan Tom Kronen. Tom lived an extraordinary life. He was an artist and illustrator who counted work at the U.S. Bureau of Printing and Engraving and for national publications among his accomplishments.

MARCH/APRIL

// 1 //

2020

March means the end of basketball season, and our Obviously Omaha highlights some places to watch the madness.

Spring also means baseball season, and our sports feature is about Bluejays pitcher John Sakowski.

The warmer weather gives each of us a good reason to follow a hot track—a phrase used by Westside educator Cynthia Bailey to describe a passion. She has followed hot tracks of theater and education, as told in our profile of her.

Another of Wade and I’s favorite warmweather activities is attending concerts, usually outdoors, but we do occasionally visit venues such as the Slowdown or Waiting Room. Arriving in Omaha in fall 1998, I missed the heyday of music at the Ranch Bowl. Two documentarians are producing a film about the storied venue, where people could roll bowling balls down the lanes and listen to concerts from Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen Latifah, and more. Sean McCarthy tells that story in this issue.

This magazine also contains stories of musicians Bach Mai, artist Mary Murphy, and performer Nadia Ra’Shaun Williams, all great Omaha creatives.

There’s a little something for everyone in these pages, whether reflecting on Venezuelan neighbors while sitting on the grass in a park, or listening to former Ranch Bowl performers while sitting on the porch swing at home. I think I’ll do the latter. * Note: The hotel edition of Omaha Magazine has a different cover and does not include all of the editorial content included in the magazine’s full city edition.

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OPEN YOUR MIND TO OPERA

March 20 – April 5, 2020 ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST THE CAPULETS AND THE MONTAGUES MTHR/WMN CINEsound ENSEMBLES IN RESIDENCE ONEFESTIVALOMAHA.ORG

TAB L E of CON T E N T S THE USUAL SUSPECTS 001 From the Editor

Tornadoes, Fish, Basketball

006 Between the Lines 008 Calendar of Events 034 History

The Wizard of Omaha?

036 Adventure

The Fish of 10,000 Casts

089 Obviously Omaha March Madness

113 Explore! Calendar 119 Instagram

@omahamagazine

120 Not Funny

Things That Make My Brain Stay Awake at Night

A R T S + C U LT U R E 018 Music

050

F E AT U R E S

042 048 052 056 // 4 //

TINY BUT MIGHTY

Omaha’s Venezuelan Community Finds Support While Missing Their Homeland

GAMER FACE ON

Trading a Six-Figure Job to Stream Professionally

THOMAS KRONEN Artist. Mystery. Legend.

KEEPING THE SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND GOATS AFLOAT Willow Valley Farms

MARCH/APRIL 2020

Bach Mai

022 Visual

Mary Murphy

026 Film

The Ranch Bowl Documentary

030 Performance

Nadia Ra’Shaun Williams

GIVING 066 Calendar 072 Feature

Guns & Hoses

PE O P L E 060 Sports

John Sakowski

062 Profile

Cynthia Bailey

377 trees have been reforested

due to the printing of our last round of publications.

Learn more at

.com

THE RANCH BOWL DOCUMENTARY · THE MYTH & MYSTERY OF TOM KRONEN · ACADIAN GRILL

M A R C H / A P R I L 2020 U.S.

$4.95

200 ENDANGERED GOATS, ONE EPIC FLOOD SAV ING THE SAN CLEMENTE ISLAND GOATS

030

A B O U T T HE COV ER

Food Issu

Star the goat affectionately head-butts Chad Wegener. Star is one of 200 San Clemente goats that live on Wegener’s farm, Willow Valley. There are less than 1,000 San Clemente goats worldwide.

60PLUS IN OMAHA 075 Opener 076 Health

Two Minus One

080 Active Living

Alzheimers & Dementia

082 Profile

Betty Golmanavich

084 Feature

Dating For Seniors

086 Nostalgia

Nostalgic Cuisine

DINING 090 Review

Acadian Grille

096 Feature

Malara’s

100 Chef Profile Chloe Tran

103 Dining Guide

090

read online at omahamagazine.com

Between

THE LINES A LOOK AT FOUR OMAHA MAGAZINE TEAM MEMBERS KAMRIN BAKER—Contributing Writer Baker is a former Omaha Magazine intern-turned-freelancer. She currently serves as the editorin-chief of the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s newspaper, The Gateway, and works as a writer for Today’s Omaha Woman. She will graduate in May 2020 after studying journalism & media communications, and women’s & gender studies. When she’s not covering breaking campus news or reading on feminist theory, Baker enjoys practicing yoga, reading, petting dogs, taking naps, and going to therapy. Readers can catch her pursuing a job in marketing communications after graduation and creating more freelance magazine articles, focusing on amplifying marginalized voices and her quest to become a 21st-century Gloria Steinem.

LISA LUKECART—Contributing Writer Lukecart is a native of South Sioux City, who grew up with the world’s best mom and her older brother. She worked 10 years as an IT engineer with Gateway before deciding to make a difference as an educator. Lukecart is an English teacher at Millard West. She is most proud, though, of her past work there as a state champion and national award-winning journalism adviser. Lukecart is a free press fighter, wine enthusiast, runner, and tennis player. Or she hangs out with her family, the Ocean’s 3 crew, the Swoosh gang, a few close friends, or her television. Lukecart always wants to say hi to people’s dogs, talk about dogs, or show others photos of her dog. Her best friend is her 7-year-old goldendoodle, Isabella.

DAVID TROUBA —Advertising Traffic Manager Trouba is the newest staff member at Omaha Magazine. He joins the company after running his own graphic design company, Troubadour Design Studio, in Papillion for many years. Trouba was born and raised in Omaha, and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, so he is, by birthright, a die-hard Nebraska Cornhusker fan. He enjoys cooking, playing cribbage, shooting photographs, and all things Czech and Irish. He is also a borderline golf addict, so readers will find him hitting the links whenever possible. Trouba and his wife, Susan, have three children—Dan, Ryan, and Lauren—and an outspoken corgi named Riley.

ERIN WALTER—Editorial Intern Walter was born and raised in Omaha. She is a junior at Creighton University, pursuing a journalism degree and a Spanish minor. She serves as the editor-in-chief of her school’s student newspaper, the Creightonian. Last year, she participated in Encuentro Dominicano, which is Creighton’s academic service-learning study abroad program in the Dominican Republic. During her semester abroad, she worked at an assisted-care facility for elderly and vulnerable adults in the city of Santiago, studied Spanish, and worked alongside a community in the rural countryside to build an aqueduct. This experience challenged her to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. It also inspired her to love others and build community in all aspects of life, and energized her drive to tell the stories of others. // 6 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

MARCH/APRIL 2020 VOLUME 37 // ISSUE 9

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EDITORIAL Managing Editor

DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN Senior Editor

TARA SPENCER Associate Editor

LINDA PERSIGEHL Editorial Interns

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February 8 – May 10, 2020

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2200 Dodge St. | Omaha, NE | (402) 342-3300 | www.joslyn.org MARCH/APRIL 2020

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C A L E N D A R 8

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EVENTS

» Exhibitions « YOU MAKE MY HEART SMILE BUT YOU ALSO MAKE MY EYES CRY

Through March 14 at the Union for Contemporary Art, 2423 N. 24th St. Th is exhibit will feature works by painter and digital artist Thalia Rodgers that explore the earth and her own life through color and psychedelic forms. Admission: free. 402.933.3161.

—u-ca.org

BEFORE WE’RE GONE

Through March 30 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft St. Dori Settles brings awareness to the environment by creating art primarily with recycled materials and encouraging others to make small changes to create a positive impact. Th is exhibit of her paintings features endangered species of the animal and plant kingdoms.

Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 3 to 12, free to children under 3 and members. 402.346.4002.

—lauritzengardens.org

TIM GUTHRIE

Through April 9 at Fred Simon Gallery, 1004 Farnam St. Omaha native Guthrie is a multi-media visual artist and experimental fi lmmaker. He has practiced and exhibited his work in several U.S. cities; he is also a professor of graphic design at Creighton. Admission: free. 402.595.2122.

—artscouncil.nebraska.gov

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

DIGGIN’ DINOS

Through April 11 at Omaha Children’s Museum, 500 S. 20th St. Th is exhibit features life-sized animatronic dinosaurs and a digging and building area to transport your kids into another world. Admission: $14 ages 2-59, $13 seniors (age 60+), free to children under 24 months.

402.342.6164.

—ocm.org

PULITZER PRIZE PHOTOGRAPHS

Through May 3 at Durham Museum. 801 S. 10th St. Photography plays an important role in documenting history. This exhibit features over 80 large-format, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs with information about how the image was captured. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors (age 62+), $7 children 3-12, free for children under 2 and members. 402.444.5071.

—durhammuseum.org

FACT AND FICTION IN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

Through May 10 at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Photography has become less believable in the age of the iPhone; images are presumed to have been manipulated or altered from their original forms. Exploring traditional genres of landscape, still life, and portraiture, the work of various award-winning photographers depict raw scenes that appeared before the lens at a precise moment. Tickets: $10 adults, free for youth 17 and under. 402.342.3300.

—joslyn.org

NATURE CONNECTS: ART WITH LEGO® BRICKS

Through May 10 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft St. Created by artist Sean Kenney, this exhibit features incredible sculptures of endangered species built from nearly 800,000 LEGO bricks and builds awareness for conservation of all living things. Admission: $10 adults, $5 ages 3 to 12, free to ages 2 and under and members.

402.346.4002.

—lauritzengardens.org

SPONTANEITY: 10 ABSTRACT PAINTERS FROM NEBRASKA

Through May 17 at Gallery 1516, 1516 Leavenworth St. Th is exhibition features artwork by 10 abstract and abstract expressionist artists from Nebraska. Enjoy their spontaneous, gestural and colorful paintings. Admission: free. 402.305.1510.

—gallery1516.org

JOE McHALE

Through June 5 at Fred Simon Gallery, 1004 Farnam St. McHale is a visual artist based out of Kearney. His paintings are lively and full of kinetic energy. He creates a visual representation of moments when time stands still and the past, present, and future combine into one.

Admission: Free. 402.595-2122.

—artscouncil.nebraska.gov

PICASSO, MASTER IN CLAY

Through Aug. 22 at El Museo Latino, 4701 S. 25th St. The whimsical works of one of history’s most iconic artists is at El Museo Latino. The exhibition features 55 of the legendary Pablo Picasso’s stylized ceramics. On loan from the Park West Museum, this substantial collection is on display for the first time in Omaha. Admission: $5 adults, $4 college students with ID, $3.50 seniors and children ages 5-17, and free to children under 5 and active military with ID. 402.731.1137.

—elmuseolatino.org

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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January 18 April 19, 2020 SPONSORED BY:

OPEN now

The Sherwood Foundation American Muslim Institute

through

april 11, 2020

This is a first-of-its-kind exhibition for children and families to celebrate the diversity of Muslim cultures in America and around the world through art, architecture, design, music, travel, trade, and more!

Presented by:

St. Frances Cabrini The spiritual home of the Little Italy and Old Market neighborhoods since 1857.

stcabriniomaha.org 10th and Williams Street

// 10 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

OMAHA MAGAZINE | EVENTS CALENDAR

» Stage Performances «

INFLUENCE

Through Aug. 22 at Kaneko, 1111 Jones St. CreativTHE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD ity begins with an idea. Th rough the exploration March of physical space, artistic themes, history, and Through March 8 at Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam experience, the season of INFLUENCE will St. The timeless tale of believing in yourself examine the history of change at Kaneko while comes to the stage in a show for all ages. Tickcelebrating the future of the organization which has ets: $12 non-members, $10 members. Times vary. become a driving force for inclusion and diversity of 402.345.4849. creative thought in Omaha. 402.341.3800.

—rosetheater.org —thekaneko.org

08

NASH BELLOWS, KEVIN MCCLAY, MARK PEARSON AND ANGELA SZELAG.

March 6-29 at Artists’ Cooperative Gallery, 405 S. 11th St. Th is show features jewelry, photography, digital art, and wood art. Admission: free. 402.342.9617.

—artistscoopomaha.com

DALE MALNER: DIRECT DRIVE

March 6-April 24 at Modern Arts Midtown, 3615 Dodge St. Wisconsin artist Dale Malner will show his large-scale paintings. His abstract images deliver bold color and striking impact. The artist will be in attendance at the March 6 opening reception. The exhibit also features Brent Witters, Debora Stewart, and more.

Admission: free. 402.502.8737.

—modernartsmidtown.com

THE ILLUSIONISTS

March 11 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. The Illusionists bring unique acts, talents, and tricks to the stage for a one-of-a-kind performance. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $29-$59. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

ONCE

March 1-22 at Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St. An Irish musician falls in love with a Czech immigrant. Based on the Oscar-winning fi lm. Times vary. Tickets: $24-$42. 402.553.0800.

—omahaplayhouse.com

UNTAMED

March 3 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Filipe DeAndrade is the star of the National Geographic series “Untamed” and will show some of his work and speak about how animals saved and changed his life. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $12-$28. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN

March 13 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Gary Mullen & The Works have performed around the world and pay tribute to Queen with an energetic re-imagining of the famous rock band. Tickets: $24.50-$55. 8 p.m.

402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

LIV SCHULMAN: THE GOBERNMENT

March 19-June 13 at Bemis Center, 724 S. 12th St. Paris-based artist Schulman’s multi-channel video The Gobernment is described as a fictional historical revision of the lives of forgotten women artists. Th is will be the first presentation of her work in the U.S. Admission: free. 402.341.7130.

—bemiscenter.org

CLAUDIA WIESER: GENERATIONS

March 19-June 13 at Bemis Center, 724 S 12th St., No. 3202. Wieser is a Bavarian artist whose handpainted sculptures, gold-leafed drawings, and multi-media installations show her appreciation for classical forms, as well as abstract geometrics. Admission: free.

402.341.7130.

—bemiscenter.org

THE POTTED POTTER

Through March 8 at Scott Recital Hall, 1200 Douglas St. Potted Potter condenses all seven Harry Potter books into a funny 70-minute show for all ages. Times vary.

Tickets: $45-$70. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

LINDA HATFIELD, ROBBI EKLOW, AND MADELEINE HEAFEY

April 3-26 at Artists’ Cooperative Gallery, 405 S. 11th St. Th is show features pyrography & acrylic, art quilts, and pottery. Admission: free. 402.342.9617.

—artistscoopomaha.com

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

Through March 15 at Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. A live stage performance of the story of Anne Frank.

Tickets: $20 non-members, $12 members. Times vary.

402.345.4849.

—rosetheater.org

HOT SHOPS SPRING OPEN HOUSE

April 25-26 at Hot Shops Art Center, 1301 Nicholas St. The 19th annual Spring Open House will feature over 80 artists occupying and exhibiting in 58 studios.

The weekend will incorporate demonstrations, including bronze pouring and glass blowing, as well as galleries with artists on hand for the different shows on display.

Admission: free. 402.342.6452.

—hotshopsartcenter.com

DANCING WITH THE STARS

March 11 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. Fans of the TV show will be able to see the dancers off-screen and in person during this night of performances. 6:30 p.m.

Tickets: $47-$155. 402.934.6291.

—ralstonarena.com

NATIVE GARDENS

Through March 15 at Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St. A minor disagreement about property lines escalates into a much bigger battle between two neighbors. Tickets: $18 students, $36-$44 adults. Times vary. 402.553.0800.

—omahaplayhouse.com MARCH/APRIL 2020

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OMAHA MAGAZINE | EVENTS CALENDAR

PEPPA PIG LIVE!

April 7 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. Th is actionpacked live show featuring beloved characters as lifesize puppets and costumed characters. 6 p.m. Tickets: $33.50-$63.50. 402.934.9966.

—ralstonarena.com

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER

April 15-18, 22-25 at University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1 University Drive. A thrilling adventure ensues for orphaned Peter and his mates. Times vary.

Tickets: $6. 402.554-3857.

—unomaha.edu

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

GARY GULMAN: PEACE OF MIND TOUR

HAIRSPRAY, THE MUSICAL

March 17-March 22 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Th is winner of six Tony Awards is the story of a high school student who finds a chance to fit in, in the middle of a tragedy. Tickets: $40-$145. Times vary.

402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

March 20 at the Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Th is two-time Last Comic Standing finalist is guaranteed to entertain audiences with his comedic performances, which notably focus on absurd observations about everyday occurrences. 8 p.m. Tickets: $30. 402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

ONE FESTIVAL 2020

March 20-April 5 at various locations. Opera Omaha’s 2020 festival focuses on celebrating bold risks in storytelling. Throughout two weeks, events and performances will be held at locations like the Orpheum Theater, Film Streams, and more. Admission: $125 for festival pass, tickets for individual events available. Times vary.

402.346.7372.

—operaomaha.org

MTHR/WMN

March 20, 21, 28, 29 & April 2 at The Union for Contemporary Art, 2423 N. 24th St. Blending opera, art, and theater, MTHR/WMN celebrates the power that comes from being a woman and a mother at this point in history. Times vary. Tickets: $25. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

JEANNE ROBERTSON: THE ROCKING HUMOR TOUR

March 22 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. 75-year-old Jeanne Robertson charms audiences with stories of her life. Tickets: $20-$42.50. 6 p.m. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

COVER MOTETS

March 24 at Joslyn Art Museum’s Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge St. Th is performance mixes traditional motets with the idea of cover songs. Tickets: $35. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

March 25, 27, 29 & April 4, 5 at MIDCO Glass Building, 1141 N. 11th St. Th is retelling of the biblical story of St. John the Baptist, King Herod and Salome explores power tensions between men and women. Times vary.

Tickets: $60. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

March 25-29 at South Magnet High School, 4519 S. 24th St. A collaboration between Creighton’s musical theater department and South High Magnet School’s performing arts department, this bold musical is about one girl’s inspiring dream to dance. Tickets: $18. Times vary. 402.280.1448.

—creighton.edu/ccas/fineandperformingarts

CINESOUND

March 26, 28, 29 & April 4 at Film Streams, 1340 Mike Fahey St. Th is event features short fi lms accompanied by live music in an exploration of the impact that music has on fi lm. Times vary. Tickets: $30.

402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

MARJORIE PRIME

Through April 12 at BlueBarn Theater, 1106 S. 10th St. Senior Serenity resident Marjorie is worried that her memory may be fading. “Primes” are the latest devices used for helping people with their fading memories and loss of companionship. When Marjorie is gifted a holograph of her husband in his 30s, new levels of complexity are revealed, leading to questions about the limits of technology and the nature of memory. Tickets: $35 general admission, $30 seniors (age 65+), military members, or educators. 402.345.1576.

—bluebarn.org

JEFF DUNHAM: SERIOUSLY!?

April 2 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Jeff Dunham and his band of misfit puppets will perform their unique brand of comedy. 7 p.m. Tickets: $47.50$63. 402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

THE CAPULETS AND MONTAGUES

April 3 & 5 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Bellini’s bel canto masterpiece is a rarity: a successful opera based on the heartbreaking story of love and loss that is Romeo and Juliet. Tickets: $19-$99. 402.661.8501.

—ticketomaha.com

BRIGHT STAR

April 17-May 10 at Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St. Nominated for five Tony Awards, written

by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, and inspired by real events, Bright Star is a story of enduring hope. Young teenager Alice Murphy is devastated when her infant son is ripped away. Twenty years later, a young man enters her life and ushers in an unexpected glimmer of hope. Times vary. Tickets: $24-$50.

—omahaplayhouse.com

SPRING DANCE PRODUCTION 2020

April 22-26 at Lied Education Center for the Arts, 2500 California Plaza. The dance program at Creighton strives to offer dance students the opportunity to develop their skills in professional venues. Their Spring Showcase will feature guests, faculty, and student choreographers. Times vary. Tickets: $18. 402.280.1448.

—creighton.edu/ccas/fineandperformingarts

CORDUROY

April 24 through May 10 at Rose Theater, 2001 Farnam St. Corduroy the teddy bear’s mission to find his missing button leads to the friendship of a lifetime.

Along with exciting and lively scenes of mischief, this story teaches the importance of empathy and unconditional love. Times vary. Tickets: $25. 402.345.4849.

—rosetheater.org

» Concerts « DWEEZIL ZAPPA: “HOT RATS LIVE! + OTHER HOT STUFF 1969”

March 1 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Son of Frank Zappa, Dweezil developed a strong affinity for playing the guitar and producing music at an early age. Th is tour celebrates the 50th anniversary of his father’s daredevil album Hot Rats. 8 p.m. Tickets: $50.

402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

BAY FACTION

March 1 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Th is indie-rock band’s sound ranges from poppy to methodical, with some heavy bass in between. 8 p.m. Tickets: $10. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

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Travel essentials plus downtown’s largest selection of souvenirs and Nebraska-made gifts.

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Open Daily • 9 am – 9 pm MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 13 //

OMAHA MAGAZINE | CALENDAR

CASKEY

JON McLAUGHLIN: MY AND MY PIANO

RADKEY

ELTON & BILLY: THE ULTIMATE TRIBUTE

BLAKE SHELTON: FRIENDS AND HEROES TOUR

THROWBACK PARTY

March 2 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. An unlikely rapper, Caskey was originally a metalhead. His inventive songwriting and blending of musical backgrounds have made him popular in the hip-hop world.

Tickets: $15 advanced, $18 day of show. 402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

March 6 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Th is tribute will feature three hours of music by Elton John and Billy Joel. Andy Anderson and Tony Bohenkamp will bring these artists’ legendary music and iconic personalities to life with spot-on performances. 8 p.m.

Tickets: $20. 402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

KAMASI WASHINGTON

March 6 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Washington is a jazz saxophonist who makes his sound unique with progressive, improvisational music. He has done collaborations with other influential artists such as Kendrick Lamar, John Legend, and Run the Jewels. 8 p.m. Tickets: $30 advanced, $35 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

DANIEL & THE DELIVERANCE

March 6 at Harney Street Tavern, 1215 Harney St. This bluegrass group plays at Harley Street Tavern every first Friday of the month and keeps audiences coming back. 9:30 p.m. 402.933.5657.

—harneystreettavern.com

CELTIC JOURNEY: THE MAGIC OF THE EMERALD ISLE

March 7-8 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. The Omaha Symphony takes audiences to Ireland through authentic music, dance, and storytelling. 7:30 p.m. March 7, 2 p.m. March 8. Tickets: $19-$79. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

EMILY SCOTT ROBINSON

March 8 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Th is North Carolina native writes country-folk songs about America, with a little Southern gothic twist.

8 p.m. Tickets: $12 advanced, $14 day of show.

402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

KILL VARGAS

March 9 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. A wide range of influences drives this pop-punk band’s music.

The band added a fourth member last year, so check out the new lineup. 8 p.m. $7. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

ZZ WARD: STARDUST TOUR

March 9 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. ZZ Ward will showcase the unique and powerful blend of blues and hip-hop featured in her latest single “Sex & Stardust.” 8 p.m. Tickets: $28 advanced, $30 day of show. 402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

// 14 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

March 11 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Laughlin is a singer-songwriter and alum of The Voice.

His authentic, emotional music connects with audiences and sets him apart. 8 p.m. Tickets: $20, $50 VIP. 402.884.5353 —waitingroomlounge.com

March 12 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Shelton, who was nominated for a 2020 Grammy for Best Country Solo Performance for “God’s Country,” will perform with special guests Lauren Alaina and special appearances by The Bellamy Brothers, John Anderson, and Trace Adkins. Tickets: $49-$129. 7 p.m. 402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

CHE MALAMBO

March 12 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Che Malambo performs the South American tradition of the gaucho. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20-$38. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

SVETOSLAV STOYANOV

March 12 at Strauss Performing Arts Center, 6305 University Drive N. Stoyanov has recorded for numerous labels and his albums have received international recognition. Tickets: $15, $8 for students, seniors, and military members. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

THUNDERCAT

March 13 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Th is bassist and singer is well-known for his dynamic contributions to Kendrick Lamar’s critically acclaimed 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly. In 2016, Thundercat won a Grammy for his work on the track “These Walls” from Lamar’s album. 8 p.m. Tickets: $28 advanced, $35 day of show.

402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

YELLOWJACKETS FEATURING LUCIANA SOUZA

March 13 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Yellowjackets blends funk, R&B and upbeat jazz. The group has been nominated for 17 Grammy awards throughout its career, which spans 35 years.

Joining this performance is Luciana Souza, a Brazilian jazz singer and 2007 Grammy winner for her featured vocals on Herbie Hancock’s album River: The Joni Letters. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $20-$50. 402.345.0202.

—ticketomaha.com

ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN

March 13 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Gary Mullen & The Works will pay tribute to superstar Freddie Mercury and Queen’s legacy in this spectacular live show. Fans can expect to relive hits such as “We Will Rock You,” “We Are The Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody.” 8 p.m. Tickets: $24.50-$55. 402.661.8501.

—ticketomaha.com.

March 13 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. American garage-punk band Radkey consists of three brothers from St. Joseph, Missouri. Their catchy songs inspire audiences to get up and participate. 9 p.m. Tickets: $10 advanced, $12 day of show. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

March 13 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Th is party is a journey through the sounds that shaped the ’90s. DJ Ivan Alferez will be on the boards.

Tickets: $7 advanced, $10 day of show. 402.884.5353 —waitingroomlounge.com

THE LUMINEERS III: THE WORLD TOUR

March 14 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Following the release of their third album, the Lumineers are embarking on a worldwide tour and stopping in Omaha along the way. Tickets: $39-$113. 7 p.m.

402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

MAC LETHAL

March 14 at Lookout Lounge, 320 S. 72nd St. Kansas City rapper, songwriter, and YouTube star Lethal keeps his audiences engaged with lighting-fast raps and a sharp sense of humor. 8 p.m. Tickets: $17. 402.391.2554.

—lookoutomaha.com

SCHUMANN’S SYMPHONY NO. 2

March 15 at Joslyn Art Museum’s Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge St. Th is performance, conducted by Rossen Milanov, features music from Handel, Dvorak, and Schumann. 2 p.m. Tickets: $35. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

BOB WEIR & WOLF BROTHERS

March 15 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Th is trio features Grateful Dead founding member Weir, Was (Not Was) founder Don Was, and drummer Jay Lane. The band performs the songs of the Grateful Dead and more. 7 p.m. Tickets: $59.50-$199, $328.50 VIP. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

DESTROYER

March 15 at Waiting Room Lounge, 6212 Maple St. Dan Bejar aka Destroyer, creates songs that are characterized by abstract poetic lyrics, and idiosyncratic vocals.

8 p.m. Tickets: $22. 402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

THE

ALLEN STONE

March 17 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Stone brings soul and R&B to Omaha, with an opening performance

by Samm Henshaw. 8 p.m. Tickets: $25 advanced, $30 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

OF BUSINESS omahamagazine.com/subscribe

OM

March 18 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Th is heavy metal trio from San Francisco has a strong sound that juxtaposed by uniquely emotional lyrics. 8 p.m. Tickets: $20 advanced, $22 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

THE FLOOZIES: DAYGLOW FUNK TOUR

March 19 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Th is band knows how to bring the funk, with eclectic live performances. Sunsquabi and Defunk will be opening.

8 p.m. Tickets: $22 advanced, $25 day of show.

402.884.5353 —waitingroomlounge.com

GARY GULMAN

March 20 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. A scholarship college football player, an accountant, a high school teacher, and a performer walk into a bar—and they are the same person. Gulman will perform over an hour’s worth of material he’s never performed in Omaha.

8 p.m. Tickets: $30. 402.884.5353 —waitingroomlounge.com

Omaha’s Largest Mineral and Fossil Store

EMANUEL AX PERFORMS BRAHMS

March 21 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. World-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax performs Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto. Tickets: $25$133. 8 p.m. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

MIRRORS: A DARK PARTY EVENT

March 21 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Mirrored stage production, mystical lighting, and immersive sound are the themes of this party. Music

by EZB, Hyddin, Dark Oceanz, String Theory, and TrvpSquad. 9p.m. Tickets: $5 advanced, $8 day of show. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

Great things for the whole family, and mom too!

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AVI KAPLAN

March 23 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Kaplan, a former member of three-time Grammy winning a cappella group Pentatonix, is known for his deep bass voice inspired by artists like John Denver, Bill Withers, and Simon & Garfunkel. 8 p.m. Tickets: $17 advanced, $20 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 15 //

OMAHA MAGAZINE | CALENDAR

MERCYME 20/20 TOUR

MDOU MOCTAR

GINA CHAVEZ

HEART BONES

March 27 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Th is American contemporary Christian music band is bringing the faith to Omaha, with special guests Jeremy Camp and David Leonard. Tickets: $28-$103. 7 p.m.

402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

April 4 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Mdou Moctar immediately is one of the most innovative artists in contemporary Saharan music. Not sure what that means? Have a listen and it will be clear. 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

April 5 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Heart Bones is a collaboration between Sean Tillmann, aka Har Mar Superstar, and Sabrina Ellis of A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit. 8 p.m. Tickets: $15. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

March 27 at Scott Recital Hall, 1200 Douglas St. Gina Chavez explores her Latin American roots through music. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $19-$40. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

POST ANIMAL

April 17 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. This psychedelic rock band from Chicago spent this February touring the UK with Grammy-winning rock band Cage the Elephant. Post Animal uses the right amount of pop to sweeten its heavy rock sound. 8 p.m. Tickets: $13 advanced, $15 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

BILLIE EILISH: WHERE DO WE GO? WORLD TOUR

April 17 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Billie Eilish is one of the music industry’s rising stars and is going on her first ever tour. She had a history-making night at the 2020 Grammys, winning the four biggest prizes: best new artist, record of the year, album of the year, and song of the year. Tickets: $39.50-$99.50. 7:30 p.m. 402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

ANNA BURCH

April 17 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Burch’s lo-fi indie rock is teeming with “mischievous lyrics delivered with deceptively bittersweet vocals.”

The alternative singer/songwriter hails from Detroit, Michigan. 8 p.m. Tickets: $12. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

DAN + SHAY: THE (ARENA) TOUR

April 18 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Dan + Shay set off on their first headlining tour, bringing their smooth vocals to audiences around the country.

Tickets: $39.50-$79.50. 7 p.m. 402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

KELLER WILLIAMS

BRAHMS’ VIOLIN CONCERTO

REAL ESTATE

April 13 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Th is indie rock band’s poetic lyrics and soothing sounds make audiences feel at home. 8 p.m. Tickets: $22 advanced, $25 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

March 27 & 28 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. A performance of Brahms’ Violin Concerto, featuring D’un matin des printemps and La Mer. 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $19-$100. 402.345.0606.

—ticketomaha.com

MATT WILSON & HIS ORCHESTRA

DAVID ARCHULETA

April March 28 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. April 14 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. An Wilson and his harp and banjo orchestra will American Idol runner-up in 2008, Archuleta is perform the best music from his deep repertoire, a passionate singer of adult contemporary-style as well as unique renditions of old-time songs that he pop. 8 p.m. Tickets: $25 advanced, $30 day of show. considers to be among the greatest of all music history.

402.345.7569.

9 p.m. Tickets: $15. 402.884.5707.

—theslowdown.com —reverblounge.com

14

MAL BLUM

April 1 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Dubbed “punk’s greatest hidden treasure” by Stereogum, Mal Blum writes cleverly crafted songs that are immediate, self-effacing, and viscerally relatable. 8 p.m. Tickets: $8 advanced, $12 day of show. 402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

// 16 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

BRANDY CLARK: WHO YOU THOUGHT I WAS TOUR

April 16 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Sixtime Grammy nominee Clark is a Nashville-based country artist and talented lyricist. She has written songs for icons like Sheryl Crow, The Band Perry, and Kacey Musgraves. 8 p.m. Tickets: $29 advanced, $34 day of show. 402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

April 23 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Williams built his reputation initially on his engaging live performances, no two of which are ever alike. With the use of today’s technology, Williams creates samples on the fly in front of the audience, a technique called live phrase sampling or looping, with nothing pre-recorded, the end result often leans toward a hybrid of alternative folk and groovy electronica. 8 p.m. Tickets: $25.

402.884.5353.

—waitingroomlounge.com

RIND

April 24 at Barley St. Tavern, 2735 N. 62nd St. From Ohio to Omaha, this five-piece band is sharing their unique sound across the country. 9 p.m. Tickets TBA. 402.408.0028.

—barleystreet.com

TREVOR HALL

April 25 at Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St. Hall’s music is an exciting mix of folk and reggae. Th is performance will feature special guest Brett Dennen, who adds pop to the performance. 8 p.m. Tickets: $30 advanced, $35 day of show. 402.345.7569.

—theslowdown.com

OMAHA MAGAZINE | CALENDAR

OMAHA FILM FESTIVAL

DÉ-TRESE

March 3-8 at Aksarben Cinema, 2110 S. 67th St. Th is year marks the 15th anniversary of the Omaha Film Festival. The event will showcase over 100 films throughout the week, including innovative new flicks, locally-produced shows, and past masterworks of cinema. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn with professionals from across the country at OFF Academy, and festival parties allow for dialogue with the community. Times vary. Admission varies from $10 single-movie tickets to $100 multi-day passes. 402.203.8173.

—omahafi lmfestival.org

April 27 at Reverb Lounge, 6121 Military Ave. Local rapper Dé-Trese is performing with Andre Right, J. Taylor, M3, and Jai T, with special guest DJ Madix.

8 p.m. Tickets: $8 advanced, $12 day of show.

402.884.5707.

—reverblounge.com

» Family & More «

FIRST FRIDAY OLD MARKET

March 6 and April 3 in the Old Market. Th is event features live music along the brick streets of the Old Market, free Ollie the Trollie rides and galleries that explore fresh perspectives. 6-9 p.m. Admission: Free.

—firstfridayoldmarket.com

March

6

FISH FRIES

Feb. 28-April 3 in various locations. Lent starts with Ash Wednesday on Feb. 26, and while some people will abstain from eating meat on Fridays for religious reasons, others will eat fish simply because they enjoy it. Many churches and community centers around Omaha will provide a fish (or meatless) dinner on Fridays during this time frame. Here are a few popular choices that draw crowds: • All Holy Spirit Greek Orthodox Church, 9012 Q St. 402.934.3688. allholyspirit.ne.goarch.org • American Legion No. 1, 7811 Davenport St., 402.392.0444.

• American Legion No. 374, 13913 S Plaza, 402.895.1324. post374.org • Croation Cultural Society of Omaha, 8711 S. 36th St., 402.733.1018.

• Holy Ghost Catholic Church, 5219 S. 53rd St. 402.731.3176. holyghostomaha.com • Holy Name Catholic Church (2020 Best of Omaha Winner), 2901 Fontenelle Blvd. 402.451.6622. holynameomaha.org • Mount Calvary Community Church, 5112 Ames Ave., 402.457.4216. mtcalvarycommunitychurch.org • Mary Our Queen Catholic Church (2020 Best of Omaha Winner), 3405 S. 118th St. 402.333.8662. maryourqueenchurch.com • Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 2124 S. 32nd Ave., 402.341.5604. ollomaha.com • St. John’s Greek Orthodox Church 602 Park Ave. 402.345.7103. stjohnsgreekorthodox.org • St. John Vianney Catholic Church, 5801 Oak Hills Drive, 402.895.0808. sjvomaha.org • St. Barnabas Catholic Church, 129 N. 40th St., 402.558.4633. saintbarnabas.net • St. Patrick’s Catholic Church of Elkhorn (2020 Best of Omaha Winner), 20500 West Maple Road, Elkhorn. 402.289.4289. stpatselkhorn.org • St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic Church, 16701 S St., 402.896.9675. stephen.org • St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 4804 Grover St., 402.556.1456. stmomaha.org • St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, 14330 Eagle Run Drive. 402.496.7988. svdpomaha.org • Tangier Shrine Center, 2823 S. 84th St., 402.392.0404. tangiershrine.com

65TH ANNUAL WORLD OF WHEELS

March 13-15 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Vehicles from classic Cadillacs to hot rods will be shown at this annual event, which allows local car owners to display their machines. Times vary. Tickets: $18 general admission, $6 children 6-12, free to children 5 and under. 402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

March 14 in downtown Omaha. Th is annual parade, put on by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, will march through the downtown area starting at 15th and Howard streets and continuing through the historic Old Market.

—aohomaha.org/parade.

AN EVENING OF IRISH FUN

March 14 at St. Bernard School, 3604 N. 65th St. Corned beef and cabbage, live music by the Connor Dowling band, and performances from Dowd’s Irish Dance Academy make this an ideal event for St. Patrick’s Day. Admission: $25 adult, $20 seniors, $10 children ages 6 and up, free for children 5 and under.

402.551.0269.

—stbernardomaha.org

BOCKFEST

March 14 at the German American Society, 3717 S. 120th St. Bockfest is one of the area’s favorite German celebrations. It feature music, beer poking in the biergarten, and beer, brats, and pretzels to consume. 1-7 p.m. Admission: free, but cash must be used for beer and food. 402.333.6615.

—germanamericansociety.org

SPRING FESTIVAL

March 20-22 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. Hundreds of the nation’s finest artists and crafters display and sell their handcrafted works. Times vary. Tickets: $9 adults, $8 seniors, children 10 and under free. 402.934.9966.

—ralstonarena.com

METRO OMAHA BUILDER’S ASSOCIATION HOME SHOW

March 27-29 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Professionals in new home building, home improvement, landscaping, decorating, smart energy, and more.

Attendees can fi nd fresh ideas, innovative products, practical advice, and great deals from hundreds of experts all under one roof. Times vary. Tickets: $9 adults, $7 children 7-12, seniors ages 65+, and military members with ID. 402.444.1263.

—moba.com

INTERNATIONAL OMAHA

April 9-12 at CHI Health Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. Th is favorite event of Omahans is coming back. The featured events are the InIt2WinIt Speed Jumping Series Final, Pro-Junior Challenge, and the Grand Prix. Times vary. Tickets: $20-$45. 402.930.3079.

—internationalomaha.com

NEBRASKA SCIENCE FESTIVAL

April 3-26 in various locations. More than 41,000 people celebrated Science Festival in 2019. The 2020 festival proves to be just as exciting, with a keynote speaker, hands-on demonstrations, lectures, and more.

Admission: free, but tickets to the keynote speaker are limited. 402.559.4319.

—nescifest.com

HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS

April 5 at CHI Health Center, 455 N. 10th St. Trick shots, dunks, and unbelievable basketball skills are all on display for an event that the whole family can enjoy.

Tickets: $26-$111. 3 p.m. 402.341.1500.

—chihealthcenteromaha.com

2020 TASTES AND TREASURES

April 17 at Field Club of Omaha, 3615 Woolworth Ave. Th is event, sponsored by the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary, features food and auctions to benefit the Salvation Army. Admission: $100. 6 p.m. 402.660.1680.

—centralusa.salvationarmy.org/omaha

EARTH DAY OMAHA

April 18 at Elmwood Park, 60th & Dodge streets.

Celebrate Mother Earth through science, education, music, food, and fun at this event, which features ecofriendly demonstrations on ways to better the Earth, health and wellness programs, and engaging activities for children. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission: free.

—earthdayomaha.org

SARPY COUNTY’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY

April 26 at Bellevue University Campus, 1040 Bruin Blvd. Th is indoor event provides lots of family fun and education about saving the planet. Noon-4 p.m.

Admission: free. 402.880.7580.

—greenbellevue.org

Event times and details may change.

Visist omahamagazine.com for complete listings.

Check with venue or event organizer to confirm.

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 17 //

// A+C MUSIC // STORY BY SEAN ROBINSON

NOT YOUR TYPICAL ROCK ’N’ ROLLERS B a c h M a i P u t s Lo v e a n d L i g h t I n t o Ly r i c s

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK MARCH/APRIL

// 18 //

2020

W

hat do more than 100—possibly tone-deaf, definitely buzzed—people jamming out with one of Omaha’s hottest up-and-coming bands at midtown’s O’Leaver’s Pub sound like?

Bach Mai is wrapping their latest set with their folky, whistle-laden anthem “Daybreak.”

They don’t just want the audience to sing along. No, participation is a priority here and screeching the compassionate chorus, “Cause there’s pain, there’s dark, there’s hate, there is heartache/But there’s love, there’s light, there’s hope, there is daybreak,” isn’t enough.

Instead, the crowd is asked to literally shake, shake, shake. Everyone is given maracas and other small percussive picks courtesy of the band. Bach Mai breaks into song, and 100 become one. It’s feelings first, musical talent second. For four minutes, all are a part of the band.

“Our songs and shows are definitely audience-driven,” said Molly Gaughan, lead guitarist. “Hearing the crowd singing along helps me express vulnerability through my playing. It’s knowing there’s someone else—everyone else maybe—who also feels this way.”

Bach Mai is a band that leads with its heart, from their stripped-down shows to the selfpenned lyrics woven into every song.

KISS they are not.

Founded in Omaha in 2012, the indie band mixes pop punk tropes with verses laminating mistakes, broken hearts, and feelings of hope and love. Bach Mai’s music is the pain of growing up given a voice. It’s feel-good music for a time where the world seems anything but good. It’s the emotion of four friends put to a beat.

“There’s a more thoughtful, internal feel behind our approach,” said Bach Mai, the lead singer and founder who, yes, the band itself is named after. “The lyrics can seem a bit emo, but then there’s also lots of calls to action to get people to sing and have a good time.”

Beyond Mai and Gaughan, the current members of the band include drummer Nick Wenner and bassist Logan Myers.

The band has played musical chairs a couple of times, with some members coming and going as careers and parenthood crop up. The one constant has been Mai.

// 20 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

“It started with me. Whoever wanted to play with me, I kept around as long as I could,” Mai said.

Before recruiting bandmates, Mai played music alone. He wrote his first song during his freshman year of college at University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he studied from 2012 to 2017, earning degrees in music entrepreneurship and marketing as well as a minor in international business.

He met Gaughan and Myers in college and Wenner was a buddy he worked with during the Conspire Music and Arts Festival.

The band name acts as a symbol of this expansion, not as a stroke to the founder’s ego. Bach Mai is a Vietnamese name that means growing green tree. Just as the band started with only Mai before adding more members and growing with audience participation during each performance, a tree starts as a seedling that sprouts into something much bigger.

“I’ve been in several bands, but I didn’t get into one with longevity until Bach,” Gaughan says. “He listens, he collaborates.

It’s not just us playing what he wants us to.

We all get to have a touch on it.”

Before Gaughan or any of the other band members see a song, the process begins somewhere between 2 and 4 a.m. Mai does most of the preliminary songwriting from his own bed in the wee hours of the morning. He picks up a guitar and plays around with a chord progression until he starts saying gibberish. At some point, the gibberish becomes words.

For Mai, espousing gibberish is songwriting at its most raw and honest—it’s all about emotion, not logic.

“One of the most important goals for me is to write stuff that makes people feel what they need to feel, whether they are ready to or not,” Mai said. “I grew up very uncomfortable with emotions, and it led to an unhealthy lifestyle. Music allowed me to be a healthy person again.”

Once the skeleton of the song is formed, Mai brings it to the band. They then flesh it out together. Most of the words are still his, but this is when the melody and mood of the music takes shape.

“I’m not good at everything…like at all,” Mai said. “I really trust the people I collaborate with. It’s always proven to be more than worth it.”

// A+C MUSIC //

“One of the most important goals for me is to write stuff that makes people feel what they need to feel, whether they are ready to or not.” Bach Mai

From left: Molly Gaughan, Bach Mai, Nick Wenner, and Logan Myers

The band’s first album, We’re Gone…We Begin, was formed through this collaborative effort. Mai said he hopes the second album—which is wrapping up now for a late summer or fall 2020 release—will be stronger as members aren’t switching out.

Bach Mai also looks forward to touring more this year.

In 2019, they embarked on their first 10-day tour going south into Texas, but they want to expand towards the coasts.

In the meantime, they’re more than happy vibing with Omaha in venues such as The Waiting Room, Reverb Lounge, Slowdown, and Harney Street Tavern. They scored a spot in

the 2019 Maha Music Festival and hope to make it into the lineup again this year.

“Performing is a lot more than just trying to get yourself in front of as many people as possible,” Mai said. “There’s a real currency to live performances. The true uniqueness of your band shines when you’re in front of people.”

A band that brings their own bag of percussion instruments to pass out? It doesn’t get much more unique than that.

Visit bachmaimusic.com for more information.

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// A+C VISUAL // STORY BY SARAH WENGERT

The Art of the Gesture ARTIST MARY MURPHY FINDS INSPIRATION IN THE EVERYDAY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

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// A+C VISUAL //

M

ary Murphy is moving. She’s moving on—from the 1929 house on the tree-lined midtown street where she lived for 30 years and from her eight-year art studio home at the Mastercraft Building.

She’s also moving in—to a brand-new, lakeside home out west and to her new studio at Thrive Space in Waterloo, Nebraska.

“I’m very influenced by my environment and experiences,” said Murphy, acknowledging a curiosity in how this dual change of scenery might affect her ensuing artwork. “It will be interesting to see how I react in my work to being near farms and the big Nebraska sky unblocked by trees and buildings.”

Indeed, excavating the layers of Murphy’s work is a treat of unabashed colors, slightly off beat characters, ever-emerging supporting details, and an overall sense of movement. Her work is expressive, emotional, and encourages the eye to linger longer, finding new elements just before one might turn to look away.

Crucially, amidst all this motion and change, Murphy also persists in her skilled artistic gestures, continuing to build on a colorful, compelling body of work. Murphy, who works primarily as a painter, often incorporating mixed media, pairs an encyclopedic understanding of technical skill and art history with a deeply intuitive approach.

“I merge representationalism and abstraction in a very expressionistic way. My work is about drama and escapism; my people are beautiful, but with an edge,” she said. “There’s always a main character in my work, but what’s surrounding it is just as important because it keeps your eye moving. I want viewers to want to come back to it often to find different nuances. I like ambiguity and distortions—I find them more interesting to look at.”

Speaking of movement, Murphy finds “the gesture” absolutely central to art.

“Who was the artist who said, ‘Art is all about the gesture?’ It’s all in the way you move your hand, in the gesture you make,” she said.

That artist was John Marin, who said, “Art is just a series of natural gestures.”

Murphy takes this concept to heart in her work, as she creates mini worlds for the viewer to inhabit and explore, carefully considering where the eye might move and what the viewer will uncover.

“It’s almost like an archaeological dig,” she said. “I want the viewer to be an archaeologist in finding buried treasures within my work.”

While Murphy does consider her audience’s journey, she works entirely for herself, more out of need than choice. She’s even asked herself if art is still where she wants to invest her time, continuing to spend days alone in her studio.

“The answer is ‘yes,’ because I didn’t choose art, it chose me,” she said. “I think painting is like writing a poem rather than a biography because when you start it you’re not sure how it’s going to end. As an artist, I know when it’s done. It’s a good feeling because a painting has a life that’s inevitable and once I feel that a piece is inevitable I can stop working on it.”

Murphy, who’s enamored with art history, has taught art at every level from elementary to university. She began her own art education with an encyclopedia that featured panting. As a little girl, she was so fascinated she’d take the volume to bed with her so she could marvel just a bit longer at the incredible artistry.

“At that point, I hadn’t been to a museum yet and was stunned at how painters could use just the viscosity of oil paint and make these beautiful pictures that were 2D but looked 3D,” Murphy recalled. “I just thought it was the most amazing, inspiring thing in the whole world. I suppose it would be like a dancer seeing the ballet for the first time or a musician hearing Mozart for the first time.”

Murphy’s father made art as a hobby and together they’d draw and paint, later taking classes at Joslyn Art Museum where Murphy is now a docent. As a child, she would illustrate her book reports, which the nuns at her Catholic grade school put the kibosh on because, they said at the time, “Girls don’t paint.”

When Murphy’s layperson sixth-grade teacher, Mrs. Hupp, actually encouraged her as an artist—entering Murphy’s work in a contest, which she went on to win—it meant a lot to the budding talent and she made up her mind to forge a career in art.

Murphy, in turn, has inspired countless other artists while working as an art educator and serving as a mentor.

“I think a solid background in art history really helps artists grow into their own work,” she said.

“LIFE AND WORK ARE NOT SO SEPARATE. I SEE AN IMAGE IN A NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINE THAT ATTRACTS ME AND I KNOW I CAN TRANSFORM AND REINVENT IT INTO A PAINTING.” // 24 //

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Former student and family friend Jennifer Reed-Bouley, Ph.D., and director of the theology program at St. Margaret Mary (where Murphy was her art teacher) said in an email she appreciates others’ talent and perseverance, a trait she shares with her mother.

Murphy was a close friend of ReedBouley’s mother, Ivel Reed, who passed away in December 2015. She said when their family moved to Omaha in 1981, Murphy and her mother worked together to decorate the family’s home.

“Mary created beautiful and large pieces of art for our family room, living room, and other areas of the house,” she said.

“Our family cherishes those pieces. When I look at them even today, I value the ways in which the colors, shapes, and movement in the pieces remind me of my mom’s capacity to perceive vivid beauty and joy in art and in life.”

Murphy said she takes inspiration from creators in various genres of art, including poetry and music (she paints to everything from classical to Metallica).

She interprets the entirety of the world around her. Her work is a mosaic of pop culture, news, film, people she encounters, and other common stimuli.

“I structure my paintings and drawings in layers, formed by successive mark-making, to create a new description of my environment—be it nature, pop culture, film, poetry—and then I try to get my eye and hand in sync. Action and reaction. Image, process, gesture, mark, and meaning,” she said. It’s as if she grinds the coffee beans of daily life, then brews them into a pot of brilliant paintings, her artistic eye reflecting the world back onto itself. “Life and work are not so separate.

I see an image in a newspaper or magazine that attracts me and I know I can transform and reinvent it into a painting.”

Murphy loves pop culture, from high brow to low brow, The New Yorker to reality TV divas.

“It really runs the gamut, but from these various human stories that I encounter every day, I collage everything that interests my eye,” she said. “I guess if I wasn’t so visual and intuitive, I couldn’t make the imagery I make. It would probably be more minimal, but my work is very maximalist, very baroque.”

As Murphy nests in her new studio, which she moved to in December 2019, she notes the good energy of the space—and there’s one really cool, full-circle reason why it must feel so good there to this former art educator. Like the Mastercraft, Thrive Space is a repurposed building. In its former life, it was DC West Middle School, and Murphy’s new studio was once the art room.

Visit marymurphystudio.com for more information.

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“Some of the biggest bands would be on (David) Letterman the day before, and then they’d play the Ranch Bowl the night after.”

-Jeff VanRoy

Keith Fertwagner

e c a l p w e loved

The

Documentary Remembers A+C FILM // STORY BY SEAN McCARTHY // PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

R

EGARDLESS OF WHAT

Homer Simpson famously said, rock ’n’ roll did not achieve perfection in 1974.

And despite what that graying Gen-Xer aunt may believe, rock didn’t reach its zenith in 1991 with the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, and Pavement’s Slanted and Enchanted.

Truth be told, each decade produces its equal ratio of masterpieces (a handful, maybe 50-100), and a mountain of forgettable stuff. Every Green Day’s Dookie came with a slew of Reel Big Fish’s Turn Th e Radio Off. Every Pearl Jam’s Ten came out at the same time as dozens of Cold’s A Diff erent Kind of Pain. But even those “lesser” records were likely the life soundtrack of a diehard fan who was lucky enough to see them play live.

The Ranch Bowl hosted all of the above-mentioned bands at some point in time. And except for those who believe in a Poltergeist-style existence where the spirit of the departed haunts the current space occupants of today (in this case,

“The bowling alley paid the bills, the music was the gravy.”

-LarryGood the Walmart near 72nd and Hickory streets), the Ranch Bowl is but a beloved memory to many who came of age in the ’80s, ’90s, and early aughts—but two documentarians are hoping to change that.

Austin Anderson (of Workaholics and America’s Got Talent fame) and Jeff VanRoy (owner of Dundee Digital) spent the better part of 2019 interviewing bands, parsing through grainy live footage, and openly soliciting for any fan stories, photos, and videos about the Ranch Bowl. Their goal is to make a documentary about the storied live venue and its owner, Matt Markel, who died in 2014 from antiphospholipid syndrome, a rare autoimmune disease.

Markel and his friend and business partner, Larry Good, purchased the Ranch Bowl in 1978. The two phased out the restaurant that was part of the bowling alley and began to incorporate live music.

Good handled the accounting portion and oversaw the bowling alley, leaving Markel to handle music operations. He sold his share of the Ranch Bowl to Markel in 1987.

“The bowling alley paid the bills, the music was the gravy,” Good said in a phone interview.

Markel started the music performances by adding a country-western band once a week. Then, over three separate decades, he began to add rock, jazz, blues, and ska. Those who caught Pearl Jam, Green Day, or Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Ranch Bowl still wear that distinction with pride.

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// A+C FILM //

“Some of the biggest bands would be on (David) Letterman the day before, and then they’d play the Ranch Bowl the night after,” VanRoy said.

He added that they currently have more than 40 interviews for the documentary, but they’re still craving content.

The whole project began last February when Anderson hosted a podcast with Jeff Degan, a morning host on channel 94.1 (KQCH). Degan previously worked at 93.3 K-ROCK, the radio station that operated inside the Ranch Bowl. During the podcast, Degan and Anderson began swapping stories about the venue.

Soon after the podcast, VanRoy reached out to Anderson (the two are lifelong friends) and asked if he wanted to do a movie about the Ranch Bowl. They put up a website, which encourages visitors to submit their photos, videos, or stories.

VanRoy and Anderson were frequent patrons, but neither knew Markel closely.

VanRoy’s most memorable concert at the venue was seeing Less Than Jake (he won tickets from a radio station). Anderson also won tickets on the radio to his most memorable Ranch Bowl show: Vanilla Ice (during his nu-metal phase). It was Anderson’s first concert without having his parents chaperone (his cousin took him).

“It left a big imprint,” Anderson said of the show.

As of January, VanRoy and Anderson had interviewed members of 311 and Blue October, as well as Markel’s widow, Dana. Anderson said he wants to assemble more interviews in early 2020 when the touring season winds down for many bands. He’s hoping to use his connections from Workaholics to interview Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“I have faith as long as he [Flea] remembers playing there, we’ll be able to get that interview,” Anderson said.

Continuing the interviews through the spring has pushed back the fi lm’s release date. Anderson originally wanted to unveil the movie at the 2020 Omaha Film Festival. At this point, the release date is sometime in 2021.

While the majority of Ranch Bowl’s lore comes from the live shows, the bowling alley is an integral part of the venue’s storied past. Anderson said the alley provided bands some relief from being cooped up in a tour bus or in a hotel.

One of Anderson’s friends told him about a time when he spent hours bowling with two “normal dudes.” His friend was // 28 //

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unknowingly bowling with the notorious clown-makeup-wearing Insane Clown Posse. The two, sans clown paint, politely excused themselves and said they had to get ready for a show.

“And then they transformed into the clowns and sprayed Faygo all over everyone,” Anderson said. “Th at’s the kind of place the Ranch Bowl was.”

In addition to housing a bowling alley, a radio station, and music venue, the Ranch Bowl was also home to Markel’s office. The office was a reflection of his personality, Dana Markel said in a phone interview from Overland Park, Kansas.

Like Markel, his office was guarded (you had to go through two locked doors to get there). It was also piled with stacks of CDs, mostly promotional copies from up-and-coming bands, and piles of contracts. But Matt had a system, Dana said.

“There were booking contracts all over the place, but he knew which pile had which booking contract,” she said. “He went a hundred miles an hour all the time.”

While the majority of Ranch Bowl acts reflected the grunge and nu-metal trends of the ’90s and early ’00s, Markel also booked acts that appealed to his own musical interests. Blues greats B.B. King and Buddy Guy played there. Dana said her husband’s approachability helped him make friends in agency circles on both coasts.

“Matt was an introvert who did not do drugs or drink. But in the Ranch Bowl, he just loved being around the people,” she said.

Markel’s declining health led him to sell the Ranch Bowl in the early 2000s.

Dana said within one year, he went from doctors telling him he had the heart of a 25-year-old (when he was 36) to needing emergency heart bypass surgery. Dana said she’s looking forward to seeing the fi nished documentary, even though fi lming it was tough.

“It was a difficult interview because I miss him a lot, but I’m also very proud and amazed by what he was able to accomplish with sheer willpower and drive and creativity.”

If you have photos, videos, or stories to submit about the Ranch Bowl, visit ranchbowlfilm.com.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

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A+C PERFORMANCE // STORY BY HOUSTON WILTSEY

hooked focused on theater

on change

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// A+C PERFORMANCE //

She may be 20, but Omaha native Nadia Ra’Shaun Williams has a resume to rival any actor in the metro.

B

eing a child actor is difficult. Not only do they have to remember dialogue that is years above what they’d be reading in school, they have to do it while convincingly inhabiting a character. They have to hit their marks, take direction, and keep pace with the adults in the room.

Berry said she’s not the only one who feels this way. “She has a lot of support behind her—so many people in Omaha, and nationally, that believe in her and support her and want to be a part of her journey.

They’re invested in her success,” she said. “And she’s young—so there’s so much to learn and so many ways to grow.”

That’s why it’s all the more impressive that Nadia Ra’Shaun Williams wasn’t just acting as a child, she was already figuring out how to direct.

Williams eventually returned to school, enrolling in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, where she is currently majoring in theater performance. “I fell in love with my peers [from the university] working on Hair and it convinced me to return to school and finish my degree,” she said.

“Everything fell into place at the right time.”

“My mother, TammyRa’, is an actress here in Omaha,” the 20-yearold said. “When I was younger I’d sit through her rehearsals, memorizing everyone’s lines and blocking scenes—getting a feel for where people needed to be. I did my first play a couple of years later when I was either eight or nine, and I was hooked.” Fortunately, she already had an in.

“For the first five years of my acting career, I always played my mother’s daughter in every show,” Williams said. It gave her the chance to practice her craft in a comfortable situation alongside her biggest inspiration.

“I loved watching my mom do her thing on stage, but [when] I went to Omaha Burke and joined Emily Mokrycki’s drama club in the ninth grade, something changed,” “IT WAS THE Williams said. “In my 10th-grade year, we did a collaboration show with Tony Schik NIGHT THAT I and his students at Beveridge Middle The show, Show-n-Tell, was LEARNED THAT School. about remembering the victims of school THEATRE CAN shootings. The night we performed it at Nebraska Thespian Festival was sort of CHANGE LIVES, the a golden moment for me. It was the night that I learned that theater can change lives, AND ON THE and on the bus ride home I decided that I BUS RIDE HOME wanted to be a professional actress.”

I DECIDED THAT I WANTED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL ACTRESS.” -Nadia Ra’Shaun Williams

She threw herself into getting experience in every way possible. In 2017, she graduated from Burke High School to attend Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. After spending a year in their acting program, Williams returned home due to some personal trauma. She took a year off from school and worked professionally as an actress. She earned her Equity Membership Candidate card for acting before earning roles in Beaufield Berry’s play The Upper Room at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Colorado New Play Summit and Hair at Nebraska Repertory Theatre, as well as finding work at The Union for Contemporary Art, The Rose Theater, and The Broadway Dreams Showcase in New York City.

Casting Williams was an easy decision for Berry. “Nadia is a shining light,” she said. “The moment I saw her onstage, I wanted to book her, work with her and promote her immediately. Behind the scenes, she’s emotionally available, serious, dedicated, professional, and open. Onstage she’s raw and focused.” // 32 //

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Williams has also been gaining experience outside the classroom by working as a performance intern for Broadway Dreams, a program founded in 2006 by casting executive Annette Tanner that empowers aspiring young artists through performing arts training, with a focus on the acting, voice, and dance disciplines.

“As a performance intern, you are practically working at the Broadway level,” Williams said. “We travel from city to city, a new city every week. On day one you audition for your directors and the very next day you’re in rehearsals for the showcase that happens at the end of the week.”

Besides touring the country singing and dancing, they are learning new music and choreography every day. All this while performing typical intern tasks such as getting coffee, assisting in classes, taking lunch orders.

“It’s a whirlwind experience,” she continued. “Being on tour and doing what I love is great.”

She has also continuously found roles that she feels inspired by, starring in Dragons Love Tacos and The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, both of which were directed by Omahan Denise Chapman.

“Dragons Love Tacos is purely about stimulating a child’s imagination.

It is full of pure joy and love and energy,” Williams said. “The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin tells the story of the life I have led.

Not just me, but every little black girl who has slipped on a ballet shoe.”

Currently, Williams is preparing for her role as Caska in a University of Nebraska-Lincoln presentation of Julius Ceasar. However, her most important role might be coming off the stage.

“I am in the process of founding a Diversity and Inclusion Committee for the Johnny Carson School,” she said. “We saw a need to increase diversity and inclusion all around. Some students have never worked with a theater practitioner, professor, or director of color and that needs to change. We want to provide a safe space for every student that walks through the doors of the Johnny Carson School.”

Williams wants to give everyone in the program a leg up by putting them in the ideal environment to succeed, much like she had when she walked on to the set with her mother all those years ago.

Visit nadiarashaun.com for more information.

The Wizard of Omaha?

THE MIDWESTERN ROOTS OF THE WIZARD OF OZ HISTORY // STORY BY BRUCE E. JOHANSEN // ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

L. Frank Baum’s Land of Oz has been studied as literary allegory—a place of mystery—but its origins are far more pedestrian, and Midwestern. It has also been speculated that the Yellow Brick Road led to Omaha.

The city’s geographic footprints are all over the first Oz book; as Dorothy’s destination and as the home of the legendary wizard.

WITHOUT A DOUBT,

The fi rst clue is provided by the tornado that transports Dorothy and Toto out of Kansas. Tornadoes usually move southwest to northeast, and if Dorothy, Toto, and their house were “not in Kansas anymore,” and transport was by tornado, they likely came to rest in Nebraska.

Before he is unmasked, The Wonderful Wizard exists mainly as an enigma, unseen by residents of the Emerald City, appearing as a beautiful fairy, a monster, or a giant head, all by sleight of hand. The wizard grants an interview to Dorothy and her traveling party with great reluctance, appearing at fi rst as a disembodied voice. Once all of his many forms have been dropped, the wizard turns out to be Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkle Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs (“OZ” is the fi rst initial from his fi rst two names), a former salesman from Omaha, who developed all of his facades while he was a circus magician. While living in Omaha, the wizard fi rst worked as a ventriloquist’s apprentice and later as a balloonist. All of these details appear in Baum’s several dozen Oz books, although not in the 1939 movie that popularized them.

At the end of the Oz story, the wizard departs the Emerald City in the gondola of a great balloon with a sign that reads “State Fair, Omaha.” (The annual Nebraska State Fair was held in mainly Lincoln and Omaha between 1872 and 1901, then moved to Lincoln, without interruption; in 2008, it moved again, to Grand Island.) At every turn, the great and grand wizard turns out to be a very ordinary (although creative) working person.

Geography and meteorology cast Omaha as the Wizard’s residence. L. Frank Baum, author of the Oz books, was born in Chittenango, New York, and died in Hollywood, California, but lived many of his productive years in the upper Midwest. He was familiar with Omaha as the site of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition, which hosted exhibits from 28 of the 45 states. As Baum was writing the fi rst of many Oz books, which would be published in 1900, the exposition was attracting 2.6 million visitors in six months. Among them was President William McKinley, who spoke on October 12, 1898, to an audience liberally estimated at 100,000 people.

Baum was an established author before writing the Oz books. He edited the Aberdeen, South Dakota, Saturday Pioneer from 1888 to 1891.

Objects and characters in the Oz stories also have been analyzed as symbolic of political and social fi ssures in the Gilded Age, a time when political populism challenged growing inequity of wealth. The Yellow Brick Road has been characterized in this economic interpretation as symbolic of the gold standard, and the silver slippers [which became ruby slippers in the movie] as support for coinage of silver. Dorothy is said to represent the honest and openhearted nature of common people in the Midwest. The Tin Man is the much exploited eastern industrial worker, and the Scarecrow the Midwestern farmer.

The Wicked Witch of the East has been styled as representing Eastern bankers, and the Wicked Witch of the West as symbolic of railroad barons.

The Wizard of Oz may be an allegory for William Jennings Bryan, a candidate for U.S. president at the time that Baum was writing the fi rst Oz book. Bryan also hailed from Omaha. He was a crusader for “free silver,” a populist issue, as opposed to the elites’ advocacy of a gold standard. At the time that Baum was writing the fi rst Oz book, Omaha was a center of activism on behalf of populism, which spread through the Upper Midwest as a farmers’ and workers’ reaction to the ostentatious wealth of the Gilded Age. The Knights of Labor, Prohibition Party, Socialists, Farmers Alliance, and others gathered under the Populist banner as the People’s Party, holding its 1892 national convention in Omaha, and adopting the “Omaha platform” as its major manifesto.

Th is platform expressed the ideology of a national working-people’s movement, The People’s Party, which received 8.5 percent of the national vote that year. Dorothy donned her silver slippers and made her way to Omaha, aka The Land of Oz, just as Bryan was advancing the coinage of silver, yet another reminder that Baum’s seemingly fanciful story was fi rmly rooted in the political geography of his time and place. Bryan was an enduring fi gure in American politics for more than a decade. He ran for president in 1896, 1900, and 1908, and was twice defeated

by McKinley—all during the era that Baum spun an imaginary tale out of distinctly Midwestern cloth.

Editor’s Note: Th is article was originally published in issue 6 of The New Territory, a print magazine that focuses on literary, anthropological, and ecological articles from the lower Midwest.

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ADVENTURE // STORY BY DOUG MEIGS

THE FISH OF 10,000 CASTS C A T C H I N G M U S K I E F E V E R I N T H E M I D W E S T

C

atching a monster muskellunge is a bucket-list achievement for any fisherman. When one of the Midwest’s leading advocates for muskie fishing and conservation invited me to join an upcoming trip, I jumped in the car and drove from Omaha to Minnesota.

I met Aaron Meyer at Lake Miltona (about two hours northwest of the Twin Cities) on July 13. Meyer knows all about “The Fish of 10,000 Casts,” the notoriously elusive apex predator of northern waters. “The trick to muskie fishing is just putting in the time and knowing what you are doing,” he said. “There’s a steep learning curve, but there are no secrets—just time on the water. Lots of it.”

A professional guide for the past nine years, Meyer has chased big muskies across his home state of Minnesota for 25 years (ever since he got a driver’s license). His lean physique is toned like a marathon runner from his dedication to an outdoors lifestyle, big game hunting, and his day job in the construction industry. >

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

A a r on Me y e r at

sunrise

on L a

k

e Mi nn

eto

nk

a

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H

is boat zipped across Lake Miltona, and we stopped for a quick tutorial on the mechanics of warm-weather muskie fishing. Heavyduty tackle was rigged and ready. Some of his fishing lures (with wild colors, sparkling streamers, and corkscrew tails) are as big as my forearm. Cast the lure as far as you can, then reel in like a maniac, he instructed, then demonstrated. When his lure approached the boat, he submerged the rod tip and made a wide figure-eight pattern underwater.

“It’s all about triggering predator instincts,” he said. Suddenly, upon retrieval of his first cast, a muskie rose to the lure. It attacked. Chaos ensued. The fish raced around and underneath the boat. Meyer scampered to avoid snapping his pole. Another fisherman netted the thrashing creature, we snapped a photo, and Meyer quickly returned it to the water. He held the fish still and upright in the lake as it reoriented itself, allowing the muskie to resume using its gills and tail muscles before releasing it.

Meyer is a board member of his local chapter of Muskies Inc., and he co-chairs the Minnesota Muskie and Pike Alliance.

His boat has a universal catch-and-release policy for muskies. Even if a client catches one measuring 54-inches or larger (the statewide minimum for keeping), he remains inflexible: “If a client asks about the possibility of keeping a trophy fish, I’ll tell them, ‘one of you is making it to shore—you or the fish— but not both.’”

The revived fish swam from the boat with what seemed like an air of nonchalance. Meyer described the species’ audacious demeanor as unlike any other fish. “Sometimes they will just follow you to watch. They’re not afraid of anything because they’re the top of the food chain,” he said.

At just over 36 inches long, Meyer said the day’s first catch was a small specimen.

“Forty-three to 44 inches would be average, and we get a lot that are 42 to 48 inches,” he said. “We don’t catch many that are under 34-36 inches because of how big our bait is, and there just aren’t that many out here. You’re more likely to catch one over 50 inches than under 30 inches.”

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

I could hardly contain my excited anticipation for the next 12 hours of fishing. I imagined catching so many giant muskies that my arms ache. As it turned out, it was not long before my arms and back were aching—but not for the reason I had hoped. Muskie fishing is hard work.

With razor-sharp teeth packing ferocious jaws, muskies can weigh up to 70 pounds, live for 30 years, and swim at speeds of 30 miles per hour, according to U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Although a relative of northern pike, muskies grow much larger and will eat pike, other muskies, small birds (Youtube videos show them swallowing whole ducklings), rodents (often muskrats), and just about whatever they can fit in their mouths; however, the USFWS website notes that rough fish— typically carp or suckers—are the meal of choice for an adult muskie.

The range of muskies spans Canada through the northern United States in waterways feeding the St. Lawrence River, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Missouri-Mississippi River basins. As the birthplace of Muskies Inc. (the world’s largest muskie fishing and conservation group), the state of Minnesota has played an important historical role in the development of stocking programs and muskie sport fishing. But there are ample opportunities for trophy muskies elsewhere in the continental U.S., too: Michigan, Wisconsin, the Dakotas…even Nebraska.

Meyer told fishing stories, shared fishery biology factoids, and waxed poetic on the anti-muskie agenda of certain Minnesota politicians. That day, it was nearly 100 degrees out with no wind and hardly a cloud in the sky. Despite heat and distraction, his body performed a constant repetition of flawless fishing technique— cast, reel, figure-eight pattern, and repeat in rapid succession.

We got a few muskie follows and some phantom strikes, but no more hooked fish until nightfall. At sunset, a swarm of mosquitos enveloped the lake’s surface.

My top-water lure disappeared as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was my firstever muskie strike, and I failed to properly set the hook. We continued fishing through bugs and darkness. The third fisherman onboard landed the next muskie under starlight. At roughly 40 inches long, it’s no trophy (but a big fish nonetheless).

Even though I had not yet caught a muskie, I felt encouraged by witnessing two landed on my first time out. Back on dry land by midnight, I drove to a St. Paul motel for a few hours of sleep before my next attempt with a half-day fishing charter on Bald Eagle Lake in the northwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities. The boat departed at 6 a.m., and I was back chasing muskies as the sun rose overhead.

It was a beautiful summer day for fishing—not for catching, at least not for me. As every angler knows: “There’s a reason why it’s called fishing, not catching.” Also known to every angler: reciting this wry truism does not replace the joy and excitement of landing fish. I told myself, “At least I’m getting more practice on my figure-eight retrieval technique.”

Just before we returned to the dock, a local lake monster came to say hello.

It’s the ultimate tease. What I assumed must be the state-record muskie cruised alongside our boat just below the water’s surface. It looked like a five-foot-long torpedo in slow motion. But I could not get the fish to bite my flipping frog lure before it departed for open water.

Hopelessly determined to return to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” for a muskie, I wondered how close I’ve gotten to the threshold of 10,000 casts—because my arms felt like they were about to fall off.

Enormous muskies lurk in unexpected waters throughout the Northern Plains.

Even in the Omaha metro.

In 2017, 14-year-old Jacob Cooper pulled a huge muskie from the Papio Creek near downtown Papillion. The fish measured 44 inches and 24 pounds (about half the size of the Nebraska state record, but still a big fish). The teen hoisted his catch for a photo—and contemplated mounting it—before releasing the muskie back into the creek.

His story and photo made the local daily newspaper.

“People go to Canada to catch fish like that, and he’s catching them in our backyard. It’s pretty amazing,” his father, Aaron Cooper, was quoted as saying in a March 29 edition of The

// ADVENTURE //

SUDDENLY, UPON RETRIEVAL OF HIS FIRST CAST, A MUSKIE ROSE TO THE LURE. IT ATTACKED. CHAOS ENSUED. Omaha World-Herald. News of the big fish pulled from the little creek caught fire across Nebraska’s online fishing forums. A rush of anglers soon f locked to the fishing hole to hunt for the trophy that Jacob released.

The news did not surprise Daryl Bauer.

The Nebraska Game & Parks Fisheries Outreach Program Manager started with the department as a fisheries biologist in 1988. He has long known of Nebraska’s pockets of muskie and tiger muskie fish because he has helped to stock them for 30 years—that stocking effort includes Zorinsky Lake, the Papillion reservoir that feeds into Papio Creek. “In fact, I just saw a picture this week of a 41-inch-muskie that was caught out at Zorinsky,” he said during our phone interview in early November.

Over Bauer’s career, he has seen Nebraska’s stocking strategy shift from tiger muskies (a sterile hybrid crossed between muskie and northern pike) to purebred, hatchery-raised 1-year-old muskies. “Research indicates muskie are more tolerant of warm water than either the tiger muskie or the pike,” he said, explaining one reason for the change.

“The other reason is that the purebred muskie are a little bit tougher to catch.

We’re not stocking them for high catch rates; we want them to be a trophy fish, and they’re an additional big predator to help us stay on top of rough fish or an abundant baitfish.”

Although he has tried fishing for muskie outside of the Cornhusker State on a few rare occasions, Bauer caught his first-ever muskie in the early 2000s at Wagon Train Lake, just south of Lincoln. “It was only about 20 inches, a year or two after we stocked them, he said. “But, hey, that’s a muskie!” Over the subsequent years, he caught a lot more—including some trophy-worthy beasts pulled from Merritt Reservoir in Cherry County in Nebraska’s Sandhills (the state’s undisputed top destination for targeting muskie).

In the grand scheme of sport fishing for muskie, Bauer said Nebraska would be an asterisk. “There’s no one who thinks of Nebraska when they think of muskie fishing,” he said. But Game and Parks is working to change that perception with regards to Merritt Reservoir. The department has stocked muskie there since 1964 (though the state first started stocking muskies in 1958).

New for 2020, the department increased the minimum length to keep a muskie caught at Merritt Reservoir from the statewide minimum of 40 to 50 inches (still lower than Minnesota’s statewide minimum length of 54 inches) to promote catch-and-release fishing that allows the reservoir to produce more trophy specimens.

“The fishery we have at Merritt would be well worth the trip,” Bauer said. “And what we do offer that some of those other states do not is that we don’t have any closed season. Some states have a closed season on muskie in the early spring [when the fish are spawning], so a lot of the muskie anglers in those parts make trips south during that time.

Some of them ought to consider a trip to Nebraska.”

Fall is probably the best time of the year for muskie fishing, Bauer said. There is less pressure on the water, and the fish are feeding aggressively as they put on weight for winter. In Minnesota, Meyer said the fall season also requires a different technical approach—it’s the season for sitting in the boat and trolling with live bait.

The full-day charter began with high hopes and a livewell full of suckers for bait. From his smartphone, Meyer shared a photo of a friend’s first-ever muskie caught the night before on the same lake.

A 50-incher spilled over his arms, which could barely support the giant fish. My imagination ran wild. This is the peak time of year for catching monster muskies.

Bundled up in heavy insulated winter gear, we cruised the lake until dusk. I did not make any more progress to the 10,000-cast mark while we were trolling.

No bites. No muskies. Skunked again.

On the drive home, words from the Nebraska fisheries biologist echoed in my mind: “I think it would be nice if you caught one every 10,000 casts; sometimes it’s longer than that,” Bauer said with a hearty laugh during our interview.

I simply have not put in the time necessary, and there’s one solution for this—I’m already plotting my next muskie attempt. Should I travel back to Minnesota or stay in Nebraska for a trip to Merritt Reservoir? Both destinations remain on my to-do list. First, however, I will try closer to home—the spring muskie bite at Lake Zorinsky here in the Omaha metro.

Visit muskiesinc.org for more information about muskie fishing and conservation.

The Nebraska chapter of Muskies Inc. is Huskerland Muskie Hunters (@muskiesinc on Facebook). The Minnesota Muskie and Pike Alliance’s website is mnmuskie.org.

By the second week of November, Lake Miltona and waters north of the Twin Cities were already frozen. The sprawling Lake Minnetonka (with its mansion-lined shores in the southwestern suburbs of Minneapolis) remained open and free of ice. Meyer’s boat was ready to go the morning of Nov. 18.

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 39 //

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AS A GRATEFUL CLIENT AND LOVING PET PARENT, MAKE THE EFFORT TO STOP BY AND VISIT WITH THE DEVOTED MEMBERS OF PAWS TO ANGELS. I GUARANTEE YOUR HEART WILL BE TOUCHED. -Kathy Jarrett

PAWS TO ANGELS HELLO, MY NAME is Kathy and I would like to share some thoughts on what many of you may think, but are afraid to say.

I recently experienced a service provided by a local business that has changed my way of viewing how things are done rather than the way things ought to be done. I am hopeful that you stay with me so that you too can be enlightened and find faith in something worthwhile.

Dying is inevitable. It is either tucked away in the recesses of our hearts or conveniently blocked from our minds. We shy away from subjects like the end of life process and death. These are scary topics and fear is a conquering menace; but often it is because they are not understood. These same scary, misunderstood ideas are no different for a pet parent such as myself. I recently endured, with the loss of my sweet Olympia, I found complete peace and the realization in an alternate option. The only possible option to the end of life journey for my ‘baby’ was turning to Paws To Angels.

Paws To Angels is an alternate to traditional pet loss services. Either traditional or alternative concepts can be a good thing if used in the manner of integrity and compassion

for others. This is the founding and operating principals of Paws To Angels.

In the Omaha community, one business after another promotes honesty and why they are the best. But take a look at the meaning of an old adage, “Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover.” Traditional ways often fall short of alternative ways. This is what separates Paws To Angels apart from all other pet loss businesses.

My message is two-fold; we do not want to talk about the end of life and they (pet professional businesses) do not want to talk about traditional ways.

We are all caught up in this fast-paced life with the philosophy that the choices we make in purchases or services is only satisfying “now.” Where is the satisfaction when we realize the choices we made then are nothing but regrets now? As a pet parent, I implore you not to make this same mistake when the time has come to lay your pet family member to rest. Paws To Angels can and will be there for you. Shouldn’t the same outpouring of love, kindness, and devotion you give to your beloved pet throughout their lives be there for them

at the end? What you provided for them in their happy and healthy years as part of your family should also be given when it is time for them to go. You made a home for them and in turn they made your house a home. Allow yourself to memorialize the uniqueness of your ‘baby’ so that you can treasure their life with you forever. If you want an option other than your veterinarian, I suggest you visit Paws To Angels to see that the alternative will give you peace of mind.

If there is a time to break from tradition, this is the time. Make a conscious, and honorable decision for the love of your pets. Do not be afraid of experiencing the end of life journey with your pawed family members. As a grateful client and loving pet parent, make the effort to stop by and visit with Cherie Fry, CPLP, and the devoted members of Paws To Angels. I guarantee your heart will be touched.

Sincerely, Kathy Jarrett A Loving Pet Parent 402.507.0585 ptapetlosscenter.com MARCH/APRIL 2020

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{ T i n y

B u t }

Mighty O m a h V e n e z u e C o m m u n F i S u p p W h M i s s T h H o m e l FEATURE

a l i n o i i e a

’ a t d r l n i n

s n y s t e g r d

STORY BY SCOTT STEWART

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

M

arianna Berlin moved to the United States in search of adventure.

She was born in a U.S. Navy hospital in San Diego while her Venezuelan father participated in joint naval exercises, but she grew up in Venezuela. More than 20 years ago, at age 18, she received a letter from the U.S. government asking what nationality she intended to pursue.

“I wanted to pursue that American dream, to see what it is about America that we love so much in Venezuela,” Berlin said.

She figured she could always go home; but that’s no longer a viable option for her or many Venezuelans who have left in the intervening years—an estimated 4.5 million people, according to the United Nations.

Refugees and migrants have been fleeing violence and insecurity in the country for years, as the economy has collapsed and an autocratic government has tightened its grip on power.

Berlin’s parents are among the many left behind. >

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FEATURE

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TINY BUT MIGHTY

hey’re basically prisoners in their own home,” she said.

She sends them food and other necessities, such as antibiotics, through “a black market of wonderful angels who help us get goods there,” but even that network has begun to break down.

Sometimes, it is impossible to send help, Berlin said. “It’s not safe. It’s very dangerous.”

Three years ago, the last time she traveled to Venezuela, Berlin faced harassment before she even embarked on her journey. Two days before her flight, officials told her they wouldn’t approve her visa unless she went to Chicago to get her documents stamped.

“

N

ebraskans have been so welcoming to these communities,” Berlin said.

Eduarmar Flores left Venezuela two years ago to join her sister in Omaha.

Access to food, water, and medicine was difficult to obtain.

“Those things are almost impossible there,” she said.

“That was the fastest $600 that I spent flying into Chicago,” she said. “But it didn’t end there, because then when I got to Venezuela, it was even worse. Going through customs, they put me through hell and back.”

Crime is so bad that people can’t talk on a cellphone in public without risking being mugged.

They asked her why she was there. One of the airport officials grabbed her passport, childishly claiming it was burning his hands because it was American. She was put through the wringer for an hour before they let her collect her luggage. Then the military stopped her as she tried to leave the airport.

Flores found work with a Venezuelan food truck in Omaha, and she took college classes when she arrived to learn English. Now she works as a paraprofessional in a dual-language kindergarten classroom in the Omaha Public Schools and at a local Walmart.

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“It is intimidating because they’re military men with guns—not just little guns, the big ones,” Berlin said. “All I could see is my dad like, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s going to get arrested.’ I could tell my father was terrified.”

Eventually, she was united with her father, and he told her it would be her last trip home.

“I’m torn between two worlds,” she said. “I want to see my family and my parents, and I miss them terribly. But I also made my life here. I have a job. I have a husband. I have kids. I have a life here. This is my home. But yet, Venezuela is also home.”

Her conflict is shared by many Venezuelan migrants who have built lives elsewhere but still have family back home.

The Venezuelan diaspora has grown rapidly in recent years, with an 8,000% increase in refugees since 2014. Many leave for the neighboring countries of Brazil and Colombia.

Several hundred have sought to make a new life in Nebraska, and a growing community of Venezuelans can be found in Omaha, connecting through social media, mutual friends, a few restaurants, and an annual gathering held each fall in a city park.

“I’m torn between two worlds, I w a n t t o s e e m y f a m i ly a n d m y p a r e n t s , a n d I m i s s t h e m t e r r i b ly.

But I also made my life here.

I have a job. I have a husband.

I have kids. I have a life here.

T h i s i s m y h o m e . B u t y e t, Venezuela is also home.”

-Marianna Berlin

She’s planning a wedding with an American who loves Venezuelan food.

“I like Omaha,” Flores said. “It’s a good place to live.”

Life is good. She’s happy. But Flores still worries about her family in Venezuela.

They often lack power, and they do not have internet connectivity, so staying in touch is difficult.

“I always try to call my mom and see how they are doing,” she said. “It’s really hard to stay in communication with them.”

Flores is thankful for her life in Omaha, and she said she appreciates having the freedom to express herself—something that’s become too much of a risk in Venezuela.

“Venezuela, 20 years ago, was the best country in South America,” she said.

“Venezuela used to be so rich. Now, it’s poor—it’s poor like a country that has nothing.”

V

enezuela is among the world’s largest exporters of oil.

The country controls a quarter of the world’s oil reserves, edging out Saudi Arabia as of the end of 2018, according to OPEC. Oil helped make Venezuela a rich nation.

“We had everything we wanted,” Berlin said.

On the global stage, Venezuela was “tiny but mighty,” she said. Its people are highly educated and enjoy traveling. They used to visit the United States to go shopping for Christmas. The country was prosperous, and it had the highest standard of living in Latin America for decades.

Oil prices declined in the 1980s, however, bringing poverty, inflation, and political upheaval. Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1998, and his Bolivarian Revolution ushered in a new constitution and nationalized key industries.

Nicolás Maduro assumed control of the country following Chávez’s death in 2013.

Despite some ups and downs, the economy has remained in tatters. The country’s central bank places inflation at 130,000% in 2018, and the International Monetary Fund has projected rates in excess of 1 million percent.

Many workers in Venezuela earn the equivalent of a few U.S. dollars a month. The crisis has exceeded the depths of the Great Depression or the collapse of the Soviet Union, leaving Venezuelans in a situation not typically seen outside of the aftermath of civil war.

The crisis has exceeded the depths of the Great Depression or the collapse of the Soviet Union, leaving Venezuelans in a situation n o t t y p i c a l ly s e e n o u t s i d e o f t h e aftermath of civil war.

Berlin said the military will distribute food, but only some get assistance.

“Certain houses don’t get it because of political views,” she said. “A bag of food would be cornmeal, a bag of pasta, or a bag of rice. It’s nearly impossible to have any protein.”

Another Omahan from Venezuela, Richard Mendoza, said his sister was recently diagnosed with tuberculosis and worries she won’t get the necessary medications.

“She had to go to a hospital and be on a waiting list in order to get treatment,” Mendoza said.

“Two of the people on her waiting list have passed away. They died because they were not able to get the treatment on time. That’s the gravity of the situation.”

Meanwhile, Maduro has taken other steps to crush his rivals, denouncing Juan Guaidó—who claimed the presidency after Maduro’s 2018 re-election was rejected by the United States, European Union, and several Latin American nations—as “a puppet of American imperialism.”

Maduro blames U.S. sanctions for his country’s worsening economic prospects.

The country’s bleak future is uncertain, but the continuation of a political stalemate—as hunger, disease, and crime continue unabated—remains likely for now.

M

endoza remembers Venezuela when it was perfect.

The owner of El Arepon Venezuelan food truck relocated to the United States to attend a Catholic seminary. He arrived in Wichita, Kansas, a couple weeks before 9/11.

“Everyone looked alike to me,” Mendoza said. “English was so weird. I couldn’t even get a word back then.”

He relocated to Omaha in 2003 to join his brother, a Catholic priest with the Archdiocese of Omaha. Although he left the seminary, Mendoza spent several years as director of liturgy and director of the youth group at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church.

Eventually, a new pastor arrived and cleaned house. Mendoza found himself working as a legal assistant at Curley Immigration Law. Inspired by the food shortages in Venezuela, Mendoza launched the food truck in 2017 to help share his culture, and its takes on arepas, empanadas, and other Venezuelan fare, to the local community. He said he hopes to spread some happiness to others.

“There are three things…we consider the happiest things in life: food, sleep, and sex,” Mendoza said. “There are so many things bad going on right now.

We also should bring a little bit of the good things.”

Through his work, Mendoza helps new immigrants find their place in Omaha.

He recently became a naturalized U.S. citizen. >

45

WELCOME TO

Springfield, Missouri In Springfield, Missouri, you can immerse yourself in the world’s largest fish and wildlife attraction, Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium, voted America’s best aquarium and best new attraction.

SpringfieldMo.org/Wonders // 46 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

FEATURE

“I wasn’t expecting to find so many Venezuelans here in town,” Mendoza said.

Venezuelans have a variety of European heritages, as around 20,000 people claim German roots, and many others claim Dutch, Portuguese, and other European roots. That means they blend into the Nebraska melting pot more easily than South/Central American groups that largely claim Spanish roots.

“I can see a Venezuelan walking in the street, and I can say he’s an American,” Mendoza said. “You probably have one around you, and you don’t even know.”

O

maha’s Venezuelan community is a cross-section of different walks of life, including a recently retired professional baseball player.

Jheyser Azuaje played catcher for six years after being recruited by the Detroit Tigers’ Venezuelan Summer League in the Venezuelan state of Carabobo. He played on two championship teams in the VSL before it folded, and then he played rookie-level Minor League Baseball for the Tigers in the United States through 2018.

The opportunity to play baseball allowed him to provide support for his family in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital city, offering them a better life than most, even if he wishes he could give them more.

“It was really hard for me to go back to Venezuela,” he said. “I’d see my family have a good dinner, but also look outside the window and see people eating out of dumpsters.”

His family gave to others around Christmas, but inflation has taken its toll—as has a torn ACL that ended Azuaje’s baseball career.

After the injury, Azuaje and his wife, Kim Garcia, moved to Omaha. She is a legal assistant, and he works for a construction company.

“It’s a good community,” Garcia said.

“It’s a better place for us to live, especially since we’re young and wanted to make a living.”

Azuaje hopes people understand that the crisis in Venezuela, along with its resulting crime rate, is not the fault of the Venezuelan people.

“Venezuela is a wonderful country,” he said. “You see a lot of immigrants from Venezuela from all over the world. I believe that they should be accepted because they never wanted to leave their country. They had to do it for survival.”

S

usana Ruiz Morales left Venezuela to find a better life for her daughter.

The graphic designer at Metropolitan Community College said she has friends from home scattered across the globe, the result of Venezuelan migration that reversed direction over the course of a few generations.

When Ruiz Morales attended school in Venezuela, everyone’s parents or grandparents hailed from a different country.

“Venezuela was the best place to live,” she said. “All these people moved to Venezuela, and now are returning to everywhere—we are everywhere right now.”

Ruiz Morales became an international student after it became hard to get food for her and her daughter. She chose Nebraska because she has family here, an aunt and a sister, who both arrived as students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

She took classes at MCC in English, media, and communications, but her visa ran out. She spent a year in Spain before coming back to Omaha.

“Omaha is a really nice city,” she said.

“ I t w a s r e a l ly h a r d f o r m e t o go back to Venezuela, I’d see my f a m i ly h a v e a g o o d d i n n e r , b u t a l s o look outside the window and see people eating out of dumpsters.”

-Jheyser Azuaje

TINY BUT MIGHTY

Ruiz Morales’ work and family schedules don’t leave much free time, but she’s met students and other people from Venezuela. They connect through Facebook and through food, including Mendoza’s food truck and Rockbrook Village’s The Hunger Block, owned by a pair of restaurateurs from Caracas.

“You start to build a community,” Ruiz Morales said. “We are friendly people.”

Ruiz Morales married an American in 2018, adding a stepson to her family. She said it has been hard building a relationship that celebrates their shared cultures.

Venezuelans prioritize family and community in their lives, she said.

“We think that love is important to connect everybody,” Ruiz Morales said. “It’s challenging for us being far away from our country.”

For her, being apart from family and Venezuela’s natural beauty— from its tropical climate to Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world—is like a native Nebraskan being pulled away from Cornhusker football, chili and cinnamon rolls, and other hallmarks of The Good Life.

Ruiz Morales said it feels like part of her is still back home.

“When something happens there, then you feel the pain for your people and your place,” she said. “It’s sad.”

When she was younger, she would have never imagined Venezuela facing its current crisis.

“I miss Venezuela so much,” Ruiz Morales said. “Sometimes I cry thinking of Venezuela and my people. I miss my friends, my family. But, you know, it is part of life. And I really want this situation changed in Venezuela. I pray for that every day.”

Visit latinocenter.org for more information about people from many Central/South American countries, including Venezuela.

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FEATURE + STORY BY SEAN ROBINSON

TRADING A SIX-FIGURE JOB TO STREAM PROFESSIONALLY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JUSTIN BARNES + DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

MARCH/APRIL

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2020

R D U L PO MARCH/APRIL 2020

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B

ENJAMIN LUPO HAS ALMOST 90 MILLION TOTAL TWITCH VIEWS, 4.4 MILLION INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS, AND 1.5 MILLION YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS. Eight-time Grammy nominee Lizzo has 7.4 million Instagram followers and 1.57 million YouTube subscribers.

Numbers like these don’t lie. Benjamin Lupo of Omaha is a bona fide celebrity—whether he likes it or not. Lanky with a Nebraska-nice smile and commonly wearing just a t-shirt and jeans, he may look like your average 30-something…until you step out in public with him.

“Um. I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.

Wait. You are DrLupo,” said the teenage boy serving Benjamin and his wife, Sam, at Village Pointe’s Paradise Bakery.

A slew of adoring adolescent fans soon congregate to snap selfie after selfie with him.

“We are not celebrities, but we have a following,” Benjamin said. “I’ll take some pictures, but I do put up sort of a wall at a point just so people don’t feel like they own me.”

It makes sense why strangers would approach Benjamin like he’s just another one of their pals.

They’ve played hours upon hours of video games with him…well, with DrLupo. That’s how he’s commonly known and made his living over the past couple of years—recording himself playing battle royale video games Fortnite, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, and others up to 65 hours per week on the streaming service Twitch.

His schedule is a gamer’s dream. He wakes around 7 a.m. when his son awakens, and plays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sam brings him lunch on stream almost daily, at which point he allows “Chair” (which has imbedded controls) to take over onscreen so he can still play and eat his lunch without making his viewers watch him eat. He logs off for dinner and to spend a couple of hours with his family, then logs back on from 8:30-11 p.m.

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

“When I’m live, it’s the most engaging job. It requires 100 percent attention,” Benjamin said.

“Otherwise, you’re not getting the best content and that feels unfair.”

The best DrLupo content makes fans feel as if they are just hanging out with him. Tune in to watch him play against other streamers—such as Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, the most followed professional gamer in the world—crack jokes, and sometimes (like anybody who has ever picked up a controller) lose his cool.

One grenade led to a friendship and a successful career. In 2017, Benjamin threw an in-game grenade at Ninja and killed him. When DrLupo realized he had eliminated this top player, he knew people online would be talking about it. He made an online comment about playing together, and the two struck a friendship. That friendship caused cross-promotion, and more views and followers for DrLupo.

That’s why his Omaha home has a studio built specifically for streaming. Separate A/C and power, soundproof walls, and six monitors in total. It’s gaming done at its most professional.

This may be all fun and games, but it’s also serious business. All those followers? Yeah, they bring in big revenue. So much so, he ditched his six-figure salary IT job at a local insurance agency and is now making 10 times his previous income.

So how does Benjamin manage to make so much moolah with gaming as a gig? More views and more subscribers equals more money. It’s as easy as that.

His max one-time viewership was 180,000, but he averages 8,000 to 20,000 per stream. He can cash in on certain content multiple times, too, when replaying it on Twitter or YouTube then profiting from ads.

Then there’s branded merch, contractual events such as narrating play-by-plays for world cup-style video game tournaments, and his own coffee line.

Kylie Jenner has makeup, Britney Spears has perfume, and DrLupo has Lifeline Roast with Kings Coast Coffee Company.

FEATURE + GAMER FACE ON

Like other professional sports players, Benjamin is endorsed by notable names.

In January 2019, he became the first eSports player to be endorsed by State Farm Insurance.

“I got really lucky repeatedly to be where I’m at,” Benjamin said.

It was actually his wife who encouraged him to leave the corporate world behind.

In 2013, he began streaming on Twitch for fun but started making income from it a few years later as a “partnered” streamer with 1,000 subscribers. Then, about a year after that, his 30th birthday dawned. It was time for a change.

“If he wants to do something and he’s serious about it, then, yeah, he should go for it,” Sam said. “I had my own business for 10 years as a photographer, so it felt like a natural transition, too.”

Sam is now Benjamin’s manager and a gamer herself—albeit on a smaller scale.

Her content is almost the antithesis of her husband’s. Watch her play The Sims or build LEGOs in a calm, chill manner.

“Our content is kind of purposefully opposite, so you never have to leave the Lupos no matter what you’re looking for,” Sam said. “I’m also not good at Fortnite.

Like at all.”

Even their toddler son, Charlie, is part of the brand, occasionally popping up in videos and buddying around with gaming gods like Ninja. The “Dr” piece has as familial tie, too.

Benjamin’s father was James Victor Lupo, Ph.D., a Creighton psychology professor. The online moniker acts as an homage to him.

“I believe a person dies twice,” Benjamin said. “Once when the body gives out and again when people stop saying their name.”

Now the name is a household one amongst many. For Benjamin, that comes with its perks and pitfalls.

His cell’s contact list includes the likes of Brendon Urie from Panic! at the Disco, but his home has been “swatted” three times in one month.

Swatting is a form of harassment where an anonymous person calls police with a fake report to generate a heavy response. A concerning trend in the professional gaming community, swatting is often done in the middle of a live stream.

“I take it in stride and am at a point where I just want to make other people happy and give back in ways I never thought possible,” Benjamin said.

DRLUPO RAISED UPWARD OF $9 2 0 , 0 0 0 I N LESS THAN FIVE HOURS IN 2019 DURING A FUNDRAISING LIVE STREAM.

In 2018, he participated in GuardianCon in Tampa and brought in $350,000 in donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in four hours, the record high for one person. Sam said that a lot of the gaming community saved their donations for his block because they knew Benjamin was passionate about this cause and wanted to produce a large donation.

Much of his giving back benefits children’s programs like Make-a-Wish and St. Jude. For the latter, DrLupo raised upward of $920,000 in less than five hours in 2019 during a fundraising live stream. He continues to sponsor 24-hour streams to raise money for the organization, including one Dec. 21 event that generated $2.3 million.

“For the longest time, mainstream media has put a negative light on gaming,” Benjamin said. “My goal is to show gaming is nothing but good. It’s one of the most social things, it brings people together and opens the doors to meet others from different walks of life like nothing else ever has.”

Visit twitch.tv/drlupo for more information and to watch DrLupo online.

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 51 //

THO KRO MAS NEN ARTIST. MYSTERY. LEGEND FEATURE // STORY BY SANDRA MARTIN // ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

om Kronen was an Omaha artist who enjoyed spending time with people. The social, affable man was known to many in mid-Omaha, where he enjoyed visiting the bars.

“He was here at least once a day for at least a year,” said Jon Schaeffer, partowner and bartender of Countryside Village’s Inkwell. “He kind of went and did his rounds, and we were a fi xture on that tour.”

The rounds included Inkwell, VIP Lounge on 90th Street, and the Holiday and Jams on 78th Street. He was always ready to have a drink with friends and strangers, and he always had a story to tell.

“I knew he was going to monopolize your time if you were engaged with him,” Schaeffer said. “I’ve never really seen him finish a drink. I think it was more the social element.”

As an artist, Kronen specialized in realistic paintings of Native Americans. “My father was a member of the Lakota Sioux tribe,” Kronen was fond of telling people, adding, “it’s in my blood.”

Kronen said he never knew his birth father, who died before he was born.

Kronen and his two sisters were forced to live on the streets of Omaha when he was 7 years old. “We were throwaway kids,” he said,“living in abandoned houses or whatever shelter we could find, and stealing blankets off clotheslines to keep warm.”

Living near Carter Lake, Kronen said he and his sisters, aged 5 and 9, survived on frogs, fish, or “whatever we could find,” which he cooked on campfires.

It was during those desperate days that Kronen said he discovered his artistic talent. “We had to make money somehow,” he said, “so I began drawing pictures with charcoal or a piece of burnt wood, which I’d try to sell to people in nearby shops or bars.” Eventually, police caught the trio and they were sent to a local orphanage. “It was hell,” he stated, “We were always trying to escape.”

I worked side-by-side with Tom for nearly 50 years.“He was tireless as a volunteer in many of my efforts to seek public service office. His work and leadership for Vietnam veterans deserves special note and his Native American roots are eloquently displayed in his impressive paintings.

- Hal Daub

After almost a year, Kronen said he was adopted. He attended Washington Elementary School, about a year behind others his age, in the Benson area where the family lived. Those were happy years, he said. One vivid memory centered around a role he landed in a movie when he was 10 years old.

“It was easy,” he boasted, “the producers just asked for the name of the wildest kid around.”

Though he doesn’t recall the name of the movie, Kronen said it was like The Little Rascals. [The fi lm Men of Boys Town was fi lmed in Omaha in 1941, when Kronen would have been 8. There is, however, no credit for Kronen, as extras were not then credited.]

In high school Kronen became more serious about his art. He remembered taking lessons from Augustus Dunbier, a Nebraska impressionist artist best known for his landscapes. ”Gus took our class out to the woods,” he recalled, “and that sparked my interest in painting nature and wildlife as well as Native Americans.” He also attended the Omaha Art School, a two-year course which “I wound up teaching the second year,” he reminisced.

At age 19, Kronen joined the Marine Corps and became a Combat Illustrator for the Marine Corps Gazette Magazine.

Kronen signed up for two hitches. He said he has lived “all over the world.”

He said he was also a professional diver, one of the first to teach scuba diving in Omaha, and added that he worked for three years at the art department of the Navy Oceanographic Office, taking underwater photos of the ocean, bringing back samples, and illustrating them.

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 53 //

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//

Feature //

His number one passion, however, was his art. He said he designed several stamps in the late 1960s and early 1970s while working for the U.S. Bureau of Printing and Engraving. During this time, he recalled assisting with stamps depicting Tom Sawyer, Benjamin Franklin, Santa Claus, and Old Faithful. He also worked on the postcard illustration of John Hanson, President of the Continental Congress.

While working for the Bureau, he also did the artistic etching of President Ulysses Grant on the $100,000 U.S. Treasury Bond. Much like his inability to stay at one bar for a length of time, he left the Bureau in 1972 and went to Akron, Ohio.

In a report by the Akron Beacon Journal, he mentioned that working for the Bureau felt like going to jail—the employees were locked inside the building every day.

Kronen was also recognized for his murals, some painted where shoppers could watch him create his art. For example, he painted his mural, “Story of Omaha, from PreSettlement Days to the Present,” on the second floor of Westroads Mall over a four-month period in 1980. The mural, which is 17.5’ long and 5.5’ high, was a gift to the city and still hangs today in the Omaha City-County Building. Another of Kronen’s most-publicized creations was a 17’x5.9’ mural depicting the history of the Santee Sioux Indians, which hangs in an elementary school on the tribal reservation of Santee, Nebraska.

Kronen used acrylic paints to create his artwork, which were designed for reproduction. “You sell the chicks,” he explained, “you never sell the hen.” An example of a piece of art made for reproduction was his painting of an American bald eagle, with a billowing flag in the background.

Some 550,000 copies of the painting were distributed by a Boston-based food chain as a promotional program, Kronen recalled.

Considering himself more of an illustrator than anything else, Kronen tried to study his subjects in their natural habitats whenever possible. His painstakingly detailed illustrations that have a photographic quality were created with an ultra-thin brush to paint “one hair at a time, and even the pores on a human face.” One of his favorite portraits was of the late Nebraska Poet Laureate John G. Neihardt, whom he painted in 1978 in hopes of it someday being made into a national postage stamp.

His illustrations have appeared in various national magazines, including Field & Stream and National Wildlife. He also used his talent to support political candidates, designing murals to hang in both city and national offices. Someone with first-hand knowledge of that support is former Congressman and former Omaha

ic smet Dentist Co

Mayor Hal Daub. “I worked side-by-side with Tom for nearly 50 years,” Daub said, “He was tireless as a volunteer in many of my efforts to seek public service office. His work and leadership for Vietnam veterans deserves special note and his Native American roots are eloquently displayed in his impressive paintings.”

However, Kronen’s eyesight, which started failing him in 1968. The condition defied a medical solution, and led the artist to paint part of his “Story of Omaha” mural in Braille. “It’s not like braille in books,” he explained, “but some elements, like a rattlesnake’s scales, are raised so that blind people can “see” my art.”

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In addition to all his commercial applications, Kronen explained that he often used his talents for worthy causes. He painted two snow leopards, for example, which were sold to raise money for Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo cat complex. He also said he set up programs to help fund Native American students who want to attend art schools.

Kronen was married five times (one marriage lasting more than 40 years), has five biological children, several stepchildren, and has “helped raise countless other children.” Several years ago, he was also able to reunite with his mother and sisters.

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All storytellers periodically “blow smoke,” but in this story, it truly happened. In the late 2010s, Kronen’s house, and belongings, burned in a fire. Among those belongings were several years’ worth of artwork and memorabilia. Daub and other friends helped him resettle into an apartment.

Kronen painted to the end, racing against time to complete his projects before his eyesight failed completely. “I can still see enough to do murals and rough portraits,” he said, “just not with as fine a detail as before.” At age 86, the “street smarts” he relied on in his youth were still evident as he spoke with Omaha Magazine in December 2019. When asked if he had developed a life strategy over the years to help him survive, he responded: “I always just try to keep two hops ahead of whoever is chasing me.”

That included the Omaha Magazine staff, who enjoyed listening to the life story of a community member and neighbor even when the evidence fell short. Kronen passed away in January 2020. As of presstime, there had been no funeral notice.

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// 55 //

photography By bill sitzmann design by matt wieczorek

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 56 //

FEATURE // story by Kamrin Baker

Keeping the San Clemente Island Goats Afloat

D

rivers twisting along the crooked spine of Q Street toward the Elkhorn River will start to notice the remaining clues of a deadly flood season in Nebraska from spring 2019. Dead tree limbs sleep on the shoulders of the road, repaired pockets of gravel kiss the ground, natural woods now rest, worn down by trauma.

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 57 //

FEATURE // willow valley farms

L

ocated at 240th Street south of West Q Road, Willow Valley Farms provides more dramatic evidence of the flooding.

“I’m glad you’ve got your boots on,” said John Carroll, hosing off his porch at the arrival of a new visitor. A peacock named Pedro unwinds on the front stoop, nibbling on nuts. Roosters and chickens squawk nearby. They are just the opening acts.

The grounds of the farm are soggy from normal seasonal conditions, and of course, still healing from previous natural disaster. However, the muddy acreage is no match for the strong, strange community under which it dwells.

Carroll and his partner, Chad Wegener, own Willow Valley Farms— and the world’s largest herd of San Clemente Island goats.

The couple own 200 San Clemente Island goats. The non-California natives live in Nebraska under the love, care, and adoration of an unlikely pair: a malpractice lawyer (Carroll) and a former pharmaceutical rep turned full-time farmer (Wegener). “[Willow Valley] is a special place out here,” Carroll said. “And we know it.”

“We bought this place, and it was an abandoned house with nothing,” Wegener said. “We renovated everything. There was no building. No pasture, garden, flowers. The reason it’s special is because our family, our friends—us—we built this. This home was made from scratch.”

The San Clemente Island goats were once a feral group considered to be a nuisance on the U.S. Navy-owned island. In January 1985, a Navy mission to kill all the goats on San Clemente Island was stopped less than 24 hours before shooting was to begin and animal rescue workers were given nearly two months to rescue as many goats as possible.

Despite this respite, thousands of goats were shot, and by the early 1990s, the goat population was effectively gone from the island.

Carroll became acquainted with the breed when he lived in Los Angeles.

He is one of many animal lovers who eventually saved the goats and began breeding them, bringing Wegener along for the ride. // 58 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

Today, they are an endangered breed. Only a few hundred remain—the majority of them dwelling on the peaceful pasture in Gretna, Nebraska.

“You learn how smart they are, how cool they are, and how each one has its own personality. They’re like people,” Carroll said. “I love that they’re survivors. We’re survivors in many ways, and there’s a reason why they ended up on that island, and there’s a reason why they were saved, and there’s a reason why we’ve donated this huge part of our lives to keeping them from going extinct.”

It was clear: the two would never let anyone wash away what they had created together—not even Mother Nature herself.

The flood started on a regular day.

Carroll headed to work in the city and Wegener tended to the goats.

They had heard about flooding in nearby areas but figured their property was too high up from the river to be affected.

Before long, Wegener and a neighbor began to see a puddle developing—and breaching—on the grounds.

“Within 15, 20 minutes it was all happening,” Wegener said.

Carroll came home, they posted an SOS on Facebook, and the community rushed in as quickly as the water.

“There were tons of volunteers,” Wegener said. “To this day, we still don’t know who some of them are.

We didn’t get many of their names.”

T his wa s a mission of biblical proportions.

Chad Wegener and Star, one of the San Clemente Island goats rescued at Willow Valley Farms.

Today, only a few hundred remain—the majority of them dwelling on the peaceful pasture in Gretna, Nebraska.

“We started grabbing them out of the water, goat by goat,” Carroll said. “Whatever you could get—a horn, a leg, an ear—in this maybe 30-degree water.”

The couple feared for the goats: pneumonia, extraordinary loss, perhaps extinction. Still, they put their lives on the line to save the animals.

At one point, Carroll was sent into the water, tied by an extension cord, to grab at anything he could.

“Goats were literally almost ready to die,” Wegener said, choking up.

“These smaller ones were just staring into the water and shaking. I just kept going back and thinking ‘oh my God, did I get them all?’”

They had gotten them all.

One of the many volunteers was Joy Bartling of Scatter Joy Acres, who came barreling in with trailers and a tug at the heart to help. She later temporarily housed many of the female goats at her farm in North Omaha. Others helped rehabilitation efforts for months to come.

Some set up intensive care units for injured and sick goats at their own farms and stables.

“Humans are inherently kind,” Carroll said. “When the rubber meets the road, I believe in humans. I believe in generosity, kindness, faith. Through this process, we bore witness to every good thing you can ever imagine. It’s not that we needed to ‘restore’ that faith in humanity, but we got to see it. You do see the best and the worst, and even though nature was at its worst, we got to see the best of Nebraskans.”

Later on, with the help of veterinarians who were experts in crisis and helped countless animals in the California wildfires, the couple would put down a single, older female goat—one of their original kids.

They lost about 35 birds in the flood. They gained lots of mysterious friends. Their house still stood (“a postage stamp on an envelope,” Carroll called it, as the rest of the grounds flooded), but there was plenty of rebuilding to come.

One year after the historic flood, Carroll and Wegener have ideas for the future, born from healing and experience.

They continue to work on a disaster plan to put preventative measures in place for any future emergency, rebuild the two tiny houses on their property that will soon be available for rent on AirBnB again, work toward their dream goat dairy, and invite people from all walks of life to delight in the farm’s story of endurance.

“The goal for me is ‘when you get, give. When you learn, teach,’” Wegener said. “I’d love to somehow create a social enterprise where we can bring [children], adults, marginalized people, at-risk people to see our at-risk goats.”

The two envision a community of LGBTQ+ folks, urban dwellers, and youth who may want a different educational path to be a part of the village of preservation—of positive forward motion.

“There’s just something about being in a farm space that moves people,” Carroll said. “This is 40 acres of a diverse, loving energy space of unknown healing ability. I think it’s because of how intentional it is. Everything about [the farm] is about being positive and beautiful and part of nature.”

“Nature is fickle and powerful, but it also gives us all this beauty and joy,” Wegener said. “This is the balance we have to live with. We’re all a part of the earth. We are very symbiotic, and we want to help.”

Visit willowvalleyfarms.org for more information

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 59 //

SPORTS // STORY BY CHRIS HATCH // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

P

eople talking to John Sakowski often think he sounds a little bit like a surfer. A strange trait for a big-game, locked in, Big East pitcher, whose home stadium is 1,600 miles away from good surfing.

But there is something about his attitude.

Something about the way he talks about himself and his journey and the game of baseball.

There is low key. There is under the radar.

Then, there is Sakowski.

He is located somewhere in the subterranean depths of the college baseball hype machine; buried beneath the Ogallala aquifer and a youth science fair project on the layers of the Earth’s crust and a few feet above where your feet hit the magma. That’s where you’ll find the senior middle reliever as he gets ready to enter into his final season with the Bluejays.

He doesn’t mind keeping that low profile, though. That unflappable chill.

The laidback chemistry major who plans to one day become a dentist really only has one use for a spotlight: hitting those back molars with enough illumination to get to work. Now, open wide, please.

It’s not new, either: This relative anonymity, this feeling of letting things come when they’re ready.

Sakowski has never had much use for pomp or circumstance: not from his days playing baseball in a small-time local rec league where he describes himself as “more of a basketball guy,” nor while easing his way up through the ranks at Creighton Prep.

In many ways, his easygoing demeanor, his disdain for self-import, has always seemed a little more apt for a wetsuit and some crunchy waves than a pitching mound in a high-pressure situation.

“He was definitely a calming influence for the team,” said his high school pitching coach, Jerry Wellwood.

They told him he was on the team. And he needed to be ready, because he was going to pitch.

Make no mistake, beneath that placid, lake-smooth exterior and the self-deprecating attitude are waves of drive waiting to crash onto shore.

Since then, it’s been more work, more fun. Never one to close himself off to new ideas, Sakowski changed throwing styles. He changed again, and again.

The man who used his decades of knowledge about the game to help mold Sakowski in his latter stages of high school knows about the fire hidden beneath. “The thing about John is that he was so competitive,” said Wellwood. “He hated to walk people. He would get out there and be competing like an animal.”

“In high school I was just a normal stock pitcher,” Sakowski said. “When I came here they moved me to side arm. The summer before my junior year, I started throwing over the top and sidearm and now I have all these different pitches I can throw. It doesn’t have to be as good, because they can’t figure out what’s coming.”

In spite of that fighting mentality, and the mental pliability that comes with an attitude like his, coming off a successful high school career, Sakowski had all the publicity of a CIA covert operative.

As a junior he had a breakout season.

Suddenly Sakowski’s vibe and his pitching matched up. The landlocked surfer saw a massive wave coming and hopped on.

“We didn’t hear from a single school.” He says about his recruiting process, after becoming a late blooming star in high school. “My parents weren’t really big into the sports stuff, so we didn’t reach out to anybody and nobody reached out to me. Halfway through my senior year, I knew I was coming to Creighton already, so my dad told me ‘email the coach and see if you’ve got a shot.’”

“I finally felt comfortable on the mound, but things weren’t going well at first,” Sakowski said. “But, I told coach, I feel it coming. I don’t know if you can see it, but I am comfortable.”

The coaches agreed to let him come to a walk-on tryout, where he was awarded a “gray-shirt”: he was on the team, but unable to practice with the squad. From there was more work, more pitching. At each step, Sakowski’s uncut diamond of a pitching game got a little more polished. A little more honed.

When the stage was the biggest, the unworried right hander delivered some of his best performances against in-state rival Nebraska and against defending national champions Oregon State.

Until finally, he was ready.

“When I was walking on, I didn’t know if I was going to be on the team,” Sakowski said. "For my first year and three quarters, I had no idea if I was going to make the team or not. I found out three days before we left for a road trip that I made the team.”

““ T H E T H I N G A B O U T J O H N I S T H A T H E W A S SO COMPETITIVE, HE HATED TO WALK PEOPLE. HE WOULD GET OUT THERE AND B E C O M P E T I N G L I K E A N A N I M A L . ”” -Jerry Wellwood // 60 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

Comfortable enough that he eventually ended the season with a 7-1 record, 2.83 ERA, and 44 strikeouts in 47.2 innings pitched.

“Some people like to get themselves super hyped up before they come in,” Sakowski said. “I’ve tried that, but that doesn’t work for me. When I’m on the mound, I’m calm and relaxed.

Everything’s normal.”

The Jays appear poised for a big season, and Sakowski can’t wait. The Omaha rec leaguer, the walk-on who practices meditation by competition, the guy with multiple deliveries and multiple big wins is not going to be a secret much longer. It’s hard to whisper a pitcher’s name when you’re shouting about a clutch strikeout.

“Winning the Big East. That’s the goal.”

Sakowski said.

Surf ’s up.

Visit gocreighton.com for more information

ONE J AY ’S JOURNEY It’s John Sakowski’s Time MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 61 //

“

If you’ve never lived on a tour bus, it is quite t h e e x p e r i e n c e . Yo u f i n i s h y o u r g i g , y o u b o a r d the bus, spend some time with your bandmates, head to your bunk, and then you wake up in the n ex t c i t y. . . I t wa s a n i n t e r e s t i n g way t o l ive .

-Cynthia Bailey // 62 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

”

P R O F I L E // S T O R Y B Y J E F F L A C E Y PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

PA S S I O N I S K E Y WESTSIDE EDUCATOR CYNTHIA BAILEY

C

ynthia Bailey, principal of Hillside Elementary in the Westside School District, has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford. She also has a handful of advanced degrees in education, including specialized training in teaching English language learners. She is considered by her peers and supervisors to be an excellent, dedicated educator.

She has also cut songs professionally, in studios; she was a backup singer for Engelbert Humperdinck; and she is trained in ballet.

At first glance, the connections seem unlikely.

“I believe that people are limitless in what they can do,” Bailey explained. “I feel like we limit ourselves. We say, ‘OK I have to choose a career path.’ But I don’t do that. I believe in finding what you are passionate about and then going for it. It’s something I call choosing your hot track.”

The phrase ‘hot track,’ Bailey said, is language she adopted from conversations with her friend Patricia Tallman, a longtime friend in Los Angeles who organizes life retreats meant to inspire and energize people. Bailey said that this term is a good description of the philosophy she applies to everything she does. The goal is to be passionate.

This passion has earned Bailey high praise from fellow educators. Dr. Mark Weichel, the assistant superintendent of Westside in charge of teaching and learning, said, “Cynthia is a fantastic educator.

What makes her stand out is that not only is she an expert in her field, but her passion for caring about students and her staff is amazing.”

“She’s funny, too,” Weichel continued.

“She’s great to have in meetings.” Bailey refers to her time performing in dinner theater as “slipping on broccoli.” Bailey has short hair and green eyes, and doesn’t “have” energy, she emits it.

Bailey was born and raised Dallas. She finished her last couple years of high school in Southern California, and earned a scholarship to Stanford. She was a ballerina at the time.

After she graduated from Stanford with a degree in broadcast journalism and communications, she decided to follow her first passion.

“After I finished college I went to L.A.,” she explained. “I had a degree in broadcast journalism, but I had done so much theater, and loved it, that I said I’ve got to follow this hot track.”

As an entertainer, Bailey did it all, from performing in plays at the Westwood Playhouse to doing shows on cruise ships to doing voiceovers for animated shows.

She earned her SAG card.

She was briefly a singer for Engelbert Humperdink, which she said sounded more glamorous than it was.

“The entire band traveled the country on a tour bus a great deal of the time,” Bailey said. “If you’ve never lived on a tour bus, it is quite the experience. You finish your gig, you board the bus, spend some time with your bandmates, head to your bunk, and then you wake up in the next city. Half the time I didn’t know what city we were in—and it didn’t matter that I didn’t know. All the arenas and theaters start to look the same. It was an interesting way to live. You get really close to the people you’re working with. Sometimes Engelbert would travel with us on the bus. He had a bedroom

in the back. Sometimes he would fly to the next gig, and we would go by bus. I actually preferred the bus. It was easier.”

She enjoyed being an entertainer, but then she had a child with her husband at the time. This was a turning point.

“I couldn’t travel anymore. I kinda didn’t want to. So I had to figure out what I was passionate about now. What I found was teaching. It was a perfect fit for me.

I loved teaching.”

She began her career in L.A. after earning her degree in cross-cultural language acquisition, teaching English language learners in some of the toughest schools in California. She divorced her then-husband. She learned a lot.

Then, she fell in love with Andrew Bailey.

“I met this Nebraska boy. He’s so awesome,” she said.

They moved to Nebraska, and at first she tried to lean into domesticity. “I thought, ‘great. I can just raise kids and stay at home.’ I lasted five months.”

She couldn’t stay away from her passion for teaching, so she went hunting for jobs. “I called Millard, and said I liked Title I schools,” Bailey said. Title I schools are those that receive supplemental funds due to large concentrations of low-income students. “I fit in at Title I schools. I understood Title I schools.

They had one position, they offered it to me. I took it.” She served as a reading and math interventionist for six years in Millard, and then for four more years as a teacher leader.

Then she went to Westside as a principal.

She said Hillside is a perfect fit for her.

“I only want to be a principal in a very diverse school. That’s my thing,” she said.

“I love it here.” >

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 63 //

// P R O F I L E //

COUNSELING CONNECTIONS & ASSOCIATES

For Bailey, being a good educator means looking at the whole person, whether dealing with students or staff. Regarding students, she said, “You have to look deeply. You have to understand the kid, and the circumstances, and what they’re bringing to the table. You can’t be a surface dweller. Some of the kids who love us the most show us in the most unloving ways.”

Bailey also believes in involving community. “We have to go deep in education,” she believes. “While I believe in test scores, I am really looking at the entire child. I consider things that aren’t as tangible. Is there parent involvement? Do kids love the experience? We do lots of things here that engage the whole community.”

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Her passion for music led her to be a key researcher and developer of a program that provides free music instruction to student who could not otherwise afford it.

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“I am not just educating a child,” she said.

“We do one school, one book. We have a community club that is very active, we have lots of ‘nights’ like STEAM Night (short for science, technology, art and math) and Literacy Night. We are there for the whole family.”

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This understanding is why Bailey is a metro-wide leader in mentoring student teachers. Hillside often has four to seven student teachers working there each semester.

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Bailey is also very aware of the challenges that face educators. She thinks that one of the biggest challenges they deal with is the screen-based world children live in. “If I had a message for parents, it’s that I want them to know that the way the world is, does shape their child. I am of the opinion that a lot of this technology we have is affecting children’s lives. Kids are not allowed to unplug and really just have space. They need space to create thought.”

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Besides passion, there is another key to success that Bailey maintains is important, regardless of the career: perseverance.

“I don’t always say the right thing,” she said, “but I believe that the thing that defines a person is, do they hang in there? They learn, they learn, they learn.

And I am going to hang in there.”

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// 64 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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// 65 //

GIVING

CALENDAR MARCH/APRIL 2 0 2 0

March 1 (10:30 a.m.)

16TH ANNUAL WALK AND ROLL FOR DISABILITIES Benefiting: Meyer Foundation for Disabilities Location: Oak View Mall —mfdisabilities.org

March 3 (11 a.m.-1:30 p.m.)

March 6 (5:30-8:30 p.m.)

NOURISHING HUNGRY BODIES AND SOULS VOICES OF EMPOWERMENT Benefitting: Table Grace Location: St. Thomas Lutheran Church

2020 AUTHOR LUNCHEON, FEATURING DAN HARRIS Benefiting: Completely Kids Location: Hilton Omaha —completelykids.org

—tablegracecafe.com

SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL HAPPENS WHEN COMMUNITY COMES TOGETHER

March 7 (7-10:30 p.m.)

—jewishomaha.org

—cosmopolitan.org

Benefitting: Jewish Federation of Omaha Location: Champion’s Club

March 25 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)

CASINO NIGHT—EVENING ON THE ITALIAN RIVIERA Benefiting: Diabetes Reseearch Location: il Palazzo March 7 (7 a.m.)

HEAT THE STREETS

Benefiting: Local Energy Assistance Programs Location: Stinson Park in Aksarben Village —heatthestreetsomaha.org

March 7 (5:30-10 p.m.)

CRUISE AWAY TO THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS Benefiting: Stephen Center Location: Champion’s Run —stephencenter.org

March 13 (7-11 a.m.)

PERFECT POUR

Benefiting: Nebraska Children Location: The Barn at the Ackerhurst Dairy Farm

March 26 (6-9 p.m.)

March 14 (5:30-11 p.m.)

Benefiting: Set Me Free Project Location: A View on State

—nebraskachildren.org

IRISH FEST

COMEDY FOR CHANGE

—setmefreeproject.net/comedy

Benefiting: Catholic Charities Location: Omaha Marriott Downtown

March 27 (6:30-9 p.m.)

HEROES IN THE HEARTLAND LUNCHEON

March 14 (6-10 p.m.)

Benefitting: Omaha Community Playhouse Location: Omaha Community Playhouse

—redcross.org/neia

Benefitting: CHI Health Location: Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs

March 3 (11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.)

Benefiting: American Red Cross Location: Hilton Downtown March 5 (5:30-9:30 p.m.)

CELEBRITY CHEF 2020: CARLA HALL

Benefitting: Food Bank of the Heartland Location: Embassy Suites Conference Center La Vista —foodbankheartland.org

—ccomaha.org

MERCY HERITAGE DINNER —chihealth.com

March 16

IMAGINE…GATHERING TO CELEBRATE DIFFERENCE Benefitting: Tri-Faith Initiative Location: CHI Health Center — trifaith.org

March 21 (5:30 p.m.)

GALA: PREPPING FOR SPRING WITH MACKENZIE CHILDS Benefiting: Omaha Symphony Guild Location: Holland Center —omahasymphony.org

March 22 (noon-3 p.m.)

WALK & RALLY FOR HOPE Benefiting: ALS Location: Baxter Arena —alsintheheartland.org

BOURBON AND BLUEGRASS —omahaplayhouse.com/

March 28 (4-10 p.m.)

BIG BASKETBALL BASH

Jan.

24

Benefiting: Big Brothers Big Sisters Location: UNO’s Scott Conference Center —bbbsomaha.org

March 28 (5-9 p.m.)

2020 VINNEBRASKA

Benefiting: Omaha Public Schools Location: Ramada Plaza by Wyndham Omaha

—vinnebraska.com

March 28 (5:30-9 p.m.)

THE GATHERING

Benefiting: CUES supported schools Location: Downtown Marriott Capitol District —cuesschools.org

March 28 (6-9 p.m.)

BENNINGTON FIFTH ANNUAL GALA FUNDRAISER

Benefiting: Bennington Public Schools Location: A View on State Street, 13467 State Street, Omaha, NE 68142 —benningtonschoolsfoundation.org

// 66 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// GIVING CALENDAR //

March 28 (6-10 p.m.)

OMAHA ARTVENTURE SILENT AUCTION AND RECEPTION Benefitting: Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska Location: Mammel Hall, UNO —girlscoutsnebraska.org

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FOR VOTING US 1ST PLACE 15 STR AIGHT YEARS!

March 28 (4-11 p.m.)

NIGHT OF KNIGHTS

Benefitting: Mount Michael Benedictine School Location: Mount Michael Benedictine —nightofknights.org/

March 28 (6-9:30 p.m.)

CELEBRATING COMMUNITY

Benefiting: Omaha Together One Community Location: Omaha Design Center —otoc.org

March 29 (4p.m.)

CELEBRATION OF SPIRIT DINNER

Benefiting: Notre Dame Sisters Location: Mainelli Hall at St. Robert Bellarmine —notredamesisters.org

March 31

MARCH MADNEZZ

Benefiting: Boys and Girls Clubs Location: TBA —bgcomaha.org

April 2

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ASSURE WOMEN'S CENTER IMAGINE BANQUET

Benefiting: First Step Location: CHI Health and Convention Center in downtown Omaha —firststeptolife.com

April 3 (5-9 p.m.)

RELEASE MINISTRIES GALA

Benefitting: Release Ministries Location: Scott Center —releaseministries.org

April 3 (5-10 p.m.)

RELAY FOR LIFE OF CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY Benfitting: American Cancer Society Location: Kiewit Fitness Center —cancer.org

April 3 (6:30-10 p.m.)

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WINE WOMEN AND SHOES

Benefiting: Carolyn Scott Rainbow House Location: Omaha Design Center —winewomenandshoes.com

April 4 (noon-3 p.m.)

PERFECTLY PAIRED

Benefiting: Angels Among Us Location: Fleming’s —myangelsamongus.org

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 67 //

// GIVING CALENDAR //

PEDI • MANI • SHELLAC • DIPPING POWDER ARTIFICIAL NAILS • WAXING • EYEBROW EXTENSIONS MASSAGE • VERSAPRO SUNLESS TANNING

April 4 (noon-4 p.m.)

OMAHA BARSTOOL OPEN

Benefiting: United Cerebral Palsy of Nebraska Location: the Old Market —ucpnebraska.org

April 4 (5-9 p.m.)

HEART OF CAMP GALA

Benefiting: Carol Joy Holling Camp Location: La Vista Conference Center —cjhcenter.org/gala

April 4 (5:30-9:30 p.m.)

COMEDY AND CUISINE

Benefiting: St. Cecilia Cathedral School Location:Monsignor Graham Building at St. Cecilia School —stcecilia.net

April 5 (5:30-9 p.m.)

ROCK THE NEST TRIVIA NIGHT

Benefiting: Central High School Location: Omaha Design Center

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April 7 (all day)

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FIRST TUESDAY EAT

Benefitting: Society of St. Vincent de Paul Location: Various —svdpomaha.com

April 7 (10:30 a.m.)

ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF OMAHA STYLE SHOW Benefitting: ALO Location: Champion's Run —alomaha.org

April 9-10 (11 a.m.-1 p.m.)

SPEAKING OF CHILDREN LUNCHEON WITH DIANA NYAD

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Benefiting: Ending Child Abuse Location: CHI Health Center Omaha

—projectharmony.com/events/speaking-of-children/

April 15 (6-9 p.m.)

OMAHA BUSINESS HALL OF FAME

Benefitting: Greater Omaha Chamber Location: Holland Performing Arts Center —omahachamber.org/bhof

Savor the experience April 16 (7-8 a.m.)

COMMUNITY BREAKFAST

Benefiting: Bellevue Public Schools Foundation Location: Lied Activity Center —bellevuepublicschoolsfoundation.org

April 17 (5:30 p.m.)

BIG DREAM WEEKEND Benefitting: DREAM Locations: The Mark —joindream.org

// 68 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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// GIVING CALENDAR // April 17 (5-10 p.m.)

KICKS FOR A CURE ANNUAL DINNER Benefiting: Kicks for a Cure Location: Marriott Downtown —kicksforacure.org

April 17 (5:30 p.m.)

25 YEARS - MENTORING THE 100 WAY Benefitting: 100 Black Men of Omaha Location: Hilton Omaha —100blackmenomaha.org

April 17 (7 p.m.)

GUNS & HOSES

Benefitting: First Responders Foundation Location: Baxter Arena —firstrespondersomaha.org

April 17 (5:30-9 p.m.)

CIRCLE OF DREAMS

Benefitting: St. Augustine Mission School Location: Champions Run —staugustinemission.org

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April 17 (7-10 p.m.)

RIVALZ—BLONDES VS. BRUNETTES Benefiting: Alheimer’s Association Location: Omaha Sports Complex —alz.nebraska.org

April 17 (9 a.m.-noon)

OMAHA FUNFEST

Benefitting: Autism Society of Nebraska Location: Ralston Arena —autismnebraska.org

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April 17 (6-10 p.m.)

HOPE BREWS

Benefiting: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Location: Founders One-Nine

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bigbrainomaha.com 1123 JACKSON STREET OMAHA, NE 68106

—cff.org/Nebraska

April 18 (times vary)

KICKS FOR A CURE 15TH ANNUAL SOCCER EXHIBITION Benefiting: Kicks for a Cure Location: varies —kicksforacure.org

April 18 (10 a.m.-1 p.m.)

ANNUAL SPRING LUNCHEON

Benefitting: Santa Monica House Location: Scott Conference Center —santamonicahouse.org

April 18 (6 p.m.)

BARRISTER’S BALL

Benefitting: Nebraska Lawyers Foundation programs Location: Embassy Suites, La Vista —nevlp.org

April 18 (5:30-10 p.m.)

SIXTH ANNUAL PINK RIBBON AFFAIR

Benefiting: Susan G. Komen Foundation Location: Hilton Omaha —komennebraska.org

April 18 (5:30-9 p.m.)

FESTA DEL LEONE

Benefiting: Roncalli Catholic High School Location: Roncalli Catholic High School —roncallicatholic.org

April 19 (noon-2:30 p.m.)

HUMANITARIAN BRUNCH

Benefitting: Inclusive Communities Location: Scott Conference Center —inclusive-communities.org

April 22 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)

INSPIRING: GUILD SPRING LUNCHEON FEATURING KIANA UNDERWOOD Benefitting: Lauritzen Gardens Location: Lauritzen Gardens —lauritzengardens.org

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// 69 //

// GIVING CALENDAR // April 22 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)

CAN DO LUNCHEON

Benefitting: Kids Can Location: Marriott at Capitol District

Feb.

29

—kidscan.org

April 23 (noon)

TABLE ART 2020

Benefitting: Omaha Symphony Guild Location: Champions Run —omahasymphony.org

April 24, 25, 30 (times vary)

BOWL FOR KIDS' SAKE

Benefiting: Big Brothers Big Sisters Location: TBD —bbbsomaha.org

April 25 (8:30-11 a.m.)

CLAUSSEN-LEAHY MAVERICK RUN Benefiting: UNO Athletics Location: Baxter Arena —omavs.com

April 25 (all day)

SCOUTING FOR FOOD

Benefitting: local food banks Location: varies —mac-bsa.org

April 25 (9 a.m.-noon)

NEBRASKA LYMPHOMA WALK

Benefitting: Lymphoma Research Foundation Location: Mahoney State Park —lymphoma.org

April 25 (5-8 p.m.)

BASH IS GOLDEN "CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF BUILDING A SCHOLASTIC HERITAGE" Benefiting: Creighton Prep Location: Heider Center at Creighton Prep —creightonprep.creighton.edu

April 25 (5-11 p.m.)

BLUE JEANS & DREAMS

Benefiting: Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy Location: HETRA barn —hetra.org

April 25 (6-9 p.m.)

BLACK TIE & TAILS

Benefitting: Nebraska Humane Society Location: Omaha Marriott at the Capitol District —nehumanesociety.org

April 26 (3 p.m.)

POPS AND PIE

Benefitting: Intergenerational Orchestra of Omaha Location: Christ Community Church —igoomaha.org

April 28 (5:30-9 p.m.)

BOOSTER 2020 BANQUET FEATURING ANTHONY ROBLES Benefitting: Boys Town Location: Embassy Suites - La Vista —boystown.org

April 29 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)

FUSION 2020 FEATURING CINDY LEVY Benefiting: Nebraska Medicine Guild Location: Omaha Design Center —nebraskamed.com/about-us/guild

Event times and details may change.

Visist omahamagazine.com for complete listings.

Check with venue or event organizer to confirm.

// 70 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

ELEGANCE

REIMAGINED SHOPPING HOURS Monday - Friday, 10 am - 8 pm Saturday, 10 am - 7 pm Sunday, 12 pm - 5 pm Individual store hours may vary

STORES | SERVICES Ann Taylor | Anthropologie Apricot Lane Boutique | Borsheims Drybar | Evereve | Garbo’s Salon & Spa Learning Express Toys | LOFT | Lovesac Nails Spa Village | Parsow’s Fashions Pottery Barn | Pottery Barn Kids | Tilly White House Black Market Williams-Sonoma

DINING Bonefish Grill Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar Paradise Bakery & Café 120 Regency Parkway, Omaha | RegencyCourtOmaha.com

L E G ACY

EYECARE

Two Locations

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// 71 //

Dan S t ol in sk i

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

GIVING FEATURE // STORY BY LIZ STEVENS

OMAHA GUNS & HOSES BOXING CHALLENGE

S

P E C TAT O R S D R E SS E D I N R E D O R B LU E F I L E I N T H E A R E N A . T H E H Y P E M U S I C S TA RT S AS P E O P L E ’ S E Y E S A R E I M M E D I AT E LY D RAW N T O A F I R E F I G H T E R E M E R G I N G F R O M A C LO U D O F S M O K E U N D E R A R E D S P O T L I G H T. E V E N T G O E R S R E AC H F O R H I G H - F I V E S A N D C H E E R AS T H E F I G H T E R H E A D S T O WA R D T H E C E N T E R O F T H E B OX I N G R I N G T O M E E T THEIR OPPONENT FROM THE POLICE FORCE. On April 17 at Baxter Arena, police officers and firefighters will go head-to-head in the annual Guns & Hoses Boxing Challenge to benefit the First Responders Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting men and women in red and blue.

Police and firefighters have held Guns & Hoses events for the past 15 years, said Dan Stolinski, battalion chief and First Responders Foundation Board Member. It started when a couple of guys would coordinate a pick-up game, and then again, a few years later. They still have smaller Guns & Hoses events that operate this way, such as softball and hockey games.

The organization’s main attraction is the Guns & Hoses Boxing Challenge. This event became what it is today in 2016 when Stolinski approached then-executive director Ray Somberg about partnering with the event. Stolinski took care of finding the fighters, while the foundation found corporate sponsorships and raised money for the event.

The First Responders Foundation acts as an advocate for police officers and firefighters. It helps responders work through post-traumatic stress disorder and assist police and fire departments with purchasing equipment and supplies that may not be in the city budget for the year.

“Supporting programs like PTSD, they [First Responders Foundation] have clinicians that come out to the departments that talk with personnel about job-related stress to minimize PTSD before it gets too far,” Stolinski said. “Suicide has become one of the leading causes of death for first responders. This program is really important for our departments.”

Along with helping first responders stay mentally and physically safe, the foundation created a program called Police Athletics for Community Engagement, which partners officers with kids in the area. “Police coach and mentor in this athletic association,” Stolinski said, “the idea is to get kids involved in sports and getting them to see that first responders are their friends.”

The foundation also raises money to put together Bleeding and Shock kits for fire vehicles in the event of casualties or emergencies. “The foundation is there as a resource, kind of like a big brother,” Omaha Police Department Officer Chad Frodyma said.

“It goes down to the officer level, too. It is there as a resource and to have something to fall back on if we ever need to.”

MARCH/APRIL

The boxing challenge is a great way to bring departments and the community together. The First Responders Foundation is a prominent organization. Stolinksi said it is there to support first responders so they can be there for the community when needed.

Last year, the boxing challenge event drew its biggest crowd of about 4,000 spectators. Stolinski said the organization would like to sell out the arena, but as long as they sell more tickets and raise more money and awareness than in years prior, they will meet their goal for a given year.

The sign-up for the event goes out in November so fighters have plenty of time to train and learn about the sport, Stolinski said. Fighters from each department can then sign up on the Guns & Hoses website. Responders are matched based on height, weight, experience level, and age. Typically, out of 50 to 60 first responders who sign up, 12 to 24 participants are matched and able to fight. Some fighters who sign up may not match with another fighter, or someone may have to drop out from a training or work-related injury.

“I think the big draw for responders to fight is the challenge,” Stolinksi said. “Boxing is a high-intensity sport, so it is a good reason to get back into shape or improve physical fitness.”

Fighters have the option of training at Union Gym, a boxing facility reserved for first responders. Depending on their level of experience, they can start as soon or as late as they want.

Some police and firefighters act as trainers and help new participants learn the sport.

Boxing is an intimidating sport, Stolinski said, so having a gym where fighters can go and see their colleagues training takes some of the pressure away. Before they had a dedicated space, event organizers would travel to various locations to see how the training was going and to get an idea of how to match up the fighters. Now, many of the fighters train in the same location.

“It is kind of a mix,” Frodyma said. “There is a group of officers that train together, some hire their own trainers. Then we come together for sparring, which is live boxing, to see where we are at. I like it where I can train with fighters. You can watch someone grow as a participant of boxing.” >

// 73 //

2020

// GIVING FEATURE //

Lef t to right: Mark Kimnach, Jesse Walker, Chad Frodyma, Jon Sandoval , and Nick Hrbek

This is a caption about the five guys in this picture.

First-time fighters often experience a lot of emotions and nerves, Frodyma said. “It is like getting ready for the first game back in high school. There is always a bit of pressure, because everyone wants to have a good fight. The winning side keeps the event trophy for the year.”

“The event is fun because we get to experience a sport that we wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to,” Frodyma said. “We push each other, because we take this seriously. It is a lot of sacrifice that is made by officers and firefighters. It is time away from your family and friends. You’re devoting all this time to make yourself better at the sport.”

When fighters arrive on the day of the event, they weigh in and get taped up for the fight, Frodyma said, and then it is the culmination of all the training.

There is such an adrenaline rush the day of the event, firefighter and competitor Jon Sandoval said. “Getting in the ring in front of 3,000 people, and most of them are colleagues or family. There is a little bit of nerves that go with it. You are trying not to stress yourself out before your fight.”

It is, however, a fun endeavor, Sandoval said. “I always become friends with the guys I fight. It is exciting to push yourself to a challenge level that you’ve never been to before.”

It has really turned into a good family event, Stolinski said, “I always hear from people who weren’t boxing fans that came and were surprised at how much they enjoyed it. Booths will be set up around the areas where guests can purchase red or blue T-shirts to support their side, and even buy red or blue-themed cocktails.”

He added that the master of ceremonies for the event always does a great job of getting the audience pumped up for the fight— from when the fighter first gets announced to the winning side being called out.

The police officers won the challenge last year, but the firefighters hope to take home the prize in 2020.

Visit gunsandhosesomaha.com for more information, including tickets.

F I R S T - T I M E F I G H T E R S O F T E N E X P E R I E N C E A LO T O F E M O T I O N S A N D N E R V E S , I T I S L I K E G E T T I N G R E A DY F O R T H E F I R S T GA M E B AC K I N H I G H S C H O O L . T H E R E I S A LWAY S A B I T O F P R E SS U R E , B E CAU S E E V E RYO N E WA N T S T O H AV E A G O O D F I G H T. // 74 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

// 60 PLUS //

Two Minus One I cannot help but think of March a year ago— in March 2019 my son Tyler left us.

Tyler’s two wonderful daughters, Sarah and Danielle, are doing well.

Danielle is in her third year at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She has earned the Dr. and Mrs. Tim D. Leon Scholarship through the chemistry department. Last year she held the William and Lillian Campbell Memorial Scholarship through the chemistry department and the Regent’s Scholarship.

She teaches dance—ballet, tap, and jazz—as well as choreography for a competition team. She danced for 15 years and competed throughout high school. Her team won first place at several competitions and once a year would travel to Des Moines to compete.

During Danielle’s freshman year of high school they danced in the Capitol One Bowl halftime show, and her senior year her team danced in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Danielle also works at Charleston’s Restaurant either bartending or serving.

She is a very busy, and also a very smart and pretty, young lady.

Sarah’s passion is photography, and she did the photos of the Prime Time models in 60 Plus for the January/February issue. Now, she has taken a year off from school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Sarah and her friend Julius Frederick are following her dad’s proposed itinerary for a trip around the world while raising awareness about mental health and suicide prevention. Sarah is photographing the trip while Julius is writing articles. Future issues of Omaha Magazine will tell about the adventures. You can follow their journey at takegoodrisks.com. They started by taking the train to Chicago, then flew to New York and on to Casablanca, Morocco, North Africa. They plan to be back in Omaha for Christmas 2020.

Tyler would be very proud of his daughters.

“Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% what you do about it.”

—Tyler William Lemke

Betty Golmanavich MARCH/APRIL 2020 • 60PLUS

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60PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2020

HEALTH // STORY BY JENNA GALLAGHER // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

A L Z H E I M E R &

,

S

D E M E N T I A CARING FOR CAREGIVERS

MARCH/APRIL 2020 • 60PLUS

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// 78 //

60PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2020

// HEALTH //

“BEFORE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH ALZHEIMER’S, I THOUGHT IT WAS ‘OLDTIMER’S DISEASE,’ SOME THING TH AT SOME PEOPLE IN THEIR 80S GOT AS PART OF THE AGING PROCESS BEFORE THEY DIED.” MIKE HUGHBANKS

T

here are few things

families dread more than a devastating health diagnosis.

When that diagnosis is Alzheimer’s Disease or dementia, the fear and uncertainty is often exacerbated by misconceptions about the disease and feelings of isolation.

“Before I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I thought it was ‘Old-timer’s Disease,’ something that some people in their 80s got as part of the aging process before they died,” said Mike Hughbanks, who was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s in 2015 at age 58 while working as a corporate executive in the finance industry. “The doctor was brutally honest with me. He said there was no pill, and no cure. That was a shock. But I had to do something. I wasn’t going to sit in my living room waiting to die.”

Hughbanks was immediately connected to the Omaha chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, through which he and his wife, Debra, began attending a support group for newly diagnosed patients and their spouses. “It was a turning point for us. It made all the difference,” he said.

Bill Myers, who helped care for his wife, Mary, for 14 years from her initial diagnosis in 2004 to her death in 2018, agreed. “I quickly learned I was not alone.”

Hughbanks and Myers are among more than 34,000 Nebraskans with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, and their families, that the Alzheimer’s Association serves. Elizabeth Chentland, director of communications for the Nebraska Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, said that the early-stage support groups and educational programming offered throughout the Omaha Metro are often a family’s first introduction to the organization and are invaluable for helping them navigate the journey.

The Alzheimer’s Association provides resources for people at every stage of progression of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. “Our resources go to a lot of platforms,” Chentland said. “But where it relates to public service, our top five areas are our helpline; our online resources and free family and caregiver chat boards online; our free educational programming; our support groups and our safety services, including a medical alert system that first responders can use to access medical information and contact caregivers.”

away, I’ve continued to work closely with the Alzheimer’s Association because I think I have something to offer,” said Myers, who has served on the planning committee for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Hughbanks has traveled throughout Nebraska with the association, speaking to groups in Omaha as well as rural communities about the resources available to them. He has made numerous local television appearances and maintains a blog to share the triumphs and challenges that he and his wife encounter.

One of his proudest achievements is working with Art to Remember. This innovative partnership between the Alzheimer’s Association and Joslyn Art Museum was inspired by the MoMA Alzheimer’s Project and helps patients in middle- and-late-stage dementia engage with art from Joslyn’s world-class collection. “Art speaks to people. People in middle-and-late-stage Alzheimer’s, who may be having a hard time engaging with much else that’s going on around them, will see a piece of art and immediately get tears in their eyes.”

Recently, Hughbanks was also diagnosed with Lewy body dementia after he started experiencing tremors, and his doctor ordered a PET Scan. While, once again, he acknowledged that this new diagnosis is not good news, he is grateful that he was able to get it, because many insurance companies would not have covered the scan.

Chentland said that the helpline can connect a caller to master’s-level social worker but also addresses basic questions.

It is available 24/7 and national, but linked to the local chapter so that someone in Omaha can follow up the next day, if necessary. “We are here for anyone that calls. With Alzheimer’s there are thousands of questions, but we want people to know that the answers are just a phone call away,” Chentland said. “It’s an all-around great place to start a conversation.”

“Our call-to-action is twofold,” said Chentland. “Our goal is to serve more families, both from the services we provide and from a public policy standpoint. We work to help physicians get more time with their patients and ensure that they are doing the appropriate testing because different types of dementia call for different types of medication and treatment. We work diligently to increase public funding and pass Medicare codes and caregiver tax credits to help provide a better reality for people with dementia and their families.”

The Alzheimer’s Association is always seeking ways to support more families, including expanding their support group reach, particularly in underserved communities, and partnering with worksite wellness programs to better provide employer support to caregivers.

As Myers, who was able to care for his wife for 10 years at home, and four years in a facility, said, “Three things got me through this journey: my faith, my family, and the Alzheimer’s Association. They’re a vital tool and a great resource for a little bit—actually, a lot—of everything.”

Alzheimer’s patients and their families are often the best ambassadors for others in their situation. “Even after my wife passed

Visit alzconnected.org to learn more or omalz.com to read Myers’ blog.

MARCH/APRIL 2020 • 60PLUS

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Remember

Taj Mahal

Dr. Wayne Markus’ Exotic Photography ACTIVE LIVING // STORY BY HOUSTON WILTSEY // PHOTO BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

DR. WAYNE MARKUS almost forgot the Taj Mahal. Midway through a conversation about photography, he casually mentioned that he photographed the famous Indian mausoleum some years back.

“It’s a really interesting building because it’s almost translucent,” he said, marveling at the beauty of the structure in his mind. “You can see the light creeping through from the other side when the sun hits it in just the right way. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

The 76-year-old semi-retired pathologist often has moments like this. He will go over the minutia of photography—how he likes to shoot in aperture priority mode to control the depth of field, how many megapixels his Nikon D850 has, or the different types of film he has shot with over the years—and it triggers something.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he throws out a remark about capturing a dinner in Portugal or snapping a picture at sea in some exotic land. After more than 45 years of traveling the globe, Markus is full of anecdotes like this, and photography has given him a way to document them.

His love of the art form started early.

“My dad was a photographer,” Markus said before correcting himself. “Well, he was a farmer, but he took a lot of pictures, and I remember him constantly photographing family events and things around the house.”

In fact, a series of photographs from a family trip to the Pacific Northwest are the first memorable snapshots he recalls seeing.

“I don’t remember the trip, but I can vividly remember a photograph that my dad took of the Grand Coulee Dam [located in Northeast Washington] and just being transfixed by it,” he said. “There are other bits and pieces of that set that I can still remember—a person standing here, a tractor there—but what sticks out is this special feeling I got when looking at them.”

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60PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2020

Though he loved the images his dad was taking, it would be almost another two decades before he found himself behind the camera consistently.

Starting in medical school, Markus began taking pictures of the same subjects his father had—friends, families, and parties—with a fixed 35mm Exakta camera.

At the time, it was a good way to document life and create mementos. Capturing these images also allowed Markus the chance to give his mind a break from his vigorous study schedule. However, the more he became involved in photography, the more parallels he saw between it and what he was experiencing in the world of medicine.

“They’re very visual, and attention to detail is important in both,” he said. “Looking at microscopic slides of tumors and tissues gives you a broad perspective of what’s going on and when you’re really good, you don’t think about the details, they come to you automatically. I felt like photography was the same way in those respects.”

Once bitten by the travel bug a few years later, photographing his excursions became a great way to further deepen his commitment to the craft. He began trying to compose and capture the finer points of his subjects out of necessity.

In some of these exotic locales he only had one chance to get a perfect shot.

"I want to create something that people don’t just glance at,” he said.

Markus snapped photos of cherry blossoms in Japan and wildlife in the Galapagos.

During a stay in Wyoming, he trudged through the snow to capture a buffalo at the break of dawn. Over the last few years, he and his wife, Karen, have taken extended trips to Europe, traversing the Duoro, Danube, and Rhine rivers with other members of the International Food and Wine Society. One of his images, a young lady in Portugal holding up a bottle of port wine, made the

cover of the society’s member publication, Wine, Food, and Friends. Photography has even taken Markus under the sea.

“I had this underwater camera and I had no idea how it was going to expose pictures,” said Markus of a trip to the Caribbean. “I took some pictures the first day but I didn’t know if they were any good so I decided I needed to develop them there so I could see what I had. I had brought some powdered chemicals which I mixed in my empty suitcase. I even brought a small space heater so I could control the temperature,” he added with a laugh.

“All these trips just allow me to experiment and get better,” Markus said.

“Recently, I’ve enjoyed using wideangle lenses in situations you wouldn’t normally use them—like the inside of cathedrals or ornate houses.”

When asked if he is happy with any of the shots he said, “not really, but I’m still experimenting. For me, the results aren’t everything. I get as much enjoyment out of taking the picture as I do looking at them.”

“Every trip I’m taking between 2,000 and 3,000 pictures and I review everything in [Adobe] Lightroom afterward to see if I can tweak an image to make it special.”

He’s not looking to slow down anytime soon either. This coming April, the couple will jet off to France, dining their way through Paris and Bordeaux with the society before taking a guided historical tour of Normandy.

He still focuses on composition.

“With iPhone pictures, you just flip through them as fast as possible and I like something that makes the viewer think about the subject and how the photo was composed,” Markus said.

“It’s a really interesting building because it’s almost translucent,” he said, marveling at the beauty of the structure in his mind. “You can see the light creeping through from the other side when the sun hits it in just the right way. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

MARCH/APRIL 2020 • 60PLUS

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I’m 700

approaching

donations

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A Lifetime of Giving

Betty Golmanavich Embodies the Spirit of The Red Cross Profile // story by Jeff Lacey // photography By Bill Sitzmann // design by Derek Joy

BETTY GOLMANAVICH began giving

blood in the late 1970s, in a quiet neighborhood in Baltimore, when the Red Cross started setting up bloodmobiles in the parking lot of her church. She was moved by the idea that this simple act could have such a dramatic impact on peoples’ lives.

Golmanavich liked the act of donating so much that she never stopped. “I just kind of kept with it,” she said.

That was over 40 years ago. The world has changed in countless ways since then. She recalls giving blood during the call for help in the aftermath of 9/11, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, and Hurricane Katrina.

Golmanavich herself has changed since then (she turns 73 in February). However, when it comes to donating blood, that initial belief—the idea that a single simple act could impact someone’s life in immeasurable ways—still burns brightly in her.

How brightly?

“I’m approaching 700 donations,” Golmanavich said.

D ona tions, Ph y sic a l and O the r w is e These days, Golmanavich gives at the Red Cross Donation Center at 38th Street and Dewey Avenue. She likes the fact that she can watch movies while she donates (such as Hallmark movies) or read a book (her favorites are from the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series, which she discovered while volunteering for the Red Cross), but mostly, she likes the people. “As for the Red Cross Staff, everybody is just incredible,” Golmanavich explained. “They’re so friendly, and always looking out for your safety and well-being. If they aren’t busy tending to another patient, they stand and visit with you. They’re so welcoming, and such a nice group of people to work with.”

The staff feels the same about Golmanavich, a regular there for over a decade. Samantha Pollard, the Red Cross director at 38th Street and Dewey Avenue, explained that, “Betty is the Red Cross’ dream donor. She knows the importance of donation and she understands the impact donation

can have.” She continued, “If we could clone Betty, that would be incredible. She embodies what the Red Cross is. We are so grateful Betty spends her time with us.”

the body by carrying oxygen, must be used within 42 days. Platelets, critical in allowing the body to form blood clots and stop bleeding, have a shelf life of only five days.

Pollard explained that Golmanavich’s donations to the spirit of the staff are just as important as her blood donations. “You could ask Betty to help you with anything, and she would probably say yes,” Pollard said. “If I ever needed a reminder about the work we do, I would go talk to Betty for a refresher.”

Each means of collection requires a slightly different procedure, and Golmanavich has given them all. “If I got it, you can have it,” she explained. She donated platelets around 18 times in 2019. To let her body keep up with steady donations, the Red Cross recommended in December that she only donate plasma every other month.

Golmanavich wasn’t thrilled by this news.

Golmanavich hasn’t only donated blood; she’s donated her time to the Red Cross. At one point, before technology had caught up, individual Red Cross blood banks posted their own donations. Golmanavich often volunteered for this, and remembers posting donations after 9/11. “I posted over 900 donations in a span of a few days,” she recalled.

Golmanavich will be the first to say she gets a great return on investment. She loves the way the Red Cross informs donors about the help they are doing. Donors receive emails that describe how their donations are utilized and the work that is being done with them. “Every time I donate, they’ll send me an email and let me know how it was used,” Golmanavich said. “Last time, it was used in Minnesota.

I think it’s great that it’s not used just here, locally. I love to learn about that.”

T he Ne e d Re m a in s Donating for 40 years and over 700 times is quite an accomplishment. According to their website, the Red Cross started taking civilian blood donations in the 1940s, and, to this day, provides more than 40% of blood-related products in the U.S. Blood and its elements can be collected from a single donor in several ways: as whole blood, plasma, or platelets. Each kind of donation has different characteristics. Whole blood, for example, can help up to three people in need, if divided into its elements, but is usually used to treat victims of accident or injury experiencing heavy blood loss. Red blood cells, which aid

“I want to donate,” she said. “I feel bad that I can’t help them out for two months.”

A C a ll To D on a te Golmanavich said she can not think of any downsides to giving. “Maybe a bruise or two. But it’s such a great cause. It’s just a rewarding experience knowing you helped these people.” Golmanavich urged those thinking of donating blood to try it, if able. “There’s an urgent need. If you have the time, please do it. It’s a great way to spread the kindness,” she said.

Out of the 38% of people in the U.S. who can give, only 3% do.

Golmanavich, married 50 years in April to her husband, Jerry, doesn’t see herself ending her pursuit of kindness anytime soon. She will keep the flame of compassion for others lit for as long as she can.

Or, in her own words, “as long as I am able and physically fit, I will do it.”

Visit redcross.org/local/nebraska or call the Red Cross at 38th Street and Dewey Avenue at 402.343.7700 for more information.

MARCH/APRIL 2020 • 60PLUS

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Swiping Right Back Into the Dating Game SENIORS DISCOVER DATING IS AS EASY AS 10, 2, & 4 FEATURE // STORY BY LISA LUKECART // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

Allen Regier

, 67, arrived early to pick the perfect booth at Stokes Grill and Bar. Regier recognized his date from photos as she enterd the establishment.

Peggy Serefko, 61, dressed in black pants, a white shirt, and a blue blazer. "Oh, my goodness, this lady is pretty," Regier said to himself.

It took Regier about a year and a half to start dating after his wife passed away. After 43 years of marriage, the thought of putting himself out there again seemed daunting.

“I wasn’t sure how it was done anymore and didn’t want to embarrass myself,” Regier, a tall man with bright blue eyes, admitted.

Regier shook her hand, took her coat, and showed her to the booth.

As the two sipped diet sodas, they conversed for an hour and a half.

“I was hooked,” Regier said. “I was going to ask her on a second date, but she beat me to it.”

Regier, like other seniors, is swiping right back into the dating game. Options for seniors to gather have expanded, whether meeting through a friend, class, or club.

Popular dating apps are like a virtual bar in people’s pocket, making it that much easier to flirt with someone without leaving home. Online dating has changed the rules for a generation of Baby Boomers looking for love in all the right places in their golden years. The number of 55 to 64 year olds who hit up dating sites doubled from 6% in 2013 to 12% three years later, according to Pew Research.

Online sites have noticed.

Lumen, an app dedicated solely for single seniors, surpassed 1 million downloads in little over a year since its launch in 2018. According to the website, the oldest user is 97 years old while the average age is 56. Our Time, run by the parent company Match.com, saw 2 million users sign up for its 50-and-over site in 2019.

But minutes after setting up accounts with eHarmony and Match, Serefko deleted both profiles. // 84 //

60PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2020

“I did not want to put myself out there,” Serefko said. “I heard about women being taken advantage of and that scared me.”

Serefko still didn’t feel secure in the online world so she signed up for Omaha Love, a matchmaking service, instead. Omaha Love provides background checks, meets loveseekers in person, and offers to set up dates.

“Seniors are not super tech-savvy, so having someone to facilitate introductions appeals to them rather than getting on a computer,” Courtney Quinlan, owner of Midwest Matchmaking and Omaha Love, believes.

After a second date, which led to a first kiss, Regier and Serefko froze their account with Omaha Love. This is basically the same as telling each other—hey, let’s be exclusive.

A few days prior to their sixth-month anniversary, Regier proposed.

“She didn’t even let me slip the ring on. She took it and put it on her finger,” Regier said laughing.

The wedding will take place in March, almost a full year after the two started dating. The couple plan a small wedding with about 50 people in attendance.

“You are never too old to get married,” Serefko said.

“Or fall in love. It is just as exciting at our age as when we were younger,” Regier added.

Mike Broyles, 65, could not agree more.

In fact, the retired financial planner has been on hundreds of dates since his divorce 25 years ago. He chronicled his dating journey in his book, Combat Dating. It offers bits of advice such as “How to Avoid the Gold Digger,” “Money, Sex, and the In-Laws,” and the “Long Goodbye.”

Broyles’ approach to dating is from those vintage Dr Pepper ads, “drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4.” He would mass date, meeting up with a different woman for coffee at 10, 2, and 4. Although he utilizes online sites such as Match and Facebook, Broyles believes becoming involved in social activities is a fantastic way of meeting others. This means

thinking outside the comfort zone and doing something entirely new. Metropolitan Community College offers a wide variety of courses such as Beginners Yoga for Seniors, Self-Defense for Seniors, and Seniors Watercolor. The University of Nebraska at Omaha offers senior citizens a chance to audit classes. Another route is to dive into past passions. A book club, tennis league, or gardening master program helps singletons bond over shared common interests.

Broyles plans on joining the Cornhusker Corvette Club now that he is an owner.

Places of worship are another great resource, since some have singles groups; but don’t take it too far. Broyles switched churches for a woman, only to later find out she wasn’t even a member. Volunteering is another way to not only give back to the community, but it could mean finding companionship. Broyles started helping out at Big Brothers Big Sisters two years ago, which luckily happened to be made up of almost all single women.

“There is always someone there that will catch my eye,” he said. “Some will, some won’t, so what?”

It isn’t just about love or marriage. Many times, the perks of dating are finding friends.

“The older we get, we find just having female companionship is more important than in your 20s and 30s,” Broyles said.

He reminds others to be financially, physically, and emotionally prepared for “combat,” since dating can be scary. Mistakes happen.

Nonetheless, the fun outweighs staying home, especially for those who are older.

“I have never in my life been [as] sexually active than I have this last four years,” Broyles said.

Oh, and ladies, Broyles is once again single and ready to mingle.

“I WASN’T SURE HOW IT WAS DONE ANYMORE AND DIDN’T WANT TO EMBARRASS MYSELF.” -ALLEN REGIER MARCH/APRIL 2020 • 60PLUS

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g l a t s o NCuisine Nostalgia //

y a M s e t i r o one v a F a y k r s e a v r N e b B e Fo r e N ot

Story by Tamsen Butler Illustrations & design by Derek Joy

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60PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2020

ig c

Snickers salad confuses people , because it s more dessert than salad, but as many Omaha natives claim, it becomes a salad when it,s placed with the salads at a potluck.

T

hose who have never lived outside of Nebraska may not realize that few people outside the confines of the state know who or what Dorothy Lynch is. Outside of the Midwest, the idea of eating chili and cinnamon rolls together is strange, and most people in the United States have never heard of (or understand what in the world is) a Runza.

Every region has its own interesting cuisine that confounds outsiders. A stroll down a culinary memory lane yields an interesting menu of dishes that may have dropped from modern-day menus but haven’t vanished from taste bud memories.

Jell-O molds, now enjoying a resurgence despite an otherwise steady decline in popularity for years, were considered a symbol of status and wealth in the early 1950s because refrigerators were expensive, yet necessary for a mold to set. Molded Jell-O creations were either sweet or savory, and at times were topped with mayonnaise. Jell-O molds weren’t exclusive to the Midwest; in fact, Jell-O has been the “official snack food” of Utah since 2002. The powdered gelatin mix is an ingredient in a Nebraska holiday favorite: cranberry salad.

Everyone knows Reuben sandwiches originated at the Blackstone Hotel in Omaha in the 1920s. Yet there are some who claim it originated in a New York deli in 1914. Corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Russian dressing join forces atop marble rye bread for a classic sandwich with probably-Omaha beginnings.

Nowadays, Reubens are served throughout the Omaha metro and across the country.

Snickers salad confuses people because it’s more dessert than salad, but as many Omaha natives claim, it becomes a salad when it’s placed with the salads at a potluck. The nutrients in the chunks of Granny Smith apples don’t really offset the whipped cream, vanilla pudding, and pieces of Snickers bars found in this dish but Nebraskans and Iowans alike serve it at communal meals— and then serve a dessert afterward.

No matter what the name, these comfort foods, while they often defy nutritional guidelines, have a way of finding their way back to the buffet table year after year.

A quick trip to Plattsmouth will yield a meal from the history books of Midwestern holiday cuisine. Mom’s Cafe serves chipped beef, and customers love it. Typically made with partially dehydrated beef slivers and a creamy gravy, chipped beef is served over bread or biscuits. It’s a hearty meal, but one that lost popularity over the years.

Cottage Cheese and Jell-O Salad

Puppy chow—not the dog food, but the human treat—has also been known as monkey munch, muddy munch, reindeer chow, or doggie bag, and almost always features Rice Chex and peanut butter.

Served as a dessert or snack, the company that makes Rice Chex makes the claim that the recipe for what they call “Muddy Buddies” didn’t appear until the early 2000s, but many Nebraskans remember eating this treat long before then.

Some meals from the past are still quite common, with different names. What was once referred to as a “hot dish” is now a casserole, and what were once called funeral potatoes—frozen hash browns mixed with shredded cheeses, sour cream, and milk, then topped with potato chips or corn flakes—are now known as “cheesy potatoes.”

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MARCH/APRIL 2019

*Editor’s Note: The following recipes were cultivated from various cookbooks in the editor’s home.

Ingredients: • 1 can crushed pineapple, well drained • 1 pint cottage cheese • 3 oz package of Jell-O, any flavor (lime was popular) • 10 oz carton of whipped topping Directions: • Sprinkle dry Jell-O over the whipped topping and fold together.

• Mix pineapple and cottage cheese together, add to the whipped topping, and chill for at least four hours.

»

s e p i c e R

Funeral Potatoes Ingredients: • 4 T unsalted butter

Cranberry Jello Salad

«

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Ingredients: • 2 cups water • 6 ounces raspberry Jell-O (2 boxes, 3 ounces each) • 2 envelopes plain gelatin

• 1 30-ounce bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, lightly thawed • 1 10.5-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup • 1 cup sour cream

• ½ cup cold water • 28 ounces whole berry cranberry sauce (14 ounces each) • 28 ounces crushed pineapple, drained (1 large can, 1 small can) Directions: Snickers Salad

• 1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)

• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper • 2 cups shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese

Ingredients:

• Heat the water in the microwave or on the stovetop until boiling.

• 3.4 ounces (one box) instant vanilla pudding mix

• Dissolve the Jell-O in the boiling water and mix well.

• 1 cup whole milk

• Empty 2 packages of plain gelatin in cold water and whisk together.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

• Drizzle the plain gelatin into the raspberry Jell-O, whisking the entire time.

• Heat 2 T butter over medium heat in a skillet. Add the diced onion and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant and softened, an additional 2 minutes.

• 8 ounces whipped topping • 6 granny smith apples • 1 1/2 cups chopped Snickers bars, equivalent to 6 full size bars Directions: • Whisk together the vanilla pudding and milk and let sit for five minutes before gently folding in whipped topping.

• Add in the chopped apples and Snickers bars and refrigerate for at least an hour until ready to serve.

• Whisk the cranberry sauce and drained pineapple until the cranberry sauce is broken up and the mixture is well combined.

• Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

• Chill 4 hours or until firm.

• Serve with whipped cream and chopped pecans.

• 1 1/2 cups lightly crushed corn flake cereal or potato chips Directions:

• In a bowl, toss together the cooked onions and garlic, hash brown potatoes, condensed soup, sour cream, parmesan, salt, pepper and 1 1/2 cups cheddar. Spread the mixture in a 9-by-13 inch casserole dish. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Top the casserole with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, corn flakes or chips and melted butter.

• Bake in the oven until it bubbles around the sides, about 1 hour.

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MARCH/APRIL 2019

Puppy Chow Ingredients: • 9 cups rice cereal squares • 1/2 cup peanut butter • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar Directions: • In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate; add peanut butter and mix until smooth.

• Remove from heat, add cereal and stir until coated.

• Pour powdered sugar into large plastic bag, add chocolate-coated cereal, and shake until well coated. Store in airtight container.

ENJOY!

OBVIOUSLY OMAHA // STORY BY CHRIS HATCH // PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

The Madness Approaches

01

EIGHT PLACES TO WATCH MARCH MADNESS IN OMAHA Seating matters.

Sports are best enjoyed in a spot where people feel fully comfortable—whether in a relaxed, lump-cushioned couch in the back corner of dad’s basement, strategically located near the beer fridge, or in a glitzy courtside seat next to Leo DiCaprio close enough to heckle LeBron.

02

There are few greater days for sitting down each year than those precious three weeks that tick past from the end of March until the beginning of April. March Madness is, indeed, a special time of year and it is once again coming to Omaha.

Since sports lovers are going to need a spot to sit, and since it does matter, here are eight places to watch March Madness in Omaha this year. Like Cinderella picks, these may not be the first places Omahans think of to watch a game, but they all offer a great experience.

01. OSCAR’S PIZZA & SPORTS GRILLE 17330 LAKESIDE HILLS PLAZA OMAHA, NE 68130 OSCARSPIZZAANDSPORTSGRILLE.COM The first thing people notice when entering this spacious locale is the jerseys hanging above the bar. Equal parts Huskers (See: Ndamukong Suh) and Creighton, this is a place that feels local. The space includes lots of TVs—walls and walls of TVs. A patchwork quilt of high-def and three projectors make this a corneal cornucopia of sports. Grab a slice, grab a seat.

02. THE GOOD LIFE SPORTS BAR & GRILL 1203 S. 180TH ST., OMAHA, NE 68130 THEGOODLIFEOMAHA.COM The Good Life has a few locations in the area, but this one stands out. With a great courtyard space—if the weather cooperates—and a unique two-building layout connecting this spot to The GL Lounge, there’s tons of room and a vibrant, buzzing atmosphere that has patrons wanting to set up shop in one of their rolling chairs all afternoon.

03. TIGER TOM’S PUB 7103 MILITARY AVE., OMAHA, NE 68104 @TIGERTOMSSPORTSPUB ON FACEBOOK Much smaller than the previous selections, this hidden gem is tucked away on a quiet side street in Benson. With great bar food, an old popcorn machine near the door, and low-hung ceilings, Tiger Tom’s feels like a small-town high school gym. That makes it a perfect place for b-ball lovers to catch some games. Weather permitting, there’s an outdoor TV/courtyard for those who need some fresh March air.

04. THE SESSION ROOM 812 N. 14TH ST., OMAHA, NE 68102 SESSIONROOMOMAHA.COM Sleek and perfectly located near the action at the stadium, The Session Room is a perfect place to grab a local craft beer and cheer with a mouth full of hand-battered cheese curds. Adorned with Creighton blue outside and a fresh design inside, this is a place where the food is just as good as the HD on their 12 giant TVs.

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05. THE SPORTS HALL 3852 FARNAM ST., OMAHA, NE 68131 THESPORTSHALL.COM The newest sports bar on the list, The Sports Hall is different in atmosphere and size from the others. It’s more laid-back. More chill. But no less equipped to make a daydrinking sports fan’s experience memorable.

Game-watchers can grab a drink from their whip-smart bartenders and play some indoor washers between games while waiting for a pizza to be delivered from the next-door restaurant.

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06. ICEHOUSE SPORTS BAR 10920 EMMET ST., OMAHA, NE 68164 ICEHOUSEOMAHA.COM Among the myriad new sports bars that pop up in Omaha, Icehouse remains a staple for many. It has nearly 360 degrees of televisions, a wide range of on-tap drinks, and is a place where audience participation is encouraged.

This is the place to be for buzzer beaters, upsets, and toasts to Cinderellas.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

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DINING REVIEW // STORY BY NIZ PROSKOCIL

Craving CajUn WEST OMAHA RESTAURANT ACADIAN GRILLE OFFERS CAJUN CUISINE DONE RIGHT. MARCH/APRIL 2020

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maha lost two of its Cajun dining options in recent months when restaurants Mouth of the South and Jazz: A Louisiana Kitchen closed their doors. But there are still a few local places diners can go when the need for gumbo, jambalaya, and crawfish étouffée strikes.

Tucked in Miracle Hills Plaza at 114th Street and West Dodge Road, Acadian Grille is a cozy Cajun-style spot serving from-scratch cooking that’s worth seeking out. Owner Dan O’Brien opened the restaurant in summer 2018. He launched a second location last fall in the former Kith & Kin space in the Dundee neighborhood. The menu is similar, with the addition of a few new items.

On a December visit to the original west Omaha location, the kitchen turned out some tasty interpretations of Cajun and Southern specialties made with care.

If there’s a problem at Acadian Grille, it’s deciding what to order. The menu is packed with a wide variety of tempting Louisiana favorites.

The crab cake appetizer provided a delicious start. Served two to an order, the hefty cakes embody both soft and crispy textures. They’re full of crab meat, held together with just enough filler, studded with peppers, and drizzled with a housemade Creole sauce spiked with mustard. A colorful salad served with the crab cakes featured spinach, red cabbage, julienned carrot, and shaved Brussels sprouts tossed in a creamy mango dressing. Although we liked the sweet and tangy dressing, there was so much of it that it overpowered the other ingredients.

There’s nothing to complain about with Acadian Grille’s take on gumbo. Bitesize pieces of tender dark-meat chicken, andouille sausage, and peppers mingle with fluffy white rice in a deeply savory broth. The thick stew-like soup is highly seasoned but not too spicy. A hunk of French bread, lightly toasted and buttered, accompanied the dish—perfect for sopping up every last bit.

The restaurant’s red beans and rice comes with andouille sausage links, peppers, white rice, and red kidney beans cooked until creamy and tender. The dish is smoky, slightly spicy, and totally comforting.

Just as good is a plate of shrimp and grits: a heap of thick, creamy grits topped with perfectly cooked shrimp. Bell peppers, onion, and cubes of tasso—a smoked seasoned ham—round out the satisfying entrée. >

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// DINING REVIEW // We also liked the shrimp po’ boy, available with a choice of blackened or fried shrimp. The latter version featured large, lightly breaded shrimp on crusty French bread with a warm, soft interior.

Red onion, sliced tomato, and lettuce added a cool, crunchy element, while a drizzle of creamy remoulade brought a subtle spicy kick.

Catfish po’ boys also are available. Both sandwiches come with a choice of side dishes, ranging from collard greens and dirty rice to cornbread and coleslaw. Soups, salads, and burgers are on the menu as well, and there are meatless options for vegetarian and vegan customers.

Acadian Grille’s take on mac and cheese is a major upgrade from the stuff in a box.

It’s prepared with cavatappi (corkscrew pasta) covered in a rich, creamy goudabased sauce. It’s available as a side or an entree, complete with tasso.

There’s a decent selection of beer, a few cocktails, plus red and white wine available by the glass and by the bottle. The beer list includes domestic staples Coors Light and Miller Lite, along with a selection of IPAs, stouts, and beers from Louisiana craft brewery Abita.

The restaurant, which has an openkitchen design, is small but not cramped.

The atmosphere is casual with simple wood-top tables, concrete floors, and bluesy rock music pulsing out of the speakers. A wall mural depicts a map of the Louisiana bayou region and essential ingredients of Cajun and Creole cooking. Service during our dinner visit was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable.

For dessert, we couldn’t pass up the bananas Foster, a New Orleans classic. Big enough for two or three people to share, the decadent treat featured bananas sliced in half lengthwise, coated in a buttery, cinnamony sauce infused with banana liqueur and rum. Vanilla ice cream melted into the sweet, boozy goodness. We loved the contrast between the cold scoops of ice cream and the warm, sticky sauce.

If you want to eat good gumbo in Louisiana, it’s 1,000 miles to get there from Omaha. Or you can just go to Acadian Grille—it’s hard to go wrong with their Cajun culinary creations.

Visit acadiangrille.com for more information.

ACADIAN GRILLE 725 N. 114TH ST. | 402.933.0980 FOOD SERVICE AMBIANCE PRICE OVERALL

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$$ 5 STARS POSSIBLE

The blackened po’ boy comes in shrimp or chicken, and is with drizzled with remoulade and agave nectar. Another specialty is their gouda mac and cheese.

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- DINING FEATURE // STORY BY TIM TRUDELL ­­­­—————————————————————————————————————————————

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

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SHLEY GOMEZ RECALLS PLAYING IN THE BASEMENT AT HER GRANDMA’S RESTAURANT. SOME OF THE GRANDCHILDREN WOULD LEARN DANCES DOWN THERE. THEN GRANDMA WOULD BRING THEM UP TO THE RESTAURANT TO PERFORM FOR DINERS. SUCH WAS LIFE AT MALARA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT. KNOWN FOR ITS COMFORT FOOD FEATURING HANDMADE PASTA, THE SOUTH OMAHA SPOT IS A TRUE FAMILY ENDEAVOR. FROM FOUNDER CATERINA MALARA TO HER DAUGHTERS TO GRANDDAUGHTER GOMEZ, MALARA’S IS COMPLETELY WOMEN-OWNED.

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But everyone involved with the restaurant, from employees to diners, is considered a member of the family, regardless if they’re a Malara or not. Some employees have been with the 35-year-old restaurant for more than 20 years.

Caterina was 32 when her husband, Luigi, died in a work-related accident. A $6,000 insurance settlement was enough to buy a house. Speaking little English when they arrived in the United States in 1963, Caterina didn’t envision a life without her husband when they settled in Omaha. However, after the accident in 1967, she realized she needed to find a way to support her four daughters, each under the age of 12.

So, she used her hand-cranked pasta maker to create ravioli, which she sold out of the house. Caterina also sold ravioli and sausage at Omaha-area festivals.

While she enjoyed a successful business out of her home for a few years, a Douglas County health inspector eventually visited. She was told she couldn’t sell the food out of her basement. Rotella’s Bakery offered her a spot to work out of at its small factory near 20th and Pierce streets. The opportunity to rent a space at the bakery seemed like a gift from heaven.

It marked the beginning of the Italian restaurant.

“We sold food out of a window,” she said. “No tables.

No place to sit. It was all carryout.”

By then, one of her daughters had grown and married.

One day, her son-in-law brought some tables and set them up, offering customers an opportunity for sidewalk dining.

In the late 1980s, the Rotellas decided to build a new, larger bakery in La Vista. Louie Rotella told her they were going to sell the building and wanted to offer Caterina first chance at buying. They were asking $35,000, but for Caterina, it could have been $1 million. She didn’t know where she was going to get the money. Fearful that she would lose her business, // 98 //

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family friend Andy Pearson offered to buy the building for her, allowing her to repay the loan on her own schedule. Caterina considered herself blessed.

“Everyone was willing to take a chance on us,” she said.

As time passed, Malara’s Restaurant took over the three main bays of the building. The bar, in the front of the restaurant, holds a special place in Caterina’s heart, as she can point to where the window was when they sold ravioli and sandwiches. In the middle is the main dining area, with a capacity of about 150 customers. The third space is large enough for parties. And that’s the room where you’ll find photographs of Caterina’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren hanging on the wall.

Longtime regular Mary Lou Riley and her family have been going to Malara's for dinner for more than 10 years. Riley, who is of Italian descent, said it's difficult to enjoy Italian dishes at restaurants when you grew up with a mother who made delicious authentic dinners. But, that was before Malara's, she added, where the staff treats customers like family.

SPEAKING LITTLE ENGLISH WHEN THEY ARRIVED IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1963, CATERINA DIDN’T ENVISION A LIFE WITHOUT HER HUSBAND WHEN THEY SETTLED IN OMAHA. “If you go there more than once, they recognize you,” Riley said. “They don't even need to offer us a menu or ask us for our order. They know what we want.”

“They had playpens set up in the kitchen,” she said. “TVs were on so we could stay entertained.”

While not all of Caterina’s 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren are involved with the restaurant (yet), Gomez’s four children often help out by getting water and sodas for guests. So, the fourth generation of Malaras has become involved with the family-owned business.

Working with relatives can be challenging and a little stressful in any venture, but the restaurant industry is ripe with stress because of the nature of the business. They do their best to keep family and business separate.

“Life is too short,” Caterina said. “We have our arguments and disagreements. But, we’re family.”

Gomez wouldn’t have it any other way.

Her favorite dish is one her mother never made, pasta carbonara. “To go to Malara's and get something I didn't grow up with is one of the reasons we enjoy going there.”

“We have our good days and bad days,” she said. “When you work with family, it can be hard to separate it...but we make it work.”

Like the restaurant, the Rileys' love for Malara's has been passed down through their family. Their 8-year-old granddaughter, Leila Riley, already knows where to go for great Italian.

“I can count on my fingers how many times we’ve disagreed,” she said.

“She'll say 'Grandma, I want to go to my favorite restaurant that begins with an M,'” Riley said with a laugh.

Since the beginning, Caterina’s daughters have been involved with the restaurant, from helping her make ravioli at home to serving specific roles within the business.

Anna Ruzicka helps her mom in the kitchen, making pasta, as well as doing other kitchen-related work.

Maria Szablowski (Ashley’s mom) waits tables on the weekends. Gracie Benak, who lives part-time in Florida, assists her mom with managing health insurance and other business-related needs. Daughter Carmen passed away in 2010. She was married to Jim Rotella until her passing, and the Malaras continue to consider him a member of the family.

Gomez waits tables and manages the front of the restaurant. Her family lives in the apartment above, essentially spending 24 hours a day at Malara’s. But, her time with the restaurant dates back to infancy.

Ruzicka truly enjoys spending time with her mom in the kitchen.

Regardless of issues that may arise, it’s clear what matters.

“We get to see each other every day,” Ruzicka said.

The daughters have been after Caterina to write down her recipes. She finally relented, though it may be challenging to translate her cooking into recipes.

“I like to have a pinch of this and pinch of that,” she said.

But make no mistake, creating recipes has nothing to do with a changing of the guard.

“I have no plans to retire,” Caterina said.

Perhaps she’ll help train a fifth generation of Malara family employees.

Visit malarasitalianrestaurant.com for more information.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

CHLOE TRAN’S BUSINESS SCHOOL

BÀNH BÀN H MÌ IN BELLEVUE (AND BEYOND) // 100 //

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CHEF PROFILE // STORY BY CARRIELLE SEDERSTEN

SOME SANDWICHES RISE ABOVE THE REST.

There’s the BLT, po’boys, lobster rolls, Philly cheesesteaks, the classic meatball sub, and the Reuben, an Omaha staple.

It’s well past time to nominate another tasty sandwich to the upper echelons of the sandwich world—the báhn mì.

Bánh mì is the Vietnamese word for bread. In Vietnam, it also means a specific type of sandwich, which is the Vietnamese take on a French baguette and charcuterie. It has a sweet and slightly tangy butter-mayonnaise layered with a pork and liver pate spread, barbecue pork, and cold cuts of pork sausage (cha, lua) that’s made by pounding pork until it turns pasty and then mixing it with fish paste and other seasonings, such as garlic and black pepper.

Next comes the fresh cucumber slices, shredded pickled daikon and carrots, fresh cilantro, and thinly sliced jalapeños—all laying on a pillow of Vietnamese baguette, which is airier and softer than a French baguette. It’s sweet. It’s savory.

It’s crunchy. It’s soft. It’s hot. It’s cold. It’s sour and, at times, spicy, hitting all the marks of a good culinary experience.

Chloe Tran, owner of The Bánh Mì Shop in Bellevue (and the second location in Aksarben), knows her way around a bánh mì well. She and her staff make almost everything in-house at The Bánh Mì Shop, including the Vietnamese baguettes, which are made fresh daily to ensure the texture and taste are just right.

“The bread is the riskiest part of opening this business because the baguette is the hardest part,” Tran said. “It's hard to make. It's very unpredictable...Even to this day, it takes a lot of experience just to get it right.”

It took Tran a few months of trial and error to perfect the bánh mì baguette recipe when she opened her business more than two years ago in November 2017. Tran has a long history of baking, starting around age 10, and is mostly selftaught. She cooked a lot with her family growing up in Vietnam, where most of her family still lives. >

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nd it was her family who came to Tran with the idea of opening a restaurant. Tran had just graduated from Metro with her associate’s degree and was planning on going back to school at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to get her bachelor’s in business administration—so she told them no.

“I thought it was crazy because I was still in school and I could not imagine running a business when I was that young,” she said. “But having dreamed of opening a business for so long, I was afraid the opportunity might not come again for a while.”

In a follow-up email, Tran said her fiancé (then-boyfriend) Aaron Thompson encouraged her to forge ahead. The couple had faced disapproval from friends and family due to their age gap (29 years), and he wanted to see her achieve her dream and be independent before they got married.

“There's a lot of people that know what her potential is,” Thompson said.

“Honestly, this hasn't even scratched the surface…She makes all kinds of food, and when she gets her hands into something, you're not disappointed.”

Eventually Tran decided to take the risk.

She took a year off school to set up the business. “Thinking back about it, it's still a pretty crazy idea,” Tran said.

She added that she was fortunate to have enough dedicated staff to cover most shifts and help her manage the business.

As any business owner knows, anything can go wrong throughout the day.

“Luckily, my great team would try their best to handle the situation before asking for my help, especially during my class time,” Tran said. There were a few occasions when she had to miss class, but fortunately her business professors were understanding.

Thanks to all the support and understanding, The Bánh Mì Shop is now thriving, having recently opened a second storefront in the Inner Rail Food Hall in Aksarben last fall.

The shop’s menu has close to 10 different bánh mì sandwiches, including the traditional bánh mì with cha, lua and Tran’s family pork pate recipe to peppery Vietnamese style shredded chicken

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Tran said when she first opened her restaurant, most people had no idea what a bánh mì was. “I think a lot of them came in to try it out of curiosity more than anything else. People were very supportive even when they didn't really know what to expect in the beginning.”

“I THINK A LOT For Tran, the most rewarding part of opening a restaurant is the opportunity people and promote her culture OF THEM CAME toandserve cuisine.

IN TO TRY IT OUT “We like to see people being served, especially military going in and out,” she said. people who come for a quick, healthy OF CURIOSITY “Or lunch instead of going for fast food because that's their only option. It's really satisfying to see them happy.”

MORE THAN Thompson said the Bellevue community ANYTHING loves and supports Tran. “They just appreciate that old Bellevue, small-town kind that she embraces and continues ELSE. PEOPLE ofto feel promote...That's the kind of person Chloe is,” he added.

WERE VERY While Americans eat bánh mìs for lunch and dinner, in Vietnam, it’s common to SUPPORTIVE eat them for breakfast or as a snack. In addition to the sandwiches, the shop serves an assortment of bubble milk teas EVEN WHEN such as strawberry, Thai tea, and taro; green and black teas that come with fresh THEY DIDN'T fruit, jelly, or aloe vera; Vietnamese iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk; an array of fruit smoothies in flavors REALLY KNOW ofandhoneydew, lychee, mango, and avocado.

WHAT TO Tran said she wants to grow The Bánh Mì Shop in Bellevue into a fast-casual restauand offer more of a dining experiEXPECT IN THE rant ence for her customers. Adding more locations might happen down the road, but for now, her goal is to better serve her BEGINNING.” customers with the restaurants she has. and grilled beef patties with sweet hoisin sauce to vegetarian options with crispy fried eggs or grilled tofu with a teriyaki glaze. The most popular menu item is the grilled pork bánh mì that’s marinated in lemongrass and fresh garlic.

“We use pork butt as the main cut, so it has a little fat and a little lean meat,” Tran said. “We marinate and char grill it. It sounds the most appealing out of the menu, especially for new people who've never heard of bánh mì before.”

Cooking is her biggest passion. “At some point, I realized that I can't really make a career out of anything better than cooking.”

Visit thebanhmis.com for more information.

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Rockbrook Village (108th & Center) 402.391.2585 www.pastaamore.com We can accommodate parties of 30 or more, by reservation only Catering Available

DINNER HOURS // Mon-Thur: 4:30-9PM, Fri & Sat: 4:30-10PM

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

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Omaha

DINING GUIDE I TA L I A N LA CASA PIZZARIA - $$

45th and Leavenworth streets 402.556.6464

La Casa Pizzaria has been serving Omaha its legendary Neapolitan-style pizza and pasta for 60 years. We offer dine-in, carryout, party facilities, catering, and now pizza shipments to the 48 contiguous states.

Open Tuesday-Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

—lacasapizzaria.net

LOMBARDO’S BISTRO & BAR - $$

13110 Birch Drive - 402.884.9800 We are a locally owned and operated neighborhood eatery with an Italian flare.

We offer a full, made-from-scratch menu along with extensive wine, craft cocktail, and craft beer lists. Casual is the best way to describe the warm and friendly service you will come to enjoy when choosing us.

We offer dine-in, carry-out, catering, a daily happy hour (3-6:30 p.m. and all-day Sundays), live music Tuesdays and Sundays, and half-price bottles of wine on Wine Down Wednesdays.

—lombardosomaha.com

LO SOLE MIO RISTORANTE ITALIANO - $$

3001 S. 32nd Ave. - 402.345.5656

The restaurant is located in a residential neighborhood, surrounded by charming homes. Everyone is greeted with homemade bread, a bowl of fresh tomatoes and basil, a bowl of oven-roasted garlic cloves, specially seasoned olive oil, and (at night) a jug of Chianti! The menu includes a large variety of pasta, chicken, veal, seafood, and even a delicious New York steak. Traditional dishes such as lasagna, tortellini, and eggplant parmigiana are also available. Lunch offerings include panini, salads, and one of the best pizzas in town. Patio seating, full bar, and a great wine list complete the atmosphere. No reservations, except for private rooms. —losolemio.com

PASTA AMORE - $$

11027 Prairie Brook Road 402.391.2585 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 buco. Filet mignon is 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 cannoli. Dinner starts at 4:30 p.m. Reservations recommended.

—pastaamore.com

PITCH - $$

5021 Underwood Ave. - 402.590.2625 An OpenTable’s Diners’ Choice for 2014 HotSpot Restaurant in America. Keeping up with the traditional way the first pizzas in Italy were made, our pizzas are cooked in a coal-fired oven. The menu also features seafood, hand-cut steak, housemade pastas, and burgers full of flavor. Our goal is to provide you with local, housemade, and imported ingredients. We offer a happy hour menu through the week. Our bar provides an array of in-house concoctions as well as your traditional libations. Our wine selection is well-thought-out and most impressive. You will enjoy Pitch. Monday 3 p.m.-10 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 3-10 p.m. —pitchpizzeria.com

SPEZIA - $$$

3125 S. 72nd St. - 402.391.2950 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, certified Angus steaks, innovative pasta, risotto, gnocchi, cioppino, lamb, entrée salads, Mediterranean chicken, flatbreads, and fresh salmon daily. Enjoy a full bar, Italian and California wines, Anniversary/Lovers’ Booth (call to reserve), private dining rooms, and wood-fired grill. Open Monday-Sunday. Cocktail hour 4-6 p.m., when all cocktails, glasses of wine, and beers are half price. Evening reservations recommended.

—speziarestaurant.com

MEXICAN FERNANDO’S - $

7555 Pacific St. - 402.339.8006.

380 N. 114th St. - 402.330.5707 Featuring Sonoran-style cooking made fresh daily. Catering and party rooms also available. Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 4-9 p.m.

—fernandosomaha.com

JULIO’S - $

2820 S. 123rd Court - 402.330.2110

Locally owned since 1977, Julio’s prides themselves on serving the finest Tex-Mex cuisine and offering top-notch customer service. Our loyal customers are the reason we have been around for nearly 40 years. We have an extensive menu that has both classic and innovative dishes—giving everyone the opportunity to find something they love. Salivating for Southwestern fare? We have tacos, tostadas, a dozen different enchiladas, and classic fajitas. And, of course, nachos!

—julios.com

LA MESA - $$

158th Street and W. Maple Road - 402.557.6130 156th and Q streets - 402.763.2555 110th St. and W. Maple Road - 402.496.1101 Fort Crook Road and Hwy 370, Bellevue - 402.733.8754 84th Street and Tara Plaza, Papillion - 402.593.0983 Lake Manawa Exit, Council Bluffs - 712.256.2762 Enjoy awesome enchiladas, fabulous fajitas, seafood specialties, mouth-watering margaritas, and more at La Mesa. Come see why La Mesa has been voted Omaha’s No. 1 Mexican restaurant 16 years in a row.

Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m.

—lamesaomaha.com

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

$=$1-10 • $$=$10-20 • $$$=$20-30 • $$$$=$30+

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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Omaha

DINING GUIDE

MARGARITA’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT - $

4915 S. 72nd St. - 402.393.7515

Margarita’s is a business with more than seven years in the food world. We offer authentic Mexican food where you can enjoy a nice moment with your family.

—margaritasmenu.com

ROMEO’S MEXICAN FOOD AND PIZZA - $

90th and Blondo streets - 402.391.8870 146th St. and W. Center Road - 402.330.4160) 96th and L streets - 402.331.5656 Galvin and Avery roads, Bellevue - 402.292.2028 29th and Farnam streets - 402.346.1110 Romeo’s is your friendly, family Mexican food and pizza restaurant.We take real pride in serving our guests generous portions of the freshest, most flavorful dishes made with the finest ingredients available. Zesty seasonings and the freshest ingredients combine to ensure the ultimate in flavor. Our savory taco meat is prepared every morning at each location. Make sure to try our chimichangas; they’re the best in town.

—romeosomaha.com

SPECIAL DINING BÄRCHEN BEER GARDEN - $

6209 Maple St. - 402.502.9902

xican Dining Me

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$

$

MARCH/APRIL 2020

$

an Dining Itali

Serving Lunch & Dinner Mon-Sat 3001 S. 32nd Ave / Omaha, NE 402.345.5656

www.romeosOMAHA.com

$= 1-10 • $$= 10-20 • $$$= 20-30 • $$$$= 30+ $

Thank You

For Continually Voting For Us!

Located in Benson, Bärchen is a modern American beer garden and beer hall influenced by German communal drinking culture.

Indoor seating for approximately 125 people and outdoor seating in our beer garden for approximately 125-150 people. The laid-back atmosphere pairs well with our 30 rotating taps, international beer list, unique sausage & sandwich menu, and locally made pretzels. We are family and dog friendly—all are welcome. Hours: Tues-Thurs 3 p.m.-11 p.m.; Fri & Sat 11 a.m.-1 a.m.; Sun 11 a.m.-10 p.m. For more information or to host an event, please email gm@barchenbeer.com —barchenbeer.com

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

Thank You, Thank You,

5021 Underwood Ave. Omaha, NE 402-590-2625

17808 Burke St. Omaha, NE 402-289-4096

6350 E. Thomas RD. Scottsdale, AZ 480-272-7500

Omaha

• Private Parties & Events, Full & Partial Venue Buyout

DINING GUIDE

• Serving Burgers, Beers, Salads, Cocktails & Sunday Brunch

BRUSHI BISTRO+BAR - $$

721 N. 132nd St. - 402.884.6878 402.502.9902 6209 MAPLE ST. • BENSON GM@BARCHENBEER.COM BARCHEN BEER.COM

Swiss-trained chef Paul Braunschweiler combines the best of Europe’s epicurean delights with an American flair. Brushi’s casual and open atmosphere combine to create a true bistro experience. Fresh ingredients highlight the menu. Happy Hours and nightly specials. Private dining available. Patio seating weather permitting.

—brushiomaha.com

BEER GARDEN & BEER HALL

CRESCENT MOON ALE HOUSE - $

3578 Farnam St. - 402.345.1708 Founded in 1996, we’ve grown into Beer Corner USA with the additions of The Huber Haus German Beer Hall, Max and Joe’s Belgian Beer Tavern, and Beertopia—Omaha’s Ultimate Beer Store. With more than 60 beers on tap and Omaha’s best Reuben sandwich, we are a Midtown beer-lover’s destination. Hours: Monday-Saturday 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Kitchen hours: Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-midnight.

Closed Sunday. —beercornerusa.com

FIRST WATCH - $

1222 S. 71st St. - 402.932.5691 2855 S. 168th St. - 402.330.3444 3605 N. 147th St. - 402.965.3444 304 Olson Drive., Papillion - 402.965.3444 2015 Pratt Ave., Bellevue - 402.991.3448

Seafood - Mexican - Sushi

5101 S 36 th St, Omaha, NE 68107 - 402-213-5723 - Daily Food & Drink Specials

We begin each morning at the crack of dawn, slicing fresh fruits and vegetables, baking muffins, and whipping up our French toast batter from scratch. Everything is made to-order here at First Watch.

We use only the finest ingredients possible for the freshest taste around.

—firstwatch.com

STEAKS • CHOPS • SEAFOOD ITALIAN SPECIALTIES 7 private party rooms Seating up to 400 Lots of parking

1620 S. 10th Street

402-345-8313

www.casciossteakhouse.com

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

$=$1-10 • $$=$10-20 • $$$=$20-30 • $$$$=$30+

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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Omaha

DINING GUIDE GREEK ISLANDS - $

3821 Center St. - 402.346.1528 Greek cuisine with specials every day at reasonable prices. We are well-known for our gyro sandwiches and salads. We cater and can accommodate a party for 65 guests.

Carry-out and delivery available. MondayThursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.- 7 p.m.

—greekislandsomaha.com

J.COCO - $$$

5203 Leavenworth St. - 402.884.2626

Open for Happy Hour 4-7pm Daily Dining Room Opens at 5pm Daily Private Dining Room Available all day

140 Regency Parkway Omaha, NE 68134 FlemingsSteakhouse.com/Omaha 402.393.0811

The building that once housed a beloved neighborhood grocery has a new future.

Built as a grocery back in 1925, it is now home to J. Coco. Our seasonal menus, rooted in tradition, showcase our natural ingredients. Local, organic, and sustainable when available. We feature craft bartending, housemade desserts, and pastas. We celebrate the traditional with a modern twist. Lunch: Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Dinner: Monday-Saturday 5 p.m.-close.

—jcocoomaha.com

TAJ KABOB AND CURRY - $ 654 N. 114th St. 402.933.1445 / 402.238.4317

Taj of Omaha shares its love of traditional Indian cuisine with friends and family in the Omaha area. The owners invite you to come enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and new menu. Taj offers both lunch and dinner specials, delivery and catering services, and a free party room.

—tajofomaha.com

STEAKHOUSES CASCIO’S - $$

1620 S. 10th St. - 402-345-8313 Cascio’s is Omaha’s No. 1 steakhouse. We have been serving Omaha for 69 years. We feature steaks, chops, seafood, and Italian specialties. We have seven private party rooms, seating for up to 400 people, and plenty of parking. —casciossteakhouse.com

THE DROVER RESTAURANT & LOUNGE - $$$ 2121 S. 73rd St. - 402-391-7440

KOREA GARDEN AUTHENTIC ASIAN CUISINE AND SUSHI - $$ 5352 S. 72nd St. - 402.505.4089

Lunch specials served Monday-Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m., featuring signature Korean dishes like bulgogi, doenjang jjigae, and grilled mackerel. Menu includes appetizers, traditional specialties, rice, noodles, soup, and beverages. —koreangardenomaha.com

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. Lunch Monday­- Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m., cocktail hour 3-6 p.m., dinner nightly 5 p.m.

—droverrestaurant.com

FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE - $$$$

140 Regency Parkway - 402.393.0811

PARADISE BAKERY - $

17305 Davenport St. - 402.934.5757 120 Regency Parkway - 402.991.3000 Paradise Bakery offers freshly prepared baked goods made from scratch every morning with the finest ingredients available. Offering a variety of meals including soups, salads, and sandwiches. Our associates are extremely proud of the reputation Paradise has earned for providing exceptional service and producing the finestquality products. —paradisebakery.com

At Fleming’s, a steak is never just a steak.

It’s the culmination of a meticulous process of selection, preparation, and service that ensures it reaches your table at its very best. We obsess over every detail so that you’ll savor every bite. This is why we offer the finest USDA Prime beef, available both wet- and dry-aged and broiled at 1,600 degrees or iron-crusted. You can elevate your selection even more with our indulgent steak companions, including truffle-poached lobster, diablo shrimp, and lump crabmeat. Each dish is crafted from scratch by our culinary team and served by our skillful staff. Reservations recommended. —flemingssteakhouse.com

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

$=$1-10 • $$=$10-20 • $$$=$20-30 • $$$$=$30+

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

n Sandwi ube ch Re

Try Omaha’s Favorite Reuben!

Omaha’s largest selection of craft beers.

3578 Farnam St • 402-345-1708 www.beercornerusa.com Prime Rib

633 Old Lincoln Hwy, Crescent, IA 51526

712.545.3744 | pinkpoodlesteakhouse.com

ek Dining Gre

Greek Islands Restaurant Omaha, NE

Family Owned Since 1983 CATERING / PARTY ROOM AVAILABLE HOMEMADE, FRESH FOOD, ALWAYS.

Food Features • Restaurant Reviews Chef Profiles • Dining Guides • In Every Issue

3821 Center St. / 402.346.1528 GreekIslandsOmaha.com

OMAHA MAGAZINE it’s about all of us.

We publish stories about interesting people who live next door and fascinating former Omahans. Read stories about the arts, the food, the music, and the events that make Omaha the cultural epicenter of the Midwest.

OmahaMagazine.com/Subscribe

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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policies contain benefits, reductions, limitations, and exclusions to include a reduction in death benefits during the first two years of policy ownership. In NY, during the first two years, 110% of premiums will be paid. Whole Life Insurance is underwritten by United of Omaha Life Insurance Company, 3300 Mutual of Omaha Plaza, Omaha, NE 68175 which is licensed nationwide except NY. Life insurance policies issued in NY are underwritten by Companion Life Insurance Company, Hauppauge, NY 11788. Each company is responsible for its own financial and contractual obligations. Not available in all states. Benefit amounts vary by state. Policy Form ICC11L059P or state equivalent (7780L-0505 in FL, 828Y-0505 in NY). *Ages 50 to 75 in NY. **In FL policy is renewable until age 121. ***All benefits paid would be less any outstanding loan.

452747

// EXPLORE CALENDAR //

ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION

NEBRASK A

WAR OF THE WORLDS March 5 at Cox

Activities Center, Norfolk. This play is based on the science-fiction novel by H.G. Wells. This story details 12 days in which invaders from Mars attack the planet Earth. 402.371.2020 —northeast.edu

13TH ANNUAL POLAR BEAR TANK RACE

March 16 in downtown O’Neill. The home of the “The World's Largest Shamrock” nearly doubles its size to 7,000 people during St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Festivities begin Wednesday with the Irish Walk of Fame and the painting of the town's beloved shamrock. The big day is Saturday, with a fun run, Green Eggs and Ham breakfast, free concert, Irish dancers, a parade, kids activities, and more. 402.336.2355.

—oneillchamber.com

March 6 and 7 at Middle Loup River near Mullen. This timed event features teams of four to six people who race down the river in metal stock tanks. Prizes are awarded for tank decorations and themes. Teams may also choose to forgo the race and enjoy a relaxing MARCH float down the river. 308.546.2206.

—sandhillsjourney.com

GET YOUR IRISH ON! March 17 at

Ravenna, Kearney. The fourth year of this festive event will include food, wine, music and more. The band is BlueClover, a fun trio who play a variety of traditional Irish tunes with a tinge of bluegrass.

308.452.3181. —cedarhillsvineyard.com

17

SUPER DIAMOND, THE NEIL DIAMOND TRIBUTE March 13 at the

Lied Center, Lincoln. Paying tribute to a beloved international pop icon, Super Diamond performs the timeless classics such as “Sweet Caroline,” “America,” and “Forever in Blue Jeans.”

420.472.4747. —liedcenter.org

RODEO GRAND ISLAND March 13 and 14 at Heartland Events Center in Fonner Park, Grand Island. This Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association event features team roping, barrel racing, and Xtreme Bulls Tour (Saturday). 308.382.4515.

—heartlandeventscenter.com SHAMROCK SHUFFLE 5K WALK/RUN/ CRAWL March 14 at Chuckles Bar in

Fairbury. Runners and walkers are encouraged to dress up in leprechaun gear for this event. The post-race celebration includes unique awards, live music, giveaways, green booze, and food.

402.729.3000.

—fairburychamber.org MARCH/APRIL 2020

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AUDUBON’S 50TH ANNUAL NEBRASKA CRANE FESTIVAL March 20-21 at

multiple locations in Kearney.

Thousands of Sandhill cranes migrate through Nebraska each year, and this festival highlights the cranes. The event includes educational speakers, meals, and, of course, a trip to see the cranes. 308.468.5282. —ne.audubon.org

AIRCR A F T A DV EN T URE

March 21 at Strategic MARCH Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland. Visitors can lear n about the the C-119 “ Fly ing Boxcar ” and its many faces dur ing this specia l event .

4 02 .9 4 4 . 310 0 . — sacmuseum .org

21

STAR CITY BACONFEST April 19 at Marriott Cornhusker Hotel in Lincoln.

This event for meat lovers features bacon-inspired delights from Lincoln’s finest chefs, as well as live entertainment.

All proceeds from this event create scholarships for local Culinary students. —starcitybaconfest.com SPRING FLING March 21 at Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland. Kids of all ages can participate in an egg hunt, make and take a craft, visit with the Easter Bunny, listen to book readings, and learn about making kites at this fun-filled spring celebration.

402.944.3100. —sacmuseum.org EARTH DAY April 25 in Lincoln. This year is the 50th annual Earth Day, and this event will be bigger and better than ever. The activities include live music, informational booths, food trucks, and a farmer’s market. —lincolnearthday.org IOWA

CEDAR RAPIDS BEER SUMMIT 2020

SMORGASBOARD March 21 at the high school in Henderson. This event is a German feast as Nebraskans’ foremothers made it. The buffet includes verenika (a cottage cheese pocket with ham gravy over it), apple priescha (apple turnover), ham and noodles, zwiebach (roll), pluma mos (raisins and prunes cooked into a thick soup), schnetya (rolled up fruit- or raisin-filled dessert), worscht (pork sausage), kumpzt borscht (cabbage soup), kluptz (meat patties), and plautz (cherry or peach dessert). The high school band will perform following the dinner.

402.723.5782. —cityofhenderson.org

SPONSORED

FULL MOON HORSEBACK EXPERIENCE

April 6-8 at Dusty Trails in North Platte.

This trail ride begins at dawn and allows riders to experience the awakening prairie before enjoying a morning in the viewing blind. 402.530.0048. —dustytrails.biz

EASTER WEEKEND AT ARBOR LODGE April 10-12 at Arbor Lodge Mansion in Nebraska City. At this event, guests can discover the history of Easter traditions, enjoy fresh blooms, learn about spring planting on the Morton Farm, and view a vintage Easter postcard display. The mansion is open for self-guided tours and an egg hunt. 402.873.8722. —arbordayfarm.org

EXPERIENCE MIDWESTERN HOSPITALITY and cosmopolitan

luxury at The Kindler Hotel.

Located in downtown Lincoln, The Kindler Hotel opened in fall 2019 and offers sophisticated accommodations just steps from Memorial Stadium. Locals and guests alike gather in the lavish Boitano’s Lounge, a hip and welcoming atmosphere perfect for dinner or drinks. www.lincoln.org/omahamag

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MARCH/APRIL 2020

March 7 at the Doubletree Convention Center in Cedar Rapids. This is a beer festival like no other. Drink your way through over 100 craft beer styles from more than 50 different breweries. There will also be live music, local vendors, and specialty food available for purchase.

319.731.444. —americaontap.com

13TH ANNUAL BLUE RIBBON BACON FESTIVAL March 7 at Horizon Events

Center in Des Moines. This annual event will pair the tastes and sounds of the Caribbean with over 10,000 slices of bacon. There will be two stages of entertainment, a silent disco and silent yoga, and lots of lectures and educational events in the Chamber of Bacon Enlightenment. — blueribbonbaconfestival.com

ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVAL March 13-15 in

MARCH Emmetsburg. This sister city of Dublin, Ireland, celebrates the “wearing o’ the green” in a grand way.

Events include a beanbag tournament, fun run, kids’ zone, free movie, live music, and a parade. Before the parade, eat a cup of Irish stew or a baked potato with toppings, or sample the entries from the chili cookoff. 712852-4326. —emmetsburgirishgifts.com

13-15

// EXPLORE CALENDAR //

MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL March 15TH ANNUAL MISSION CREEK 21-22 at Indian Creek Nature FESTIVAL April 1-4 at the Englert APRIL Center in Cedar Rapids. The Maple in Iowa City. This is an intimate Syrup Festival, held at the end of the festival experience in downtown syruping season, features syrupIowa City focusing on music and making demonstrations, a look inside literature. The program highlights the Maple Sugar House, a pancake breakfast quality, independent-minded sounds, with real maple syrup, and live music. words, and events hosted in venues across 319.362.0664. —indiancreeknaturecenter.org downtown Iowa City. 319.688.2653.

—missioncreekfestival.com

1-4

DRAKE ROAD RACES April 19 at The Blue Oval in Des Moines. Before the official start of the competitive Drake Relays, runners of all abilities can participate in the road races. On April 21, people can participate in the Grand Blue Mile, which has hosted more than 35,000 participants from 36 states, six countries, and four continents. —drakeroadraces.org

TAKE A BITE FESTIVAL April 17-19

at Amana Colonies. This is an award-winning, three-day food experience that features sampling, hands-on demonstrations, and special dinners. Each evening features a special dining event—like a historic Amana Colonies communal dinner served in the only intact communal kitchen, or a Vintners Dinner that pairs a specially selected menu with expertly selected wines, or maybe an afternoon tea.

319.622.7622. —amanacolonies.com

MARCH/APRIL 2020

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111TH DRAKE RELAYS April 23-25 at

KEGS ’N’ EGGS April 18 at Kansas

The Blue Oval in Des Moines. One of the nation’s premier track and field events for over 100 years, the Drake Relays has seen the likes of Jesse Owens and Lillie Leatherwood on their track. On campus, check out the Street Paintings, in which student organization paints a square of concrete along a street that runs in front of Cowles Library. —drakeroadraces.org

City Renaissance Festival grounds in Bonner Springs. Guests can hunt for golden eggs and win prizes APRIL while sipping on craft beers, eating good food, and listening to live music at this adults-only event. Take home a commemorative glass and free T-shirt to remember your time in Bonner Springs.

913.721.2110. —kegsneggskc.com

KITES OVER HOOVER PARK April 25 at Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch. Visitors can watch quad-line stunt kite fliers and fly their own kites at this event, which includes children’s games, races, and a candy drop. Kite and food vendors on site. 319.643.5301. —hoover.archives.gov

27TH ANNUAL K ANSAS STORYTELLING FESTIVAL April 24-25 in downtown

18

Downs. Tall tales, anecdotes, and historical re-enactments can all be found at this festival, which offers two evening concerts and many separate sessions of stories, workshops, and music. 785 . 454 .6648.

—kansasstorytelling.com

MISSOURI

PHILLIPS 66 BIG 12 MEN’S AND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS. March 11-15

at Sprint Center and Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. 2020 marks the first time both the men’s and women’s championships have been held in the same city since 2012. 816.691.3800 —visitkc.com

FOOD AND FARM FESTIVAL April 25 at Living History Farms in Urbandale. Local producers, breweries, food trucks, wineries, and artists will gather on the front lawn of Living History Farms to celebrate everything that makes Iowa unique.

Travel back in time to 1876 through a demonstration of the Town of Walnut Hill, horse-drawn wagon rides, as well as an 1876-era photo op. 515.278.5286. —lhf.org K ANSAS

FAKE PATTY’S DAY March 21 at Aggieville Historical District in Manhattan. Known as one of the biggest fake holidays in the Midwest, Fake Patty’s Day is a day full of fun, friends, live music, and memories.

Aggieville is the place to be to drink green beer and spread Irish cheer. The streets will shut down so revelers can more easily travel from bar to bar during this special event.

785 .320.6709. —aggieville.org // 116 //

MARCH/APRIL 2020

SNAKE SATURDAY PARADE AND FESTIVAL March 14 at Northland

Festivals in North Kansas City. This popular St. Patrick’s Day tradition in Kansas City includes a parade followed by a carnival, children’s events, and more. At Snake Saturday, everyone will be Irish for just a little while.

816.548.3113. —snakesaturday.com

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE March 17 along Broadway in Kansas City. Those who do not get their full fix of shamrocks and shenanigans in North Kansas City at Snake Saturday can head downtown a couple days later to spend another day celebrating at one of the largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the region. —kcirishparade.com PLANET COMICON March 20-22 at Bartle Hall Convention Center in Kansas City. Celebrate 20 years of superheroes, pop culture, and more at Kansas City’s largest and longestrunning comic book convention and pop culture expo. The three-day event will feature the best in comic books, fantasy, and science fiction television and movies.

816.533.3126 —planetcomicon.com GREATER ST. LOUIS JAZZ FESTIVAL

April 15-18 at Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis.

This festival is three days full of jazz and fun, put on by the University of Missouri-St. Louis Department of Music. The event will include performances from John Scofield’s Combo 66, George Golligan, Vicente Archer, Bill Stewart, Sean Jones, as well as several performances from local and regionally touring jazz artists and bands. 314.516.5980. —music.emsl.edu

// EXPLORE CALENDAR //

“ WHAT ARE WE doing

this UNBOUND BOOK FESTIVAL April 23-25 at various venues around Columbia.

The Unbound Book Festival celebrates literature of all kinds. Over 20 nationallyrecognized and best-selling authors from a variety of different genres and specialties will come to Columbia to talk about their work and engage with the community through different events and programs. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith is the event’s keynote speaker. mail@unboundbookfestival.com —unboundbookfestival.com

WEEKEND?”

dynamic, crowd-sourced, live, and up-to-date events

omahamagazine.com

SAINT LOUIS STORYTELLING FESTIVAL

April 23-May 2 at various venues across St. Louis. The power of stories is unparalleled, and storytelling is an evolving and dynamic form of art.

Celebrating its 41st anniversary, the St. Louis Storytelling Festival is the largest free festival of its kind in the world. The multi-day celebration of stories will feature storytellers from across the nation, as well as regional storytellers from the St. Louis community. 314.266.4833.

—extension.missouri.edu/storytelling

Event times and details may change.

Visist omahamagazine.com for complete listings.

Check with venue or event organizer to confirm.

A NIGHTTIME STROLL

in Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln.org/OMAhA20 MARCH/APRIL 2020

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NOT FUNNY // COLUMN BY OTIS TWELVE // PHOTOGRAPH BY BILL SITZMANN

THINGS THAT MAKE MY BRAIN STAY AWAKE AT NIGHT

I

try to keep healthy hours. The experts say that our well-being is very dependent on getting the proper amount of sleep. So, I shower with chamomile body wash and go to bed on a consistent schedule that allows for the optimal number of hours for shut-eye. Then I shut my eyes and…and…and…I lay there in the dark with my eyes clamped shut and my brain set on “Ramble Aimlessly.”

Why Do We Like Ice So Much?

Everywhere I go I see ice—at restaurants in my water glass next to the little basket of sugar substitute, at the grocery store under the raw shrimp, or on the untreated steep hill that traps me in my neighborhood after a snow storm, ice is everywhere. At the movies, the soft drink machines that I am asked to operate for myself—a job for which I am completely untrained—have special big ice spouts that loudly load your provided cup with chunks of ice. Because of the size of your cup, the poor lighting, and the angle of the ice spout, it is impossible to see exactly how much ice is being dispensed.

This usually leads to the necessity of dumping half of the ice into the rickety wire rack-covered trough. We waste a lot of ice. The commodity that Roman Emperors had rushed to their palaces from the glaciers of the high Alps by relays of runners so that the divine personage might have a cold sip of mulsum. Trust me, mulsum is better cold, and it’s worth a few dead runners if you can get a few ice cubes in your chalice. Still, I worry that we modern folk take ice for granted.

Who is Hosting Saturday Night Live?

I stay up late on Saturday nights. By “late” I mean I try to stay awake through the local newscast at 10 p.m. that features a cast of late-adolescent broadcasting school grads. There’s a 15-year-old anchor in red-and-white stripes, a 16-year-old sportscaster with an overbite, and a preoccupied weather guy who is wearing a tie that bothers me for some unknown subliminal reason. If I can stay awake until the smiling farewell at the end of a newscast that featured raging wildfires, war,

MARCH/APRIL

a consumer report about the best cat beds, an approaching blizzard, and the crushing defeat of our local university boys by someone else’s university boys…then at last…Saturday Night Live starts. But here’s the problem; every time they announce the host’s name…I don’t know who the hell they are. When the host steps out to do the opening monologue, I either don’t recognize them at all or have some sort of vague memory of their face as if I knew them in a previous incarnation, nothing more. As for the musical guest…unless it’s Paul Simon, forget it. Reflecting on how out of touch I am keeps me awake.

Did I Set My Alarm?

I check at least five times during the night. “Yes, I did set my alarm,” I finally decide. But I forget to wonder, “Did I turn up the volume?” The answer to that unasked question is always, “No.” That keeps me awake until I doze off just in time to miss the alarm that silently blinks on the screen of my not-so-smart phone.

Why Do Some Dogs Eat Until They Explode?

I know, your dog eats sensibly. You can leave a full bowl of food in the kitchen for old Fido to graze on at his leisure.

Your dog has common sense. Mine does not. If given the chance, my blind, deaf old pup would, if I left the cabinet door under the sink open, drag out the bag of Purina Lamb and Rice and gorge herself to death. Yes, dogs and their owners do grow to be more and more alike as they age. Did I close the cabinet?

And so, I “brain ramble” on…on…sleepless…did I mention that I probably forgot to put the garbage and the recycling tubs out on the curb? Or did I? Otis Twelve hosts the radio program Early Morning Classics with Otis Twelve on 90.7 KVNO, weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Visit kvno.org for more information.

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STAY & PLAY IN SARPY COUNTY! Werner Park, Papillion. Home of the Omaha Storm Chasers

Located just a few minutes south of Omaha, Sarpy County awaits with a wonderful mix of fun things to see and do. For the sports fans, catch an Omaha Storm Chasers baseball game or Union Omaha, Nebraska’s first and only professional soccer team at Werner Park. Spend the day at Fontenelle Forest, where you can enjoy the new Tree Rush Adventures, the metro area’s only zipline obstacle course. Sarpy’s culinary scene can satisfy every craving possible and of course our award winning breweries, distilleries and winery can top off a perfect evening. Whatever you decide, stay and play and plan your getaway to Sarpy County this year. For a complete listing of restaurants, hotels, events and more, visit us online at

GoSarpy.com!

BELLEVUE • GRETNA • LA VISTA • PAPILLION • SPRINGFIELD • OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE • OMAHA METRO

Comfort Suites, La Vista

Union Omaha Soccer

Nebraska Crossing Outlet, Gretna

Stella’s Bar & Grill, Bellevue

Holy Family Shrine, Gretna

Tree Rush Adventures at Fontenelle Forest, Bellevue

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