Sarpy County Museum buys land for museum

Leadership of the Sarpy County Museum announced that they have closed on the land for construction of the new Sarpy County Museum in Papillion. The property is located on the southwest corner of Highway 370 and 90th Streets, located east of Trinity Church and across from the new Tower District development in Papillion.

Sarpy County Museum Executive Director, Ben Justman, said “Sarpy County is the fastest-growing county in the state. The county grew by 20% in the last decade, making the need for a quality state-of-the-art museum more important than ever.”

“We are excited for the Sarpy County Museum to make Papillion its home in this new highly visible, centralized location,” said Mayor David Black. “With Papillion’s history as an 1870s railroad town on the mainline of the Union Pacific Railroad, our community couldn’t be a better fit for the Wimmer Railroad Collection.” sitting in his office on the museum’s upper floor. “I think it’s fateful. I think I’m supposed to be here doing this. “And do I know a lot about running a museum? No, but I didn’t know a lot about being an astronaut, either. And that turned out pretty good.”

A $15 million capital campaign is underway to fund the project. The three-acre site will feature a new museum with enhanced space for the museum’s current collection, traveling exhibits, administrative/education areas, and archival storage.

Brookestone Village celebrated 31 veterans from four branches during the “Wall of Honor” ceremony in June. Brookestone Village recognized Long Term Care Residents of Brookestone Village who have served in the Armed Forces. They had a pinning ceremony for the current residents who are veterans and their loved ones, while past veteran’s families received pins in honor of their loved ones. There were 14 Army, seven Navy, seven Air Force, and three Marines that were recognized.

The building will house the nationally renowned Wimmer Railroad Collection. This preeminent private railroad collection acquired by Bill and Judy Wimmer is comprised of more than 10,000 unique pieces of railroad history. The Sarpy County Museum’s permanent exhibits provide information and artifacts illuminating the history of early residents, agriculture, transportation, the military, and local communities.

The Sarpy County Museum protects, preserves, and promotes the rich history of Sarpy County. Located at 2402 Clay Street in Bellevue, the Sarpy County Museum is immediately adjacent to Offutt Air Force Base.

Anderson first applied to become an astronaut in 1983 after graduating from Iowa State with a master’s in aerospace engineering and starting work as a NASA engineer. He would apply 14 more times before being picked to join the astronaut corps in 1998. In 2007, he worked for five months on the International Space Station, and in 2010, he spent 15 days in space on Space Shuttle Discovery. He retired from NASA in 2013. He now teaches parttime at Iowa State and has written five books, including an autobiography, “The Ordinary Spaceman,” and three children’s books, one of which comes out this summer.

SAC Museum attendance still had not recovered in 2022. Only 103,000 people came through the museum doors last year, much below normal annual attendance, which has ranged from 120,000 to 140,000 visitors.

In the recent pre-COVID past, Burchfield said, the SAC & Aerospace Museum was “making good money on events — a lot of events out there. And the (school) field trips that the Sherwood Foundation was funding were doing very well. And so things were looking good — and then COVID came along and ‘whack.’ ”

The museum did receive $500,000 in federal COVID relief aid, Anderson said. It also received a financial commitment from philanthropist Walter Scott Jr. just days before he died in September 2021.

As Burchfield tells it, Scott and some friends were on Scott’s yacht, the Ice Bear. Scott told Omaha investment banker Mike Yanney to make sure the museum survives. “And Mike said, it was reported to me, he said, ‘Walter, I’m not on the board. I don’t know anything about that.’ And, as Walter often said, ‘Mike, you’re not listening to me.’ That was the end of the conversation.”

Yanney confirmed Scott’s directive, saying that Scott was talking to him and Calvin Sisson, who runs the Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation and now serves as chairman of the museum board. Scott, Yanney said, “made a very solid point that we needed to get the (museum) back on track. And go do it.”

In 1995, Scott, who at the time was the chairman and CEO of Kiewit, and Robert Daugherty, the founder of Valmont Industries, decided the SAC Museum needed a new home.

The Air Force Museum, which owned the aircraft and missiles on display at the museum’s then home at Offutt, had inspected the museum and found major violations of the loan agreement. Air Force Museum officials said that the SAC Museum needed to either protect the artifacts or they would take them back.

Over its 25-year history, the museum has had 10 different directors, a figure that includes most of the interim directors. Each change has represented a shift of focus — some of them minor, others significant — that has slowed its momentum, according to a former longtime museum employee who declined to be named.

Anderson said he has been working to replace many of those positions, while some other jobs are being contracted out.

The museum’s location — midway between Omaha and Lincoln off Interstate 80 — always has been an issue, Burchfield said. “You need a reason to get off of I-80 at Exit 426 … gas, food, etc.,” he said. “We were never able to make that happen.” the museum needs to stay current to succeed. “If you don’t stay relevant … with new exhibits, new ways of looking at things, you only get one, maybe two visits out of a person. But if you keep it relevant, they’ll come back and back and back.” One such traveling exhibit, “Above and Beyond,” opened at the museum in January. The interactive exhibit lets visitors design and pilot a drone, fly with a flock of birds, see the world from outer space and experience a flight to Mars. you walked up to the exhibit and a hologram (popped up) and stood next to you and there I was in that flight suit talking to you about it. Or something.”

And now, he said, with higher gas prices and some people’s preference for working from home after COVID, it’s difficult to attract a staff who will drive out and back every day. Burchfield admits the museum has lost “a few good troops,” but said Anderson “is in the process of building his own team that will take on the work ethic of the leader.”

Gary Gates, the immediate past chairman of the museum board, said

Besides the traveling exhibits, which often are costly, Anderson plans to add more permanent interactive exhibits. “When I was a kid,” he said, “we went to museums and we read everything … It was all reading — there was no TV, there was no stuff to touch, no buttons to push, no iPad screens to slide on … Kids and adults, they are entertained differently (today).”

Anderson envisions one interactive exhibit that focuses on the three astronauts who formerly served at the Strategic Command, the unified command that succeeded SAC. He said he has spoken to all three, and they have agreed to help. Instead of just reading about them — or him, for that matter — “it’d be way more cool if

The museum’s former CEO and consultants came up with an $80 million plan that would have, among other things, continued the storyline of Nebraska’s role in SAC’s history. The plan also would have added a space and missile gallery and a planetarium. But it still was Cold War-focused. Anderson said he likes some aspects of the plan but wouldn’t spend that much money. Instead, he’s concentrating on linking SAC’s history of deterrence to space. “I think we’re a wonderful museum,” he said, “but I think we can be way more.

“It’s my belief that we can’t be stuck in the past and the Cold War. That’s not what sells tickets. What sells tickets is the future, the SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic. Robotics. Drones. Outer space. Space stations. So that’s my goal here … start us on that path where we build on the history, but we don’t just be history.”

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Volunteer Connect offers a variety of opportunities

Do you have some spare time, a skill to share, and wish to contribute to your community? Private and non-profit agencies are looking for your help.

Please contact Tia Schoenfeld with the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging’s Volunteer Connect program at 402-444-6536, ext. 1045 for more information on the following volunteer opportunities:

• Quilters to create ‘Busy Lap Blankets’ for Duet, at their annual Winter Extravaganza.

• Knitter to create knit prayer shawls, hats mittens, for Duet residents, at their Winter Extravaganza.

• Volunteers to write greeting cards of encouragement to residents in skilled care assisted living facilities and Meal on Wheels recipients.

• Bellevue Senior Center is desperately looking for one/two Bingo Callers, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12:30-2:30 p.m. Volunteers for occasional assistance with lunch service 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

• Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity construction projects and the Homestore.

• Royal Oaks Assisted Living looking for volunteers to do a variety of things book clubs, gardening, arts.

• Siena Francis House, volunteers to assist with serving breakfast and lunch.

Flaherty Senior Consulting

Caring for a loved one is difficult, and the challenges are amplified during a pandemic. Join Flaherty Senior Consulting for a series of Solutions Group gatherings that will address the questions and challenges caregivers face.

Solutions Groups provide opportunities for caregivers to learn how to deal with various issues, obtain skills and knowledge, engage in discussions, and interact with others in similar circumstances.

Upcoming meeting dates and locations are:

• Sept. 12, Nov. 14

St. Vincent de Paul Church 14330 Eagle Run Dr.

• Tip Top Thrift Shop always needs volunteers on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. or 1-4 p.m. Tip Top is located at 5910 Maple Street in downtown Benson.

• Volunteers Assisting Seniors VAS Volunteers are needed to provide nonbiased Medicare Counseling and Homestead Exemption Application Assistance through Volunteers Assisting Seniors. Free training is provided.

• Aug. 16, Oct. 18, Dec. 13

St. Timothy Lutheran Church 93rd and Dodge streets

• Aug. 3, Oct. 5, Dec. 7

The Servite Center of Compassion 72nd St. and Ames Cr.

• Sept. 23, Nov. 18

Faith Westwood United Methodist Church 4814 Oaks Ln.

The Solutions Groups are facilitated by Nancy Flaherty, MS, CDP, president of Flaherty Senior Consulting. She has extensive experience working with family caregivers and caregiver groups.

Registration is required to attend each gathering. Masks are mandatory and social distancing will be observed. Visit flahertyconsulting.net or call 402-312-9324 for more information.

Flaherty also provides private consultations with family caregivers to help them develop individual plans for their loved ones.

For information on private consultations, Solutions Group meeting times, and/or to register to attend a Solutions Group, email Nancy at flahertyconsulting@cox.net or call/text her at 402-312-9324.

La Vista Senior Center

You’re invited to visit the La Vista Senior Center, located at 8116 Park View Blvd. The facility provides activity programs and meals Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please call 402-331-3455 for general Community Center hours.

Meals are served weekdays at 11:30 a.m. Reservations are due by noon the business day prior to the date the participant wishes to attend and can be made by calling 402331-3455.

A $4.25 contribution is suggested for the meal if you are age 60 and older. If you are under age 60, then the meal cost is $11.

In addition to meals being served daily, the La Vista Senior Center offers a variety of activities such as: Bingo, outings, cooking classes, computer classes, movies with popcorn, arts and crafts, a variety of card games, quilting, tai chi, exercise classes, musical entertainment and various parties.

Please visit our website at cityoflavista.org/seniors for updated information or call 402-331-3455.

Corrigan Senior Center

You’re invited to visit the Corrigan Senior Center, 3819 X St. this month for a variety of activities.

The Corrigan Senior Center is open weekdays from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Lunch is served at noon. A $4.25 donation is suggested for the meal.

Bingo is played every Monday and Thursday at 12:30 p.m.

Cards and puzzles are played every day of the week at 8 a.m.

Call 402-731-7210 for more information.