60 OMAHA s u l p
Nov./Dec. 2021
Ruth Ciemnoczolowski
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They would be met by a visual wonderland, complete with trees sparkling with tinsel, great golden bells, and massive ropes of garland.
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LOOKING BACK AT HOLIDAYS IN THE BRANDEIS BUILDING NOSTALGIA // STORY BY JEFF LACEY // PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY
In the film A Christmas Story, in perhaps one of the most hilarious examples of rising action put on film, protagonist Ralphie Parker visits a department store Santa Claus. Parker is hoping to procure a verbal commitment from the Scarlet Saint to leave him a Red Ryder BB gun on Christmas morning. Tragically, Santa denies Parker’s request, sealing the rejection with a gentle boot tap to Parker’s forehead that sends him down a great red exit slide. Although Parker never obtained a commitment from Kris Kringle, the audience was treated to gorgeous scenes of midcentury department store holiday magic, complete with lights, huge drifts of synthetic snow, and elaborate window displays. The Brandeis Department store that once stood at 17th and Douglas streets in downtown Omaha was such a wonderland. At one point in the early 20th century, Brandeis stores comprised one of the biggest retail chains in the U.S., and the Brandeis name was internationally renowned. Their flagship building in Omaha, built in 1906, eventually came to include 10 stories of shopping, restaurants, offices, and even a post office facility. Although it closed in 1980, the store and its restaurants were popular holidays
destinations for Omahans for a large portion of the 20th century. Omaha native Mickie Olsen remembers the heyday of the Brandeis holiday season, and the store in general. As a child, Olsen loved The Tea Room, a restaurant on the main floor of the building. “I remember there would be a hostess walking around with a basket of porcelain figurines, and children could pick out a souvenir,” she recalled. Olsen’s aunt Mary Baratta worked in the women’s coat department. Olsen, now 72, lived around 49th and Pine streets when she was a child. She and her family would ride the city bus right down to the front door of the Brandeis building, where they would be met by a visual wonderland, complete with trees sparkling with tinsel, great golden bells, and massive ropes of garland. “The whole thing was decorated,” Olsen explained. “I loved going downtown to Brandeis at Christmas time. All the windows were decorated, and the entire store was lit up. It was gorgeous.” Once inside the building, Olsen and her family would navigate the teeming holiday shoppers, taking in the restaurants and various departments along the way. A
particular favorite event was traveling by elevator. Olsen recalled that, “the elevator had an operator, and it was a really jerky ride. The operator would announce what floor you were heading to, and the floor you were on, in kind of a canned voice that you hear automated in some elevators nowadays.” They often stopped at the eighth floor, the location of the toy department. Olsen recalled the thrill of that place, one especially acute in childhood. “There were wonderful toys,” Olsen said with a smile. According to Reader’s Digest, the most popular toys in 1957—the year Olsen was 8 years old— were Easy Bake Ovens, Etch-a-Sketches, Silly Putty, pogo sticks, and Barbie Dolls. “I liked dolls, and puzzles, and stilts. Dolls were my favorite.” Olsen would also visit the in-store Santa Claus, and, while she never got flushed down a great red exit slide, she didn’t exactly look forward to visiting with the Jolly Red One. “I always thought Santa was kind of creepy,” Olsen says with a chuckle. “I do remember seeing Santa, and I have a handicapped brother...I never really loved it, and he absolutely never wanted to sit on Santa’s lap. I remember standing in
line a long time, though.” Perhaps today’s mode of teleconferencing with the jolly elf would have relieved some of the anxiety for Olsen and her brother. The International Council of Shopping Centers estimates that, while around one in four mall visitors took a picture with a Santa in 2019, Zoom calls with Santa became more popular in 2020. The Wall Street Journal reported that websites like talktosanta.com rose in popularity, which charged around $35 for a Facetime call with the North Pole last year. The Brandeis store is no longer there, and spaces of its kind are on the wane. According to the National Retail Federation and Statista.com, while Americans spent $789.4 billion during the holiday season last year, it was increasingly spent online; mall vacancy rates grew to more than 6%. However, for many, the wild hope of childhood and the crimson pageantry of Christmas that spaces like Brandeis building can conjure from memory will undoubtedly be occupied for a long time to come. Some memories are their own species of mistletoe; when stepped beneath, they ask people, with a mischievous wink, to sidle up to joy.
60+ Profi le // story by Sara Locke // photography By Bi ll Sitzman n // design by Derek Joy
As an artist, mother, and friend,
As an artist, mother, and friend, Ruth Ciemnoczolowski has woven her life into a colorful tapestry. Each integral thread winds its way from her rural start through her world travels and home again. Her work has often been found in the spotlight, adorning starlets and Playboy Bunnies alike. Squeezing all of these wild and worldly experiences is a testament to her talent for creating something grand out of nothing, and making something grand seem like just another day at the office. The first thing people notice when meeting the 63-year-old Ciemnoczolowski is her energy. It is high, it’s frenetic, and it’s looking for something beautiful to make. “I grew up in the middle of nowhere in Western Nebraska,” Ciemnoczolowski recalled. “Living on a farm shoveling muck isn’t very stimulating, and I didn’t fit in. I went to a one-room school with an outdoor toilet, and all there was to do was read. By fifth grade, I’d read every book in the building, and through the book mobile I was reading 28 books a week.” This hunger for knowledge and engagement found Ciemnoczolowski seeking higher education at UNL, majoring in English, art, and women’s studies. After graduation, she relocated to Omaha and comfortably moved into a career in clothing alterations. She used her talents to see the world, and to create new ones with each stitch.
She’ll always add some interesting sleeve or beautiful details or trim. Even if I come to her with just a color or fabric or shape, she immediately has a million great ideas for what to do with them.
-Lindsay Pape
“After college I became a Bunny sitter for Playboy International,” Ciemnoczolowski said. “I’d learned to sew at age 4, and here I was a women’s studies major making Playboy Bunny costumes.” One bunny led to another, and soon Ciemnoczolowski was making a whole zoo of outfits for events at then-Emmy Gifford Theater. “I made a lot of animal costumes for children’s theater at that point. When you have a specific talent, people don’t understand you not being great at normal stuff. When they see me create, they think I’m brilliant, but when I try to do normal stuff…” she trailed off. Ciemnoczolowski set out on her own to find freelance styling jobs, as well as work among local film artists. She eventually landed tailoring gigs on a number of Alexander Payne pieces. “The film community is very small in Omaha—you get jobs by word of mouth.” This wordof-mouth resulted in her connection with Nic Fakler for the film Lovely, Still, for which she is credited as costume designer. “I did [the film] as I was impressed with Nic, who was so young when he wrote the script. I wanted him to have good costumes for his movie. He’s a great guy.”
She also holds an episode of HGTV’s That’s Clever under her belt. She won first place for an alternative wedding gown (a black cocktail-length gown with a cape) in the 2014 “Passion for Fashion” contest from the American Sewing Expo. Ciemnoczolowski has traveled the world on her talents, spending time living in Europe, visiting France through a 4H program, and spending her Decembers renting a home near the ocean in California to sew frantically with her long-distance friends. She has taught at National Sewing Conventions and written for the national Threads Magazine. Here, she teaches Theater Tech Appreciation, and is currently working as a cutter/ draper for Omaha Community Playhouse.
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“I’d learned to sew at age four, and here I was a women’s studies major making Playboy Bunny costumes.”
-Ruth Ciemnoczolowski There, she finds herself just as surrounded by compassionate and creative people. As she names her many inspiring friends, mentors, and collaborators, she lingers on her admiration for her team at Omaha Community Playhouse, saying “The shop really celebrates diversity and body positivity in a way you don’t always find with fashion. And working with Lindsay Pape, I honestly really enjoy every day. I’ve never had a better boss.” Before becoming Omaha Community Playhouse’s Costume Designer, Pape spent 14 years teaching Costume Design at Creighton. As she approaches her fifth season working with Ciemnoczolowski at OCP, she returns repeatedly to one word: talented. “Ruth knows much more than I do about garment construction, every step of the way. From working out a pattern to choosing seam placement,” Pape said. “All of the details, closures, zippers, the hemming. She’ll take each of my designs and drawings, no matter how specific or vague, and bring me these beautiful, elaborate ideas to choose from. She’ll always add some interesting sleeve or beautiful details or trim. Even if I come to her with just a color or fabric or shape, she immediately has a million great ideas for what to do with them. She’s very collaborative, incredibly creative, and just terribly talented.” Ciemnoczolowski infuses love, wisdom, and inclusivity into all of her work, bringing cultures, customs, and curiosity to the stage. Visit omahaplayhouse.com for more information.
e
ip nning
Into a Lif
read h T a Colorful Tapestray
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 • 60 PLUS
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY DEREK JOY
60+ ACTIVE LIVING STORY BY DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN
Mike & Cheryl Sisk ntrepreneur Wally Byam is noted for saying, in 1916, “Don’t live in the past or future… Make history.” It’s a philosophy he has helped many people realize with the recreational vehicle he invented known as the Airstream. That iconic invention that looks like a fast-food burrito wrapped in aluminum foil can often be seen rolling down the road in the Midwest during the summer, and in warmer spots during the winter. One of those aluminum RVs is the source of pride, and memories, for Omahans Mike and Cheryl Sisk. The couple are members of the local Nebraska Airstream Club, and frequently travel with fellow club members to rallies, campouts, and festivals. Mike and Cheryl have taken their 2002 Airstream to the Canadian Rockies and Arizona, and have met hundreds of enthusiasts of these classic RVs. “My parents were Airstreamers,” said Mike, although, at age 70, he did not grow up traveling by Airstream. His parents started this hobby in the late 1970s. “We did go camping when we were growing up. I’ve met some of the folks my parents Airstreamed with.” Mike and Cheryl, age 69, took their two daughters camping in non-Airstreams when they were girls, and upon retiring in 2010, the couple returned to their hobby of traveling and camping. Their friends, however, did not enjoy camping nearly as much as the Sisks. The couple joined the Nebraska Airstream club and found the members to be kindred spirits.
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The Sisks bought a 1992 34-foot Airstream in April 2013 from a friend of Mike’s parents in Arizona. A hailstorm dented it within two weeks, and the aluminum RV was ruined. The couple bought a 1991 34-foot Airstream that July, and subsequently joined the club. While camping in their 34-foot Airstreams, they saw a 30-foot version owned by a friend that they liked, and Mike told their friend, “If you ever sell that, please let us know first.” The couple bought this 2002 Airstream Classic a few years ago, and have been happy with this purchase. “We moved everything from the [34-foot] to the 30-foot, and everything fit,” Cheryl said. “The closet is smaller, but we worked it out.” That is because this particular Airstream had one rarer feature they wanted, a slide-out panel that gives the couple extra room when the RV is parked, and this Airstream did not need much renovating. The previous owners had installed a vinyl plank floor and converted the sofa and dinette to leather, which the Sisks have retained. They have changed some colors on the inside, but prefer to spend their time camping with friends, and making new friends. “They are wonderful people,” said Jamie Scott, campground manager at the Amana Colonies. Scott got to know the Sisks as the organizers of a rally at the historic tourism spot in Iowa.
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“We moved everything from the [34-foot] to the 30-foot, and everything fit.” -Cheryl Sisk
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60+ Active Living
‹Wally Byam Caravan Club, International, identifies members in the Midwest as
belonging to Region 8, which encompasses the states of Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas, and includes the following six clubs: Greater St. Louis, Iowa, Iowa North, Missouri Greater Ozarks, Missouri-Kansas, and Nebraska. People from all of these locations converged on the Amana Colonies from April 28 to May 2, 2021, for the Region 8 Spring Rally. Mike, then president of Region 8, was at the helm of the event.
“Over the course of a year it takes a fair amount of time and energy [to plan a rally],” said Greg Vadner, current president of Region 8 and a member of the Greater St. Louis club. “You need to search for sites, then you’ve gotta narrow those down to what will work. Then you’ve gotta start figuring out dates, you talk to the venue, figure out the terms of the contract. Normally by then you’ve gone to the venue. Right now I’m working on 2023. Mike would have been working on the Amana Colonies two years ago.”
“You can tell they love this. They take so much pride in it.” -Jamie Scott The Sisks saw this as a labor of love. “They took it upon themselves to learn about what we offer here in Amana so they could have give their group a great experience,” Scott said. They arranged for the Iowa North group to cater a barbecue one night, the Missouri-Kansas group to cater dinner a different night, and the Missouri Greater Ozarks group to supply ice cream for dessert each night. The ice cream likely was an accompaniment to a favorite camping treat of Cheryl’s, which the Sisks have introduced to several Airstream enthusiasts. “We roast Twinkies,” Cheryl said. “It gives them a crispy crunch. They are good, and much less messy than S’mores.” “We’ve spread the idea of Twinkie roasting around, and everyone seems to like them,” Mike agreed. // 64 //
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“The gal from Amana gave us some prizes to hand out,” Mike said. “We had gold, silver, and bronze medals. Instead of putting beer in the steins, we put root beer in them. We had a plunger ring toss. One person had a plunger tied to their head. You threw pretzels and tried to get a ringer on the handle of the plunger.” The couple are often asked about their classic vehicle, and they will gladly tell people anything they want to know, even offering to let people see the inside of the camper.
The affable couple brought their enthusiasm and love of Airstreams to the Amana Colonies.
“I’d never been in one of those,” Scott said. “You can tell they love this. They take so much pride in it.”
“They were very welcoming,” Scott said. “I got to have dinner with them during the rally. They were interested in my background, in the backgrounds of the employees. That doesn’t happen with every group that comes here.”
While the Sisks are not in charge of the rallies next year, Vadner is sure that his friends will be in attendance (COVID notwithstanding, they have been to every rally since 2016) and he has been grateful that Mike has been a part of the process for the rallies he is planning.
Vadner said the event was outstanding, and he particularly enjoyed spending time with his fellow Airstreamers, including the Sisks, at the Festhalle Barn during the rally. “It was relatively hot, and we spent probably two hours in the large building,” Vadner said. “[There were] kids who were singing and dancing, so it was entertaining. We had two tables and we probably had 20 of our members there—enjoying the entertainment and telling stories. Of all the things, I probably enjoyed that the most.” Along with the club members wandering around the historic German colonies and participating in the annual Mai Fest events, the Sisks planned a multitude of events, including the “Airstream Olympics.” Mike thinks this was a first-ever event, and it included games such as stein holding, a keg roll, and a one-legged race.
“Mike been great to me [and Cheryl has, too],” Vadner said. “They’ve helped me move into the presidency. He’s been a great help to me…he’s like, ‘remember this, look for this in your contract.’ [He gives] pointers about other members that I don’t know—who’s a good candidate for this or that to volunteer for. [He’ll say] ‘Remember, at this dinner, we always have this event.’” Airstream enthusiasts have a slogan that they join the club because of the trailer and stay in the club because of the people they meet. “Some of these people have become lifelong friends,” Cheryl said. Visit nebraska.airstreamclub.net or airstreamclub.org for more information.