Omaha Magazine - The Dog Issue - March/April 2022 by Omaha Magazine

AUTHOR ANNA LIND THOMAS • “PAST AND PRESENT” PHOTO PROJECT • JUDGE JOSEPH TROIA’S SPORTING PASSION • THE COMMITTEE CHOPHOUSE

MARCH/APRIL 2022 | U.S. $4.95

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

Summertime and lifelong memories go hand-in-hand. Watertown was made for both. With two lakes, award-winning local breweries, fine dining and infinite colors in each sunset, you’ll find great places around every corner. Plus, the majestic Redlin Art Center and historic, newly-restored Goss Opera House paint the picture for a diverse art scene.

Get back to what matters. Find your great place on the great plains at VisitWatertownSD.com. MARCH/APRIL 2022

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Market directly to our audience, digitally!

• EXCLUSIVE EMAILS TO OUR B EST OF OMAHA VOTER’S LIST • ADS IN WEEKLY EVENT NEWSLET TERS • DISPL AY ADS & CONTENT ON OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM • PR O GRAMMATIC DISPL AY ADVERTISING

For more information, reach out to our Digital Manager Megan Bartholomew at megan@omahapublications.com or call 402.884.2000 to speak with a sales representative.

FROM THE EDITOR // LETTER BY DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN

CONNECTING HISTORY AND GENERATIONS S p r i n g I ss u e P o p s

ast summer I took a fantastic visual road trip. I did not get in the car and drive; rather, I followed a three-part show titled “Prehistoric Road Trip” on PBS. It featured YouTube personality Emily Graslie traveling through the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming in search of ancient fossils. The information was fascinating, but I became more intrigued when, in the final episode, Graslie spent part of her time in Agate Fossil Beds National Monument near Harrison, Nebraska. One of the experts she spoke to in that episode was University of Nebraska at Omaha professor Larry Bradley, Ph.D. Bradley has an interesting story beyond having appeared on a public television program, which is why he is the subject of our Adventure story this issue.

I love vintage magazines. Among my possessions are a copy of Rolling Stone from September 1995, two copies of Vogue from the late 1960s (one has a fashion spread, but not the cover, with Audrey Hepburn), and a copy of Look from the 1960s. The Look magazine is one of my favorites. It isn’t in perfect condition and doesn’t have a lot of big names in it, but the articles are intriguing. Apparently I am not the only person interested in this photography-focused lifestyle publication. Lincoln-based photographer and journalist Bill Ganzel is finding the people behind many of the stories produced in the magazine. People like Alan Stone, an announcer and DJ at many psychedelic shows in San Francisco who still has eclectic music tastes, but has given up his rock ’n’ roll lifestyle and is active in his Jewish faith. Ganzel, who lives in Lincoln, shared his tale of collecting these stories in one of our main features. John Tierre Miller was the driving force behind Johnny T.’s Bistro and Blues in Jackson, Mississippi, a place that has hosted celebrities such as Morgan Freeman and Steve Harvey. Miller, who spent his early childhood in North Omaha, has returned to the area and opened a Johnny T.’s here. His journey from Omaha kid to college tennis player to entrepreneur is in our dining section. One of my other favorite stories in this issue is our Nostalgia story in 60+ about playground equipment. Writer Kara Schweiss brought the idea to the table a couple of months ago, and the lively discussion that came out of that idea turned it into an article. I remember a tall merry-go-round painted in primary colors at the park in Linden, Iowa, where my father’s family had reunions during summers when I was a kid. The height of this spinning contraption fascinated me, and I looked forward to finishing the potluck meal so I could go outside and play on it. Many staff members also had memories of burning their legs on hot metal slides, jumping out of swings from high in the air, or becoming dizzy from merry-go-rounds. Happy spring to our readers. There’s a lot of great articles in this issue.

*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. For more information on our city edition, visit OmahaMagazine.com.

MARCH/APRIL

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2022

TAB L E of CON T E N T S THE USUAL SUSPECTS 05

From the Editor Connecting History and Generations

Between the Lines

Calendar of Events

026 Adventure

Setting History Straight

046 History

Prospect Hill Cemetery

065 Obviously Omaha

Six Cheap Fitness Activities

082 Explore! 087 Instagram 088 Not Funny

Tips for Travelers

A R T S + C U LT U R E 016 Music

Billy Troy

018 Multimedia

Diana Martinez

020 Author

Anna Lind Thomas

022 Visual

Anthony Deon Brown

028

F E AT U R E S

028 HOLDING STRONG, NOT BACK 032 PAST AND PRESENT

Tammy Shuff is Clothed in Strength, Faith and a Competition Bikini

Photo Projects Put the 1960s, 1930s Under a New Lens

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

PE O P L E 038 Gen O

Anna Harris

040 Profile

Nicholas Bell

042 Sports

Jane Pohlman

GIVING 048 Feature

World Speaks

052 Calendar

read online at omahamagazine.com AUTHOR ANNA LIND THOMAS • “PAST AND PRESENT” PHOTO PROJECT • JUDGE JOSEPH TROIA’S SPORTING PASSION • THE COMMITTEE CHOPHOUSE

MARCH/APRIL 2022 | U.S. $4.95

Dog Days NICHOLAS BELL LEADS CANINE BEHAVIOR

A B O U T T HE COV ER DogPa Owner Nicholas Bell works with a variety of canines in his training business, including this chocolate lab.

020

60PLUS

058 Nostalgia

Playgrounds of Yesterday

060 Profile

Thomas Hamilton

062 Active Living

Judge Joseph Troia

DINING 066 Feature

The Committee Chophouse

070 Profile

John Tierre Miller

072 Review

Oscar’s Pizza & Sports Grille

076 Dining Guide

066

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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Between

THE LINES A LOOK AT TH R E E OMAHA MAGAZINE TEAM MEMBERS

OMAHA’S

MAGAZINE

TIM McCORMACK—Independent Sales Contractor McCormack has been a high school history teacher, an elementary school principal, a successful business owner, a franchise developer, and a master marketer. He has dealt with every aspect of building and running successful businesses—including building 14 different businesses in four different states, writing franchise disclosure documents, trademarking business names and slogans, and writing employee handbooks and operations manuals. These are some of the reasons why McCormack is a great person for people to work with on Omaha Publications ads. He understands business, and said his favorite part about being at Omaha Publications is getting to talk to, and network with, other business owners and managers.

KARA SCHWEISS—Contributing Writer Schweiss began writing for Omaha Publications 24 years ago and is now its longest-serving freelance writer. She is a Nebraska native and a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s journalism program. Her writing, editing, and project management work for publishers, nonprofit organizations, and commercial entities has spanned many facets of the communications sector, including advertising, marketing, broadcasting, web-based, and social media. She prefers to work behind the scenes and enjoys the satisfaction of telling a good story or making complex information clear and comprehensible to readers more than seeing her name in bylines and credits. Schweiss said she’s proud of her professional body of work but maintains that her two teenage sons are her favorite creations.

MEGHAN TOWNLEY—Freelance Writer Townley has been contributing to Omaha Magazine since 2013. She is a full-time literature and composition teacher at Creighton Preparatory High School, and spends her free time with her family, along with writing, reading, and practicing yoga. Her work has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Wedding Essentials, HER, Irish America, Bene Italian Life & Style, UNO Magazine, and the Omaha World-Herald. She has worked at magazines in New York City, including Harper’s Bazaar, Bene Italian Life & Style, BRIDE’S, and Good Housekeeping. Traveling and live music are two of Townley’s passions. When combined, this is the best sort of getaway. // 8 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

THE

FUTURE

OF BUSINESS OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM/PAGES/SUBSCRIBE

MARCH/APRIL 2022 VOLUME 39 // ISSUE 8

le n Sa

! No w

Sal

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EDITORIAL Managing Editor

DAISY HUTZELL-RODMAN Associate Editor

LINDA PERSIGEHL Contributing Writers

TAMSEN BUTLER · CHRIS BOWLING · KIM CARPENTER DWAIN HEBDA · JEFF LACEY · LISA LUKECART KARA SCHWEISS · TARA SPENCER · MEGHAN TOWNLEY DOUGLAS “OTIS TWELVE” WESSELMANN

CREATIVE Creative Director

MATT WIECZOREK Senior Graphic Designer

DEREK JOY Graphic Designer II

MADY BESCH

March 4 – 27

Hawks Mainstage Theatre

April 15 – May 8

Hawks Mainstage Theatre

Contributing Photographers

JUSTIN BARNES · KEITH BINDER · COLIN CONCES SCOTT DRICKEY · JOSHUA FOO · WILLIAM HESS · SARAH LEMKE

(402) 553-0800 | OmahaPlayhouse.com

SALES DEPARTMENT Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing

Hawks Series Sponsor:

Orchestra Sponsor:

Presenting Sponsor:

Costume Care Sponsor:

GIL COHEN Branding Specialists

DAWN DENNIS · GEORGE IDELMAN

Scenic Design Sponsor:

Artistic Team Sponsor:

Media Sponsor:

Contributing Branding Specialists

JILLIAN DUNN · MARY HIATT · TIM McCORMACK Publisher’s Assistant & OmahaHome Contributing Editor

SANDY MATSON Senior Sales Coordinator

ALICIA HOLLINS Sales Coordinator

SANDI McCORMACK

OPERATIONS Accounting/Operations Manager

KYLE FISHER Ad Traffic Manager

DAVID TROUBA Digital Manager

MEGAN BARTHOLOMEW Digital Assistant

JULIUS FREDRICK Distribution Manager

DAMIAN INGERSOLL

EXECUTIVE Executive Publisher

TODD LEMKE Vice President

GREG BRUNS Associate Publisher

BILL SITZMANN For Advertising & Subscription Information:

402.884.2000 Omaha Magazine Vol 39 Issue VII, publishes monthly except February, April, August, December, totaling 8 issues by Omaha Magazine, LTD, 5921 S. 118 Circle, Omaha, NE 68137. Periodical postage at Omaha, NE, and additional offices and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Omaha Magazine, 5921 S. 118 Circle, Omaha, NE 68137

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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C A L E N D A R 8

NELSON MANDELA: THE OFFICIAL EXHIBITION

March 5-July 3 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. Th is exhibition takes visitors on a personal

journey through the life of the world’s most iconic freedom fighter and political leader. Admission: $11 adults, $8 seniors (62+), $7 children (3-12), free for members and children 2 and under. Noon-4 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, Closed Mondays. 402.444.5071. —durhammuseum.org

EVENTS

» Exhibits «

FACES FROM THE INTERIOR: THE NORTH AMERICAN PORTRAITS OF KARL BODMER

I DON’T KNOW YOU LIKE THAT: THE BODYWORK OF HOSPITALITY

Through March 19 at Bemis Center, 724 S. 12th St. Th is group exhibition considers the stealth

work of hospitality. Admission: free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. 402.341.7130. -info@bemiscenter.org

Through May 1 at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Th is is Joslyn’s first exhibit to focus

on Karl Bodmer’s watercolor portraits of Native Americans. Tickets: $10 general admission, $5 college students with ID, free for Joslyn members and youth ages 17 and younger. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays. 402.342.3300. -joslyn.org

MONUMENTAL WORKS

Through March 31 at KANEKO, 1111 Jones St. This exhibit strives to illuminate each of

March

4-27

its 12 legendary artists’ creative process, as well as the craft and perseverance needed to master their materials and convey meaning in their sculptural work. Admission: free. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays. 402.341.3800. -thekaneko.org

FOREVER FOREST

Through April 16 at Omaha Children’s Museum, 500 S. 20th St. Exploring the realities

of forests through play, families will learn about sustainability, selective harvesting, transportation needs, and the every-day products we use that are made from trees. Admission: Free to members and under 24 months, $14 kids 2-15 and adults, $13 seniors (60+). 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 402.342.6164. -ocm.org

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

COLLECTIVE VISION

March 4-27 at Hot Shops Art Center, 1301 Nicholas St. This exhibition is a collection of

work by 14 different photographers. Admission: Free. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends. 402.342.6452. -hotshopsartcenter.com

8 PRINT MAKERS & 1 QUILTER

April 9-May 8 at Roberta and Bob Rogers Gallery, 1806 Vinton St. As a storyteller each

artist has ideas, feelings and thoughts to express, share and show. Admission: Free. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 402.496.4797. -rbrg.org

COMMON SENSES FESTIVAL

Throughout April at K ANEKO, 1111 Jones St.

Science, art, and technology come together in an educational event. The month includes an installation exhibit at KANEKO lectures and discussions, and live performances for neuro-diverse communities. 402.341.3800. -commonsensesfestival.com

» Concerts « THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND WITH NATHAN AND THE ZYDECO CHACHAS

March 1 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St.

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band are the pioneers of the modern New Orleans brass band movement and feature blues, cajun, New Orleans soul, zydeco and R&B music. Tickets: $25 advance/$30 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353. -waitingroomlounge.com

MOLLY TUTTLE & GOLDEN HIGHWAY

March 2 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St. Tuttle

and her bluegrass band features mandolin, banjo, fiddles, and bassist. Tickets: $25 advance/$30 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.345.7569. -theslowdown.com

Five venues, five unique celebration experiences. Hosting events for 100 - 1,000 guests, Omaha Event Group boasts 15 years of experience with over 300 events each year, including Omaha Fashion Week. Schedule a consultation with our team of experts today. hello@omahaeventgroup.com | 402.819.8792 | omahaeventgroup.com Omaha Design Center | The Downtown Club | Empire Room | Omaha Palazzo | Anderson O'Brien Fine Art Gallery

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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OMAHA MAGAZINE | EVENTS CALENDAR

ONE NIGHT OF QUEEN, PERFORMED BY GARY MULLEN & THE WORKS

BUGS BUNNY AT THE SYMPHONY

March 5-6 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. This event honors the beloved

March 11 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. Th is

tribute to Freddie Mercury and Queen should includes their classic hits. Tickets: $39-$79. 8 p.m. 402.934.9966. -ralstonarena.com

cartoons and classical music of Bugs Bunny at the Omaha Symphony. Tickets: $20-$89. Saturday 7:30, Sunday 2 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

OMAHA SYMPHONY—BERLIOZ’S SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

BONNIE PRINCE BILLY & MATT SWEENEY WITH EMMETT KELLY

March 11-12 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. This program includes

March 5 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. These musicians perform melodies in the

“Red Cape Tango” from “Metropolis Symphony” and Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.” Tickets: $20-$89. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

American folk or country tradition. Tickets: $25 advance/$28 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353. -waitingroomlounge.com

PARQUET COURTS

March 8 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Indie rock post punk Parquet Courts’

TOOL IN CONCERT March

“Sympathy For Life” focuses on grooves instead of rhythm. Tickets: $25 advance/$28 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353. -waitingroomlounge.com

KATY KIRBY & SUN JUNE

March 8 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St. Song-

writer and indie rock artist Katy Kirby tours with the evolving pop-rock band Sun June. Tickets $15. 8 p.m. 402.345.7569. -theslowdown.com

JOE PURDY

March 10 at Reverb Lounge 6121 Military Ave.

Joe Purdy 14th album is a commentary on modern troubled times. Tickets: $25. 8 p.m. 402.884.5707. -reverblounge.com

MORGAN WALLEN - THE DANGEROUS TOUR

March 11 at CHI Health Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. Wallen offers a variation of bro-coun-

try with smooth R&B rhythms over arena-ready stomps. Tickets: $149-$289. 7 p.m. 402.341.1500. -chihealth.com

March 12 at CHI Health Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. This Grammy-Award-win-

ning art-metal band features rock music that incorporates elements of metal and prog. Tickets: $52-$122. 7:30 p.m. 402.341.1500. -chihealth.com

CHRIS RENZEMA—THE HOPE OR NOSTALGIA TOUR

March 14 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St.

Renzema’s sophomore album sparked more than 90 million streams. Renzema received over one million Spotify track saves over the last year. Tickets: $20 advance/$25 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.345.7569. -theslowdown.com

BILLIE EILISH

March 16 at CHI Health Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. Th is singer is most known for her

Grammy-winning record Everything I Wanted. 7:30 p.m. Limited tickets available. 402.341.1500. -chihealth.com

SUBTRONICS

March 17 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St. Sub-

tronics’ music features cutting-edge sound design with hard-hitting bass. Tickets: $30 advance/$35 day of show. 9 p.m. 402.345.7569. -theslowdown.com

OMAHA SYMPHONY—MAESTRO’S MINI MIXTAPE

March 20 at Witherspoon Concert Hall, Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Explore music

and art created all over the world in this concert including repertoire from American composer Jessie Montgomery, Aaron Copland, and Claude Debussy. Tickets: $15. 2 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

ANDY SHAUF

March 22 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. The Toronto-based, Saskatchewan-raised musi-

cian’s songs unfold like short fiction. Tickets: $20. 8:30 p.m. 402.884.5353. -waitingroomlounge.com

VANISHING TWIN

March 23 at Reverb Lounge 6121 Military Ave.

The electronic pop ensemble incorporates elements of afrofunk, outer jazz, and avant-garde. Tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5707. -reverblounge.com

GARY NUMAN—THE INTRUDER TOUR

March 24 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Numan has recorded seven top 10 singles,

seven top 10 albums, and received critical acclaim. Tickets: $30 advance/$35 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353. -waitingroomlounge.com

GRETA VAN FLEET DREAMS IN GOLD TOUR 2022

March 25 at CHI Health Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. This Grammy Award-winning band

has a sound that blends hard rock and blues rock. Tickets: $46-$66. 8 p.m. 402.341.1500 -chihealth.com

ENTER THE HAGGIS

March 11 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Toronto-based Celtic Folk

Rock band The Haggis has released eight acclaimed studio albums. Tickets: $30. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

TOBY MAC

March 17 at Baxter Arena, 2425 S. 67th St.

Christian hip-hop rapper and singer Toby Mac has earned seven Grammy Awards. Tickets: $19-$89. 7 p.m. 402.554.6200. —baxterarena.com

March 5 – July 3, 2022 Continue the journey.

A TRIBUTE TO BILLY JOEL OMAHA SYMPHONY WITH MICHAEL CAVANAUGH

March 25-26 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. This star of Broadway’s

musical Movin’ Out, performs Joel’s greatest hits. Tickets: $65-$89. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. —ticketomaha.com

NO LIMITS REUNION TOUR

March 26 at Baxter Arena, 2425 S. 67th St.

Master P, Mystikal, Silkk The Shocker, Mia X, Fiend, Mercedes, and Mr. Serv-On perform in this show. Tickets: $29-$109. 7 p.m. 402.554.6200. —baxterarena.com

LUNA LUNA

March 27 at Reverb Lounge 6121 Military Ave.

This bilingual Latino band is based in groove and rhythm, carrying a slight rock inspiration with pop influences. Tickets: $15. 8 p.m. 402.884.5707. —reverblounge.com

LAS CAFETERAS

March 30 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Th is band uses traditional

instruments such as a quijada (donkey jawbone), and tarima (a wooden platform). Tickets: $20-$34. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. —ticketomaha.com

Produced by Round Room Live in partnership with The Royal House of Mandela (RHoM) and RHoM Investments

‘Brings an epic and inspiring struggle alive’ - THE TIMES

DURHAMMUSEUM.ORG

SCAN & PL AN YOUR VISIT

402-444-5071 | 801 S. 10TH ST, OMAHA

LAINEY WILSON

March 31 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Th is singer-songwriter was recently recog-

nized as No. 1 on “Billboard”’s Emerging Artists chart for her hit “Things a Man Oughta Know.” Tickets: $15 advance/ $18 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353 —waitingroomlounge.com

LOS TEMERARIOS

April 2 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. Los Temerarios have recorded more than 20 albums and been honored with two Grammy nominations, and many other awards. Tickets: $49-$199. 8 p.m. 402.934.9966. —ralstonarena.com

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS

April 2 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St.

This Scottish Indie Rock Band performs music from their newly released album. Tickets $16. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353. —waitingroomlounge.com

RENÉE ELISE GOLDSBERRY WITH THE OMAHA SYMPHONY

April 2-3 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Known for originating the role

of Angelica Schuyler in the Tony Award-winning Hamilton, Goldsberry performs show tunes. Tickets: $20-$89. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. 402.345.0202. —ticketomaha.com

PILLOW QUEENS

KENNY HOOPLA

band’s 2021 album “In Waiting” was nominated for Ireland’s prestigious Choice album of the year award. Tickets: $15 advance/$18 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.345.7569. —theslowdown.com

up-and-comer Hoopla’s 2020 release How will I rest in peace if I’m buried by a highway? landed in the Top 10 at Alternative Radio. Tickets: $20 advance/$25 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.345.7569. —theslowdown.com

April 4 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St. Th is

April 11 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St. Indie

FAROFA

April 8 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Farofa features tradi-

MOGWAI April

tional rhythms blended with modern stylings from many places, including the music of their native Brazil. Tickets: $30. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. —ticketomaha.com

CHICAGO PLAYS THE STONES

April 9 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Chicago Plays The Stones pres-

ents its audience with classic Rolling Stones songs arranged in the Chicago blues styles . Tickets: $22-$52. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. —ticketomaha.com

OMAHA SYMPHONY DEBUSSY & MOZART 39

April 10 at Witherspoon Concert Hall, Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. Maestro Larry

Rachleff takes the podium for an afternoon of Debussy and Mozart. Tickets: $35-$40. 2 p.m. 402.345.0202. —ticketomaha.com

April 14 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Scottish post-rock band Mogwai’s new

album features guitar-based instrumental pieces, melodic bass guitar lines, and heavy use of distortion and effects. Tickets: $25 advance/$28 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353. —waitingroomlounge.com

CHICAGO

April 20 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. One of the

longest running music groups of all time, Chicago has sold over 100,000,000 records. Tickets: $44$139. 7:30 p.m. 402.934.9966. —ralstonarena.com

FUZZ

April 21 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St.

American rock band Fuzz performs songs from their third album III. Tickets: $20 advance/ $25 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.345.7569. —theslowdown.com

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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OMAHA MAGAZINE | EVENTS CALENDAR

TYPHOON

LOL SURPRISE! LIVE

cated arrangements and careful orchestration. Tickets: $20 advance/$23 day of show. 8 p.m. 402.884.5353 -waitingroomlounge.com

hologram concert tour “L.O.L. Surprise! Live – Calling All B.B.s” features original music from the brand new album “Fierce,” dancers, a DJ, and holograms on stage. Tickets: $29.50 - $59.50. 6 p.m. 402.934.9966. -ralstonarena.com

April 21 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Th is band’s music is marked by compli-

TREVOR HALL

April 24 at The Slowdown, 729 S. 14th St. Hall’s

music is an eclectic mix of acoustic rock, reggae, and Sanskrit chanting. Tickets: $30 advance/$35 day of show. 7:45 p.m. 402.345.7569. -theslowdown.com

OMAHA SYMPHONY—DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ

April 29-30 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. The Omaha Symphony evokes

a night at the Ballet Russes under the baton of conductor Alasdair Neale. Tickets: $20-$81. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

» Performing Arts «

March 17 at Ralston Arena, 7300 Q St. The

JARED FREID

March 18-19 at Funny Bone Comedy Club, 17305 Davenport St., No. 201. This comedian,

based out of New York City, is originally from Needham, Massachusetts. Tickets: $15. Times vary. 402.493.8036. -omaha.funnybone.com

HASAN MINHAJ THE KING’S JESTER

March 20 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Comic Hasan Minhaj returns

to his storytelling roots four years after his Netflix comedy special “Homecoming King.” Tickets: $49.50-$74.50. 7 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

OUTSIDE MULLINGAR

// 14 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

March 26 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St.

Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria bound out of the zoo and onto the stage in this live musical. The event features a preshow with Omaha’s Zoo. Tickets: $20-$60. 3 p.m. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

SWING, SWING, SWING! AMERICAN MIDWEST BALLET

March 4-27 at Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St. This show, based on the novel by

to be a true friend, and a human being. Tickets and times vary. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

MADAGASCAR THE MUSICAL

and enlightening review of all the science that popular movies such as Star Wars and Frozen got wrong and what they got right. Tickets: $69$250. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

THE COLOR PURPLE

March 8-13 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Mean Girls gets to the heart of what it means

Alton Brown is best known as the creator, writer, and host of “Good Eats,” “Good Eats: Reloaded,” and “Good Eats: The Return.” Tickets: $29-$150. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

April 6 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Tyson offers an entertaining

bian and Afro-contemporary dance with live music and singing. Tickets: $20-$37. 7 p.m. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

MEAN GIRLS

March 25 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St.

DR. NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON: AN ASTROPHYSICIST GOES TO THE MOVIES

March 4 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. This event showcases powerful Afro-Colom-

tin Hensley and Jen Smedley know that moming isn’t easy. Tickets: $39.25 - $189.25. 7 p.m. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

ALTON BROWN LIVE: BEYOND THE EATS

intertwines the tales of Orpheus and Eurydice, and of King Hades and Persephone. Tickets and times vary. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

SANKOFA DANZAFRO

March 5 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Best friends, comedians, and moms Kris-

his kingdom between his three daughters. Tickets $35 general admission, $30 for health care workers, military personnel, and educators. Times vary. 402.345.1576. -bluebarn.org

March 29-April 3 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Th is winner of eight Tony Awards

love with Anthony at age 6, but after a bout with heartbreak, Anthony swore off women forever. Now middle-aged pair must reunite. Ticket prices vary. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. 402.553.0800. -omahaplayhouse.com

#IMOMSOHARD: THE GETAWAY TOUR

March 24-April 17 at Bluebarn Theater 1106 S. 10th St. Aging monarch Lear decides to divide

HADESTOWN

Through March 13 at Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St. Rosemary secretly fell in

Alice Walker and the film by Steven Spielberg, is an intimate coming-of-age story. Ticket prices vary. 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. 402.553.0800. -omahaplayhouse.com

KING LEAR

April 9 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St.

DISNEY PRINCESS: THE CONCERT

March 20 at at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. A quartet of icons perform an evening

of story, animation and song. This show is for ages 6 and up. Tickets: $39.50 - $230. 6 p.m. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

IMPROBABLE ASCENT WITH PARACLIMBER MAUREEN BECK

March 22 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Th is world champion para-

climber and 2019 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year will share her adventures as a one-handed athlete. Tickets: $15-32. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

Th is American Midwest Ballet production is about big bands and swing dancing. Tickets: $27-$67. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

THE GIVER

April 15-May 8 at at Omaha Community Playhouse, 6915 Cass St. Twelve-year-old Jonas lives

in a utopian society with no memories. When Jonas is chosen by The Giver to bear the memories of his society, he learns the truth behind his perfect world. Tickets and times vary. 402.553.0800. -omahaplayhouse.com

CONT. PAGE 86 »

SPONSORED PROFILE //

“That was the whole reason I started this group,” he said. “Because I realized there’s all this talent all over, and if we could pull together we could create something bigger than we could alone,” he said. “The concept has always been synergy.” He is currently the premier fire performance instructor in the Midwest, and has taught classes and performed in Costa Rica as well as performing in Las Vegas, the Bahamas, and Cabo San Lucas. Now the 44-year-old runs the largest performance group of this size and caliber in the area. Hill said that he never thought he would be an entrepreneur. He pulled the performers together in 2012, starting as Flowtricks Entertainment and changing the name to Omaha Circus Arts in 2019. Besides the traditional circus-style performances, Hill has incorporated technology into the performances, specifically with state-ofthe-art-LEDs and projection mapping. “There’s nothing quite like this around here,” Hill said. Others in the community agree. STORY BY TARA SPENCER // PHOTOGRAPH BY KATIE ANDERSON

Artful Synergy

KEN HILL PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES

Omaha Circus Arts owner and founder Ken Hill can’t sit still.

The former IT tech helped people fix their computer issues over the phone while multitasking on his true passion. “I was composing music with an earbud in my right ear,” he said.. Though he had studied music composition at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, that wasn’t where he found financial success as an artist. But it did lead him there.

When he traveled to San Francisco to do a show, the organizers included fire acts to accompany the budding musician. Hill was hooked. “I fell in love with it,” he said. Hill grew up practicing martial arts and was an instructor of a blend of kickboxing, kali, and ninjitsu prior to trying his hand at fire

performance. “It has the technical foundations of my martial arts training, but rewritten by the creativity of my musical and songwriting skills.” A local burlesque group helped teach him the basics of fire performance, but Hill said it wasn’t the style he wanted. “In my mind, I envisioned bigger stages and productions, sharing this art to the mainstream audience.” Then circus acts started gaining popularity on YouTube, and Hill noticed more performers appearing locally. “Originally, I thought I’d be a solo artist my whole life,” he said. “I never felt comfortable managing and owning and running things. I thought that was something that was outside my skill set.”

“K EN IS A PIONEER IN THE E N T E R TA I N M E N T I N DU S T RY, C ON S TA N T LY PU S H I N G T H E BOU N DA R I E S OF POS SIBI L IT Y AND IMAGINATION,” SAID JESSE SWANSON OF CHAOS PRODUCTIONS. “His kind heart and constant drive are an inspiration to all those around him. His talent is a valuable asset to the Omaha community.” Hill puts everything back into the company— time, money, energy, and passion—as his end goal is for the artists to be able to perform full time. He thinks this is very much an achievable goal. “We made it through the most challenging growing pains,” Hill said. “These next five to 10 years, I only see exponential expansion.”” OCA For more information, visit omahacircusarts.com

But when he noticed many talented performance artists struggling to find work, he wanted to help.

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“He has people who request him constantly in the senior communities,” Lemke said. “They’ll go to their activities director and say, ‘When can we have Billy Troy back?’ He is amazing.”

The 68-year-old still records his own music, and now plays with his own son, Troy Graves, in The Billy Troy Band. Besides his son, who is the bassist, the band includes a second guitarist—who also plays for country singer Toby Keith—and a drummer. Troy said they’ve been with him since they were teens. “They all had been with me for years before I moved here,” he said. “They’re all doing so well…They all work in different bands, right in downtown Nashville.”

HE PLATFORM WAS SET FOR BILLY TROY FROM BIRTH. THE SINGER, SONGWRITER, AND PRODUCER ESSENTIALLY GREW UP ON THE STAGE OF THE GRAND OLE OPRY HOUSE IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. His father, Josh Graves, is known as the “king of the dobro” after introducing these resonator guitars to bluegrass music in the mid-1950s. Josh, 1997 International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Honor inductee, played the Opry with the Foggy Mountain Boys, and his son was often by his side. “I grew up on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry,” Troy said. “And then when I turned 16, I became part of the Grand Ole Opry.” Throughout his youth, Troy appeared regularly on a TV program called The Noon Show, and later he was also on The Porter Wagoner Show, where Dolly Parton got her start. Throughout high school, he would leave class to go perform on TV shows and head back to school after. “I was just a Nashville boy,” Troy said. In the early 1970s, right after high school, Troy signed with Andy Williams’ record label, Barnaby Records. At the time, there were only a few other names on the label, but they were notable—The Osmond Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, and Ray Stevens. Troy took to the road, performing first as a solo act, later adding members to the group that would become the Billy Troy Band, and they were known for playing country and bluegrass. // 16 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

Besides being a well-known singer and performer, Troy has also found success as a songwriter and producer, earning him several Grammy nominations. “I know that my father worried about me being in this business because it’s such a hard thing, but luckily he gave me the tools to be able to do more than one thing,” Troy said. “’Cause when [performing] doesn’t work, I’m still a producer and a songwriter.” Troy’s music interests also extend beyond country and bluegrass. “There was a time where they wanted to put you in one genre, and I just couldn’t do it,” he said. “I always just liked all kinds of music.” A devoted fan of The Beatles, he started his own group when he was around 10 called The Crickets, because “we wanted to be The Beatles.” He still enjoys performing Beatles songs, as well as Billy Joel tunes and other pop classics, even taking the band on the road to perform as a Billy Joel tribute a while back. Omahans often found him putting on a lively show at The Ozone Lounge every Saturday night, before the venue closed. Troy also works with the Merrymakers Association, a nonprofit that provides senior living communities with free music entertainment. According to Merrymakers executive director Sandy Lemke, Troy typically plays 12 shows a month with them.

Since Troy now lives in Omaha and the rest of the group members live in Tennessee, they often collaborate remotely. “It’s so easy to do with technology,” Troy said. “They’ll be in the studio in Nashville, and they’ll send me files and I’ll work on my part.” Technology also proved helpful when the pandemic hit, and Troy was unable to perform for regular audiences. His solution, at the urging of his wife, Sheryl, was to use social media. He started posting videos of his In-House Sessions, sometimes working with other musicians. “Each week I would do a three-song segment of me at home, just performing, and that was very successful,” he said. “We even used it in the Merrymakers. We all started doing videos for some of the places we couldn’t get into, and it worked out really well.” Despite taking careful measures to avoid exposure, Troy and several members of his family did contract COVID. “The biggest thing you need to do, and it’s just what I didn’t do, is get to the hospital.” Troy said he mistakenly refused to go, but when he started turning blue at home, Sheryl called 911 and he was transported to the hospital during a snowstorm. While struggling to stay alive in the hospital, Troy said he started getting cards and letters from all over the country. “You won’t believe what that does to you,” he said. “I’m in the hospital, I’m looking at stacks of mail that come in, and it’s like, man…I was so touched by it. You know, it changes the way you look at everything, really.” Troy still records and performs his original music, and he wrote a documentary-style musical play called Backstage Memories, based on his own memories of the Opry. “I base the show on that, because [people] can relate to it. Because I can give them the music of their past.” Visit billytroymusic.com for more information.

" I K N OW T H AT M Y FAT H E R WO R R I E D ABOUT ME BEING I N T H I S B US I N E SS B E C AU S E I T ' S S U C H A HARD THING, BUT LU C K I LY H E G AV E M E T H E TO O L S TO B E A B L E TO D O M O R E THAN ONE THING. - B I L LY T R OY

M A K I N G

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FA ST “Even the best documentary still needs to spur people to action in order to change things. Ultimately, people change things.” -Diana Martinez

DIANA A+C MULTIMEDIA

MARTINEZ

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN

STORY BY TARA SPENCER

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DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

lthough the news in Nebraska has been known to speak of a statewide “brain-drain,” Omaha is a city where more than onethird of the residents have at least a bachelor’s degree. In fact, the city has gained some valuable college-educated assets over the years. Film Streams’ artistic director Diana Martinez is one of those assets. She was initially hired as the education director after a lengthy, nationwide search. Film Streams’ marketing director Patrick Kinney said, “She was interested in the entire breadth of film–lowbrow, highbrow, art house, blockbusters, all of it–and how that work reflected important truths about our culture. It was clear that she was the film expert we’d been looking for.” Martinez’s fi lm roots started early. She recalled her Salvadoran parents watching a diverse range of movies to help them with their English, and they would let her watch whatever movies she wanted. She said they never set limits on what she could do in life, either. After earning her bachelor’s degree in English from Caltech-San Bernadino, Martinez earned a Ph.D. in fi lm and media studies from the University of Oregon. Once she started teaching—at the University of Oregon—she quickly realized the role she played in some students’ lives. “I had students tell me they took my class because of my last name, because they just wanted one other Latino to bond with in this really homogenous place,” she said. “Then I had to look at what I was teaching. Clearly there was an expectation of what it would mean to have a professor of color.” Growing up in Southern California, Martinez said she was fortunate to be surrounded by diversity. It wasn’t until she started moving in circles that were less heterogeneous that she started to recognize how important that was.

While she couldn’t change the curriculum, the desire to tell the stories of people of color in the film industry prompted her to create her own podcast, Hollywood in Color. “I’m a researcher at heart,” she said. “I spent forever researching loudness standards. Like, you don’t need to know that,” she added with a laugh. Before moving to the Midwest, the now 35-year-old did her own brand of research. “This is probably the wrong way to go about it, but I think it actually gave me a very positive depiction of Omaha—I did my Instagram research.” She looked at local influencer, bar, and restaurant accounts. “And I was like, OK. There’s a cool, thriving scene of young people who have Instagram content.”

When she came to visit, she said it was similar to the area she grew up in, known as the Inland Empire. Since moving to Omaha more than five years ago, Martinez’s support for the city has only grown, and she has become one of its biggest champions.

Martinez found out she was the new artistic director in mid-March, one day before Film Streams shuttered their doors to in-person audiences. Within a week of closing, they were doing virtual cinema, offering films to patrons to rent online. It was a strange time to take on a new leadership role. “Being artistic director, I envisioned programming our screens...Then it became launching a virtual platform and learning how to do streaming, basically, in a few months,” she said. “That wasn’t at all what I anticipated, but…I don’t think I’ve ever, in my career, felt more accomplished than during that time.” Martinez’s current role involves overseeing all of Film Streams’ programming. “That includes our education programming, which Diana still oversees, but also the new releases and classic films we show at the Dundee Theater and Ruth Sokolof Theater,” Kinney said. “Additionally, she oversees our community engagement screenings—which may look like a film followed by a panel discussion—and our events with visiting filmmakers and artists.” It’s clear Martinez believes in the power of film, but she knows it has its limits. While she thinks film can change peoples’ perceptions, she is also realistic. “A film, I believe, isn’t going to provide affordable housing for people,” she said. “It’s a representation of issues and ideas, and even the best documentary still needs to spur people to action in order to change things. Ultimately, people change things.” She laughingly admits that might be controversial for her to say, given what she does. But she believes art is powerful in the realm in which it exists. is a

“I don’t know why people leave,” she said. “I get that there’s things in terms of politics, weather, and those things that do make it difficult to live here. But, especially for creative people, this is a place where you can “This make a difference so fast, place where because it’s so much smaller than New York or LA. You you can make need fewer resources to get a a differproject off the ground.” Martinez’s work at Film Streams has influenced her feelings toward Omaha as well. She said the philanthropic community is supported in a way that it’s not in other places, even major cities, in the U.S. That proved especially helpful when she first arrived in 2020. “I was concerned about our staff, but I was privileged enough to be like, I’m not worried we won’t come back, because of all the resources that we were able to basically put away before the pandemic happened,” she said.

ence so fast, because it’s so much smaller than New York or LA. You need fewer resources to get a project off the ground.”

“I wish we talked about that more, because it does a disservice to art to make it want to be always about social justice, or always working to do something,” she said. “Sometimes art is just beautiful. That, in and of itself, is a really powerful experience. Let art be for arts’ sake sometimes.” Visit filmstreams.org for more information.

-Diana Martinez

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 19 //

nna Lind Thomas— writer, mom, Bellevue West graduate, and creator of the HaHas for HooHas website— earned her first bit of internet fame 10 years ago by sharing a particularly embarrassing story most people would have buried deep down and developed some kind of coping mechanism to deal with. As a humor writer, Thomas has no problem sharing such anecdotes with anyone online.

Thomas was working at California State University at Chico as a residential director when she met Rob. She was getting her master’s degree in interpersonal communication, and he was stationed at Beale Air Force Base. They met through match. com. Thomas said online dating was exactly what she’d expected at first—a disaster. She said every man who “winked” at her was in their 60s. “They were all in a camper trailer—I don’t know why,” she said. “And they were like, ‘I know I’m not in your age range, darlin’, but you’re gorgeous. Let me take you out for a beer.’” She stopped logging on. On the last day of the free trial, she got a reminder that the trial was ending. She logged on again, saw Rob, and sent him a message with her email address. He emailed right away to ask her out to dinner, and literary history was made. Well, viral internet history at the very least. “The fart story makes people like, laugh until they cry,” Thomas said. “I don’t know why.”

very good, and when she went home that day, Thomas told her mom she was going to be a published author. With the help of her agent, Erin Niumata, and her editor, Julie Baumgartner, she is. “Anna loves writing,” Baumgartner said. “She wants to hone her craft, she embraces even the smallest writing suggestion or editing tip, and I’m watching her skills take off.” Besides getting to watch primetime soap operas, being the baby had other perks. Thomas said she was bullied a lot as a child, but because she was so loved at home, the hurt feelings didn’t last. She already knew she was important. “I mean, you might hurt my feelings, but at the end of the day…I’m the baby and I’m adored and there’s nothing you can really say to change that,” she said.

MARCH

Thomas farted on a first date. Not a dainty, easily glossedover fart, either. It was a silent A story she finds funnier took place years later killer. “It was…so bad,” she while she was pregnant with Poppy. Thomas added that her parents’ hersaid. “And I started screamitage and temperament also helped ing, ‘Roll down the window!’ They were moving, and her parents were shape her humor and writing style. I pulled on the windows. I helping, because, as she put it, “I’m, like, Her dad is Swedish, and her mom tried to roll down the window, really pregnant, totally sprawled out… is Sicilian. “It’s really funny because but it’s locked…I’m flying cankles roaring.” Swedes are fairly unemotional—weird at the window as if I’m when it comes to emotion,” she said. being kidnapped.” “Sicilians are like, filled with passion.” Yet she attributes her sense of humor “I’M LIKE REALLY This gassy story has a happy to her dad—“He is outrageous”—and ending, though. The man her interest in writing to her mom. PREGNANT, TOTALLY Thomas screamed at is now “She was very, very good.” her husband, Rob, who took SPRAWLED OUT… that date in stride. These Thomas thinks the struggles people days, the couple and their go through make the best stories. CANKLES ROARING.” two daughters, Lucy, 7, and “It’s what we tell our grandchildren, Poppy, 5, go through all it’s what things we overcome,” she -ANNA LIND THOMAS hardships and embarrasssaid. “I don’t think it should be ments as a family. And avoided, I think it should be leaned Thomas writes it all down, A mover dropped a box labeled “marital into…And if you were to keep and many of them appear items” at the feet of her parents. Suddenly your sense of humor, even better. in her books We’ ll Laugh there’s a rattling noise. “My husband and You’re going to have a great story to About This (Someday), I lock eyes. Because we realize what it is, tell, and in a way that encourages which came out in fall and I grit my teeth and I’m like, ‘get it, other people.” 2021, and I’m Not Ready get it.’” Long story short, her husband for This, set to publish did not get it. Her mom opened the box, That’s what she tries to do with her this spring. her dad could not understand what was writing, and so far it’s working. going on, and Thomas is still hoping “That’s the thing about that story makes it into a book. According to Baumgartner, “The writers,” she said, “We sophistication and depth of meaning really do have an advanHer flair for storytelling started early. in her second book really makes this tage. We almost like She recalls writing a “hilariously editor proud.” bad things that happen dramatic” story for a class. “I think, to us because we get to because I was the baby of the family, Visit annalindthomas.com for write about it.” my parents let me like, hang around more information. when they were watching Dallas or something,” she said with a laugh. Her teacher told her the story was 0

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“I admire his ability to execute painting with

such vibrance, imagination, and detail at such a

remarkably prolific rate.” -Shane Bainbridge

C + A

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story by Tara Spencer // photography by Bill Sitzmann // design by Derek Joy

STRONG ELEMENTS

of fantasy flow through much of Anthony Deon Brown’s artwork, yet the subjects maintain a level of realness that draws the viewer in, like a good opening line in a book. Speaking with Brown has similarities. He is inquisitive, asking questions that seem to come from left field, but with the goal for better understanding of the other person. “I really love meeting people,” he said. “I love observing the attitudes and structures of people— even when they’re mad at me, I’m still watching.”

While he loves contemplating people and their actions, his art rarely focuses on the human form. In fact, a look at his Instagram page reveals he prefers drawing animals, specifically birds.

tracks, but Brown is still working out parts of the tale. “I’m very excited to show people what that world looks like and feels like to me,” Brown added. “But it’s gonna take a while.”

“My whole idea for a while—and it still is—the whole idea was to take Renaissance images and translate [them] and switch every character for a bird,” Brown said. That idea has taken a turn, developing a life and a story of its own.

No doubt the wait will be worth it. Fellow artist Shane Bainbridge has worked with Brown on gallery shows and apparel and product design. He has also collected some of Brown’s art for his personal collection. “Anthony seems to be infinitely curious as an artist,” he wrote in an email. “He’s driven as hell. Prolific. He also is humble and approachable and always willing to go deep into the topic of creativity and art.”

Many of his recent paintings still feature birds, often with colorful pieces of fruit and/or flowers. This new direction represents a story Brown has in his head, reflected in his Instagram handle, Anthony “Rage the Typhoon” Deon. The story is called “Angels with Filthy Souls,” and Rage the Typhoon is the main character, based on Brown. He woke up in a pod on a desolate, future Earth with a strong desire to make green things grow again and, in doing so, creating “The Garden of Dia,” which is essentially heaven on Earth. “So when you see my paintings and it’s fruits and birds, that’s the garden,” he said. Of course, there is an antagonist who tries to stop that growth in its

Brown’s personal story largely takes place in Fremont. His family moved there from Oklahoma in the early 1990s. “Yes, coming to Fremont, Nebraska, where me and my little sister had to be close because we were the only Black kids…Sure. That sucked. But it would have been way worse in Oklahoma,” he said. Brown explained, “Sometimes your family members…they want to stay stuck in a zone, and they’re perfectly fine with being there. There’s no higher thinking, there’s no striving for anything better.” For Brown, thinking and striving for something better is a necessity in life and his work. Fremont may be a quiet town, but the move itself helped him become the artist he is. Brown said his interest in art took off in high school, thanks to a teacher who pushed him and a friend who, unintentionally, embarrassed him. “This was like, one of those moments in a TV show,” he said. “She stopped the whole class and said, like yelled at me, ‘Anthony, you know, you’re so much better than all of us?

“‘Anthony, you know, you’re so much better than all of us? If you actually took this seriously…This could be your career. This could be what you do.’”

If you actually took this seriously…This could be your career. This could be what you do.’” Brown said the whole class was quiet after that, and he sat through it in shame. After thinking about it, he realized she wasn’t trying to embarrass him. “I realized, oh, she cares about me. She really sees potential. And then I was like, alright, I’ll do my best to take it seriously. And here I am.” Interest from another admirer resulted in Brown receiving commission requests from across the country. Instagram user spaghettitoesdad, also known as Martin Bruckner, is an Omaha illustrator with more than 20,000 followers. Bruckner shared a piece he’d commissioned from Brown on his account, and Brown said his commission work got “crazy” after that. Brown said now he can say no to projects he doesn’t want to do, and he can price them at what they should be valued. “I still remember what it was being on the other side, and then recognizing that people don’t understand…what it is to really create something from scratch: take nothing, make it something, and then try to present it to the world and sell it,” he said. “They think, ‘I used to use crayons. And you know, that was cool. If that’s basically what you’re doing, then it’s gotta be easy.’” A look at Brown’s work should be clear evidence that it is not easy, despite the fact that he may make it look that way. As Bainbridge noted, “I admire his ability to execute painting with such vibrance, imagination, and detail at such a remarkably prolific rate,” adding that Brown appears to have no difficulty jumping from genre to genre, style to style, and technique to technique, “even within a single work.” It appears that’s how Brown functions best—always questioning, never settling, ever hopeful and moving forward. It may not make sense to all, but the results are undeniable. Visit @anthonydeonbrown on Instagram for more information.

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ADVENT URE arry Bradley, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a busy guy these days. Daily, calls and emails beg his time as a speaker and consultant on paleontology topics, specifically those at the intersection of culture and science. As a leading authority on past controversies and current best practices for digs on Native American land, Bradley’s message of cultural sensitivity and rightful credit is finding eager audiences in college classrooms and museums.

“I’ve done Zoom lectures at University Cal-Davis, the Seattle Earth Museum, Brown University, other Ivy League schools. Researchers want me in consultation and for joint authorship on papers,” Bradley said. “Yeah, it’s been taking off.” Demand gained further adrenaline from the PBS series Prehistoric Road Trip last summer. The series host was Emily Graslie, a science communicator, media producer, and former chief curiosity correspondent for the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Graslie said Bradley’s appearance was integral to the discussion of ethics in paleontology. “I knew from the beginning I wanted to talk about this history of the land where a lot of these fossils came from, and the overlap of the sordid history of colonization,” Graslie said. “When I started the primary research, I was looking in particular for voices to speak to that. The first person that came up was Dr. Bradley.” Graslie discovered Bradley via his dissertation, Dinosaurs and Indians: Paleontology Resource Dispossession From Sioux Lands, which he wrote and then self-published in book form. It cemented her commitment to get him on the broadcast.

late 1990s, multiple controversies were raging, including disputes over ownership of Sue the T-Rex—found on South Dakota tribal lands—and closer to home, UNL’s mishandling of some Native remains in its archives and its reluctance to return others. Then, in 2002, Bradley had an experience that brought him nose-tonose with similar ethical issues. “I was doing a paleontology survey on the Santee Sioux Reservation. I’d humbled myself before that tribe in Knox County, Nebraska, gaining permission and keeping them up-to-date on everything I was doing,” he said. “It happened I found out at a conference that Fort Hays State was doing a dig on a plesiosaur on the Santee Sioux Reservation. That project was taken over by the University of Nebraska and as I made inquiries about that, they said I could be included in everything. That was in the fall of 2002.” “In the spring of 2003, I see the front page of the Omaha World-Herald and it shows Nebraska Department of Roads and University of Nebraska State Museum employees digging up a plesiosaur in Knox County. In no way, shape, or form did they say, ‘found on Santee Sioux Reservation,’” Bradley said.

“I was tickled pink,” Bradley said. “To a certain extent, it felt like somebody pulled my book off the shelf, blew the dust off of it and said, ‘What’s this?’ Everything took off from there.”

It was later determined that the fossil was found on private land within the boundaries of the reservation. Proper credit of finds matters for several reasons. There’s a possible financial benefit that can help Native American tribes provide opportunity and services to their people. It’s also an acknowledgement of the legitimacy of these communities, Bradley said, to say nothing of an educational benefit too often denied, as with the plesiosaur incident.

It wasn’t always this way. For years, the paleontology community didn’t want to discuss the ethically questionable, if not outright illegal, tactics being employed to prospect and excavate fossils on Native American lands, or how Native communities were routinely uncredited for what was found and whisked away to archives and museum displays.

“I made noise and I asked that the Santee school students be involved in the dig,” Bradley recalled. “They said no, it was too close to the state highway, which was a safety issue. At the time that made sense, but a couple months later on the museum website, the University of Nebraska depicted non-Native American students with plaster all over their hands, participating in the dig.”

Given this, it’s probably of little surprise that, as one who deigned to be a truth-teller about scientific and Native American communities, Bradley’s career was nearly over before it started.

According to a university spokesperson, there were more than 1,000 people who visited the site during the two-week dig. Their records indicate that visitors included students from the communities of Creighton and Newman Grove, along with a teacher and student from the Santee school. They also stated that Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park and Morrill Hall have plaques acknowledging the role of the Santee Sioux tribe.

“I was fascinated by it,” she said. “At that point, I reached out to Dr. Bradley and said I’d become familiar with his work and he would be an invaluable resource to the show.”

“I double-majored in biology and geology at UNO with the whole driving force to be a vertebrate paleontologist,” said Bradley, who earned a B.S. and M.A. from UNO and a Ph.D. in geography from UNL. A vertebrate paleontologist is one who studies ancient animals with a vertebral column, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Further driving this desire is that Bradley is part White Mountain Apache and was raised by a stepfather of Oglala Lakota descent, although he is not enrolled in a tribe. “I was trying to get into the vertebrate paleontologist program at Lincoln, as I thought I could be an ambassador between the tribes and science. I guess I was somewhat naïve, because the University of Nebraska paleo program kept denying me entrance into the program.” Bradley did catch the eye of the head of the geology department and was accepted into that program. Around this time, in the MARCH/APRIL

Recent wider attention to race and discrimination have been timely for bringing notice to Bradley’s career-long crusade. He hopes the growing acceptance of his message signals things are changing, however slowly. “For years, I compared it to being a sailor sitting in a boat in deadcalm water. Then all of a sudden, the trade winds start to blow, the sails pop open and you start to sail,” he said. “A lot of this was collected from Native American historic lands without their knowledge or understanding of the valuable material. I hope I’m creating some reflection and understanding about that.” Visit unomaha.edu for more information. // 26 //

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A LOT OF THIS WAS COLLECTED FROM NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORIC LANDS WITHOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR UNDERSTANDING OF THE VALUABLE MATERIAL. I HOPE I’M CREATING SOME REFLECTION AND UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THAT.

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-Larry Bradley

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STRONG, A N O T

BACK

Tammy Shuff is Clothed in Strength, Faith, and a Competition Bikini

According to medical experts, as women age over 30, they begin to lose muscle and gain body fat. Around middle age, aches and pains often set in. It’s frequently a time to relax and enjoy a slower-paced stage of life.

Tammy Shuff, age 46, doesn’t take this advice. She lifts weights five days a week, and has three cardio sessions every week. Unless it’s competition prep season for this bodybuilder, who competes in Masters Bikini Pro tournaments for the International Pro Elite, Professional National Bodybuilder’s Association, and International Physique League. Then, Shuff bumps up her weight training to six times a week. To be clear, the current CDC guidelines suggest at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic physical activity per week. The CDC estimates only around 20% of American adults meet this requirement, yet Shuff regularly meets the requirement in just a couple of days’ worth of training. Shuff holds an impressive variety of hardearned titles and is vying for a new title to add to her ever-growing list: Mrs. Nebraska 2022. This current Mrs. Heartland is readying for her April 2 pageant with the same focus and intensity she commits to her other competitions. Her current list of titles is a testament to her dedication and persistence: International Pro Elite Masters bikini pro; Professional National Bodybuilding Association Masters bikini pro, evening gown pro, sports model pro and swimsuit model pro; and International Physique League Masters bikini pro, evening gown pro, and Angels pro.

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She’s a busy mom to children Logan (14), and twins Landon and Leighton (12). “They are all involved in sports, so they understand my goals. They’re very supportive—besides trying to offer me ‘just one’ french fry on occasion to test my willpower. We all get a good laugh.” When Shuff is training, her nutrition regimen is strict, so she eschews fast food for homemade sweet potato fries. Shuff’s children help encourage her along the way—even while teasing her with chocolate—as she smashes one goal after another.

In fact, one of Shuff’s favorite memories from all her competitions was “hearing the little voices [of ] my children yelling, ‘go Mommy!’” she said. For the Shuffs, competitions become a family affair. Shuff is a former high school cheerleader who then taught aerobics before getting into weightlifting. But she never thought about competing until she approached a fellow gym member. “I saw other gym members that looked amazing, and I looked up to them,” she said. “I complimented a lady one day on her physique, and she told me she competed. I got a referral for a coach, we met, and immediately started preparing.” Shuff was 39 years old at her first competition. Her training is as rigorous—if not more so—than that of women who are half her age. Instead of stopping her intense exercise schedule, she adjusts as needed. Shuff said being in her 40s, she finds, “it takes longer to recover and it’s easier to get injured. But my training style has not changed due to age. I just have to be more aware of listening to my body.” Like most competitors, she’s experienced her fair share of injuries from training. “I’ve had both a shoulder strain and a pulled hamstring. You have to learn to listen to your body, give it the rest it needs, and then ease back in slowly,” Shuff said. “Smart training is essential for growth.” An average day in preparation for competition season for Shuff is one that’s rigorous and prescribed beforehand by her coach. “I start my day with a prayer [she’s also active at Life Church Omaha], followed by eating a healthy carb-fueled meal, then a weightlifting session, cardio if assigned, and then properly fuel my body throughout the day according to my nutrition plan,” Shuff explained. “I drink plenty of water throughout the day and try to get eight hours of sleep. I do weekly check-in photos with my coach, and she tweaks my nutrition if need be.”

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Nutrition is pivotal for bodybuilding and physique competitors; it’s not all about lifting heavy weights. Athletes who compete in physique competitions at a pro level must manage their nutrition nearly as carefully as they manage their time spent in the gym. It’s her dedication that consistently propels Shuff to the top at competitions. She urges any women considering following a similar path to be prepared to put in the work. “I will start by saying, it is hard,” Shuff warned. Although nutrition is a vital part of the process, Shuff noted that, “the hardest part of the prep process is definitely mental, when your mind tells you [that] you have no more in you, but you know your body does, you have to push through that.” She also said that competitors need to remember their reasons for competing. “I suggest researching reputable websites and hiring a certified coach for the best results.” Like many successful competitors, Shuff welcomes the opportunity to help other women who are interested in competing and does so as a volunteer rather than as a paid consultant. “I do offer knowledge from past experiences, motivation, and help to those interested in competing, or trying to improve their overall lifestyle, but I do not train clients as a job,” she said. “Time management is key,” Shuff added. “We are all busy, but balance for me includes making my health a priority. It’s hard to take care of anyone else if you’re not taking care of yourself and leading by example.” Misti Weatherford, Shuff’s nutritionist and competition coach for the last two years, said that Shuff is “an absolute dream girl. She’s clothed in strength and faith. With that, she is unstoppable,” Weatherford said. Shuff appeared on the cover of the fall 2021 issue (the “Bikini Athlete Issue”) of Natural Magazine International, a quarterly

publication that recognizes and celebrates all-natural athletes—physique competitors who do not use performance-enhancing drugs. She was thrilled to be asked to grace the cover. “I competed with the IPL league in Phoenix and placed first in all four of my categories,” Shuff said. “A couple months after the show, the promoter, Ben Yosef, messaged me with the news that I made the cover.” On the cover, a bikini-clad Shuff stands confidently with a bright smile and strong body. Her caption declares her the “New IPL Bikini Masters Pro.” A masters athlete in the IPL falls in the age range of 40-49. She was tied with another competitor for first place in the Bikini Master division, so the competition came down to what’s called a “posedown.” Poses in bikini competitions should show off the competitor’s hard-earned physique, and it’s something competitors like Shuff spend many hours practicing in front of mirrors and coaches to get right. Shuff doesn’t seem to mind the regimented lifestyle that comes with being an IPE, IPL, and PNBA Pro. “I truly enjoy this lifestyle, and I love helping other women achieve their goals. There is room for all of us at the finish line.” Huff said, “I would like to encourage other women, or anyone reading this, to make goals, get out there, and go after your dreams. Don’t let fear hold you back.” Huff concluded with a quote from the book P.S., I Love You by H. Jackson Brown Jr. (often mistakenly attributed to Mark Twain): “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.”

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THE HARDEST PART OF THE PREP PROCESS IS DEFINITELY MENTAL, WHEN YOUR MIND TELLS YOU [THAT] YOU HAVE NO MORE IN YOU, BUT YOU KNOW YOUR BODY DOES, YOU HAVE TO PUSH THROUGH THAT.”

-Tammy Shuff

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PAS T AN D PR E S E NT

PHOTO PROJECTS PUT THE 1960s, 1930s UNDER A NEW LENS

FEATURE // STORY BY CHRIS BOWLING PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

he Alabama sun shined on JoAnne Bland in early March as she stood in a familiar place. She has often told stories about the small overpass above the Alabama River near her hometown of Selma—specifically about March 7, 1965, nicknamed Bloody Sunday—the day police beat and gassed unarmed protesters marching on the Edmund Pettus Bridge toward the state’s capital in Montgomery.

Bland, 69, is used to journalists, academics, and researchers furthering their agendas using her experiences seeing racism and violence collide as an 11-year-old girl, and her work since as a civil rights advocate. The story, in their mind, is already made up. This March day in 2012, however, was different. As she posed for a photo wearing a f loral yellow top, she didn’t consider the man behind the camera opportunistic or vulturous. He’d done his research. He listened when she spoke. Bland thought of him as a friend. “He was special,” Bland said of the photographer, Bill Ganzel. “He came and was humble…he made a lasting impression on me. I’ll never forget it.” That sentiment is exactly what Ganzel, a photographer and journalist from Lincoln, wants to capture with his project “Sixties Survivors.” The 1960s produced dramatic changes in culture, art, and politics. The cold war, the civil rights movement, The Beatles, John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War—the list could go on alongside books, documentaries, and other media feeding an unending appetite to re-examine the historical decade. These stories are often told through big-name historical figures, with little deference for how the past impacts present.

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anzel started “Sixties Survivors” in the early 2000s with intent to focus on the lesser-known figures from history, real people whose firsthand experience, in some cases, goes undocumented. By finding these people nearly 60 years later, the viewer can ref lect on how things have, or have not, changed.

kid, his family had a copy of “The Family of Man,” a photo book derived from a 1955 exhibit at New York’s Museum of Modern Art that sought to bring people together through photos compiled from hundreds of international photographers. Ganzel felt drawn to the message of humanity, especially in a post-World War II world that had seen nuclear destruction, ethnic genocide, and more senseless death.

He isn’t proselytizing. Ganzel doesn’t want people to walk away with any particular message. All he wants to do is bring people closer together, and, if they draw their own conclusions, all the better.

While attending college, Ganzel visited an exhibit at Sheldon Art Museum featuring photos from the Farm Security Administration. The pictures were taken by the government with the goal of “introducing Americans to Americans,” and showing the plight of poor farmers during the New Deal era. Ganzel had heard his parents’ stories of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, but didn’t understand them until he saw the images of ramshackle homes, grasshoppers devouring dry fields, and raw pain in people’s faces. When he found out the photos, thousands and thousands of them, were free for anyone to reprint, he got an idea.

“What photography can do, and what audio can do, is give you the emotional content,” Ganzel said. “It helps you empathize. And maybe find your own parallels.” Ganzel’s fascination with compiling firsthand stories and ref lections of the ’60s is personal: he’s a child of the era himself. Ganzel was born in Lincoln and raised in towns from Illinois to western Nebraska, graduating in 1967 from Waverly High School and in 1977 from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s journalism program. Television and photography opened a curious window into others’ lives. When he was a

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“So I bring that set of photographs home and think, ‘OK, what am I going to do with these?’ Well, I could go out, and, maybe on a weekend, or maybe a vacation, or whatever, and find these same places.”

PAST AND PRESENT

Many of the people in these iconic photos went unnamed, and their locations were vague at best. Some had no captions. By the late 1970s, Ganzel had earned several grants, driven countless miles, and taken an archive’s worth of photo and audio material for a project he called “Dust Bowl Descent.” Sometimes he’d have a person’s name and a town to look up in a directory. Other times it was a wild goose chase of detective work. He tracked down people such as Florence Owens Thompson, the unnamed woman in the photo “Migrant Mother,” one of the most iconic depictions of poverty in the Dust Bowl era, and American history. Owens Thompson shared with Ganzel how exploited she felt by the way Dorothea Lange photographed her and used her image. Lange hadn’t asked for her name or story. Because of Ganzel’s work, Owens Thompson, who died a few years later in 1983, set the record straight. “Photography is one slice of time,” Ganzel said. “But this project and the [Sixties Survivors] project, the projects that I ended up getting interested in, are half a lifetime.” In 1980, The Sheldon Art Museum displayed “Dust Bowl Descent,” a series of 45 32-by-40-inch panels. A few years later the exhibit traveled the country, and the world. In 1984 it was published as a book, which Ganzel recently updated as an e-book that includes audio from his interviews.

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WHAT PHOTOGRAPHY CAN DO, AND

He continued in public television for nearly 30 years. Ganzel shot photos, wrote stories, ran public affairs, produced specials, ran its news department, and explored new opportunities presented by a technological advancement called the internet before being laid off in 2003. Through his company, Ganzel Group Communications Inc., he did some documentary work for Wessels Living History Farm, a museum outside York, Nebraska, that strives to teach agricultural history. As that wound down in the mid-2000s, Ganzel contemplated his next project. He had largely moved away from intense projects after his deep dive into the Dust Bowl. Outside of documentaries on topics like the history of feminism or conscientious objectors, he delved deeper into art photography and landscapes. Ganzel’s interest in people and time was once again piqued with another large collection of copyright-free, historical photos that had become available. In the 1960s, LOOK magazine dominated. Filled with glossy, big pictures of celebrities, politicians, and everyday people, it reached about half of America at its height. Those readers included Ganzel, who preferred its social commentary and depth reporting over its competitor, LIFE. A variety of reasons, including the popularity of TV and decreasing revenues, put LOOK out of business. After ceasing publication in 1971, parent company Cowles Communications Inc. donated the entire photo archive of LOOK, 5 million photos, to the Library of Congress. The collection took decades to be cataloged and made available to the public. The collection still hasn’t been fully digitized—some images are available to view as thumbnails online, but most must be viewed in WHAT AUDIO Washington, D.C.

CAN DO, IS GIVE YOU THE EMOTIONAL CONTENT. IT HELPS YOU EMPATHIZE. AND MAYBE FIND YOUR OWN PARALLELS.” -Bill Ganzel All of this happened while Ganzel had a separate career. Between the grants and the road trips across the Great Plains, Ganzel worked as a staff or freelance photographer for the North Platte Telegram, Lincoln Journal Star, and Omaha World Herald before landing at the public broadcasting network now known as Nebraska Public Media. Two years after starting there, he became the associate producer for a series titled “Legacies of the Depression on the Great Plains.”

F E AT U R E

By 2006, Ganzel heard the collection was available and thought he’d revive his Dust Bowl technique and apply it to about 50 to 75 people from the 1960s.

Today, Ganzel’s website features profiles ranging from household names like John Lewis and Dick Cavett to those less widely known, such as Bland and Omahan Martin Desilets. In 1967, Desilets was photographed after an 18-hour f light that carried 108 bombs weighing between 500 and 750 pounds from Guam to Vietnam, where they were dropped along the North Vietnamese supply route known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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F E AT U R E

PAST AND PRESENT

About 60,000 American troops died during the war. It’s estimated between 1.3 and 3.4 million Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian people were killed. Ganzel photographed Desilets in 2008, posed in front of a restored B-52 at Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum outside Ashland, Nebraska. During the interview, Desilets’ memories of the war were practical, “If your bombs hit in the target area, you did your job,” he told Ganzel. Ref lecting on the past, Desilets can now see why experiences like his in Vietnam should be documented and remembered. “[The problems we were fighting back then are] probably the same as today,” he said. The interventionist mindset of the Vietnam War somewhat parallels current conflicts in areas like the Middle East. Drones and remote missiles now wipe out targets instead of men in airplanes. Likewise, things Bland and many others fought against in the 1960s still exist. Nebraska State Sen. Julie Slama proposed a 2021 bill that would require residents to show photo identification to cast a ballot. Bland also sees grim reminders of the 1960s in charged uprisings around issues like critical race theory, police brutality, and calls to end systematic racism.

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SOMETIMES I WAKE UP AND I THINK

“It was like a cleansing,” she said. “You don’t realize how much you’ve internalized until you start to talk about it. And since then, I’ve opened up more and more about it.” Though Ganzel and Bland only met once, she considers him a close friend and an inspiration for her own project documenting everyday people in her area who played roles in the civil rights movement but went uncredited. Lewis Marshall was a 15-year-old boy from Selma who carried the American f lag from Selma to Montgomery during that fateful march. The original LOOK photo of Marshall went uncredited. Years later a local museum sought to build a statue of the nameless boy. When Ganzel tracked him down, Marshall had no idea his courage had been immortalized and recognized in such a way. This is why Bland said a project like “Sixties Survivors” is important. What people think is history is often a scrunched up, watered down version of what happened. It’s told through heroes and villains, big wins and losses. The truth, however, is much more complicated. It’s about sacrifices that are never repaid, pain and hurt that’s never signed away by a law or Supreme Court ruling.

A fter George Floyd was murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in summer 2020, people took to the streets in scales of protests many hadn’t seen in decades. The parallels between past and present blur, and the importance of one accepting lessons from the other APPARENTLY seem necessary.

I’M BACK IN THE ’60s. PARTICULARLY IN THE LAST,

SAY, FIVE YEARS, WHEN IT WASN’T A NICE PLACE TO BE. BECAUSE YOU THINK WE MADE ALL THESE GAINS AND NOW WE’RE NEAR ERODING THEM

“I think [sharing our stories is] very important,” Bland said. “Most of the time you hear the narrative’s been sanitized, and that’s not good for our children. Because then they have a false sense of what happened.”

Ganzel holds the same driving principle. He’s a grandfather now and has watched America develop through some of its hardest, and most prosperous, years. It’s impossible not to want to ref lect and document this histor y so that, maybe, it can help set the record straight for the people who need it.

ONE BY ONE? IN THE NAME OF POWER? IT’S JUST RIDICULOUS.” -JoAnne Bland “Sometimes I wake up and I think apparently I’m back in the ’60s,” Bland said. “Particularly in the last, say, five years, when it wasn’t a nice place to be. Because you think we made all these gains and now we’re near eroding them one by one? In the name of power? It’s just ridiculous.” Bland thinks storytelling can help stop the clock from turning backwards. When Ganzel came to interview her nearly a decade ago, she didn’t understand how much trauma from Bloody Sunday she’d internalized. When the questions started and Bland felt Ganzel’s warm, welcoming presence, the walls came down.

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“I just inherently believe that the better we can all tell each other’s individual stories, the better off the future will be,” he said. “The better off future generations will be.” Visit sixtiessurvivors.org for more information.

// SPONSORED PROFILE //

Weitz attended The Big Umbrella Festival in New York City in 2018 with her husband and son, a festival dedicated to arts programs for children on the spectrum and their families. “We attended workshops and performances and it was wonderful, but there was something missing,” said Weitz. Enter Common Senses Festival, a festival inspired by her experiences, but with a twist. “During the festival, individuals on the spectrum will have opportunities to engage in workshops and sensory-friendly performances,” says Weitz. “And, in addition to those wonderful opportunities, everyone, neurotypical and neurodiverse alike, is encouraged to come and engage in interactive installations that help to explain and educate the general public on what makes humans unique and what we all have in common,” shares Weitz.

Photo Credit: Trusty Sidekick Theater Co and Lincoln Center

Our Common Senses

WE ARE ALL SIMILAR. WE ARE ALL UNIQUE.

We experience the world through our senses. A beam of light shining through our window, a high-pitched barking from the dog next door, the way our clothing feels on our bodies. While many neurotypical individuals have preferences (soft fabrics over rough fabrics or natural light over fluorescent light), individuals with sensory challenges, which includes between 69% and 93% of those with Autism Spectrum Disorder, can experience sensory overload (hypersensitivity) or sensory-seeking (hyposensitivity) as a result of their sensory experience.

You’ll often hear about sensory-friendly accommodations in performing arts and entertainment venues such as a theater, zoo, or museum. Likewise, you can conclude that grocery stores, office buildings, public restrooms – could all be triggering for individuals with sensory challenges.

“Individuals on the spectrum and their families can have a difficult time navigating the world, when so much of it can be triggering,” says Justin Dougherty, CEO/President of local non-profit, Autism Action Partnership. Autism Action Partnership (AAP) knows the struggles many face when it comes to understanding and acceptance, having served Nebraska’s autism community for nearly fifteen years. AAP works closely with organizations across the community to create more inclusive experiences for individuals and families. “What it comes down to, is that it’s more than dimming the lights,” says Kate Weitz, Common Senses Festival director, Autism Action Partnership Board Member, and mother of a 10-year-old with autism.

The installations, which will be housed at KANEKO, engage the senses through visual art and technology. These exhibits range from a fullyimmersive 360 degree audio-visual experience to interactive social sensory architecture playscapes to engineered chairs that interpret human connection by making the invisible interactions we have with others – visible. “This work, curated by national experts, will resonate with the autism world and what neurodivergent individuals can experience as a result of their complex sensory systems,” says Michael Hollins, Common Senses Festival Coordinator, who is volunteering his time on this project. Common Senses Festival aims to create conversations, acceptance and lasting change in our neurodiverse community. Through powerful programming in visual arts, performance, science and beyond, Common Senses illustrates how we are all similar and we are all unique. AAP Visit commonsensesfestival.com to learn how to Get Involved, Plan Your Visit, and learn more about the offerings of the festival.

WWW.AUTISMACTION.ORG

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GEN O // STORY BY MEGHAN TOWNLEY // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY MATT WIECZOREK

The Amazing Anna Harris AMPLIFYING EVENTS FOR A GOOD CAUSE

nna Harris, 22, is a senior in the business management school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is also the director of ambassadors at Nebraska Miss Amazing—a national nonprofit organization with a local Nebraska chapter. As stated on the organization’s website, their mission is: “Providing opportunities for girls and women with disabilities across Nebraska to build self-esteem.” Miss Amazing wants to dispel the stereotypes that girls and women with disabilities face in their everyday lives.

“I fell in love with the atmosphere and the girls and how brave everyone was. It was such an empowering experience that I knew I had to come back,” Harris said of her first time volunteering in 2017. They hold what they call ‘Amplify Events’ that, “amplify the girls for who they are,” said Amy Stoddard, state director at Nebraska Miss Amazing. “Beauty is not really what we are all about.” At these events, the young women complete a oneon-one interview, introduce themselves on stage, and demonstrate something they are passionate about. “These girls just get up there and they do it and that is how we get them to start building confidence in themselves,” Stoddard said. “Most of our girls already know that they are ‘all that and a bag of chips’ so they just get out there and tell the world how wonderful they are.”

The other way the organization builds confidence in young women is through the monthly Miss Amazing events. These events include a fashion show, paint night, movie night, family picnic, and a spaghetti fundraiser. The goal of these events is to raise funds and awareness, but the main purpose is for participants to build relationships with each other. “They wouldn’t have these friendships if we didn’t do these events,” Stoddard said. An important aspect of the organization, besides building confident leaders, is to build support networks for young women. This is where Harris comes in as the director of ambassadors. Harris is responsible for managing 15-20 ambassadors, the name given to volunteers who come to the monthly events to help organize and execute, along with other responsibilities. “I… [recruit] others to help volunteer with our program,” Harris said. “I make sure we are always covered and have a decent showing. I want our volunteers to be engaged and excited about being an ambassador.” Growing the interest and awareness of Nebraska Miss Amazing is one of Harris’ many passions.

“Anna coordinates everything and does it with amazing ease. I don’t know where we would be without her,” Stoddard said. Her coordination skills and interest led the Nebraska Miss Amazing staff to task her with a fundraising goal. Health and wellness is another passion of Harris’, so she decided to merge her two passions by creating a 5K fun run at Standing Bear Lake. The process of organizing the 5K took about two months: raising money, obtaining the proper licensing to rent out Standing Bear, selling T-shirts to those who couldn’t attend the race, and designing and printing banners. “I hit the ground running and just did the best I could,” Harris said. Her strategy was to reach as many people as possible (friends, family, and work connections). She also posted on the Omaha Running Club website for a couple of months.

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I fell in love with the atmosphere and the girls and how brave everyone was. It was such an empowering experience. -Anna Harris

”

All proceeds from the run were donated to the organization. The 5K in 2019 raised $1,700 and the 2020 virtual event raised $1,000. The organization’s third 5K should be held this coming summer. Stoddard praised Harris’ smarts, organizational skills, work ethic, and ability to manage with grace and style; however, the most important aspect of Harris’ success comes from her empathy. “Anna is one of the most generous and amazing human beings I have ever met,” Stoddard said. “She has a very strong heart for this program and is just one of those human beings who understands where these girls are coming from and she has the ability to walk into a room and everybody is her friend and nothing else matters.” Harris gushed when speaking of the participants at Miss Amazing, “They empower me just as I see them empowered as they step onto the stage,” Harris said. “My whole life I have had a heart for people with disabilities. I have a really awesome dad who is super-involved with the Special Olympics. We were always at events, and he was exposing us to volunteering at a young age.” Harris isn’t done yet. She said she wants, “To continue to be involved and grow our participant pool. I want to create an even stronger community of women with and without disabilities.” This is good news for Stoddard, who finds Harris a crucial part of Nebraska Miss Amazing. “I love her,” Stoddard said. “I tell her constantly that she is not allowed to leave us, which I know is not a feasible thing. Anna has an incredible love and passion for these girls. I kind of want to be Anna when I grow up, even though I am old enough to be her mother.” Visit missamazing.org/chapters/NE for more information.

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 39 //

story by kara schweiss photography by bill sitzmann design by matt wieczorek

// 40 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// profile

The DogPa K9 Training Leads Canines to Better Behavior ———

icholas Bell’s affinity for dogs is lifelong. Dogs seemed to be attracted to him as well. Eventually, others noticed that dogs respected him and asked for his advice.

French bulldog Spike’s manners were beyond horrible, owner Karen Campbell said, crossing the line from “possessive” to “possessed” and making every outing a nightmare. “Around people and other dogs, he would absolutely go berserk,” she recalled. “I could hardly take him on walks. It was so embarrassing.” As much as she loved Spike, Campbell recognized he was a source of tremendous stress in her life. A friend referred her to Bell, who now owns The DogPa K9 Training, and his immersive Pawcademy behavior training. Campbell’s experience with Spike was so disheartening that she feared he would fail. “I honestly thought—before I decided to commit to having him boarded and trained with Nicholas for two weeks—that Spike was untrainable. I thought he was going to break Nicholas, that he’d be ‘that one dog,’” Campbell said. Instead, Spike demonstrated immediate respect for Bell, something his owner had never witnessed. “All of a sudden he calmed down—It was so weird,” she said, adding that Bell’s rapport with dogs is remarkable. “There’s something about him; he can communicate so well with them.” “Being able to take someone’s dog, work with them extensively, shape it in a good way and set them up for success, has been life-changing for some people,” Bell said.

Campbell agreed. After graduating from Bell’s Pawcademy, Spike is now a good boy. “That anxiety level has gone down,” she explained. “We’re happier now. He’s more pleasant to take on walks now, and I am actually able to take him into a store—and this was a dog I could take nowhere.” Matt Hodges, who sent his husky mix, Eevee, to Bell when she was a pup, praised The DogPa’s Pawcademy for accelerating a process that could be laborious for a busy family. “I wanted her to be integrated into the family as quick and healthy as possible,” he said. “I didn’t want to be putting this dog in a crate all the time. I wanted to be able to take her everywhere we can potentially take her, and I wanted her to understand how to be around people. That takes a lot of time.” After Eevee’s intensive training, Bell worked with the family to ensure that everyone could effectively manage the family pet. “He basically skips you forward six months to a year and gives you a language to work with, and a base of understanding,” Hodges said. “It’s like a time warp.” Bell started The DogPa in 2020 after working as an independent contractor for another dog training company. He’s still in his 30s, but when receiving his professional certification training a few years ago, his mostly younger classmates called him “Grandpa.” “They said I talked to the dogs in a ‘grandpa’ voice,” Bell explained. That’s why Bell goes by the DogPa. He didn’t start out that way. Bell’s professional background includes coaching, teaching, marketing, and creative writing. “I always wanted to be as well-informed and educated as I could in raising and training [dogs],” he said. “I built upon that interest.”

His current role nods to his past experiences. Bell uses the phrase “Run towards your obstacles” as a social media hashtag, which also serves as a tagline for the business and a personal mantra of sorts. Bell lives with cystic fibrosis. “It wasn’t until I truly started running towards the obstacle of my illness that I became healthy enough to become a full-time dog trainer,” he said. Entrepreneurship provides the flexibility he needs to accommodate daily treatments to manage his condition, and he’s trained his husky, Kima, as his service dog. Pomeranian mix Tod and German shepherd Max complete his and wife Kristin’s family pack, and all three dogs serve as role models for Pawcademy participants. Bell recently opened a facility near 108th and Maple streets. He continues to take on the hard cases including reactive, aggressive, and obnoxious behavior. “I feel for all parties involved in those situations: the owners, the dogs, the people who come to visit, those owners. Everybody’s missing out when there are those kinds of issues where essentially the dog runs the household,” he said. “That’s not how things should be. As much as we love our dogs, in the modern era I think we mistakenly humanize them in ways that cause a lot of problems. People think of dogs like their kids, but they should not be treated like a human child. They should be treated like they are a dog and you are a human.” Any dog can respond to training, Bell insisted, and he is flexible in his methods. “I think it’s all relevant. Dogs act bad because of the situations they’re in, whether it’s being not trained, being in an unhealthy environment, or having come from a history of abuse. All these things can lead us to believe a dog is, like, bad or unruly, but they’re all capable of learning,” he said. “I can give them the tools they need to be successful.” Visit dogpatraining.com for more information. MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 41 //

— Sports — STORY

lisa lukecart

PHOTOGRAPHY bill sitzmann

DESIGN

matt wieczorek

CHIPPING AWAY

BARRIERS JANE POHLMAN HITS A HOLE-IN-ONE FOR EQUALITY MARCH/APRIL

// 42 //

2022

“NO DOGS OR WOMEN ALLOWED,” the sign boasted behind the 18th green at St. Andrews in Scotland. Women weren’t allowed inside the elite hallowed clubhouse doors of The Royal and Ancient golf club as members until 2014. The sign came down, and after 260 years in existence, women chipped away at another barrier in a male-dominated sport. Female members would have to wait another five years to obtain a locker room in the clubhouse.

Women, though, have hit the fairways for generations, but have fought their way out of the proverbial sand trap for an equal shot on the greens. Even Mary, Queen of Scots, reportedly played the game in the 16th century, scandalously just days after her husband’s murder. If it weren’t for passionate golfers like Jane Pohlman, the sport still might be mainly a man’s game. Pohlman, then Jane Deeter, fell in love with golf at 8 years old after crushing on a golf pro at Lincoln Country Club. The tips and tricks she learned landed her a championship in her age group at the Jim Ager Golf Course in the mid-1960s, the first year the course was open. In 1972, Pohlman learned Lincoln didn’t have any competing girls’ golf teams for high schools. Women hadn’t even earned the right to have their own credit cards without a husband’s signature. Depending on the state, females couldn’t serve on juries because they might swoon hearing about grisly crimes such as rape and murder. Harvard wouldn’t admit women until five years later. And the inequality in sports meant only 300,000 females played at the collegiate or high school levels. Athletic scholarships were nonexistent. Pohlman knew with the passing of Title IX, which outlawed discrimination based on sex, she had a chance to create change. The Lincoln Southeast sophomore, along with her Lincoln East High School friend Kathy Hughett, attended school board meetings and wrote letters. The two helped launch the first girls’ golf teams at the four Lincoln high schools. Pohlman didn’t stop there. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln didn’t have a team so, in 1976, she lobbied then-athletic director Bob Devaney, men’s golf coach Larry Romjue, and the Nebraska Board of Regents. Devaney, a family friend, purportedly didn’t want to take it on. Pohlman heard years later that the idea

was pushed through by Dr. Virginia Trotter, a former UNL dean and assistant secretary of education during the Ford Administration.

“If you don’t take it on, I will do it outside the university,” Trotter is rumored to have said in a meeting. Pohlman, along with friends she recruited, took to the courses as the first Cornhusker women’s golf team. “We had nothing,” Pohlman said. UNL gave them no cold weather gear, no matching bags, and no uniforms. The ladies bought white shorts and red shirts with their money. In one black and white photo, Romjue smiles alongside his team of five women wearing flexible bell-bottoms and dressy shirts. “He [Romjue] was a good player. He was hilarious and pretty much let us do whatever we wanted to do,” Pohlman recalled. Despite little guidance and funding, the Huskers dominated during tournaments that year. The golfers took home the first-ever Big Eight Conference title, ending the tworounds at 684 in Missouri. The celebration didn’t end since Nebraska qualified for the AIAW National Championships in Michigan, finishing 22nd out of 36 teams. “We had a lot of fun dynamics on that team,” said Pohlman, who loves to get together with her old teammates and reminisce. Despite the victory, the ladies didn’t receive their Big 8 Championship rings until 2006. The Huskers continued their success, qualifying for nationals twice more. A year out of college, Pohlman married husband Craig and later had three daughters. “She’s been beating me for 45 years. I’ve become accustomed to losing,” Craig said, laughing. “She enjoys playing golfers of any caliber. She doesn’t care what anyone shoots.” “I play to have fun,” Pohlman agreed. During tournaments, she puts on her competition face. She meditates and clears her mind even during windy weather or up against serious opponents. “Every shot is a new shot,” she often reminds herself. She won numerous championships, chaired countless tournaments, and volunteered for many programs. During her last state senior championship at Oakland Country Club in 2013, she tied Susan Marchese after three days of play. Pohlman chipped the ball in with a birdie on a par 4. The crowd went wild. Moments such as these make her want to keep competing at age 65.

Despite little guidance and funding, the Huskers dominated during tournaments that year. T he golfers took home the first-ever Big Eight Conference title, ending the two-rounds at 684 in Missouri. // 44 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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Yet, another memory ranks at the top. A holein-one. Not her own, but her daughter Angie’s. “I got one before my mom,” Angie said with a chuckle. “But without my mom’s support and encouragement, I never would have gotten it.” Pohlman became an assistant golf coach at Millard South when daughters Angie and Carly played. Her other daughter, Stephanie, decided the game wasn’t for her. Pohlman loved watching the green light go on when a player “got it.” Pohlman has since earned her hole-in-one, at Oak Hills Country Club on the ninth in 2021. In a photo holding up the ball, her muscular frame in a blue tank top and a patterned skirt makes her look much younger. Pohlman stays in shape not just to play golf these days, but to lift her grandchildren. Evie, 6, has taken up the clubs already. “I like the sand traps best,” Evie said. She hands a treat to Wilson, Pohlman’s bulldog who is content to chase tennis balls rather than golf balls. Pohlman picks up a tennis racket when not putting on the golf courses.

She hasn’t stopped demanding equality. At Oak Hills, for example, women were restricted on course times. Men filled the premium tee times, such as Saturday and Sunday mornings. Pohlman advocated for inclusive play. Specifically, in 1990, she collected tee time utilization data to help the tee times be more friendly toward women players. “I’m a really speedy golfer. I play faster than the men,” she said. Pohlman, the Nebraska Women’s Golf Association President in 2003, ensured competitions ran more professionally. Women’s tournaments were run on the honor system. Pohlman helped instate real-time scoring and official starters, which paved the way for future generations. Despite how far women’s golf has come, private golf clubs that deny women memberships still exist. The prize purses favor the PGA over the LPGA.

A LWA Y S L O C A L, A LWA Y S B E A U T I F U L.

“But we’ve come a long way,” Pohlman said. “Golf has added so much to my life. I found it so rewarding.” Visit nwaga.org for more information.

Free with an Omaha Magazine Subscription. OmahaMagazine.com/Pages/Subscribe

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 45 //

ALIVE WITH HISTORY HISTORY STORY KARA SCHWEISS PHOTOGRAPHY HISTORY WALKS LLC DESIGN MATT WIECZOREK

Baumann is a former curator, and he’s nowhere near ready to join his maternal ancestors interred on the grounds. Although he’s no longer in that official role with Prospect Hill, he continues to be a champion for the richly historic site. Baumann’s dedication to honoring the departed may be in his DNA. In 1879, his great-grandfather John Bloom founded the J.F. Bloom Monument Co., which continues today as J.F. Bloom & Co.; his grandfather, Alvin Bloom, and mother, Louise (Bloom) Baumann, served on the board of trustees for Prospect Hill Cemetery. Baumann’s involvement began in 1979.

// 46 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

“I’m now the longest-serving person at the graveyard,” Baumann said. “I’m involved for life.” As a longtime advocate, Baumann said he has persistently presented a wish list to the current Prospect Hill board that includes finding funding to support a grounds crew of at least two people to provide more extensive upkeep; to repair vandalized and damaged monuments; and to restore the interior road. He also urges trimming some of the trees on the cemetery’s east side; the North Omaha hilltop location offers a spectacular view, but foliage obscures visibility of the Missouri River, downtown Omaha, and Eppley Airfield much of the year. “It gets overgrown so fast,” he said, adding, “How can Omaha’s historic cemetery still be a mess? It just boggles my mind; it should be the most beautiful cemetery in town.” Prospect Hill Cemetery, designated a historic site in 1979 by the Landmarks Commission of Omaha and the Omaha City Council, is the final resting place for more than 15,000 people. It’s believed to be the oldest pioneer cemetery in Omaha, Baumann said, and is one of the oldest in Nebraska. It seems that its 17-and-ahalf acres were always destined to be a burial ground.

Research from Prospect Hill and Nebraska State Historical Society websites reveal that real estate developer and politician Byron Reed led the formal organization of Prospect Hill Cemetery in 1860 following the authorization of cemeteries by the Territorial Legislature in 1858. Reed also acquired land that included the adjacent former Cedar Hill and Omaha City Cemeteries and consolidated them into a single entity. Most of the graves were moved to Prospect Hill, and some to Forest Lawn Cemetery, but Baumann said he believes some remain deep under lawns and houses. Historical markers and the Prospect Hill website show that several buildings were built on the Prospect Hill property, including a chapel and receiving vault at the “circle” on the north side, later demolished and replaced by a gazebo, which is also gone. The current chapel, receiving vault, and curator residence, where Baumann lived for three decades, was reportedly built in 1917 and marks the cemetery’s entrance off Parker Street; the grounds span an area between 31st and 33rd streets. The former 33rd Street entrance is now closed off. Further research showed that in 2002, the City of Omaha installed directional signs on 30th Street for cemetery visitors.

“BEFORE [TERRITORIAL LEGISLATOR] ALONZO SALISBURY WAS BURIED HERE—BURIAL PERMIT NUMBER ONE IN 1858—THERE WERE PEOPLE BEING BURIED HERE,” BAUMANN SAID. “WE HAVE RECORDS OF

PEOPLE, MAYBE 20 OR 30 PEOPLE, BURIED UP ON THE HILL BEFORE IT WAS A CEMETERY. AND THE INDIANS BURIED [PEOPLE] HERE BEFORE THAT.”

Most of Prospect Hill’s oldest markers are on the north part of the grounds; first and second additions to the south were added over time. However, a nearby neighborhood absorbed some of what was once burial land. “There used to be an Omaha Cemetery that stretched across Parker, to where those houses are,” Baumann said, pointing south.

Civil War guard to President Abraham Lincoln. So is Ezra Millard, whose family name lives on in suburbia. The notorious madam Anna Wilson and her companion Dan Allen, who ran a large local gambling house, have a large and distinctive monument. Founder Byron Reed himself was laid to rest at Prospect Hill. The cemetery also contains a section of military graves from the Civil War era and late-1800s Army burials from Sherman Barracks (later Omaha Barracks and then Fort Omaha) in an area now called the “Omaha Barracks.” According to news clippings provided by Baumann, in 1885, Byron Reed sold the graveyard to Forest Lawn Cemetery for one dollar, essentially donating the land. Soon after Reed’s death in 1891, however, a group of lot owners unhappy with Forest Lawn’s lack of attention to the property re-formed the Prospect Hill Cemetery Association to oversee the burial grounds. In 1979, Prospect Hill Cemetery Historical Site Development Foundation was established. A historic marker, which gives a brief history of the place, was set inside the entrance that same year. Baumann said that, to his knowledge, the last Prospect Hill burial was “four or five years ago, maybe…We don’t sell lots. But if an old family wants to bury, if there’s room, we can bury.” Until the day he dies, Baumann intends to continue beating the drum to generate public support in restoring Prospect Hill. “This is Omaha’s historic cemetery,” he said. “It should be a showcase.” Visit prospecthill-omaha.org for more information.

Many prominent Omahans are buried at Prospect Hill. A stroll through the grounds is a discovery of names seen on city street signs, such as Poppleton, Woolworth, Paddock, Redick, Lake, and Drexel; associated with historic and enduring parks such as Krug, Hanscom, and Hummel; and in local history archives and on buildings: Metz, Kountze, Sorenson, and Buffett. Another buried there is John W. Nichols,

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 47 //

GIVING FEATURE

“

It’s comforting to know that World Speaks offers language courses that will help us [Americans] better communicate with those that have joined us here.”

-CAMI CAVANAUGH RAWLINGS

Leah Whitney Chavez

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 49 //

Connecting Cultures

THROUGH SPOKEN WORD WORLD SPEAKS PROMOTES DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION STORY CHRIS BOWLING PHOTOGRAPHY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN MATT WIECZOREK

WHEN PROTESTERS TOOK TO THE STREETS IN 2020, AND POLICE READIED THEIR RIOT GEAR, SOMETHING CLICKED IN MILLIONS OF AMERICANS. WHETHER THEY SAW CLASHING VIOLENCE OR HEARD UNIFIED CALLS FOR ENDING INEQUITY, PEOPLE’S APPETITE FOR QUESTIONING AMERICAN SOCIETY SEEMED TO SPIKE. LEAH WHITNEY CHAVEZ WATCHED THE BLITZKRIEG OF SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS AND FLURRY OF INCLUSIVITY COMMITMENTS AND ONLY HAD ONE THOUGHT: FINALLY. “There’s diversity in the city,” Whitney Chavez said. “It’s here…but diversity doesn’t happen on accident. It’s a choice. Are you going to explore outside of yourself? Or are you going to stay comfortable?” Whitney Chavez is executive director of World Speaks, a nonprofit started in 2016 to expand Omaha’s cultural cache by connecting people with language classes, interpretive services, and social justice platforms. For a long time, it felt like that message was falling on deaf ears. The group had a steady stream of people interested, but now she no longer feels alone in saying Omaha desperately needs to address its social and racial problems. “[The year] 2020 was actually a really good year for World Speaks, because now everyone is like, ‘Oh, shoot diversity, inclusion,’” she said. “It’s like, we’ve been doing this work for the last five, six years. So we’re not just getting on the train.” World Speaks started with a culture shock. When Whitney Chavez was 8 years old, her family moved from Bellevue, Washington, a suburb of Seattle, to Bellevue, Nebraska. Among the laundry list of differences between the two cities—weather, proximity to a major U.S. city, etc.—was a dramatic shift in her understanding of herself as a minority. Whitney Chavez went from a diverse set of friends to being one of the only Black girls at school. She heard weird comments (“You act pretty white for a Black girl.”), had people touch her hair, and heard the n-word on more than one occasion. Until recently she wouldn’t wear her hair naturally.

“It was bad,” she said. “Like when people say racism is over, I’m like, Yeah, I didn’t graduate even 10 years ago. So sorry, it’s still being taught to people.” When she got to college at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, Whitney Chavez wanted to be a veterinarian. When she lost interest in medicine, she pursued Spanish, a language she’d studied in school. Then she had an idea for a business that could connect people across language barriers, ideally manifesting into a brick-and-mortar language school. She shelved the idea, as she never considered herself an entrepreneur; but the further she got at UNO, the more it felt like something Omaha needed. And as far as she could tell, she was the only one who was going to do it. The program started in 2015 with a few language classes at Bellevue West High School, where Whitney Chavez rented a classroom for people to practice a variety of languages with native speakers. In 2016 World Speaks became a nonprofit. Gradually they added more classes and staff with speakers from all over the world and started to contract interpreters and translators in up to 12 different languages. But in many ways growth has been slow. While she’s reached out to the city, businesses, and others to form partnerships, reception has been lukewarm. It’s often been a struggle to explain to people why we need to prioritize translation services, so that those who don’t speak English don’t feel left out in business or civic life. And though World Speaks is full-time work, Whitney Chavez has another job to pay the bills.

ng i r S

into Savi

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GIVING FEATURE

“Even though we’ve been here for five years, a lot of people still don’t know who we are,” she said. “It’s a huge hurdle to get through.” Then 2020 came. While she doesn’t have people busting down the door for language services, it feels like the nonprofit pivoted.

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Justice Speaks, a World Speaks program, started in June 2020. Whitney Chavez wanted to give marginalized people a virtual platform to share their stories and hopefully educate Omahans, or whoever tuned in, about issues new to them. Emily Plagman never got to know her home country as a child. As soon as she was born in South Korea, she was flown across the world where a white family in Michigan waited to adopt her. As she bounced around the U.S., eventually landing in Boston, she didn’t know how to identify herself. She’d assimilated to a white culture but wasn’t white. But at the same time she didn’t grow up on Korean food or TV shows. She’d never hung out with many Asian Americans or heard her native tongue spoken. “I think identifying, for me, was always quite confusing, which would make sense when you’re thrown into predominant culture, yet you’ve lost the heritage, language, all of that as you’re adopted,” Plagman said. “But you’re still different, and you’re still a person of color.” Plagman has been on a decade-plus-long journey to reclaim her Korean heritage, forming relationships with other transracial adoptees and traveling to South Korea in 2011. In 2020 though, with the rise of COVID-19 and antiAsian hate crimes, Plagman became more outspoken. Whitney Chavez, a friend of her husband’s whom he’d met while living in Omaha, asked if she wanted to share her story. Plagman’s story was one of several stories told through an online video series presented by World Speaks that received about 2,000 views last summer.

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“It’s a way to have people connect in our community,” she said. “It’s a safe space. People come, they can feel represented, they can come [and] they can learn. We hope one day Justice Speaks will be a public event. People can come eat, they can ask questions, they can just dive deeper into the culture that surrounds us.” One concern Whitney Chavez has is how these messages can reach the people they need to. This kind of programming is well intentioned, but it might only attract a certain kind of person.

WORLD SPEAKS

me Opto trist

Reaching people who may have biases, or, at the very least, are in the middle on these issues is more challenging. Whitney Chavez hopes the more World Speaks appears in the community, the more their mission will spread through social osmosis. Once again, 2020 seemed to accelerate that.

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Development Manager Cami Cavanaugh Rawlings enlisted World Speaks to help her staff at nonprofit The Big Garden learn Spanish. When COVID-19 shuttered businesses in the spring, The Big Garden partnered with The Latino Center of the Midlands and a team of 19 paid interns to provide 15,000 pounds of food to pantries and pay-what-you-can markets. As a next step, Cavanaugh Rawlings thought it would be beneficial and respectful for her staff to pick up Spanish. Not only was the nonprofit able to accommodate The Big Garden’s 12-member team, but also their instructor tailored the session to phrases centered around gardening. And the more Cavanaugh Rawlings learned about their other programs, the more shocked she was that World Speaks hadn’t been on her radar.

So Much More Than 20/20 Vision!

“Omaha may be located in the middle of the U.S., but we have so many immigrant and refugee friends that now live here,” Cavanaugh Rawlings wrote in an email. “It’s comforting to know that World Speaks offers language courses that will help [Americans] better communicate with those that have joined us here—this country was built on the backs of immigrants and we need to respect that.” Those kinds of affirmations are validating for Whitney Chavez. Seeing her organization grow from an idea that seemed impossible to actualize, to something that’s growing every year, is exciting. Now she’s just thinking about how far it can go. The idea of a standalone language school in Omaha is still in her mind. She wants to take Justice Speaks to a wider audience. She wants to build partnerships with the big names in Omaha’s business and civic community. She wants to have programming across the country. In short, the sky’s the limit for Whitney Chavez now that the world is waking up to the potential of organizations like hers. “It’s like we’re getting out there,” she said. “So we’re getting more people trying to partner on things or collaborate. And so yeah, the need is only going to get bigger.” Visit worldspeaksomaha.org for more information.

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// 51 //

GIVING

CALENDAR MARCH/APRIL 20 2 2

FEATURED EVENT

Heat the Streets Run and Walk

March

BENEFITING: LOCAL UTILITY ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

Location: Stinson Park

Since 2007, Metropolitan Utilities District and Omaha Public Power District have teamed up to host this annual event, which benefits local utility assistance programs to help friends, families, and neighbors in our communities pay their utility bills. This year, the event includes a virtual and in-person option, and participants can do either the timed 5K or the untimed one-mile walk. —heatthestreetsomaha.org

March 3

March 15

March 27

Benefiting: Food Bank for the Heartland

Benefiting: American Red Cross

Benefiting: Notre Dame Sisters

CELEBRITY CHEF WITH RICHARD BLAIS

Location: Omaha Mariott Capitol District —foodbankheartland.org

HEROES IN THE HEARTLAND LUNCHEON

CELEBRATION OF SPIRIT DINNER

Location: Scott Conference Center —redcross.org/neia

Location: Happy Hollow Club —notredamesisters.org

March 5

March 18

March 31

Benefiting: Dollar Energy Fund

Benefiting: American Red Cross

Benefiting: The Set Me Free Project

HEAT THE STREETS RUN AND WALK Location: Stinson Park —heatthestreetsomaha.org

ALL CARE HEALTH CENTER BLOOD DRIVE Location: All Care Health Center —redcrossblood.org

March 5

March 19

Benefiting: Nebraska Children

Benefiting: Catholic Charities

PERFECT POUR

Location: Empire Room —nebraskachildren.org

March 6

ANNUAL WALK AND ROLL FOR DISABILITIES

Benefiting: Meyer Foundation for Disabilities

COMEDY FOR CHANGE

30TH ANNUAL IRISH FEST

Location: Marriott Downtown —ccomaha.org

March

March 22

AUTHOR LUNCHEON WITH MALLORY WEGGEMANN

Benefiting: Completely Kids

Location: A View on State —setmefreeproject.net

March

April 1

COTILLION

Benefiting: Opera Omaha

Location: Embassy Suites - La Vista —operaomaha.org

April 1

VITA - AN EVENING FOR BETHLEHEM HOUSE

Benefiting: Bethlehem House

Location: Omaha Marriott Downtown —bethlehemhouseomaha.org

Location: TBD —mfdisabilities.org

Location: TBD —completelykids.org

March 8

March 25

Benefiting: Omaha Home for Boys

Benefiting: Women on a Mission for Change

Benefiting: Children’s Hospital & Medical Center

Location: Bellevue University —womenonamissionomaha.org

Location: Eagle Run —winewomenandshoes.com

March 11

March 26

April 1

Benefiting: Table Grace Ministries

Benefiting CUES School Systems

Benefiting: Junior League of Omaha

100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Location: CHI Health Center Omaha —ohb.org TABLE GRACE GALA

Location: St. Thomas Lutheran Church —tablegrace.org

CHASE YOUR DREAMS CONFERENCE

THE GATHERING

Location: Omaha Marriott Downtown —cuesschools.org

April 1

WINE, WOMEN & SHOES

SAVOR THE NIGHT Location: TBD —jlomaha.org

March 12

March 26

April 2

Benefiting: Junior League of Omaha

Benefiting: Big Brothers Big Sisters

Benefiting: St. Cecilia Cathedral School

BARGAIN BASH

Location: The Hope Center for Kids - Schenzel Community Center —jlomaha.org

// 52 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

BIG BASKETBALL BASH

Location: Scott Conference Center at UNO —bbbsomaha.org

COMEDY AND CUISINE Location: TBD —stcecilia.net

// GIVING CALENDAR //

COUNSELING CONNECTIONS & ASSOCIATES

April 2

JDRF GALA

Benefiting: JDRF

Location: CHI Health Center —jdrf.org/nebraskaiowa

April 2

BLUE JEANS BALL

Benefiting: Make A Wish Foundation of Nebraska Location: Embassy Suites-La Vista — wish.org/nebraska

April 2

UNO DANCE MARATHON

Benefiting: Children’s Miracle Network Location: Milo Bail Student Center —unodancemarathon.com

eling Servic uns es Co

es Counseli upl ng Co

2022 First Place

April 2

NIGHT OF KNIGHTS: DEUCES WILD

Benefiting: Mount Michael Benedictine School Location: Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum —nightofknights.org

April 3

CELEBRATING COMMUNITY

Benefiting: Omaha Together One Community

April

#1 Counseling Services

April 7

TABLE ART AFTER DARK PREVIEW PARTY

Benefiting: Omaha Symphony Guild April 7

MADONNAPALOOZA

Benefiting: Madonna School Location: A View on State —madonnaschool.org

April 8

TABLE ART LUNCHEON

Benefiting: Omaha Symphony Guild

-6 YEARS IN A ROW-

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Beth Farrell, LCSW, LIMHP Chantel Bruha, LIMHP, LADC Davin Dickerson, APRN Dumayi Gutierrez, PhD, LMHP Geraldine Alexis, LIMHP, PLADC Greg Tvrdik, LIMHP, CPC Kara Schneider, BA KG Langdon, APRN Kim Mueller, LIMHP, CPC Korrie Conners, LMHP, CSAT

9802 Nicholas Street, Unit 350, Omaha, NE 68114 402-932-2296 | appointments@ccaomaha.com | www.ccaomaha.com

om Dance Stu di llro o Ba

NIGHT OF ENDLESS STARS

Benefiting: Endless Journey

Location: A View on State —endlessjourneyhospice.com

April 8

RELAY FOR LIFE OF CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY

Benefiting: American Cancer Society

Location: Creighton University Campus —cancer.org

Kristi Tackett-Newburg, PhD, LIMHP Lucy Hancock, MA Marilyn Erickson, APRN Marty Stoltenberg, APRN-BC Mary Loftis, LMHP, CPC Michele Yanney-Wehbi, LIMHP, CPC Nicole Obrecht, LIMHP Peggy Deaver, LIMHP, CPC Salina Anderson, APRN Sarah Wenzl, LMHP, CPC

* Counseling * Psychotherapy * Medication Management * EMDR Therapy * Online Therapy * Performance / Leadership / Emotional Wellness Coaching * Addiction Treatment * Substance Abuse Evaluations * Couples Therapy

Location: Champions Run —omahasymphony.org

April 8

#1 Couples Counseling

OUR TOP PROVIDERS

Location: Omaha Design Center —otoc.org

Location: Champions Run —omahasymphony.org

VOTED FIRST PLACE!

PEDICURE • MANICURE • SHELLAC DIPPING POWDER ARTIFICIAL NAILS • NAIL ART WAXING • VERSAPRO SUNLESS TANNING

2022 First Place ure & Pedicu nic re Ma

Dance Lessons Available 2679 Farnam St #204, Omaha, NE 68131

402.933.6678 | simply-ballroom.com

ure & Pedicu nic re Ma

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402.779.8700

3618 N. 165th St. (165 & Maple) americannailsandspaomaha.com

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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// GIVING CALENDAR // April 8

VINNEBRASKA

Benefiting: Stephen Center

Location: Omaha Mariott Downtown —stephencenter.org

April 8

CIRCLE OF DREAMS

Savor the experience

Benefiting: St. Augustine Mission School Location: Hilton Downtown —staugustinemission.org

April 8

WOMEN DEFINING HISTORY LUNCHEON

Benefiting: Douglas County Historical Society Location: Field Club of Omaha —douglascohistory.org

April 9

SCOUTING FOR FOOD

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

April 9

April

HEART OF CAMP GALA

Benefiting: Carol Joy Holling Camp

Voted First Place Best of Omaha since 2010 402.558.3202 cateringcreations.com

Location: TBD —cjhcenter.org/gala

April 9

FESTA DEL LEONE

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

April 10

CORPORATE CUP

Benefiting: American Lung Association Location: Aksarben Village —action.lung.org

April 10

ROCK THE NEST TRIVIA NIGHT

Benefiting: Central High School Location: Omaha Design Center —chsfomaha.org

April 11

CITIZEN OF THE YEAR LUNCHEON

Benefiting: Boy Scouts Mid-America Council Location: TBD —mac-bsa.org

April 14

SPEAKING OF CHILDREN LUNCHEON

Benefiting: Project Harmony

Location: CHI Health Center —projectharmony.com/events/ speaking-of-children Dental Implants • Cosmetic Dentistry • Sedation • Teeth Whitening Anxiety Free Family Dentistry • Invisalign® • Wisdom Teeth Removal MARTY J. MATZ, D.D.S. | LESLIE C. ELLINGSON D.D.S., MS | DANIEL L. ELLINGSON, D.D.S. 402.397.8050 • 2THDOC.ORG • 15751 WEST DODGE ROAD

// 54 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// GIVING CALENDAR // April 19

OMAHA ARTVENTURE SILENT AUCTION AND RECEPTION

Benefiting: Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska Location: Mammel Hall at UNO —girlscoutsnebraska.org

April 21

IMAGINE BANQUET WITH THE REV. FRANKLIN GRAHAM

Benefiting: Assure Women’s Center Location: CHI Health Center —firststeptolife.com

April 22

ody Rep to B air Au

GUNS & HOSES

ody Rep to B air Au

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

April 22-23

2022 First Place

KICKS FOR A CURE ANNUAL SOCCER EXHIBITION/ ONLINE AUCTION/RAFFLE

Benefiting: Kicks for a Cure

CLAUSSEN-LEAHY MAVERICK RUN

Benefiting: UNO Athletics Location: Baxter Arena —omavs.com

“We’d Rather Be The Best Than Apologize for Anything Less.”

“Need an estimate? Visit Dingmans.com to schedule your estimate today.”

Location: varies —kicksforacure.org

April 23

2022 First Place

1ST PLACE 17 STR AIGHT YEARS!

SETTING THE STANDARD IN COLLISION REPAIR

April

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MECHANICAL REPAIR 402.991.2848 / Southwest Corner of 120th & Maple

April 23

BARRISTER’S BALL

Benefiting: Nebraska Lawyers Foundation programs Location: Embassy Suites-La Vista —nevlp.org

April 23

BASH 2022

Benefiting: Creighton Prep

Location: Heider Center —creightonprep.creighton.edu

April 23

BLUE JEANS & DREAMS

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

April 23

WALK TO END EPILEPSY

Benefiting: Epilepsy Foundation Nebraska Location: Tri-Faith Campus —walktoendepilepsy.org

April 24

OMAHA FUNFEST

oo Parlor Tatt

Benefiting: Autism Society of Nebraska

Omaha’s Famous For Quality Tattoos Since 2000 Visit our store in the Old Market or check out the website to see what makes us an industry leader.

Location: TBD —autismnebraska.org

2022 First Place

402.342.2885 | bigbrainomaha.com 1123 JACKSON STREET, OMAHA , NE 68106 MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 55 //

// GIVING CALENDAR // April 24

ANNUAL HOPE WALK

Benefiting: Conceive Nebraska Location: TBD —conceivenebraska.org

April 26

BOOSTER BANQUET

Benefiting: Boys Town

Location: Embassy Suites-La Vista —boystown.org

April 26

GOOD NEWS SPRING CELEBRATION

Benefiting: Good News Jail and Prison Ministry Location: Citylight Omaha - Midtown —goodnewsjail.org

April 27 (Virtual) FUSION LUNCHEON

Benefiting: Nebraska Medicine Guild Location: online (Zoom) —nebraskamed.com/ about-us/guild

April

April 28 THANK YOU FOR VOTING US

BIRDS AND BEER

ly Dentist Offi mi ce Fa

Benefiting: Angels Among Us Location: Patriot Services Inc. —myangelsamongus.org

BEST FAMILY DENTIST

15 YEARS IN A ROW!

2022 First Place

SELECTED BY THEIR PEERS AS

April 28

BREAD FOR THE JOURNEY SPRING CELEBRATION

Benefiting: Bread for the Journey

Location: Field Club of Omaha —breadforthejourneyomaha.org

April 30

PURPLESTRIDE NEBRASKA 2022

Benefiting: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network HILLSBOROUGH 13808 W. Maple Rd. Omaha, NE 68164 402.445.4647

RALSTON SQUARE 5360 S. 72nd Street Omaha, NE 68127 402.733.4441

VILLAGE POINTE 302 N. 168th Circle Omaha, NE 68118 402.505.7474

DUNDEE 119 N. 51st Street Omaha, NE 68132 402.502.5593

Location: TBD —pancan.org

April 30

SPRING LUNCHEON

WWW.THEDENTISTSOMAHA.COM

Benefiting: Santa Monica House

Location: Scott Conference Center —santamonicahouse.org Visit omahamagazine.com for complete listings. Check with venue or event organizer to confirm.

@OmahaMagazine

// 56 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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OMAHAMAGAZINE.COM/PAGES/SUBSCRIBE MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 60 PLUS

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SAFETY

Thrilling—but Dangerous— Playgrounds of Yesterday

Anyone visiting a childhood home or elementary school will probably say that things seemed bigger in their memories. The difference in visual perspective between children and much-taller adults can explain some of this—or maybe it’s the psychological effect of expanding one’s metaphorical horizons. Some things, however, really were grander in decades past, like taller, steeper, and faster pieces of playground equipment. Pat Slaven, a retired park planner for Omaha’s parks and recreation department, said the desire for greater safety led to the demise of old standards like tall jungle gyms and monkey bars over a thin layer of sand, metal slides that could heat up to 189 degrees (according to the University of Northern Iowa’s National Program For Playground Safety), swings that flung riders nearly horizontal, and spinners with centrifugal force that left children desperately hanging on. “As we renovated playgrounds, we had to replace all equipment that no longer met national safety standards,” he said. “More often than not, this wasn’t very popular with the public—basically, parents who grew up with the old equipment.” Tall “rocket” climbers, usually three levels high, were especially popular, Slaven said. “Kids loved them. Some hung out of the uppermost level like a clubhouse; much consternation when we had to take them out,” he said. However, he added, some parents disliked the climbers because they couldn’t fit through the narrow openings of platforms when attempting to retrieve stubborn children. The climbers are gone from public parks today, but “I believe there’s a part of one of these rockets at Rockbrook Park. They readapted it to be an entrance feature, next to the sign on Paddock Road,” Slaven said. Sharon Mann has fond memories of what other kids could only dream of: living in a park. Her family occupied the apartment atop the pavilion in Benson Park when her father, Robert Polen, who worked for the city in the 1950s and 1960s, served as caretaker.

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“I lived at the park about six years but my family was the caretaker for over 20 years,” she said. 60 PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2022

Mann said her favorite feature was the park’s tall wooden swings. “It was so much fun to see how high you could go and then jump off the swing and not get hurt. I still love swinging… it is very relaxing,” she said. “I made many friends down at the swings that first summer and I have stayed in touch with many of them to this day.” Benson Park has a full complement of contemporary play structures today, but the swing set Mann remembers from more than 50 years ago is long gone. At least one similar set still survives. “Spring Lake Park in South Omaha still has one of the tall swing sets. It was repainted and probably [given] new swings when the park was renovated about five years ago,” Slaven said. Other legacy equipment is scattered around the community, he added.

“As we renovated playgrounds, we had to replace all equipment that no longer met national safety standards. More often than not, this wasn’t very popular with the public—basically, parents who grew up with the old equipment.” -Pat Slaven

“Country Club Park and Miller Park both have metal animal climbers that were kept when those playgrounds were renovated and simply repainted. These were unique enough that neighbors wanted to keep them. Miller Park’s is a giraffe, I think Country Club’s is a spider,” he said. “The merry-go-rounds— they went by many names—were also popular. Though they were deemed unsafe due to speed and the potential for children flying off, they were eventually redesigned with a hydraulic speed control. There is one at Florence Park; it looks very similar to the old ones.” See-saws, also called teeter-totters, evolved to a safer form that prevents children from crashing to the ground. Today’s slides are usually plastic with taller side rails, and are lower to the ground as well as less steep. “Really tall slides were once popular. There is a photo of one from Hanscom Park at The Durham Museum photo archives,” Slaven said. Using the people

in the photo for scale, the height of the slide appears to be around 20 feet, about as high as the roof of a two-story house. “You’ll see why it was deemed unsafe. But so fun!” More hazardous pieces exist in memory only, like rotating swings. Slaven recalled that, “This was a T-shaped structure with a swing on either side of the post. Kids would sit in the swings and parents or other kids would pull the swings to pivot around the post. Eventually the kids were sent very high and fast due to centrifugal force.” He continued, “This was my personal favorite. Not so much for my nephew, who lost his grip and flew out of the seat, thus illustrating why they all had to be removed, eventually.” Playground nostalgia is strong, judging by the more than 100 responses to an inquiry posted in the Omaha History

Club Facebook group. Some members shared good memories of steep slides, various spinning contraptions, and climbing structures all over town—along with some less-fun recollections of injuries; others talked about modernday holdouts like tall metal slides at Glenwood Lake Park in Glenwood, Iowa, or merry-go-rounds in La Vista’s Central Park and Papillion’s City and Trumble Parks. Several people said they’d love to revisit those playgrounds, and bygone days, where thrill was emphasized over caution. “My own personal wish, while we were replacing all these fun things with safer ones, was that we install these in a park for adults only,” Slaven joked. “They would, of course, have to sign a waiver before playing.” Visit parks.cityofomaha.org for more information.

MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 60 PLUS

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“He had such a passion for art, and it was clear that he wasn’t a hobbyist.” Callie Parrott Bower. onservationist and sportsman—that’s how Thomas Hamilton lists himself on his business card. The artist of over five decades lets his work speak for itself and, while known for the stoneware pottery he creates in his Pine Pottery Studio in Council Bluffs, the 78-year-old is as likely to tell people about his love of pheasants and restoring antique cast-iron pans as he is to describe his ceramics.

for 34 years, retiring in 2002. Over the decades, he taught the basics of art and design, and two of his students were awarded the elusive Scholastic Gold Key Award for art. (Even one such award is considered a rarity over the span of three decades.)

Clay isn’t a surprising medium for Hamilton. Artists with a deep and abiding love of nature are frequently drawn to the material. He grew up in the Echo Bay area of Okoboji, Iowa, on a “great big ravine,” where his father built a home in 1947 and taught his son to appreciate nature and conserve wildlife.

Callie Parrott-Bower was one of the Lewis Central students Hamilton molded. Today, she’s age 49, and an art instructor in Kansas City who was formerly an artist with Hallmark. She considers her former teacher a mentor— and a friend.

That love of nature is evident in Hamilton’s pottery, which often includes nature-themed names in his titles and is especially distinctive for his glazes, all made according to his own top-secret color recipes. That kind of approach to color makes sense. The artist initially studied painting at Minnesota State University, Mankato, but a pottery class changed the trajectory of his degree, and career. He made a container with a domed lid for his first assignment and was immediately smitten with the material’s malleability. “Right then and there in that class, I knew clay was my medium,” Hamilton recounted. “I called my fiancee [now his wife of 50-plus years, Kathleen] and said, ‘I just changed my major.’ I never regretted that.” He quickly graduated to working on what he then called the “spinning thing,” earning his bachelor’s degree in 1967 from MSU Mankato, and then a master’s in 1971 in psychology and clay from the University of Northern Iowa. In the meantime, he began his teaching career in Council Bluffs at Lewis Central High School, where he taught

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Teaching, for him, was akin to pottery. “It’s like molding clay,” Hamilton observed. “You work on it and refine it—and it turns into something.”

“I still call him Mr. Hamilton,” she said with a laugh, crediting him with turning her into an artist. “He provided a really strong foundation in visual art. He had such a passion for art, and it was clear that he wasn’t a hobbyist. He found a way outside the classroom to be engaged in the creative process while teaching full time. The one fed the other.” For Hamilton, it was the clay that fed his passion. “It’s the push and the pull, the cutting and the tearing,” he explained. “And it’s not done until you say it’s done.” The ceramist often makes art in multiples, such as his “Mysterious” series, which pays homage to nature’s wonders such as sunsets and waterfalls. He created “Mysterious Sunrise,” for example, on a dull March day. The piece is dark along the edges, but features a bolt of white peeking out from the more somber colors. There is also his “Square Fare” series, which includes different designs on fiveby-five-inch ceramic squares. “I just fell in love with the form,” Hamilton said. “Sometimes it’s about the surface, and sometimes it’s about the texture. They are miniature glaze experiments.”

Glaze remains of preeminent importance for the artist. “People refer to me as the ‘glaze potter,’” he chuckled. “My peers know. They can recognize my work.” Indeed, one collector broke a piece during a move. He brought it to a different potter to see if it could be repaired, and that potter immediately identified its maker. “He looked at the man and said, ‘That’s a Hamilton blue!’” recounted the artist. Friend and colleague Marcia JoffeBouska has known Hamilton since 1978, when both joined the fledgling Artists’ Cooperative Gallery as founding members. She deeply appreciates his distinctive approach to color. “He considers glazes to be key,” she said. “As a mixed media artist, I can relate to his love of color and his unique mixtures. It’s a methodological approach to the surface.” That talent works well in other areas of Hamilton’s life: restoring vintage cast-iron pans. He and Kathleen run a side business called the “Cast Iron Guy and Gal,” for which he maintains a Facebook page. “I’ve cooked on cast iron my whole life, and I started doing this about 15 years ago and have cleaned and sold around 6,000 pieces,” Hamilton said. He and Kathleen sell their wares on Craigslist and offer them at several flea markets throughout the year. Hamilton also still teaches from his Pine Pottery Studio, situated on five acres in Council Bluffs. He leads adult classes and workshops, offering instruction for beginners and more advanced pottery students alike. “I’m still teaching,” he said. “It’s a payback for the community.” Joffe-Bouska agrees with her decadeslong friend. “He’s a real resource for the community and has touched a lot of people and made art so accessible for so many. He’s larger than life.” Visit thomashamiltonpottery.com for more information.

Molding Lives & Clay THE HALFCENTURY CAREER OF CERAMIST THOMAS H A MILTON

“Right then and there in that class, I knew clay was my medium.” Thomas Hamilton

60+ PROFILE // STORY BY KIM CARPENTER PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

" I REALIZED IT WAS GOOD TO GET OUT OF YOUR BRAIN AND INTO YOUR BODY. " JUDGE JOSEPH TROIA // 62 //

60+ • MARCH/APRIL 2022

OIA R T H P E S O J E JUDG

T 78 A G N O R T S G STILL GOIN

60+ ACTIVE LIVING STORY BY JEFF LACEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN BY DEREK JOY

MARCH/APRIL 2022 • 60 PLUS

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// 60+ ACTIVE LIVING //

udge Joseph Troia retired from the bench in 2015 after 35 years of public service. Troia was appointed to the Nebraska district court in 1991 and was a well-known judge in Nebraska who presided over several high profile cases during his tenure. But the rigors of a demanding career eventually ran their course, and it was time to transition into a well-earned retirement. Troia thought it was important to stay active. He found the solution was to double down on activities that he enjoyed and felt would keep him healthy. He participates in a steady stream of activities, including heavy servings of golf and tennis. Looking at Troia’s weekly schedule, one might find the phrase ‘staying active’ too light a characterization. He can recite a litany of pastimes, spanning decades, that he’s done over the years: he started playing softball and tennis in the 1970s, and basketball in the 1990s (he played tennis over lunch, so it didn’t interfere with family time); he has golfed steadily over the last few decades; he regularly listens to live music, and attends athletic events such as Creighton basketball games. Now in his 78th year, his schedule is as full as ever. His tennis schedule alone would tire some half his age; he plays an average of four days a week. Troia plays with one group of friends on Tuesdays and Thursdays at City of Omaha’s Hanscom Tennis Center, and another on Sundays and/or Wednesdays at Miracle Hill Tennis Center. The people he plays with range from their 60s all the way to 88 (“That guy’s coming back from an injury,” Troia explained). His self-described court style is infinitely practical: “Chase the lobs, hit winners… try not to rally back and forth.” His golf schedule is nearly as rigorous. Troia plays with a group of 12 others in varying rotations a few times a week, as the weather holds. He belongs to Oak Hills Country Club, but also eagerly plays at the municipal courses on Tara Hills and Eagle Hills. The point, for Troia, is being out on the course. A natural competitor, he occasionally plays for quarter skins, but is often out to challenge himself as much as anyone. “A lot of times, I am just trying to break 90,” Troia explained with a chuckle. In the last few years, Troia has been a part of what he describes as a battle of sorts between two groups he describes // 64 //

60 PLUS • MARCH/APRIL 2022

as “The Golden Oldies” and “The Brat Pack,” with the former consisting of golfers in Troia’s age bracket, and the latter consisting of a group of 30-somethings. “We won about three years ago, and then we did it again, and the young guys won. Good times.” Other experiences have produced fond memories only in retrospect: Troia recalled one outing at Shoreline Golf Course in Carter Lake, Iowa, when the Midwest weather complicated things. “About 10 years ago [at Shoreline] when we started playing it was over 40 degrees, but the temperature dropped, and by the end it was about 20 degrees with the severe windchill. The weather went south, and so did the round, I guess.” Troia’s habit of staying active was developed early in life. He played baseball and basketball in high school, and after law school (he graduated in 1969 from the University of Tulsa), he started engaging in a variety of recreational pastimes, including playing softball and golf. He realized that the demands of the legal profession required him to find an outlet that engaged him in different ways. “I realized it was good to get out of your brain and into your body,” Troia explained. Sports were a way for him to engage his brain and physical self, and they allowed him a healthy way to socialize. The habits he formed over the years have served him well in retirement. Greg Schatz, a fellow judge who retired from the Omaha district court in July 2021, has known Troia since high school and plays golf with him regularly. He thinks that the energy output Troia demonstrates isn’t only impressive, it’s inspiring. “He’s kind of my hero,” Schatz explained. “I can’t believe how active he is. We’ll go out to listen to music, and at 10 I’m ready to go home, and he’ll stay. He’s like the Energizer Bunny.” Schatz said that Troia competes with a sense of joy and gratitude. “He’s competitive, but without being overbearing,” Schatz explained. When Schatz was approaching retirement, he saw Troia as a valuable resource, and said Troia’s primary message to him was to keep moving. “The thing he said that stuck with me was ‘you need something to do, or you’ll start to rust.’” Troia’s attitude about keeping rust-free is in alignment with what health experts know. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, staying active later in life reduces the risk of bone-breakage, heart disease, and high blood pressure. And, according to the American Cancer Society, the most physically active people have as much

as a 25% lower risk of developing colon tumors than largely inactive people. Conversely, reductions in physical stamina and strength in seniors are primarily due to decreased physical activity, and being inactive puts seniors at risk for chronic diseases. According to the CDC, in a study of adults 65 to 74 years old, there was a 10% difference reported between inactive adults and active adults when it came to having one or more chronic diseases and having none. That percentage holds true for adults over 75 as well. Troia and his tennis colleagues are bucking a national trend towards increased inactivity. A report by the surgeon general shows that currently, by age 75, nearly one in three men and one in two women engage in no physical activity. The CDC reports that if you are over 65 and have no limiting health conditions, moderate intensive aerobic activity at least 150 minutes a week, and musclestrengthening activity at least two days a week, are ideal. Another benefit of Troia’s rigorous schedule doesn’t involve the heart and lungs at all; it comes from the fact that all those lobs and backhands are returned by pals. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that about 6 million American men suffer from depression every year, and, according to the National Institute on Aging, loneliness and isolation are associated with higher rates of depression. Troia is not only keeping his body healthy when he laces up his shoes for a tennis match; he is keeping his soul in shape, too. Troia’s schedule might make it seem as though he is some kind of human perpetual motion machine, but this isn’t entirely the case (“Sometimes I still spend too much time in my chair watching old westerns,” he said), but he counterbalances his slower days with the sincere belief that engaging with the world in ways that challenge a person and keep them sharp–physically and mentally–are the keys to a life worth living. “You’ve got to have purpose,” he said. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, the character Gratiano suggests that inactivity is antithetical to being fully alive. “With mirth and laughter,” Gratiano says, “let old wrinkles come.” Troia would probably add, “and throw in a nice drive from the white tees as well.”

// OBVIOUSLY OMAHA //

STORY BY LINDA PERSIGEHL // PHOTOGRAPHY CONTRIBUTED

SIX CHEAP (OR FREE!) FITNESS ACTIVITIES IN THE METRO

eople will soon shed the layers of winter clothing and begin looking to get more fit. If you desire an alternative to a crowded fitness club, or are bored with your home gym routine, the Omaha metro offers a plethora of fun fitness activities to mix up one’s exercise regime—some of them in the great outdoors—and many of them budget-friendly. Here’s a list of options.

STRIKE A YOGA POSE

City of Omaha Parks & Recreation Department offers yoga sessions for different skill levels throughout the year. Classes for beginners, seniors, and even toddlers are offered at Common Ground in Elkhorn, A.V. Sorenson Community Center, and other recreational centers in the metro. —parks.cityofomaha.org Another place to work on one’s flexibility, strength, and balance is at Lauritzen Gardens. They offer a variety of yoga classes indoors through March, then move things outside in warmer months. Cost is $15 per session. Packages are available, and members get a discount. —lauritzengardens.org

HIT THE BIKE PATH

For those who find cycling more their speed, the Omaha Pedalers Bicycle Club might be a good fit. The group meets weekly on Thursday mornings for a Keystone Trail ride, and Saturday mornings twice a month for a longer ride from Waterloo to Fremont, as weather allows. They organize easy trail rides, as well as moderate and strenuous treks, to meet every fitness level. It’s a social, recreational club, not a competitive one, so being in top training form is not a priority. Club membership is $20 annually for a single/$26 for a family. —opbc.clubexpress.com

TEE OFF ON THE LINKS

Many find swinging the irons a great way to spend an afternoon outdoors. Those looking to get more exercise can skip the cart and walk one of Omaha’s eight municipal golf courses—some 9-hole, others 18-hole. Several Omaha city courses offer discounts for kids, students, and seniors, as well as club rental. Westwood offers play as low at $12 per round; Johnny Goodman golf course offers 9 holes for $18 during the week. —parks.cityofomaha.org/golf

PICK UP PICKLEBALL

Those who haven’t tried pickleball yet should make 2022 the year. The fast-paced game, played on a badminton-sized court using a large paddle and plastic wiffle ball, has simple rules, making it easy for beginners. Prairielane Park, Meadowlane Park, and Miller Park offer dedicated outdoor pickleball courts, while Montclair Community Center and Hanscom Indoor Tennis Center offer indoor pickleball courts for a small rental fee. League play is also available. —parks.cityofomaha.org/activity/pickleball

TAKE A WILDLIFE HIKE

Nature lovers can consider taking brisk hikes through one of the metro’s natural treasures, Fontenelle Forest, in Bellevue. The Great Marsh Trail, along wetlands rich with aquatic life including beavers and frogs, is a great way to get in 10,000 steps. Winter bird walks, tree identification walks, full moon hikes, and star-gazing hikes for amateur astronomers (for a small additional fee for members) are also good bets for some low-impact cardio. Annual memberships to Fontenelle Forest/Neale Woods are $50/single, or $70/family. —fontenelleforest.org/recommended-hikes

03 04

FLOAT YOUR BOAT

With milder temperatures, people can make getting out in local waters in a kayak, canoe, or paddleboat a part of their weekly routine. These sports work the upper body and build core strength while enabling boaters to enjoy great views on The Platte or Elkhorn River. A single-day park pass is $6, or an annual pass is $31, which gives the pass-holder access to all eight state parks in Nebraska. Nearby Mahoney State Park’s Owen Marina rents paddleboats for $10 per half-hour. Platte River Rentals has full-day kayak rentals for $25. Or better yet, one can BYOB (bring your own boat). —For park permits, visit ngpc-home.ne.gov

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2022

DINING FEATURE // Story by Tamsen Butler Photography by Bill Sitzmann // Design by Matt Wieczorek

OLD-SCHOOL COOL

WITH A CONTEMPORARY FEEL

the Committee Chophouse Evokes Classic Era There are two entrances into The Committee Chophouse: one from the street and one from inside The Cottonwood Hotel, formerly the historic Blackstone Hotel. Enter through the hotel to appreciate the sheer magnitude of the hotel’s history, courtesy of black-and-white photos of famous people who visited the Blackstone Hotel in its heyday. “Being in the same space as Jackie and JFK, and Nixon and Truman, that is just amazing,” said John Onsa, the hotel’s food and beverage director. “I think, to me, as a history buff, it’s just like going back in time.” Blackstone Hotel was built in 1916 and hosted a variety of celebrities, politicians, and other notable people. When Cottonwood Hotel opened on Nov. 17, 2020, The Committee Chophouse wasn’t far behind with an opening date of Dec. 15 that same year. The restaurant is named after a weekly poker group by Blackstone Hotel’s owner, Charles Schimmel. The Committee Chophouse manages to offer an old-school vibe without feeling outdated. Guests can start at the trendy Cottonwood Room lounge, featuring an eye-catching tree fixture as the main focal point. The lounge offers comfortable seating with a VIP feel. Walking into The Committee Chophouse, it’s obvious great care was taken to ensure a welcoming atmosphere with a touch of Rat Pack nostalgia.

“

Onsa calls The Committee Chophouse the “crown jewel” of the building, and with good reason. “My first thought in here was I felt a little like Frank Sinatra,” Onsa said. “We have these traditional four-top tables and booths, but we also have the half-moon booths. Couples like them because you don’t feel like you’re on top of anybody; our servers love the set-up as well and they love serving in this restaurant.”

My first thought in here was I felt a little like Frank Sinatra.”

-JOHN ONSA

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ommittee Chophouse is quickly making a name for itself within the Omaha food community as a premier steakhouse. “The steaks are incredible. We have an amazing prime beef program. Chef Jason and Chef Brandon [Kalfut] spent a lot of time making sure our beef selection is the best. They will not accept any product that is not of the highest standard.” Executive Chef Jason Sirois helped open the restaurant and has plans to “break the barrier of what you know as a classic steakhouse.” Sirois said his team doesn’t receive pushback when they try innovative menu items that deviate from a traditional steakhouse menu. “Omaha’s come a long way when it comes to that. It is a steakhouse first but that doesn’t mean we can’t branch out and try some new things. Everyone who comes in here [is] pretty open to things, which is cool because we don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves.” // 68 //

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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He continued, “We’re working on a lot of new stuff now. We’re working on going from classic steakhouse to doing some more modern things. We’re continuing to push the envelope so we can stand out among steakhouses.”

guys and girls—they all have grown so much. It’s trust and faith in people and hoping that everyone buys into what we’re trying to accomplish. We always say we’re not a team, we’re a family.”

Sirois said his favorite menu item is “by far, the Cowboy Ribeye. It’s a beautiful 20-oz., bone-in ribeye.” Onsa’s favorite is the Delmonico, a 16-oz. prime steak. “But we have some amazing sides, too,” Onsa added.

Sirois was born in Omaha but spent time as a chef in Las Vegas and different areas of Colorado. His culinary career started small, working various kitchens straight out of high school and moving around to learn different cuisines. He was accustomed to the “old-school” way of chefs screaming at their teams and throwing things around, but said, “Times have changed. You have to work hard to build a culture that people want to be in. It used to be that there was a line of people waiting to take the place of staff who left. It’s just not like that anymore.”

The fact that a restaurant opened, let alone flourished, during a global pandemic is a testament to the teamwork and dedication of the staff. “Chef Jason has built a really incredible brigade of chefs. They all know each other and as he’s grown, they’ve grown. In a COVID situation, that’s rare,” Onsa said. Sirois added, “I’m the luckiest chef in Omaha. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of

// DINING FEATURE //

nd though it’s common for chefs to have several jobs in a short period of time so they can learn, it’s not the same at The Committee Chophouse. “People stick around because there’s opportunities for advancement,” Sirois said. “Our staff doesn’t have to go from job to job—they can grow here and get to the level that they want to and that increases our retention,” Onsa said. “It makes us a better restaurant and a better hotel when we keep people.”

n si g its e sy et s pl ht g Th e L o ng Flig o n, si m le m

A dedicated staff and impressive menu, coupled with a space that is rich in history, makes for an exceptional dining experience. Legacy guests (those who had parents or grandparents who once frequented the original hotel) feel just as at home at The Committee Chophouse as do guests visiting for their first time. Onsa said that oftentimes these legacy guests will arrive at the restaurant “dressed to the nines” to honor the history of the hotel.

The two private dining areas boast a contemporary feel while honoring the past that is The Committee Chophouse. The rooms are both “sought-after,” according to Onsa, but getting a reservation is easier for a weeknight. Weekends are typically booked far in advance. Onsa said the rooms are perfect for small groups for birthdays, corporate gatherings, or any other event in which the host wants the guests to have a special experience. One room features the original poker table that helped inspire The Committee Chophouse’s legacy, refurbished to be used as the dining table but still featuring the original felt and some playing cards underneath the glass top. Special touches such as complimentary valet parking and the signature cocktails in the Cottonwood room make a visit to The Committee Chophouse feel like a journey into the past. Guests are treated to food that’s both classic and innovative from a menu carefully crafted by a culinary staff dedicated to their craft. Onsa said, “We can create an experience that’s like a big city, but right here in our customers’ backyard. That’s what’s great about Omaha—we have the tools to do that.” Sirois agreed. “Yeah! Small town, big city attitude,” he said.

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We’re working on going from classic steakhouse to doing some more modern things. We’re continuing to push the envelope so we can stand out among steakhouses.”

Onsa and Sirois agree—if anyone were to earn the title of Omaha’s “Rat Pack,” it would have to be the three owners of the Cottonwood Hotel. “They are a bit of a Rat Pack, yeah they are,” laughed Onsa. “In the sense of they are really fun, successful, and approachable; yes, Matt [Dwyer], Jay [Lund], and Tom [McLeay] are our Rat Pack.” The Committee Chophouse is getting started on what could be a long tenure. Sirois said, “What isn’t next? Chef Brandon is talented and he’s champing at the bit to start pushing the envelope and maybe start a tasting menu. I think everyone is ready to show what we can do. We want to create experiences here that customers want.” Visit thecommitteechophouse.com for more information.

-JOHN ONSA

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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DINING PROFILE STORY TARA SPENCER PHOTOGRAPHY BILL SITZMANN DESIGN MATT WIECZOREK

a drive to REVITAL ZE JOHN TIERRE MILLER WANTS TO HELP

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A man whose roots are in Omaha has returned, using his entrepreneurial spirit to continue his family’s legacy. John Tierre (Johnny T.) Miller lived in North Omaha until the age of 11, when he moved to Houston, Texas, with his mom. It was a move that helped further his budding tennis career at the time. Spending those formative years in Omaha, however, especially having his grandparents in his life, left a deep impression. “My grandfather was an entrepreneur philanthropist. [He] did a lot in the community,” Miller said. “He wasn't necessarily working to find a job, he was working to provide jobs.” His grandfather, John Goodwin, passed away in 2018, but his entrepreneurial spirit was passed on. Miller is a soft-spoken man who doesn’t offer information freely, unless he’s talking about business. He attended Jackson State University in Mississippi on a tennis scholarship, graduating in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in business. “After graduating, I started a small business,” he said. “It was actually a T-shirt printing company, and I just kind of evolved from fashion into entertainment—going to concerts, parties—as a promoter, segued into a barber shop, a beauty shop, into my first restaurant.” That restaurant was Norma Ruth’s, named after his grandmother, and it was counter service comfort food. “[It was] five-star quality food, chef-driven, but it was takeout,” Miller said. “The response was so great that we knew it was time to go full service. People want a glass of wine with those lamb chops.” He sold the small plaza where Norma Ruth’s was located, along with his other businesses, and purchased a building in the Farish Street Historic District of downtown Jackson. In its heyday during the middle of the 20th century, Farish Street was the largest economically independent Black community in Mississippi. “Farish Street was where all the African Americans came when it was segregated,” Miller said. “So that was where your doctors, your lawyers, the movie theater, all your restaurants, the florist—any business you could think of, that was the mecca. People came from all over the South to go to that area…Integration is what killed it.” Seven years ago, Miller decided he wanted to help spur the revitalization of the district. That’s why he decided to open the first Johnny T’s on Farish Street.

“

“Some thought it was a bad investment, because of the area,” he said. “Why would you choose there, of all the places?…And it’s been amazing. It’s turned into a tourist attraction—celebrities, entertainers, anyone that's visiting the city. That’s where the hotels, visitors and tourism bureau, that’s where they send them. Morgan Freeman shot a movie there, like, three weeks ago [meaning early November 2021].” Miller’s drive to revitalize historically Black neighborhoods is what prompted him to open a Johnny T’s in Omaha. “What we want to do here is set the bar. We felt like North Omaha deserves something on this level,” he said. While the Omaha location doesn’t have a kitchen, Miller has a plan. There will be a Johnny T’s food truck, and he has enlisted the help of legendary Omaha chef Glenn Wheeler. The two met through Instagram during the COVID shutdown. “He saw me on a live with Chef Jeff Henderson,” Wheeler wrote in an email. “And he private messaged me, telling me he was opening a club in Omaha…John approached me with the idea of the food truck that he had in Jackson being brought to Omaha to provide food service to the bar.” In addition to the food truck, Miller and Wheeler also plan to partner on opening a soul food restaurant in North Omaha that they are calling the Heartland Project. “The name of the business, of course, is going to be Norma Ruth’s,” Miller said. In the meantime, Wheeler is catering free Sunday brunches that are served from noon until 2 p.m., and Miller is bringing in free chicken from Time Out Foods for patrons on Friday nights. His grandfather was good friends with the former owner of Time Out, Steve Mercer, who passed away in 2019. Miller believes it is important to “recycle the dollars” within the community. “We want to build a great rapport with other businesses in the area and also our local council…and anybody around that has the ability to change the culture and the environment in North Omaha. We want to be a part of it.” With his varied experience in running different types of businesses and his background in promotion, public policy, and even tennis, Miller could bring a unique perspective to building up the community. “I used to tell people [it was] like the Mr. Miyagi effect in Karate Kid, where he was learning all these skills and traits, only in the end to have to use them all,” Miller said. Visit johnnytsbistroandblues.com for more information.

WHAT WE WANT TO DO HERE IS SET THE BAR. WE FELT LIKE NORTH OMAHA DESERVES SOMETHING ON THIS LEVEL.” -JOHN TIERRE MILLER MARCH/APRIL 2022

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Oscar’s Signature “Big O” pizza comes with hamburger, sausage, pepperoni, onions and green pepper. Pizzas can be ordered in halves to satisfy multiple diners.

DINING REVIEW // STORY BY JULIUS FREDRICK

D O G G e D L y OSCAR S PIZZA SPORTS GRILLE DeLIGHTFUL ’

Th e r e ’s a r e a s o n this so-called “Omaha style” i s p o p u l a r, a n d O s c a r ’s s i g n a t ur e pie proved an inspired addition t o t h e m e t r o ’s ongoing love letter for all things pizza.

Photography by Bill Sitzmann // Design by Matt Wieczorek MARCH/APRIL

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2022

// DINING REVIEW //

Borrowing nomenclature from Totinos’ viral 2014 online ad “Totino Boy,” I find the title of "pizza freak" to be a flattering epithet—I’ll admit it. Raised eyebrows consistently met my confession of never having tried Oscar’s Pizza & Sports Grille, a West Omaha staple flickering far in the periphery of my typical east-of-90th Street purview.

Two glowing paw prints marked the spot, each casting green, welcoming light over a Lakeside Plaza parking lot howling with bitter gusts of “oh, I guess it’s actually winter now.” My dining partner and I winced our way toward the door, above which the name of our would-be savior crystalized between said paws: Oscar’s. We arrived at Oscar’s Pizza & Sports Grille off 173rd Street and West Center Road at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 28. The temperature outside was 18°F before windchill. Hot comfort food was our quarry, one we’d pursue with dogged determination. The parking lot’s gloomy monotone was shattered with a swing of the front door. The steady uproar of laughter and conversation, the determined strides and furtive glances of crisscrossing severs, and finally the hostess’ calm and kindly notice of a 10-to-15 minute wait confirmed our initial suspicions: the restaurant was packed. We waited at the bar, and while the six mules—ranging from an “Orchard Mule” to a “Tequila Mule”— intrigued us, that night’s special of $2 Bud Light draws won over our wallets.

OSCAR ’ S PIZZA & SPORTS GRILLE 173 & WEST CENTER - 402.758.1910 FOOD SERVICE AMBIANCE PRICE OVERALL

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As promised, our wait was short. Despite the encroaching bedlam around us, our server was prompt, patient, and friendly when taking down our appetizer, as she’d remain throughout our meal.

hellhound of Stephen King’s “Cujo.” The name is a warning that these puppies are indeed all bite—and double-dipped; the wings were fried, sauced, grilled, and then sauced again for a baked-on yet smothered flavor combo. Getting the wings dipped in multiple sauces cost an extra $0.69 per 10 wings. My dining partner, a spice queen by all accounts, replied “decent” when pressed for Kujo's heat levels, though to be fair she’s nonplussed by anything below a half-million Scoville units. Conversely, I puckered at my straw with alarming frequency and throughly enjoyed the burn. The other five wings were coated in a garlic parmesan sauce and were beautifully crusted and awash in garlicky goodness. In both cases, the meat was juicy, the sauce was ample, and the skin triumphantly arrived at that mythical char-buffed place between crispy and tender.

The appetizer menu boasted traditional bar food such as chicken tenders, onion rings, and pretzel bites, but we started with what’s arguably Oscar’s most championed menu item: hot wings. We ordered a 10-piece dish that included five Kujo—after the

For the main course, we ordered a large half pepperoni, half Big “O” pie. The pepperoni portion was fairly standard; a blanket of mozzarella concealed a solid layer of pepperoni. The Big “O” is described as Oscar’s signature pizza—topped with hamburger,

Like any self-respecting joint where sports and fanfare are part and parcel, Oscar’s has plenty of television mileage to go around. A quick survey from the bar and back left me somewhat dazed, with projectors and LCD screens forming a strobing wallpaper all their own in some corners. Despite this, tall ceilings, warm walnut tones, and yellow top-down lighting effectively softened the setting for eyes not glued to a game.

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sausage, pepperoni, onions, and green pepper. The pizza arrived piping hot, with the mozzarella baked to dappled perfection. An Oscar’s pie closely follows the tradition initiated by Omaha pizza’s old guard, such as Orsi’s and La Casa’s, where a confluence of Sicilian and Neapolitan elements have combined with varying degrees of Midwestern excess to characterize a number of parlors across town. The pizza at Oscar’s features a flaky, biscuit-inspired crust, a thick spread of cheese, sauce, and toppings, and is served square-cut in a baking pan. It certainly fits the mold, leaning more Midwestern than traditional. There’s a reason this so-called “Omaha style” is popular, and Oscar’s signature pie proved an inspired addition to the metro’s ongoing love letter for all things pizza. Despite noting early symptoms of a food coma, we opted for the server-recommended funnel cake fries ($5.99) for dessert. Paired with a ramekin of chocolate syrup, the dessert is a deconstructed funnel cake—oil-fried batter, a dusting of powdered sugar—repurposed into sticks for sharing. We appreciated

The funnel cake fries are a fun way to share the traditionally messy dessert.

the nod from our server towards this light and airy dessert, as the butter cake and brownie sundae were tempting, but probably too rich for this particular outing. Although our server had a bit of trouble with the POS system, we departed Oscar’s with wagging tales and a score of leftovers that later passed the reheat test with aplomb (when baked for 10-12 minutes at 375°F.). The bill, before tip, was $45.69. Any fellow pizza freaks out there hesitant to journey west can tread confidently knowing that Oscar’s has earned my coveted starshaped pepperoni of approval. If not for the pizza, well, how about hot wings so dang good they’d make Pavlov’s whistle sound like Julia Child? The food was truly mouthwatering, giving me another metro pizza joint to which I’ll gladly return. Visit oscarspizzaandsportsgrille.com for more information.

The popular wings come in a variety of styles, from the mild garlic and parmesan (left) to the spicy Kujo (right).

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FREE PARKING . LIVE MUSIC . BIER GARDEN

STEAKS • CHOPS • SEAFOOD ITALIAN SPECIALTIES 7 private party rooms Seating up to 400 Lots of parking

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 ovenroasted 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

h Steak ouse

2022 Winner

1620 S. 10th Street

402-345-8313

www.casciossteakhouse.com

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

$=$1-10 • $$=$10-20 • $$$=$20-30 • $$$$=$30+

MARCH/APRIL 2022

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Omaha

DINING GUIDE MEXICAN FERNANDO’S - $ 7555 Pacific St. - 402.339.8006. 380 N. 114th St. - 402.330.5707

MODERN COCKTAILS MIXED WITH AMERICA’S MUSIC

3825 N. 30 TH ST., OMAHA, NE @JOHNNYTSBARANDBLUES

ek Dining Gre

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

LA MESA - $$ 158th St. and W. Maple Rd. - 402.557.6130 156th and Q streets - 402.763.2555 110th St. and W. Maple Rd. - 402.496.1101 Fort Crook Rd. and Hwy 370 - 402.733.8754 84th St. and Tara Plaza - 402.593.0983 Lake Manawa Exit - 712.256.2762 Enjoy awesome enchiladas, fabulous fajitas, seafood specialties, mouthwatering margaritas, and more at La Mesa. Come see why La Mesa has been voted Omaha’s No. 1 Mexican restaurant 18 years in a row. Sunday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. lamesaomaha.com

2022 First Place

Family Owned Since 1983 CATERING / PARTY ROOM AVAILABLE HOMEMADE, FRESH FOOD, ALWAYS.

3821 Center St. / 402.346.1528 GreekIslandsOmaha.com

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

$=$1-10 • $$=$10-20 • $$$=$20-30 • $$$$=$30+

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

ROMEO’S MEXICAN FOOD AND PIZZA - $ 90th and Blondo streets - 402.391.8870 146th St. and W. Center Rd. - 402.330.4160 96th and L streets - 402.331.5656 Galvin and Avery roads - 402.292.2028 29th and Farnam steets - 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 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

Omaha’s Riverfront Entertainment Venue

Omaha

DINING GUIDE 168th & •West WEDDINGS PARTIESCenter • EVENTS 11th & Harney motsomaha.com

JAMS OLD MARKET • 1101 Harney St • Happy Hour M-F 3pm-6pm

JAMS MIDTOWN • 7814 West Dodge Road • Sunday Brunch 10am-2pm BOOK 2022 EVENTS NOW!

402-342-7827

• WEDDINGS • PARTIES • EVENTS • REUNIONS • MEETINGS 151 FREEDOM PARK ROAD • OMAHA www.rivercitystar.com

JAMS LEGACY • 17070 Wright Plaza • Party Rooms & Patios • jamseats.com

RATHSKELLER BIER HAUS-$$ 4524 Farnam St. - 402.991.7724 Rathskeller Bier Haus celebrates daily with German beer, wurst and many other menu items. Within arm’s reach of the Blackstone District and historic Dundee. Rathskeller Bier Haus is our German castle and designed to bring the storied traditions of Bavaria to the beating heart of Omaha’s metro area. Come enjoy our large outdoor beer garden and four legged friends are welcome. Prost! Open daily 11 a.m.-Late. —rathskelleromaha.com

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. Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-7 p.m. —greekislandsomaha.com

STEAKHOUSES Take Out & Delivery Available Online Ordering Available at Bellevue & Millard Locations

Please Check Website for Hours of Operation Sports Bar

402.339.1944

402.505.6660

402.932.1944

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

varsityromancoinpizza.com h Steak ouse

2022 First Place

@The Drover Restaurant & Lounge | Gift Cards Available 2121 S. 73 St. | (402) 391-7440 | DroverRestaurant.com Open Monday - Friday 11am - 2pm | Dinner nightly from 5pm

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

DINING GUIDE LEGEND

$=$1-10 • $$=$10-20 • $$$=$20-30 • $$$$=$30+

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explore.

come and

LE T’S PLAN A ROAD TRIP!

DAYTRI PS I N NE BRA SK A , I OW A , K AN SA S, AN D M I SSOURI

RODEO GRAND ISLAND, March 11 & 12 at Heartland Events Center in Fonner Park, Grand Island. This Professional

NEBRASKA

ANNUAL POLAR BEAR TANK RACE, March 4-5 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 float down the river. 308-546-2206. —sandhillsjourney.com

Rodeo Cowboy Association event features team roping, barrel racing, and Xtreme Bulls Tour. 308-382-4515 . —heartlandeventscenter.com

JERSEY BOYS, March 25-27 at Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln.

They were just four guys from Jersey, until they sang their ver y first note. They had a sound nobody CLUE, March 5 at the Neville had ever heard…and the radio March Center in North Platte. Join the just couldn’t get enough. Go iconic oddballs known as Scarlet, behind the music and inside the Plum, White, Green, Peacock, and story of Frankie Valli and The Mustard as they race to find the Four Seasons in this Tony and murderer in Boddy Manor before GRAMMY Award®-winning true-life the body count stacks up 308-532-8559. musical phenomenon. 402-472-4700. —northplattecommunityplayhouse.com —liedcenter.org

KEARNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: AMERICAN ADVENTURES, March 8

at UNK Fine Arts Recital Hall in Kearney. Celebrate American music

with selections from film scores “Raiders of the Lost Ark ” and “Star Wars” (John Williams), Samuel Barber, and an orchestral piece by Florence P r ic e , “A dor at ion ,” c e le br at i ng Black Histor y Month. 308-865-84 41. —unk.edu

RIVERDANCE, March 8-10 at Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln.

This show is a powerful and stirring reinvention of the beloved favorite, celebrated the world over for its GRAMMY award-winning score and the thrilling energy and passion of its Irish and international dance. 402-472-4700. —liedcenter.org

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATION, March 16-20 in downtown O’Neill. The home

SHAMROCK SHUFFLE 5K WALK /RUN/ CRAWL, March 12 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

AUDUBON’S NEBRASKA CRANE SEASON,

March 5-April 10 at Rowe Sanctuary in Gibbon. Thousands of Sandhill

cranes migrate through Nebraska each year, and there are several opportunities to see them. The event includes educational events, guided tou r s ( prereg istration requ i red ), and other programs. 308-468-5282 . —ne.audubon.org

ELTON JOHN: FAREWELL YELLOW BRICK ROAD TOUR, March 27 at Pinnacle

Bank Arena in Lincoln. This concert

was rescheduled from June, 2020, so of the “The World's Largest Shamrock ” tickets are limited. Sir Elton John is nearly doubles its size to 7,000 people one of the most highly acclaimed during St. Patrick ’s Day weekend. and successful solo ar tists of March Festivities begin Wednesday with all time, and fans won’t want to the Irish Walk of Fame induction miss this tour. 402-904-4 4 4 4 . ceremony and the painting of the —pinnaclebankarena.com town's beloved shamrock. The big day is Saturday, when attendees can MYSTERY AT THE MANSION, March 5 at gather to watch the parade and partake Arbor Lodge Mansion in Nebraska City. in many other activities. 402-336-2355. Solve clues, look for evidence, and break —oneillchamber.com the old-fashioned whodunnit case while mingling with new friends. 402-873-8717. —arbordayfarm.org

16-20

THIS SPRING, COME DISCOVER WHY SARPY COUNTY IS SO NEAR, SO FUN! Union Omaha Soccer

lakes Fishing our many

& rivers

Werner Park, Papillion

Nebraska Crossing, Gretna

MacDaro’s Pub & Pizzeria, Gretna

Wildlife Safari, just off of I-80

Walnut Creek Recreation Area

Wine Cellar 510, Papillion

Eagle Hills Golf Course, Papillion

Omaha Storm Chasers at Werner Park, Papillion

Schramm Park Education Center

TreeRush Adventures at Fontenelle Forest, Bellevue

Embassy Suites, La Vista

Located just a few minutes south of Omaha, Sarpy County awaits with a wonderful mix of fun things to see and do this Spring. 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 TreeRush 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

E XPLORE CAL E NDAR

JOYCE YANG, April 19 at Lied Performing Arts Center in Lincoln. This Grammy-

nominated pianist captivates audiences with her vir tuosity, lyricism, and interpretive sensitivity. 402-472-4700. —liedcenter.org

SPRING FLING, April 16 at Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland. Kids of all ages can participate

ZACH WILLIAMS, March 25 at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. Join

IOWA

BRIAN REGAN March 3 at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. Regan is one of

the most respected comedians in the country. He co-stars in Peter Farrelly’s TV series Loudermilk, 515-24 4-0507. —hoytsherman.org

in an egg hunt, make and take a craft, visit with the Easter Bunny, and learn about making kites. 402- 94 4-3100. —sacmuseum.org

Zach Williams and special guest Anne Wilson for a night of music and ministry. Williams is a Grammy awardwinning artist known for his signature blend of southern rock, country and faith-filled songwriting. 515-244-0507. —hoytsherman.org

LITTLE FEAT—WAITING FOR COLUMBUS TOUR, March 8 at Hoyt Sherman

Place in Des Moines. Little Feat is the

LEANNE MORGAN: THE BIG PANTY TOUR,

April 2 at the Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City. Morgan’s style of comedy

classic example of a fusion of many combines her southern charm and styles and musical genres made into hilarious stor y telling about her something utterly distinctive. Their own life into an act that keeps fans BROWNVILLE CONCERT SERIES, Todd musicianship transcends boundaries, coming back for more. 855-333-8771. Murray & Stacy Sullivan: I’m uniting California rock, funk, folk, jazz, —orpheumlive.com Glad There Is You, April 22-24 at country, rockabilly, and New Orleans Brownville Concert Hall, Brownville. swamp boogie into a rich gumbo, that This performance covers the musical has been leading people in joyful TENDERLOINS AND SO MUCH MORE April romance of Frank Sinatra and Peggy dance ever since. 515-24 4-0507. TOUR, April 6 at Cooking with Lee, from the time they first shared —hoytsherman.org Alessandra in Des Moines. the stage in 1941 at the Paramount This tour explores foods that Theater in Times Square until Frank ’s were made fa mous in Des JAY LENO, March 5 at the Orpheum passing in 1998. Peggy Lee and Frank Moines and restaurants that keep in Sioux City. Acclaimed late-night Sinatra were the closest of friends those traditions alive. 515-508-9474 . TV show host, stand-up comedian, bestand musical peers . 402- 825-3331 . —cookingwithalessandra.com selling children’s book author, and so —brownvilleconcertseries.com much more, Leno is widely characterized as “the hardest working man in TAKE A BITE, April 12-14 at the Amana GEORGE STRAIT: STRAIT TO THE STAR show business .” 855-333- 87 71 . Colonies. This three-day food fest CITY, April 23 at Pinnacle Bank —orpheumlive.com includes cooking education, hands-on April Arena, Lincoln. The Kind of instruction, samplings, and special Country will be joined by guest menu items and dinners at Amana IMMERSIVE VIVALDI, March 12 at Asleep At The Wheel for this Colonies food businesses. 319-622-7622. the Orpheum Theatre in Sioux one-night event. 402-904-4 4 4 4 . —amanacolonies.com City. This Sioux City Symphony —pinnaclebankarena.com Orc hes t r a produc t ion feat u res Vivaldi’s timeless classic, The Four KITES OVER HOOVER PARK, April 20 near ARBOR DAY CELEBRATION April 29 Seasons. After intermission, guests Hoover Park in West Branch. April is to May 1 at Arbor Day Farm in will be transpor ted into a modernKite-Flying Month, and thousands of Nebraska City. Visitors can celebrate day nightclub scene. 855-333-87 71. colorful kites will fly during this event, this holiday where it all began—at —orpheumlive.com which includes a kite-performance team Arbor Day Farm. All across this 260and family-friendly games, a candy acre campus, opportunities abound drop, and crafts for kids. 319-643-5301. ST. PATRICK’S DAY FESTIVAL, March —hoover.archives.gov to play, learn, taste, and shop, all 17-20 in Emmetsburg. This sister in celebration of trees. Concurrent city of Dublin, Ireland, celebrates the to this event is the 148th Annual “wearing o’ the green” in a grand way. ABBA, April 23 at the Orpheum Arbor Day Celebration in Nebraska Events include a bean bag tournament, Theatre in Sioux City. This event City, with a parade, kids activities, fun run, kids’ zone, free movie, live celebrates the music of ABBA featuring plant sales, and more. 402- 873-8717. music, and a parade. Before the parade, the Finnish pop sensation Rajaton and —arbordayfarm.org eat a cup of Irish stew or a baked potato the, Sioux City Symphony. 855-333-8771. with toppings, or sample the entries —orpheumlive.com EARTH DAY, April 23 at Union Plaza in from the chili cook-off. 712-852-4326. Lincoln. This event includes live music, —emmetsburgirishgifts.com FOOD AND FARM FESTIVAL, April 27-28 informational booths, family activities, at Living History Farms in Urbandale. food trucks, and a farmer’s market. MAPLE SYRUP FESTIVAL, March 26-27 at Local producers, brewers, makers, and —lincolnearthday.org Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar ar tists will gather together on the Rapids. The Maple Syrup Festival, front lawn of Living History Farms to held at the end of the syruping season, celebrate everything that makes Iowa features syrup-making demonstrations, great. VIP events include Festival of a look inside the Maple Sugar House, Cheese, Beer ’n' Bread, and Cocktails a pancake breakfast with real maple and Comfor t Food . 515-278 - 5 2 8 6 . syrup, and live music. 319-362-0664 . —lhf.org —indiancreeknaturecenter.org

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

E XPLORE CAL E NDAR

NCAA BIG 12 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, March 10-13 at Munici-

KANSAS

MISSOURI

HOLI FESTIVAL, March 4 at Roe Park in Overland Park. Visitors to this

ERIC CHURCH, March 1 and 2 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. The coun-

festival should wear white clothing and expect to get messy as people playfully throw colorful powders at each other. This event is a celebration of the coming spring, the joy of friendship, and equality. 913-230-6189. —@absarevents on Facebook

QLATHE BBQ CHAMPIONSHIP, March

18-19 at Lone Elm Park in Olathe.

Kansas City is known for its barbecue, and in this annual KCBS Sanctioned Event, more than 70 competition teams will fill the park with awardw in ning ba rbecue. 91 3 - 9 7 1- 8 6 0 0 . —olatheks.org

SKY LANTERN FESTIVAL, March 19, in Lawrence. Thousands of paper sky

lanterns will light the night at this magical event, which includes music, an activity area, photo opportunities, a fire pit, s’mores, and more. The exact location is revealed one week before the event. —lightsoveramerica.events

CHRIS PERONDI'S STUNT DOG EXPERIENCE, April 10 at C.L

Hoover Opera House in Junction City. This cast of performers

try star will be performing songs from his new album “Desperate Man” as well as other popular past hits. 816-949-7100. —ticketmaster.com

KORN, March 5 at T Mobile Center in Kansas City. This metal band

is known for their Grammy-nominated songs “Shoots and Ladders” and “Freak on a Leash.” They will be accompanied by special guests Chevelle and Code Orange. 816-949-7100. —t-mobilecenter.com

SNAKE, Saturday, March 12 in

North Kanas City. This popular St.

Patrick ’s Day event in Kansas City includes a parade followed by a charity cook-off, lad and lassie contest for youngsters, and more. 816-548-3113 . —snakesaturday.com

TOOL, March 15 at T Mobile Center in Kansas City. This band is known for

KEGS ’N’ EGGS, April 17 at Kansas

City Renaissance Festival grounds in Bonner Springs. While sipping on

craft beers and listening to live music at this adult-only event, guests can hunt for golden eggs and win prizes. 913-721-2110. —@kegsneggskc on Facebook

KANSAS STORYTELLING FESTIVAL, April 22-23 in downtown Downs. Tall tales,

anecdotes, and historical re-enactments can all be found at this festival, which offers t wo evening concer ts and many separate sessions of stories, workshops, and music. 785-454-6648. —kansasstorytelling.comg

KANSAS CITY FILMFEST, April 6-10

March

their Grammy-Award song “7empest." They are joined by special guests The Acid Helps. 816-949 -7100. April —t-mobilecenter.com

and dogs will delight audiences of all ages, with high energ y excitement f rom beg i n n i ng to end. This performance troupe has been seen on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show, Dav id Letterman, and more. 785-238-3906. —jcoperahouse.org

pal Auditorium in Kansas City. Kansas City is on the tour for March Madness in the women’s division, also. 816-949-7100. —kcconvention.com at B&B Mainstreet Theaters Kansas City. More than 120

films will be shown over five days at this annual event, which celebrates the power of storytelling as a shared cultural experience through the cinematic arts. 816-756-5877. —kcfilmfest.org

BLESSING OF THE BIKES, April 28 on the historic downtown square in Neosho.

The annual event brings together more than 300 bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts to initiate the onset of the riding season. Food, vendors, drift trike racing, and live music carry the day that is concluded with a bike blessing. 417-389-3301. — @blessingof thebikescovenant0702 on Facebook

EVENT TIMES AND DETAILS MAY CHANGE. Visit omahamagazine.com for complete listings. Check with venue or event organizer to confirm.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE, March 17 along Broadway in Kansas City. Now that the snakes have been

driven away, visitors can spend the next day reveling with fellow St. Patrick ’s Day fans with one of the country ’s largest St. Patrick Day parades. —kcirishparade.com

ST. PATRICK’S DAY, March 17 in the Power & Light District, Kansas City.

Once the parade is done, it’s time for beer and shenanigans. One of Kansas City’s most popular areas will provide a free concert and DJ set along with green beer and food specials for sale at participating restaurants. 816-842-1045. —powerandlightdistrict.com

NCAA BIG 12 MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP, March 9-12 at T-Mobile Center

in Kansas City. Kansas City is on the

tour for March Madness. Basketball fans will enjoy seeing the best hoops the Big 12 has to offer. 816-949-7100. —t-mobilecenter.com

MARCH/APRIL 2022

// 85 //

OMAHA MAGAZINE | EVENTS CALENDAR

« FROM PAGE 14 CHELSEA HANDLER: VACCINATED AND HORNY

April 16 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. This comedian, television host,

best-selling author, and advocate is one of today’s most notable voices in entertainment. Tickets: $49.50-$219.50. 8 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

WICKED

ANNUAL WORLD OF WHEELS

Tony Awards, “Wicked” is one of Broadway’s biggest blockbusters. Tickets and times vary. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

rods will be shown at this annual event. Times vary. Tickets: $20 general admission, $8 children 6-12, free to children 5 and under. 402-341-1500. -chihealthcenteromaha.com

April 27-May 15 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Winner of one Grammy Award and three

OMAHA CZECH-SLOVAK FESTIVAL

April 14 at St. Nicholas Community Center, 5050 Harrison St. Celebrate Czech-Slovak cul-

ture with this spring festival, which features Czech food, dancing, music, and more. Times TBA. Admission: free, but cash is needed for drinks and food. 402-740-6552. -omahaczechclub.com

DEADLIEST LIFESAVERS WITH BIOMEDICAL SCIENTIST ZOLTAN TAKACS

April 19 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. This biomedical scientist and

inventor collects snake, scorpion, jellyfish, and other venoms from around the world, to identify leads for medicines. Tickets: $15-$32. 7:30 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

EARTH DAY OMAHA

April 23 at Elmwood Park, 60th and Dodge streets. This event combines science, education,

music, food, and fun with eco-friendly demonstrations about ways to help the Earth, health and wellness, and activities for children. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Admission: free. An online component runs April 22-May 22. -earthdayomaha.org

GIRAFFES CAN’T DANCE, THE MUSICAL.

April 8 to May 1 at The Rose Theater 2001 Farnam St. This brand new musical is the story

ERNEST IN LOVE

April 21-24 and April 28-May 1 at University of Nebraska at Omaha, Weber Fine Arts Building, 6505 University Drive S. This show is based on

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Tickets: $20. 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. 402.554.2406. -unotheatre.com

JEREMY PIVEN

April 22-23 at The Waiting Room, 6212 Maple St. Jeremy Piven is best known for his role as Ari

Gold in the hit HBO series “Entourage.” Tickets: $35. 7 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. 402.884.5353. -waitingroomlounge.com

EUGENE ONEGIN BY OPERA OMAHA

April 22 and 24 at Orpheum Theater, 409 S. 16th St. Tatyana bares her soul in a love letter to

the dashing Eugene Onegin, but he rejects her and flirts with her sister. Tickets: $19-$99. 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Sunday. 402.345.0606. -ticketomaha.com

ANJELAH JOHNSON-REYES—WHO DO I THINK I AM? TOUR

April 24 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Comic and actress Anjelah

Johnson-Reyes performs storytelling about navigating her racial identity, finding her place, and chasing her dreams. Tickets: $49.50-$99.50. 6 p.m. 402.345.0202. -ticketomaha.com

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MARCH/APRIL 2022

April 1-3 at CHI Health Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. Vehicles from classic Cadillacs to hot

of Gerald, who realizes that anyone can dance when they love the music. Tickets: $20. Times vary. 402.345.4849. -rosetheater.org

» Family and More « OMAHA FILM FESTIVAL

March 1-6 at Aksarben Cinema, 2110 S. 67th St., and online. Local, national, and international

films will be discussed, watched, and celebrated at this annual festival. Times vary. Admission varies from $10 per single movie-ticket to $100 for multi-day passes. 402-203-8173. -omahafilmfestival.org

FISH FRIES

March 4-April 14 in various locations. Many

churches and community centers around Omaha will provide a fish (or meatless) dinner on Fridays during this time frame. A few popular choices include: Holy Name Catholic Church, holynameomaha.org; Mary Our Queen Catholic Church, maryourqueenchurch.com; St. Patrick’s Catholic Church of Elkhorn, stpatselkhorn.org; St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church, svdpomaha.org; St. John’s Greek Orthodox Church, stjohnsgreekorthodox.org; and Holy Ghost Catholic Church, holyghostomaha.com.

ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE

March 12 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 Harney streets and winding through the Old Market. -aohomaha.org

JUNKSTOCK

April 29-30 at Sycamore Farm, 1150 River Road Drive. More than 150 vintage, antique,

and junk vendors will display their wares at this southern-style flea market that includes food trucks and live music. Kids 12 and under are free. Adult tickets: $10 daily pass, $20 three-day pass. 402-765-8651. -junkstock.com

TREMENDOUS ARBOR DAY CELEBRATION

April 27 at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft St.

Visitors to the gardens can learn about Nebraska’s homegrown holiday during this event, which features a variety of educational activities. Admission: $10 adults, $5 children 6-12, free for children under 6 and members. 402-346-4002. -lauritzengardens.org

MAIFEST

April 27 at German-American Society, 3717 S. 120th St. The public is invited to celebrate spring

with German food, drinks, and a Maypole. Noon11 p.m. Admission: free, but cash is needed for drinks and food. 402-333-6615. -germanamericansociety.org

Event times and details are correct as of presstime, but are subject to change. Due to the COVID19 pandemic, many events are canceling and/or changing dates/time/places as needed. Omaha Magazine encourages readers to visit venues' websites and/or calling ahead before attending an event or visiting a museum.

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2022

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NOT FUNNY // COLUMN BY OTIS TWELVE // PHOTOGRAPH BY BILL SITZMANN

T I P S FO R TR AVELER S

t’s been an interesting last two years, don’t you think?

I’ve missed out on a lot. I’ve had smaller gatherings of friends and family, and smaller holiday feasts; made fewer visits to restaurants. I’ve attended fewer large gatherings of political zealots. Mainly, I’ve had less travel.

Hopefully, that’s about to change and soon I will be able to feel safe from infection again as they shuffle me through long security checkpoint lines, fill me with stale airport Cinnabons, and finally shoehorn me into a tiny coach seat between pro-football linemen for a 10-hour flight that delivers me to a long immigration and customs line in some backward country where they have family leave, universal health care, and really good coffee. Yes, soon we will all be traveling again. With that in mind, here are a few tips I’ve picked up on my jaunts around the globe. 1. When in Rome, Italy, do not fall for the pitch of the barkers at the unicycle rental stalls near the Castel Sant’Angelo. And if you do rent, avoid the Spanish steps. 2. Do not trust the food at the Franz Kafka Coffeehouse and B&B in Prague. It’s way beyond, “Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup.” 3. Never go to Hong Kong on a whim. The immigration folks there always ask “Why” you are there. Have a good answer ready. 4. Germans love deep-fried food so much it’s a miracle that they ever had the energy to invade anyone. A leading side effect of schnitzel and beer is a nap. So, never dine too far from your hotel room. 5. The French are not rude at all. Unless you talk to them, and if you do speak to one, you most likely don’t speak French yourself, so you won’t really understand exactly how rude they are being—until you discover the restaurant they directed you to is a tire store, “Magasin de Pneus.” 6. The Netherlands are very flat. And that’s why the nation produces very few Olympic quality skateboarders. There is no Dutch word for “hill.” 7. Lots of people go to see The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, but she never sings and they leave disappointed. Danish people sit on benches near the statue and quietly curse Disney Studios. 8. In Dusseldorf, the taxi cabs are all new Mercedes or BMWs, but they still smell like taxi cabs. Note: There is a large fine for bringing popcorn into any of the city’s cabs. 9. Most Broadway theaters are not on Broadway. So, if you’re in NYC for a musical, don’t trust Google maps. 10. Japanese folks are very polite, but only to a point. Try not to be an ass when you’re there, and I recommend the street food in Osaka and not the KFCs on every corner. So, if you are planning that long delayed big trip…you’re welcome. Otis Twelve hosts the radio program Morning Classics with Otis Twelve on 90.7 KVNO, weekday mornings from 6-10 a.m. Visit kvno.org for more information.

MARCH/APRIL

// 88 //

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