September/October 2013 The Encounter by Omaha Magazine

September/October 2013

WELCOME TO WILLIAM’S NIGHTMARE

a tour of NoDo’s

Mystery Manor

The Perfect Cuisine for

el Día de los Muertos

Choose Your Own Adventure

with hidden places downtown

Page 29

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Senior Sales Executive Gwen Lemke

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september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

contents Check out the new omahamagazine.com. Find extra web-only content and our Flipbook, which can also be found at readonlinenow.com.

10 14

35 On the Cover: Owner Wayne Sealy debuts a new character for Mystery Manor this season. Cover photo by Bill Sitzmann.

Editor’s Letter: Talk about Criminal................................................ 6 Face: Kaleb Michaud...................................................................... 8 Art: Phil Hawkins........................................................................... 10 Entertainment: Hidden Places Downtown................................... 12 Living: The Leonhardts................................................................. 14 Cover Feature: Welcome to William’s Nightmare......................... 18 Fashion: Jewelry Break.................................................................21 History: Mafiosi and Madams....................................................... 26

The Orig inal Old Market Irish Bar

Feature: Farmers Market in the Fall.............................................. 28 Advantage Coupons: Special Advertising Section....................... 29 Faces: The Church of Tomorrow................................................... 35 Dining: Cuisine for el Día de los Muertos...................................... 38

Nightly Specials Live Irish Music Weekends Open 12 p.m.

Old Market Map.......................................................................... 40

1205 Harney St.

Merchants & Attractions.............................................................41

dublinerpubomaha.com

Calendar...................................................................................... 44 omahamagazine.com

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the encounter | september/october 2013

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Dear Readers,

HIS IS MY favorite time of year, bar none. Nature’s colors, the slight chill, the start of the year’s best festivities (I mean, they just snowball from October on), the flavors, the clothes, the smells…it’s all just exciting, you know? I couldn’t be happier that this issue of The Encounter embodies the excitement of the season. We’re all a little spookier, a little more rebellious, a little more daring. Maybe it’s the stories that hook me. Haunted houses are, of course, themed to the max with outrageous backstories, and we do include a review of downtown’s permanent haunted house on page 18. But let’s not forget that Omaha has some intense backstory of its own. I’ve never worked longer or done more research for a story than the one I wrote about our city’s famous criminals. You can read it on page 26. I’ve seen some of these names before (I’ve driven on Dahlman Avenue, and I know about The Wilson & Washburn), but I’d never read their stories. When I sat down to start work on “Mafiosi and Madams,” my intention was to write a fluff piece. Something light, entertaining, and maybe a little scandalous. The more I researched (I didn’t quite hit 40 sources), the more I realized I had to get things right. These were real events that happened to real people. A hundred years from now, I’d sure want someone to get my story right. Here’s hoping I succeeded.

Chris Wolfgang Editor, The Encounter Magazine

@omahamagazine

omahamagazine

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

Old Market Downtown • NoDo • SoDo

Midtown

September/October 2013 Editorial Staff Omaha Publications Editor Linda Persigehl

The Encounter Editor Chris Wolfgang

Assistant Editor & Web Content Editor Bailey Hemphill

Editorial Intern Peter Setter (#28)

Creative Director John Gawley

Senior Graphic Designer Katie Anderson

Junior Graphic Designer

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Paul Lukes

Director of Photography & Interactive Media Bill Sitzmann

Contributing Photographers Keith Binder • Dillon Gitano

Contributing Writers Mandy Mowers • Jared Spence • Wendy Townley

Editorial Advisors Rick Carey • David Scott

1415 Harney Street Telephone: 402.341.7576 www.cityviewdentalomaha.com

For Advertising Information: 402.884.2000 www.omahapublications.com Owned and managed by Omaha Magazine, LTD Comments? Send your letter to the editor to: editor@omahapublications.com All versions of The Encounter are published bimonthly by Omaha Magazine, LTD, P.O. Box 461208, Omaha, NE 68046-1208. Telephone: (402) 884-2000; fax (402) 884-2001. No whole or part of the contents herein may be reproduced without prior written permission of Omaha Magazine, excepting individually copyrighted articles and photographs. Unsolicited manuscripts are accepted; however, no responsibility will be assumed for such solicitations. omahamagazine.com

The Convenient Downtown Dentist the encounter | september/october 2013

FACE

Game On

Kaleb Michaud brings board games to Midtown.

story by Wendy Townley | photos by Bill Sitzmann

Board games are a tactile experience; they encourage human interaction. -Kaleb Michaed

HEN WAS THE last time you put down your blinking, beeping electronic gadget (think iPhone, iPad, iPod, iAnything) and picked up a traditional board game? If you can’t recall the month (or even year) you found such entertainment with family and friends, make plans to visit Midtown Crossing this fall to experience Spielbound. Spielbound—a play on the word spellbound using spiel, a German word meaning fun or game—is the brainchild, passion, and part-time preoccupation of Kaleb Michaud, a local board game collector and enthusiast. Michaud, a full-time University of Nebraska Medical Center research professor studying the effects of arthritis, owns more than 2,200 board games from various genres in his personal collection. The towering stacks currently reside in his Dundee home but will move to Spielbound at Midtown Crossing in the coming months. For years Michaud, 38, has hosted game nights in his home for friends and neighbors. Guests (the most was 45 people) pick a game to play and others join in. By the end of the evening, Michaud jokes, the more cerebral games are put aside for something easier (read: ones that require less mind power but yield more laughs). “Board games are a tactile experience,” Michaud explains. “They encourage human interaction.” A look up and around at Michaud’s shelves of games reveal a varied collection, many of which hail from Europe. Since purchasing his first few games in the mid-1990s, Michaud estimates he has added four or five new titles per month. His interest was sparked playing The Settlers of Catan with a college friend and only grew from there. Michaud realized, after shopping the standard big-box stores, that the variety of games he sought just wasn’t available. “I was amazed at the quality of board games not available in stores,” he explains. “And lesser-known games often lack advertising dollars for promotion.” Though Spielbound was slated to move into the old Attic Bar & Grill at Midtown Crossing this fall, Michaud states, “Unfortunately, we don’t know when we’re opening at this point. Midtown Crossing is trying to find us another

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location otherwise it could be several months due to the additional construction needed. It’s September to January time period.” When Spielbound does open, the shop will offer a café area serving coffee drinks and light snacks, a party room for gamers, and the crown jewel of the space: the complete library with floor-to-ceiling shelves of games. Michaud and volunteers have spent the past few months cataloging the collection and recording details of each game, instructions, and the number of pieces included in each box. Players will be able to join the board game café for a monthly or annual fee. A drop-in rate will also be available for customers who plan to frequent Spielbound a few times throughout the year. Teachers will receive a discount to borrow games used in the classroom. Michaud wanted Spielbound located in the heart of the city and in close proximity to two large gaming audiences: students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Creighton University. (Although Michaud doesn’t rule out the possibility of his UNMC students and colleagues playing a game or two as well.) Michaud and his board of directors have applied for nonprofit status, a unique approach for such a venture, he explains. Spielbound will need memberships, grants, and donations to keep its doors open. But in this nonprofit organization, however, the primary focus will be fun and, of course, games. For updates, visit Spielbound at spielbound.com. omahamagazine.com

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the encounter | september/october 2013

ART

Phil Hawkins’

Geometric Prisms

story by Jared Spence | photos by Bill Sitzmann

When it comes to where ideas start for me, a geometric approach is very natural. -Phil Hawkins

HIL HAWKINS’ UNIQUE worldview is on display in the flowing lines and organic contours of his art. It’s a philosophy that even comes through in the simple choice of materials he uses to bring his ideas to life. The 30-year-old artist’s subtly colored drawings and paintings are filled with intersecting lines and two- and three-dimensional shapes that leap off the page. His sculptures and installations, crafted from PVC, wood, and cardboard, are patterns of geometric prisms meticulously built from pieces Hawkins cuts. He either hand-paints or covers the pieces with reflective and holographic foils that seem to burst off of each form. The majority of Hawkins’ sculptures and installations currently use rough materials, like corrugated cardboard, as a primary medium. While most people would throw similar pieces of cardboard away without a second thought, Hawkins chooses to give these materials new life. Even within his downtown basement studio, he exhibits his symbiotic relationship with the resources around him, with the creation of several functional dividing screens he handmade from old doors, carpet remnants, poles, and Velcro. “The way I feel about my surroundings and life in general and the environment—how everything is connected in the world—I feel like that shows through some of my work,” Hawkins says. Consider his 18-x-7-foot installation wall of shimmering diamonds pieced together from small triangles he cut from cardboard and painted. This is a reflection of personal space and environment. And his paintings—incorporating intersecting lines, contours, and layered two- and three-dimensional

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

shapes—are influenced by the world he sees. “I feel like it all has a circulation. It all functions together. It all has a relationship that means something a little deeper than what it looks. Looking between the lines and trying to see what’s really going on, past all the complicated structures and lines of symmetry: It might be geometric and might be a style, but there’s a little bit more of a life form to it,” Hawkins says. Hawkins, an Omaha native, earned an associate’s degree in graphic arts from Metropolitan Community College and a bachelor’s degree in arts management from Bellevue University. He went on to complete an internship under artist and co-founder of Hot Shops Art Center, Leslie Bruning. His method, however, is selfdiscovered and self-taught. His unique style of art was cultivated from his

omahamagazine.com

exploration of the contemporary art world and his personal need to satiate his own curiosity. “When it comes to where ideas start for me, a geometric approach is very natural. I just see all of that. It comes out of me as something I’m interested in seeing more of on a scale that I have not seen elsewhere.” Over the past three years, Hawkins has honed in on his particular brand of art, and since then, he says, his life has changed greatly. “I’ve found my own style, which I think makes sense to me and is very pure.” Those that know Hawkins closely agree that his energy exudes from his work, including his mentor of three years, Bruning. “I’d say Phil takes a humble approach to his art, and it works well with his personality,” Bruning says. “When a person works within their personality,

they’re so much more progressive in what they do. If you are true to your nature, you can be an artist forever.” Hawkins says he doesn’t see himself doing anything else and plans on being in Omaha for a long time. “I’m learning how art can apply to the people in the community, and I couldn’t be happier with how that’s turned out.” He mentions his excitement over an upcoming project with the Creighton Lied Center with their center for children who are deaf and hard of hearing. “I want my art to have a message people can take away or inspire them, or it can even be a conversation and alter or change their mood. A successful piece of art can have a conversation when the artist isn’t there. I think when someone talks about your work, that’s success in itself.”

the encounter | september/october 2013

ENTERTAINMENT

Choose your own adventure

with hidden places downtown. story by Peter Setter | photos by Bill Sitzmann

ED AND WALLY’S. Tannenbaum Christmas Shop. The Passageway. These are staples of Omaha’s historic Old Market neighborhood. But what if you looked beyond the traditional to find the hidden heart of downtown? Do you dare venture down the road less traveled to find the secret spaces and hidden gems of the Old Market? You are traveling down 10th Street, looking for an outdoor space to spend the warm, fall afternoon, when you stumble upon Lucile’s Old Market. This historic, two-story, brick building is wrapped with an iron gate and was originally owned by Lucile Schaaf, an architectural salvager. You remember being told there is a courtyard somewhere near her home, but all you see is a 10-foot-high brick wall. You sneak down the alley between Jackson and Howard streets, only to find a large, locked, wooden gate. Disappointment seizes you, until you notice an iron grate in part of the brick wall. You decide to take a peek. Terracotta landscape pavers line the three-tiered garden, and ivy consumes each wall. Grass and beautiful flowers overflow the 2,600-square-foot space, sharing occupancy with architectural pieces like two griffin wings, salvaged from the old First National Bank building. The wings form a walkway to the third level of the garden. You hadn’t noticed, but the owner of Lucile’s, a man named Brian, has come up behind you. “We have the only private backyard in the Old Market that includes grass and

flowers. It’s just priceless; it’s literally priceless,” Brian says. He goes on to tell you that the courtyard is only accessible if you have a private event at Lucile’s. You decide to go on with your day, content with having enjoyed a view into the small paradise. You’ve had enough of walking around, and decide that catching a movie sounds nice. Unfortunately, there is no movie theater in the Old Market. But you have heard about a tiny theater inside Fairmont Antique & Mercantile Store on 12th and Jackson streets. Winding through stalls of vintage signs and retro clothing, you come across the theater, a walled-off section complete with marquee, deep in the heart of the store. It plays movies on Saturdays and Sundays. You recall what a friend, Alicia Smith Hollins, told you about her experience seeing Jack White play in the theater last August. “The small, vintage venue felt more like where

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you should see Jack White play than a big auditorium. It was the coolest thing I have ever seen in Omaha,” says Smith Hollins, who was previously unaware that the theater existed. After sitting through The Goonies, you are ready for a night on the town. You call up a few friends and decide to go bar-hopping. However, none of you are keen on anything rowdy or loud, so you attempt to confirm rumors about a speakeasy-type place. It’s hidden under the Indian Oven restaurant at 10th and Howard streets. When you and your friends arrive at the restaurant, you notice that two horse statues are lit in the window. You’ve heard that this means the basement bar is making drinks that night. You enter the basement to find a cozy, newly renovated space. “It’s a calm atmosphere that’s about celebrating the drinks and the conversations going on,” says Binoy Fernandez, the I.O. Speak’s owner and bartender. He talks with passion about how the I.O. Speak focuses on craft cocktails, drinks that go beyond standard two-ingredient mixers and that take a little longer to concoct. Fernandez chats with your group to find out what each of you are looking for in a drink tonight. This is standard practice in the bar, he explains. Based on what customers enjoy drinking, he can provide recommendations from his list of pre-Prohibition and Prohibitionera drinks. For such special cocktails, he and other bartenders only use fresh-squeezed juice and syrups, bitters, and even ice made inhouse. “[Old Market residents] are a great set of people that have, throughout the years, shown a willingness to try new things out, and, in a large way, to be the trendsetters of what’s happening in the Omaha community,” Fernandez explains as he makes your drinks. “Them, and the history of the Old Market, when speakeasies were running down here, make this the perfect place for my concept.” You head home from the bar, content in knowing that you took the road less traveled. You found the Old Market’s diamonds in the rough. omahamagazine.com

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The Old Market • 1120 Jackson Street • (402) 341-5827 • tedandwallys.com

1012 Howard St. 402.915.4002

WWW.MCLOVINSTORE.COM | IN THE HEART OF THE OLD MARKET

the encounter | september/october 2013

LIVING

The Leonhardts

Cozily Chic in the Old Mercer Hotel

story by Chris Wolfgang | photos by Bill Sitzmann

ROM THE CORNER of her sunroom in the historic Mercer Hotel on 11th and Howard streets, Bonnie Leonhardt can see another of the six places she’s lived in downtown since 1985. “Houses scare me,” she says by way of explaining her affinity for condo living. “I like having all the people around me. You don’t even have to know them; just having them around is nice.” The sunroom is part of a patio she had covered about five years ago. “Now it’s where we spend all our time,” she says, referring to husband Gail and her menagerie consisting of Henri the poodle, and cats Sophie and Xena. “It’s wonderful for fireworks, and my grandkids love it when it rains.” The Mercer Hotel condo is one of three downtown places Bonnie and Gail have renovated over the years. They moved in 10 years ago after someone asked if they’d sell their half-block-long condo in the old Howard Street Tavern. “We loved that place; I had no intention of ever selling,” Gail says. “But my wife blurted out this huge figure, and he said okay. I about fell out of my chair.” Never fear, the Leonhardts have effortlessly instilled their joie de vivre into their current home. Every square inch of the renovated condo is charmingly utilized.

Orchids, amaryllis, and paperwhites color the sunroom, cozy conversation areas pepper the common room, and the white walls and open layout keep the overall feel airy. No decorator is called in, “it’s just me,” Bonnie says, though she confesses that if she brings one more thing into the place, “I’ll be a star on Hoarders.” Chairs in particular are her weakness, as proven by the Louis Ghost chairs around a small dining table by the open kitchen. Gail approves of her selections. In general. “She has good taste in everything but wine,” he says. The couple took out the too-tight lighthouse staircase up to the second floor in favor of one with a looser spiral and wider steps. An office, bathroom, and bedroom are

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

At left: A wire statuette by Larry Sosso, a local artist, holds court over the center of the open living room. The wire man holds the novel Five Quarters of the Orange, perpetually on page 113. That is, until the grandkids help him out by flipping a page. “He’s a neat guy,” Bonnie says with affection. “We like having him around.” omahamagazine.com

the encounter | september/october 2013

living

Cubby’s Old Market Grocery 601 S. 13th St.

sectioned off with their own doors, adding a new level of privacy the previously wide-open loft lacked. The main changes to the downstairs are hardwood floors in place of carpeting and losing the galley layout of the kitchen. “I didn’t want to be in the kitchen by myself anymore,” Bonnie says. Now guests can chat with the chef over a simple island—a slab of marble atop a small Bombay chest. The marble is Carrara, she thinks. “I have chemo brain, and it’s just not coming to me.” Bonnie was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in April of 2012, prompting her to retire as a realtor from Pitney Bowes. She and Gail, CEO of North Central Rehabilitation, do still entertain a lot, though the gatherings these days are mostly small groups of very close friends. “People come in and say the place looks so European,” Bonnie notes. “French, they say, but I don’t know. Let’s call it Early Junque.” The description works only because an air of casual welcome pervades the look of downtown chic. It’s the type of place where you might arrive in Louboutin stilettos only to kick them off in a few minutes because you know it’s all right.

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

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9th to 11th • Dodge to Capitol the encounter | september/october 2013

COVER FEATURE 18â&#x20AC;&#x192;

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Owner Wayne Sealy tries out a new costume as son Mark looks managerial in front of the 30-year-old Mystery Manor.

Welcome to William’s nightmare.

A Tour of NoDo’s Mystery Manor

story by Chris Wolfgang | photos by Bill Sitzmann and provided by Mystery Manor

HE ENTRYWAY OF the 19th-century home is cramped, musty-smelling, and dark. A thunderstorm rolls appropriately in the background. Bloodstains spatter the wallpaper, and the portrait of a resigned-looking woman hangs on the wall. “This—” Wayne Sealy bangs the head of his ax next to the portrait “—is Greta Hall. Murdered here by her loving husband—” bang! “—William.” Wayne, the owner of Mystery Manor, warms to his performance in Downtown Omaha’s permanent haunted house at 18th and Burt streets. He spins the house’s official yarn about William Hall, who was later murdered by Greta’s brother. “To this day, William still walks these halls with his ax, looking for a pretty gal to join him in his garden party. FOR WHICH YOU QUALIFY,” Wayne booms impressively. “Please enter through this door right here.” The first three rooms of Mystery Manor detail the story of William and Greta Hall, until “William” confronts guests in the flickering light of a parlor. “Dead as dreams, a new nightmare began,” the murderer intones. “Go! Behind you! Enter my nightmare.” Nine scenes take guests through William’s torment, up and down three stories and across 6,000 square feet. Over the course of about 25 minutes, more than 30 volunteers make it their mission to deliver a good, old-fashioned Halloween scare. A veteran actor himself, Wayne explains that a good scare consists of three stages. First is the setup, the actor setting the scene for how guests will encounter him. Second is the approach. “Guests either approach you, or you approach them,” he says (don’t worry, actors never intentionally touch guests at Mystery Manor). The third part is, in his opinion, the most critical element of the scare and one that an inexperienced actor may neglect: the disengagement. “Once you do what you do, it can go to crap in a second because now you’re just a man in a costume. You have to get out of Dodge,” Wayne explains. “As soon as you turn around to leave, you become eye candy.” The guest’s focus is now on the departing actor, “and now they’re all set for the next guy to come around and nail ’em.” As soon as a second actor has the attention, the first one can double-back for another scare. But it’s not just actors in place to bring the fright. Animatronics, projections, monitors,

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the encounter | september/october 2013

cover feature

careful lighting, and themed soundtracks round out the experience. For example, an animatronic dog jumps out to within six inches of a tight hallway in a Deliverance-themed zone. His name is Fluffy. “We try to treat it like a rollercoaster,” says Mark Sealy, Wayne’s son and manager of Mystery Manor. “You need to have peaks and valleys.” He describes a scene with a gypsy fortuneteller. “She calms you down, she takes your hand, and she does a little fortune read. So you’re cresting the rollercoaster before plunging down again.” “Give credit to the public,” Wayne points out. “If they’re not interacting, we’ve got nothing.” What actors can do, he says, is try to hit phobias, and the house is arrayed to touch on them all. Guests should avert their eyes in the zombie apocalypse room or suffer the consequences. A possessed circus includes a tunnel here and a back door there, enabling clowns and fortune tellers to slink around unseen until the last moment. A 60-foot slide spits guests out into a slaughterhouse. The child’s room is slowly burning. “It’s…pretty creepy,” Mark admits. “We did buy some new props this year for this room.” Other less commercial elements add to the creepiness of the house, though the paying public may never notice them. “The building has stuff happen all the time,” Mark says as he walks down a behind-the-scenes staircase. “Every once in a while, we’ll find the teddy bears from the child’s room lined up here on the stairs. They just get put here. We think the ghost uses this almost as the house’s lost and found. If someone loses a baseball hat the night before, we’ll find it here.” Kind-hearted volunteers? Mark shakes his head emphatically. “I’ve been here alone, and…that’s not it.” And the ghost? Who is it? Because William and Greta Hall are fake, right? Mark shares that in the late 1800s, No. 716 was actually a house of ill repute. “We do know, we have it documented, that one of the women who worked here was murdered along with her kid,” he says. “We don’t normally tell that story because it’s not very family friendly. So that’s not the story we go off of.” So. Say hello to “Greta” the next time you visit Mystery Manor. Mystery Manor opens for the season on Fri., Sept. 13. mysterymanoromaha.org

Just the facts, ma’am Mystery Manor has been running for 30 years. Over 100 volunteers act in the house per season. Some actors have been volunteering for as long as 29 years. The flow of the house hasn’t changed in 27 years. Staff, including volunteers, can empty the house in less than 53 seconds for a fire drill. It takes two hours a night to get all actors in makeup, including prosthetics, latex, special effects makeup, and airbrushing. It takes volunteers a month of bi-weekly training sessions to learn to navigate the house. Each of the house’s nine zones has its own exit. Only nine groups are allowed in the building at a time, enabling each group to have its own exit. Each group consists of no more than six people. Engineers check the house annually for structural soundness. (Still, leave the heels at home. Uneven surfaces abound.) In the Pharaoh’s tomb scene, hieroglyphics actually spell out insults about Mystery Manor actors.

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

There’s nothing exactly wrong with indulging a taste for the finer things in life. Just be sure you’re ready to accept the consequences. Models: Emily Solo of Des Moines Hannah Blazek of Omaha Amber Hongsermeier of Omaha Stylist: Jared Spence Hair and makeup: Sirens at the Loft Special thanks to Goldsmith Silversmith and the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County. Photographed at the Squirrel Cage Jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Regalia dyed freshwater pearl necklace Regalia silver cuff, and Regalia smashed silver cuff

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Clockwise from left: Heather Kita brass circle pendant necklace Heather Kita 14kt yellow gold disc on silver band Regalia smashed silver cuff Heather Kita sterling silver-faceted ring Danielle Morgan sterling silver and black onyx necklace Danielle Morgan sterling silver double cube necklace Heather Kita quartz crystal earrings

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Natalie Frigo brass cuff Heather Kita brass and pyrite bib necklace Heather Kita brass circle pendant necklace Heather Kita brass-faceted ring

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the encounter | september/october 2013â&#x20AC;&#x192;

Heather Kita quartz crystal earrings Marisa Adamson quartz and sterling silver ring Regalia sterling silver and gold-plated bangles

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Regalia Silver cuff Regalia sterling and gold-plated bangles Regalia sterling and gold-plated earrings Natalie Frigo silver and crystal necklace Heather Kita brass-faceted triangle earrings omahamagazine.com

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HISTORY

Mafiosi and Madams

The history of Omaha: It’s criminal.

story by Chris Wolfgang | from the photograph collection of The Durham Museum and from Julie Shadlow

N INSIGNIFICANT RIVER town doesn’t grow up to be a thriving metropolis without producing its share of unsavory types. Villainous characters and shady stories abound in Omaha, especially in its early days, where men are often very tight and women deemed a trifle loose, according to poet John G. Saxe in 1869. These ain’t your mama’s headlines. Actually, they may have been your grandmother’s. 1. Political mob boss incites race riot. For 18 years, political boss Tom Dennison carried most of Omaha neatly in his pocket—government, police, and business. The man’s crimes were many, but his most reprehensible may have been inciting the infamous Omaha Race Riot of 1919. After citizens finally elected a non-Dennison man, one Edward Parsons Smith, as mayor in 1918, Dennison henchmen were accused of putting on blackface, assaulting women, and then stirring up crowds, leading to the lynching of black man Will Brown and the near-lynching of Mayor Smith. Smith’s administration was later accused of being ineffectual during the riot. Dennison himself was never found guilty of any involvement, and a key instigator, Dennison henchman Milton Hoffman, fled the state before he could be questioned. 2. Brothel owner donates building for hospital, receives public outcry. Six months before her death, Anna Wilson, madam of downtown’s Sporting District in the late 1800s, “…closed out her dive and presented the building, with $75,000, to the city as an emergency hospital,” reads the Lawrence Journal-World on Jan. 16, 1912. Even though it was the second largest gift to charity yet made by an Omahan, city officials and residents balked at accepting the donation of an old brothel. To abate accusations of “tainted money,” Wilson agreed to accept a rent of $125 a month for the rest of her life. 3. Puppet mayor runs for eighth term. Depending on where you look, James Dahlman was either a heroic figure of Omaha or an unscrupulous politician. He shot and killed his brother-in-law at the age of 22 and was 26

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Opposite: Tom Dennison sits with right-hand man William Nesselhous (courtesy The Durham Museum). Left: James (Jimmy) Dahlman posing as The Cowboy Mayor of Omaha (courtesy The Durham Museum). Right: Louise Vinciquerra, in a photograph dated 1927 provided by her great-great-granddaughter, Julie Shadlow of Oregon.

a close ally of political boss Tom Dennison. That alliance led to Dahlman winning three elections in a row, seven altogether. He was filing for an eighth reelection when he passed away. He did fight for and won more autonomy for the Omaha government from the state. Perhaps that desire for doing things by his own rules explains why Dahlman originally refused federal aid after the fatal Omaha Easter Sunday Tornado of 1913. Saloon owner is key lieutenant in crime ring. William E. Nesselhous, one of Tom Dennison’s bootleggers, owned a saloon called The Budweiser, which served as Dennison’s headquarters. A tiny man with glasses (he was a former jockey), Nesselhous was Dennison’s connector, an adaptable man who managed people easily. He was indicted in 1932 (along with 58 other people) by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to violate prohibition laws. Child of prominent family stolen! Kidnapper writes book. In the 1880s, Pat Crowe went to work for one of the big four names in Omaha’s meat industry when his butcher shop was bought out by the Cudahy Meatpacking Plant. Edward Cudahy later fired him when he was caught stealing money. Several years later, Crowe kidnapped 16-year-old Edward Cudahy, Jr., in 1900 and received $25,000, the first successful ransom in the United States. This was perhaps due to the cold ransom note, referencing another kidnapping where a boy died because the father refused to pay. “If you don’t give up…you can lead your boy blind the rest of your days,” Crowe’s note threatened, stating he would put acid in the young man’s eyes. Five years later, Crowe was arrested for the crime but acquitted, whereupon he wrote not one but two autobiographies detailing the kidnapping. Crowe’s crime supposedly influenced the famous kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s child. Respectable wife murders husband in hotel lobby. On Nov. 17, 1888, Eliza Beechler of Chicago followed her husband, Harry W. King, Jr., to the Paxton Hotel at 14th and Farnam streets in Omaha. Beechler had seen a dispatch stating that King had married a Miss Duffy in Kansas City. At the hotel, King insisted Beechler go home, and when she refused, he allegedly replied that she shut her mouth or he would choke her to death. In response, she shot him in the Paxton lobby, killing him and depriving two other women, including one upstairs, of a man they also believed to be their husband. Phantom Sniper resents being called insane. After being released from the Iowa State Penitentiary for killing cattle, Frank Carter shot

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a mechanic and a doctor in Omaha and supposedly a railroad detective in Council Bluffs in 1926. Newspapers revealed the victims had been standing next to windows in their homes at night when they were shot. Though convicted of two murders, Carter claimed to have killed 43 people. His lawyers attempted to say he was a paranoiac with an inferiority complex, but Carter disrupted his own defense by shouting, “I’m not a nut! I tell you, I’m not a nut!” He was electrocuted on June 24, 1927. 8. Cigar store is front for Omaha Mafia boss. Anthony Joseph DiBiase (Tony Biase) was a short, portly man at 5’3 and 160 pounds. What began as small-time bookmaking in his Owl Smoke Shop on 16th Street in the ’40s would become a web of heroin trafficking and connections to New York mafia. In 1960, Biase was sentenced to 15 years for narcotics after his attempt on the life of a partnerturned-informant went wrong. Biase was paroled in 1970 and died in 1991 in South Omaha at nearly 100 years old. He only had one other arrest in between, in 1986. 9. Bootleg queen’s ex shoots her second husband. Earl Haning was visiting with his ex-wife, Louise Vinciquerra, in her home on July 4, 1933, when he was shot through a screen and killed by her first ex-husband, Sebastiano Vinciquerra. The two men had exchanged fire once before in 1928, while Haning was still married to Louise. Haning had been a prohibition agent in Omaha at the time he was married to Omaha’s Bootleg Queen. Haning was married to one Jessie McCombs when he was shot in his ex-wife’s home. 10. Shopkeeper butchers friend for $1,500. Ottway Baker killed his coworker, Woolsey Higgins, with two swings of an ax while Higgins slept in their shared room at a grocery on 12th and Farnam streets. Baker then set fire to the shop and shot himself in the arm to cover his tracks, but he was arrested and hanged on Valentine’s Day, 1868. It was the second legal execution in Omaha history and the city’s first ax murder on record. the encounter | september/october 2013

FEATURE

A variety of produce is still available into the fall at the Omaha Farmers Market in the Old Market.

Farmers Market in the Fall story by Mandy Mowers | photo by Keith Binder

N 1994, GENE Sivard had an oversized garden with veggies to spare. The Old Market was having its first Farmers Market and was “begging for vendors.” Now, Sivard’s Gene’s Green Thumb has 14 acres, and the Old Market Farmers Market is in its 20th season. Over the years, Sivard has seen it grow from a simple farmers market into a city bazaar of sorts. “Now you have crafts, meat, cheese, all kinds of beef jerky, bread,” he says. “It is a big event with a really big crowd.” It’s become so popular, in fact, that Omaha Farmers Market added a second location. Now, you can visit the Old Market on Saturdays 8 a.m.–12:30 p.m. from the first week in May through midOctober and then hit the newer Aksarben Village market on Sundays from 9 a.m.–1 p.m. “Every market is different,” says Heidi Walz, operations manager for Omaha Farmers Market. “And that means that every season is different, every week is different. We’re rotating new things in each week as the season progresses.” You can find a harvest calendar, with general times to expect local produce, under the Local Resources tab of the Market’s website (which, by the way, got a 20th anniversary redesign): omahafarmersmarket.com. Worthy of noting in that calendar is that the fall is still a great time to hit the market. “The produce stays strong through the end in this area,” Walz says. “So you’re still going to see tomatoes and potatoes and peppers and the greens, and more of the typical table fruits and vegetables that people think of. But the other cool thing is, being in Nebraska, we definitely have some fall crops. You’re going to see the apples, the pumpkins, and the gourds, as well as some of the decorative things, like Indian corn.” It’s difficult for Walz to choose a favorite thing about the markets. But “I have two little boys, and 28

to be able to go there and see all the varieties of pumpkins,” she says, is one of them. “It’s fun to go to the pumpkin patch, and we do that. But at the market, we can look at all the different offerings right there, a couple blocks from each other. And the boys look at what is the most unique pumpkin, or the biggest pumpkin, and explore so many different options. It’s just really fun to let them come down and pick out a really unique pumpkin, like maybe a green one that’s really tall and slender,” she says. And, because the farmer is right there, “you can find out way more about your selection.” Sivard also loves the fall markets. For the veggie lovers, Sivard recommends getting winter squash, like acorn squash, which can be stored in a cool basement and eaten all the way in January. Even when the weather turns, you can still find treasures at the market. According to Sivard, “One season, we had six inches of snow on the ground and still had a lot of apples.” And although Oct. 19–20 is the last weekend for the season, you can get a taste of the market in December at the WOWT and Physicians Holiday Market. The Holiday Market is hosted under two large, heated tents in Aksarben Village on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7–8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Although the Holiday Market doesn’t have produce, you will find a lot of your favorite regular-season Farmers Market vendors, as well as additional gift vendors. “It’s just so festive and local, which is cool—to get some of your holiday shopping done in a local way. Such an awesome event.” Walz admits, “It’s one of my favorites.”

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FACES

The Church of Tomorrow

educates you in music, fashion culture, and being fabulous. story by Chris Wolfgang | photos by Bill Sitzmann and Dillon Gitano

ICHOLAS WASSERBERGER AND Mark Steffan are almost, well, In Real Life meme generators. “We really feel that immersing people in an artificial environment, in a bubble, in a world, is amazing,” Wasserberger says. “We want to immerse them in a certain genre, a theme, so that everyone can have this experience, this nostalgia.” Together, Wasserberger and Steffan are the Church of Tomorrow, an avant-garde party-planning duo responsible for themed events in Benson galleries and Downtown Omaha nightclubs. They’ve also collaborated with local band Icky Blossoms and North Sea Films for video styling, as well as local dance-party group GOO. The Church specializes in themes of music and fashion from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. “With events at, like, [House of] Loom, we come up with the ideas and concepts and themes,” Steffan says. “We promote it. We decorate it. We set the theme, the mood. And then we discuss with the DJs what the music genre should be. We set up the environment.” “There’s a lot of history and education that goes into it,” Wasserberger says of their event prep. For example, their inaugural David Bowie tribute party last October at House of Loom was a study in glam rock. “Other cities around the nation throw David Bowie parties,” Steffan points out, “which just brings Omaha to a greater connectivity with other cities’ night-life culture.” “Our New Romantic Party was based off of one club that ran in London for, like, six months,” Wasserberger says. Such ’80s London nightclubs started a trend of evenings dedicated to specific themes. “Boy George came from there,” Steffan says. “Duran Duran. Spandau Ballet. Changed music forever.” omahamagazine.com

We really feel that immersing people in an artificial environment, in a bubble, in a world, is amazing. -Nicholas Wasserberger

the encounter | september/october 2013

faces

Wasserberger and Steffan encourage party-goers to dress to the theme. “It’s Halloween all year-round,” Steffan says. Realizing that not everyone is up on the movements or music they select, they try to educate the masses ahead of time. In the weeks leading up to a party, they post links on Facebook Event pages to documentaries such as Paris Is Burning or songs like “All Tomorrow’s Parties” by The Velvet Underground. “We want to let people in Omaha experience where the roots of music and youth movements and nightclubbing came from,” Wasserberger says. Last January, the Sweatshop Gallery in Benson asked Church of Tomorrow to create “a full-on art installation” for their Afterbirth show during the neighborhood’s First Friday art crawl. “We went thrifting for about three or four weeks just picking up the ugliest stuff. Kids’ bed sheets, after-Christmas-sale tinsel,” Wasserberger says. “We put the sheets on the walls and spray-painted them with political symbols, grabbed every disco light we could find in Omaha.” “They both have a very distinct style,” says Caitlin Little of Sweatshop Gallery, “and they were able in this instance to transform thought into feeling and experience. The events they put on are meant to challenge the normal, beat the boring, and provide an all-inclusive, full-force fun time.” “We wanted to present what our physical chapel would look like,” Steffan says. “This is basically our religion, these are things we like to do, and they’re sometimes a little more progressive.” They both are advocates of women’s and transgender rights and radical homosexuality. To fully immerse people in their passions and ideals, the pair burned incense and filled the gallery with flashing lights, projections, and obscure disco music. “It was a sensory overload,” Wasserberger says. Little agrees. “Afterbirth in particular was like going to a sleepover in their brains!” About 200 people came, they estimate. “That’s probably an average crowd,” Steffan says. “We get more at Loom,” Wasserberger counters. “Everybody that comes to our events, they’re the nicest people,” Steffan says. “Nobody’s trying to be too cool. We can see how people find the humor in what we do. It looks completely outrageous, and we’re completely outrageous, and we can laugh about that.” If there’s money involved, the two split the profit 50-50. Their one-of-a-kind buttons help fund their parties, too. Steffan and Wasserberger wear them out on 36

the town, and if someone admires one, “Oh, they’re $2,” Steffan says, “take one.” They also design the buttons that Icky Blossoms takes on tour. The pair splits cover charges among themselves and an event’s DJs. “We’re pretty savvy about thrifting,” Steffan says. House of Loom co-owner Brent Crampton agrees. “Their DIY method of throwing a party is raw yet fabulously tacky,” he says. “Meaning, I’ll give them $100 for decorations, and they’ll make the place look like a thousand bucks.” He adds that, quite simply, the Church of Tomorrow is his favorite promoter to work with. “They come up with some of the off-the-wall, almost forgotten corners of culture to celebrate.” Crampton points out that the pair not only designs and decorates an event, they clean up after it as well. “At the end of the night when everyone just wants to get paid and go home, they’ll stick around and help the staff clean. It’s quite amazing.” “Everything we do, we do sober,” Wasserberger says. “Which surprises a lot of people. If we were sloppy at a party, come 1:30 in the morning, we would not still be on the dance floor keeping everyone there.” Steffan has been clean and sober for two and a half years. “And in the last two and a half years, I’ve been the most creative I’ve ever been.” Wasserberger will occasionally have a drink. “Never when I’m working,” he clarifies, “because you don’t need it. The true freaks are always sober. Like Boy George. Sober now.” Steffan has plans to promote Church of Tomorrow events in New York after he settles in from his move in May to be with partner Joey Koneko. “And then when he comes back for visits, we’ll do more together here,” Wasserberger says, such as the second David Bowie Tribute this Oct. 5 at House of Loom. He also hints that he already has things set up to do on his own with Sweatshop Gallery and Loom.

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Party Animal Style Style is (obviously) a huge part of life for Nicholas Wasserberger and Mark Steffan. Their inspirations include such flamboyant names as Boy George, David Bowie, Vivienne Westwood, Isabella Blow, Leigh Bowery, and Anna Biaggi. “Otherwise, our style is just wear what you want,” Wasserberger says. He points to his shirt that he bought for a dollar, but his pants are Versace, no matter that he found them at Goodwill. “As long as you feel good, you’re going to look it.”

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“I think that’s what it all basically comes down to,” Steffan says. “Our bodies are the medium for our art.” ART.

“Sometimes we look really shallow, but there’s philosophy behind this,” Wasserberger says. “We know fashion history. If you make fun of us for wearing skirts, we’ll tell you that skirts were invented by men for men.” Fortunately, Omaha has amazing thrifting, and Steffan and Wasserberger know where to find it all: Salvation Army, Second Chance, Shop Around the Corner. “I don’t invest in fine art or other collectibles,” Steffan says. “Purchasing clothes, that’s my collection. There’s only a few things I’d pay a lot of money for, but it has to be really special.” “If we pay $3 for most of our wardrobe,” Wasserberger explains, “then we can afford that one special item.” Their experiments extend to hair as well. Wasserberger’s lavender hair is a result of Steffan’s experimentation with toner and fabric dyes. “Constant evolution is key,” Steffan says. “When you get stuck in the same old routine, that’s when you start feeling trapped.”

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“It blows our minds when other people are like, that’s so foreign,” Wasserberger says. “Why should it be? Everyone should be constantly changing. It’s a really positive thing.” omahamagazine.com

the encounter | september/october 2013

DINING

The Perfect Cuisine for

A girl stops by Dos de Oros food truck after celebrating her quinceañera. Popsicles (top) at La Michoacana are right up the street.

el Día de los Muertos

story by Chris Wolfgang | photos by Keith Binder

L DÍA DE los Muertos is right around the corner, and what better way to celebrate the Day of the Dead than with food? Keep an eye out for sugar skulls as you sample some of the best Mexican cuisine in Omaha along 24th Street.

La Michoacana (24th and E) José Gaytan, owner of the small café La Michoacana, is hard-pressed to choose just one favorite from his menu but finally narrows it down. “For me,” he says, “the nachos are wonderful. The pico de gallo on them is made fresh every day.” As are all the meats. But if you’re looking for La Michoacana’s standout contribution to the South Omaha Mexican cuisine scene, skip the hot bar and go straight to the frozen cabinet by the cash register. A sign requests in Spanish that patrons allow an employee to open it. Ask for a mango paleta, or popsicle. It costs $1 and is made with milk, fruit, and not much else. The texture is smooth rather than icy, 38

and the taste is creamy and not as shockingly sweet as frozen treats you’ll find elsewhere. It also melts with surprising speed the instant you step into sunlight, so plan on eating it quickly. No wonder they don’t want you standing over the freezer with the lid open.

Dos de Oros (24th and G) “¿Cambio para el veinte?” One of the regulars at the Dos de Oros food truck taps another customer on the shoulder to remind him to get his change. There’s always a small crowd milling around the truck, patrons chatting as they wait in line or wait to order, so you’ll have plenty of

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

The beef-tongue zope at El Ranchito (left) is tender and smoky. You can find more hot lunch options at Jacobo’s Grocery a little further down 24th Street.

time to study the menu on the whiteboard. If you’re okay with a bit of heat, try the chorizo burrito, a flavor you won’t find at a fast-food joint. Ladle some salsa verde over your plate, and grab a Mexican Coke from the cooler in the front of the truck. A bottle opener specifically for the sugar-cane soda swings in the breeze. These burritos are about half the size of the monsters at Chipotle or Qdoba, but for $3 and a great spicy flavor, who’s complaining?

El Ranchito (24th and H) As tiny as its name suggests, El Ranchito keeps only a few picnic-cloth-covered tables in its café. Its menu has some standard lunch prices of $8 or $9 an entrée, but you can make a cheaper meal out of the tacos at $1.35 or the zopes (also known as sope) for $1.75. These soft, corn flour (or masa) tortillas are fried and then served open-faced with savory meat, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes. If you’re feeling brave, order the lengua zope. The seared beef tongue is tender, salty, and smoky. But consider ordering it for carryout—the telenovelas on that small TV in the corner can get loud.

OPEN at 11 AM DAILY HAPPY HOUR 4 PM - 6 PM Late Night Happy Hour Fri. & Sat. 10 PM-12 AM LIVE MUSIC Wednesdays 6 PM - 9 PM

Jacobo’s Grocery (24th and L) The queue by the deli counter at the back of Jacobo’s Grocery is long but steadily moving. Kerry Hoiberg waits patiently for two quarts of what she calls the best salsa in town. She drives down regularly from the Field Club neighborhood to stock up on the grocery store’s salsa and homemade chips. “I like supporting local, but at a farmers market, a pint would cost about $5,” she says. “Here, it’s made fresh every day, and a quart is $3.25.” She also buys a small cup of hot sauce for 40 cents, saying she’ll mix it in later to spice up the mild pico de gallo. The deli also serves an array of hot lunches, such as empanadas and chimichangas, but it just might be the pastry case at the end that will capture your attention. Order something at random, and you’ll be fine. The guayaba pastry, for example, costs 70 cents, is unbelievably flaky, and filled with guava jelly. You’ll make a mess eating it, but you won’t care.

El Rinconcito (23rd and N) El Rinconcito translates roughly into “the little out-of-the-way corner,” and it certainly is off the beaten path. However, it’s worth leaving South Omaha’s main drag of 24th Street for a place that serves breakfast all day. For around $9, you can have two huevos estrellados (fried eggs), a few strips of tocino (bacon), a caramelized plantain, refried beans, cheese, and three tortillas served in a tablewarmer. A little extra gets you coffee. Most of these places don’t take credit or check, so no matter where you intend to observe el Día de los Muertos, come properly prepared with cash. That and an empty stomach are all you need to enjoy the flavors of South Omaha. omahamagazine.com

www.noshwine.com

402.614.212 1006 Dodge St., Omaha

SIP. TASTE. SAVOR. the encounter | september/october 2013

N. 16th St

S. 16th St

Leavenworth St

Jones St

Jackson St

Howard St

Harney St

Farnam St

Douglas St

Dodge St

Capitol Ave

N. 15th St

S. 15th St

N. 14th St

S. 15th St

Harney St

Omaha Chamber Of Commerce S. 13th St S. 13th St

S. 14th St

Farnam St

Jones St

Jackson St

Douglas St

N. 13th St S. 13th St

S. 12th St

S. 13th St

N. 12th St S. 12th St S. 12th St

N. 11th St S. 11th St 9

S. 11th St 11

S. 11th St S. 11th St

Harney St

Howard St

Building, 1914-1915

Leavenworth St

H13

H12

H11

H10

1892-1893 Omaha Fire House, 1903-1904 Windsor Hotel, 1885-1887 Omaha Bemis Bag Company, 1887-1902 Anheuser-Busch Beer Depot, 1887 Union Pacific Passenger Terminal, 1931

H8 Morse Coe Building,

H7 Hotel Howard, 1909

1886-1887

H6 Eisenberg Building,

1879

H5 Burlington Building,

1880-1881

H4 Millard Block,

Building, 1880

H3 Baum Iron Company

1885-1889

H2 J.P. Cooke Buildings,

13, Durham Heritage Museum

Jones St

Historical Tour

H1 Skinner Macaroni

Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau

Farnam St

Capitol Ave

10 Jackson St

Dodge St

G N. 10th St N. 10th St S. 10th St S. 10th St S. 10th St

N. 10th St S. 10th St

N. 9th St S. 9th St

S. 7th St

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Health Services M

Pubs, Taverns & Lounges

Restaurants

Historical Tour

Art Gallery Walk

Parking

Park

The Capitol District

The Old Market District

Roads Interstate On-Ramp/Off-Ramp Railroad Walking Path/Trail

Downtown Omaha Map

NORTH/SOUTH NUMBERS 10-19 (NUMBERS 1-9 ON PAGE 42)

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com

Merchants Attractions OLD MARKET / DOWNTOWN / RIVERFRONT

ANTIQUES

Antique Annex...F16............................ 402.932.3229 Fairmont Antique Mall...E17.................402.346.9746 Flying Worm Vintage...E16...................402.594.7061 The Imaginarium...D16.........................402.594.7061 Joe’s Collectibles...F16......................... 402.612.1543 Second Chance Antiques...F16........... 402.346.4930

ART

Anderson O’Brien Fine Art...F16...........402.884.0911 Artists’ Cooperative Gallery...G15..........402.342.9617 Bemis Ctr. for Contemporary Arts...E18.402.341.7130 FAME....................................................402.341-3930 Farrah Grant Photography...G16...........402.312.8262 Gallery 616...F17...................................402.214.3061 Garden Of The Zodiac...G15.................. 402.341.1877 Hot Shops Art Center...D2....................402.342.6452 Images of Nature Gallery...G14............. 402.341.8460 KANEKO...F17...................................... 402.341.3800 Love’s Jazz & Arts Center...(24th & Lake)..................... 402.502.5291 Old Market Artists Gallery...G15...........402.346.6569 Omaha ClayWorks...F17......................402.346.0560 Passageway Gallery...G15..................... 402.341.1910 Sirens at the Loft...F16.........................402.933.9333 White Crane Gallery...G15.....................402.345.1066

ATTRACTIONS & ENTERTAINMENT

Blue Barn Theatre...F17.......................402.345.1576 Brigit Saint Brigit Theatre...F17............402.502.4910 CenturyLink Center Omaha...H7.......... 402.341.1500 The Durham Museum...H19.................402.444.5071 Film Streams...D4................................ 402.933.0259 Henry Doorly Zoo...(3701 S. 10th St.).402.733.8401 Holland Performing Arts Center...E12.402.345.0606 Joslyn Art Museum...(2200 Dodge St.)......................... 402.342.3300 KANEKO...F17......................................402.341.3800 Lauritzen Gardens...(100 Bancroft St.).402.346.4002 Love’s Jazz & Arts Center...(24th & Lake)...................... 402.502.5291 MJ Carriage Service...(11th & Howard).402.453.6745 Ollie the Trolley......................................402.597.3596 Omaha Children’s Museum...(500 S. 20th St.)............. 402.342.6164 Omaha Symphony...A16...................... 402.342.3560 Opera Omaha...(1850 Farnam St.)......402.346.7372 Orpheum Theater...B15....................... 402.345.0606 The Rose Theater...(2001 Farnam St.).402.345.4849 TD Ameritrade Park Omaha...E3..........402.546.1800 Ticket Omaha...(www.ticketomaha.org)........................ 402.345.0606

BARS, LOUNGES & PUBS

Bar 415...E15.......................................402.346.7455 Barry O’s...G15.....................................402.341.8032 Billy Frogg’s Grill & Bar...F15................402.341.4427 Blue Sushi Sake Grill...E15.................. 402.408.5566 Capitol Lounge & Supper Club...G11... 402.934.5999 DJ’s Dugout Sports Bar/Blazin’ Pianos...G11................ 402.763.9974 The Dubliner Pub...E15........................ 402.342.5887 Eat the Worm...E16..............................402.614.4240 Embassy Suites Old Market...H16....... 402.346.9000 Havana Garage Cigar Bar...G15............402.614.3800 House of Loom...(1012 S. 10th St.).... 402.505.5494 J’s on Jackson...H6...............................402.991.1188 J.D.Tucker’s...G15................................402.934.5190 Jackson St.Tavern...F14.......................402.991.5637 Julio’s Old Market...D16...................... 402.345.6921 La Buvette Wine & Grocery...G16........ 402.344.8627 M’s Pub...F15...................................... 402.342.2550 Mr. Toad’s...G15.................................. 402.345.4488 Maria Sangria...F14..............................402.504.4901 Myth Lounge...F16.............................. 402.884.6985 Nosh Wine Lounge...G11...................... 402.614.2121 O Dining & Lounge...G14......................402.502.7888

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O’Connor’s Irish Pub...E16...................402.934.9790 Old Chicago...F15..................................402.341.1616 Old Market Tavern...G16....................... 402.341.0191 Old Mattress Factory Bar & Grill...E6....402.346.9116 Parliament Pub...C5............................ 402.934.3301 Rock Bottom Brewery...F15.................402.614.9333 Roja Old Market...E14...........................402.346.9190 Sake Bombers @ Blue...E15............... 402.408.5566 The Stadium Club Sports Bar & Grill...G15..................... 402.359.1290 The Slowdown...D4..............................402.345.7569 Stiles Pub...E15....................................402.991.9911 Stokes Bar & Grill...F15....................... 402.408.9000 T Henery’s Pub...F14........................... 402.345.3651 Twisted Fork Grill & Bar...G15.............. 402.932.9600 Union Pizzeria & Sports Bar...C2........ 402.932.2929 Upstream Brewing Company...F16..... 402.344.0200 Urban Wine Company...G18................ 402.934.0005 Waters Edge Lounge @ Embassy Suites...H16............. 402.346.9000 The Zin Room...B14..............................402.991.0660

BOOKSTORES

Jackson St. Booksellers...F17..............402.341.2664 Soul Desires/Urban Abbey...G16 ........402.898.7600

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES

All About Me Boutique...G15................402.505.6000 Basic Tease...D16................................. 402.991.2869 Curbside Clothing...G16 Drastic Plastic...E16.............................402.346.8843 Flying Worm Vintage...E16................... 402.594.7061 The Lotus...E16....................................402.346.8080 McLovin’...H15...................................... 402.915.4002 Nouvelle Eve...F15.................................402.345.4811 Old Market Sundries...G16................... 402.345.8198 Overland Outfitters...G16.....................402.345.2900 Reserve Goodwill in the Market...E16...402.342.4102 Second Chance Antiques...F16............402.346.4930 Souq, Ltd...G15.................................... 402.342.2972 Trocadero...E15....................................402.934.8389 Urban Outfitters...D4.............................402.280.1936

DINING

801 Chophouse at the Paxton...C14.... 402.341.1222 Ahmad’s Persian Cuisine...G15............402.341.9616 Billy Frogg’s Grill & Bar...F15................402.341.4427 Blue Sushi Sake Grill...E15.................. 402.408.5566 The Boiler Room...F17..........................402.916.9274 Capitol Lounge & Supper Club...G11... 402.934.5999 Denim & Diamonds...F14.....................402.504.4901 The Diner...F15.....................................402.341.9870 DJ’s Dugout Sports Bar/Blazin’ Pianos...G11................ 402.763.9974 Eat the Worm...E16..............................402.614.4240 Falling Water Grille @ Embassy Suites...H16................. 402.346.9000 The Flatiron Cafe...(17th & Howard).... 402.344.3040 Hiro 88...D16....................................... 402.933-5168 Indian Oven...G15................................ 402.342.4856 J’s on Jackson...H6...............................402.991.1188 Jackson St. Tavern...F17......................402.991.5637 Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen...C14.......... 402.342.3662 Joe Banana’s (1022 S.10th St.)...........402.346.7227 Julio’s Old Market...D16.........................402.345.692 Liberty Tavern...G7.............................. 402.998.4321 Little King...F4..................................... 402.344.2264 M’s Pub...F15...................................... 402.342.2550 Matsu Sushi...G14............................... 402.346.3988 Michael’s at the Market...F14...............402.346.1205 Nicola’s Italian Wine & Faire...E16....... 402.345.8466 O Dining & Lounge...G14......................402.502.7888 O’Connors Irish Pub...E16....................402.934.9790 Old Chicago...F15 .................................402.341.1616 Omaha Prime...G15..............................402.341.7040 PepperJax Grill...D16.............................402.315.1196 Rock Bottom Brewery...F15..................402.614.9333 Roja Old Market...E14........................... 402.346.9190

Shuck’s Fish House...(19th & Leavenworth)................. 402.614.5544 Spaghetti Works...F16.......................... 402.422.0770 Spencer’s @ Hilton Garden Inn...G12...402.280.8888 The Stadium Club Sports Bar & Grill...G15.................... 402.359.1290 Stokes Bar & Grill…F15.......................402.408.9000 Subway...E15.. 402.341.8814 Sullivan’s Steakhouse...B13................. 402.342.0077 Trini’s Mexican Restaurant...G15..........402.346.8400 Twisted Fork Grill & Bar...G15...............402.932.9600 Union Pizzeria & Sports Bar...C2......... 402.932.2929 Upstream Brewing Company...F16......402.344.0200 V.Mertz...G15.......................................402.345.8980 Vincenzo’s Ristorante...E15...................402.342.4010 Vivace...F15..........................................402.342.2050 Wheatfields Express...F15.....................402.991.0917 The Zin Room...B14.............................. 402.991.0660 Zio’s Pizzeria...F16................................402.344.2222

EXCEPTIONAL

TABACCOS

FLOWERS

Garden Flowers...G16...........................402.614.5661 Old Market Habitat...G15..................... 402.342.0044 The Paisley Poppy...B14.......................402.991.6970

HEALTH & FITNESS

Acupunture Omaha Healing Arts Center...E15........................... 402.345.5078 David Bole L.Ac............................. 402.345.5078 Ellen Zinn L.Ac.............................. 402.345.5078 Elizabeth Harmon - Acupuncture...402.991.5753 Ayurvedic Healing (both at Omaha Healing Arts Center) Dr.Rajesh Kotecha...E15............... 402.345.5078 Joyce Librunner, LMT...E15...........402.740.0366 Dental Derek Fender, DDS...E15.............. 402.342.3901 James Polerecky, DDS...C15.........402.341.7576 Omaha Dental Spa (at the Loft)...F16...................... 402.505.4424 Fitness Anytime Fitness...F18....................402.991.2333 Kempo Karate...(19th & Farnam).. 402.905.6865 Omaha Yoga School...G15.............402.346.7813 Massage Therapy Old Market Massage...E15............402.850.6651 Omaha Healing Arts Center...E15...... 402.345.5078 Rachel Andress, LMT................... 402.345.5078 Sandy Aquila, LMT........................ 402.345.5078 Julia Beutler, LMT......................... 402.345.5078 Lisa Christensen, LMT...................402.850.6651 Kirstin Kluver, LMT........................ 402.345.5078 Joyce Linbrunner, LMT..................402.740.0366 Tara Thompson, LMT....................402.706.7398 Medical Commercial Optical Co...E16.........402.344.0219 Creighton Family Healthcare...D19.402.280.5500 Downtown Chiropractic...(21st & Douglas)............. 402.345.7500 Ritch Miller, DC............................. 402.345.7500 Heartland Pathology...A14.............402.346.0195 Physical Therapy Bobby Escolas, CMHT (Hypnotherapist).................. 402.990.2979 Jannette J. Davis, MS, CST...G13.402.341.2230 Cynthia Duggin, MSW, LCSW...E15........................ 402.345.5078 East & West Physical Therapy...E15........................ 402.345.5078 Chanell Jaramillo, MTP, CMH, HHP...E15.............. .. 402.689.0905 Jeff Stormberg, PhD...C14........... 402.393.0642 Tim Swisher, MHR, LMHP, LADC...G13.................. 402.341.2230 Pharmacy Depot Drug...C11.........402.544.DRUG

503 S. 11th Street / Old Market / Omaha SGRoiTobacconist.com

The Old Market’s

BEST PATIO Serious about our Food. Crazy about our Beer.

11th & HARNEY OLD MARKET

the encounter | september/october 2013

N. 16 St

Davenport St

Chicago St

Cass St

California St

Mike Fahey St

Burt St

Cuming St

Izard St

N. 15 St

Izard St

N. 1

t 0S

N. 11 St F

Mike Fahey St

TD Ameritrade Park Omaha

Cass St

Lodging

Pubs, Taverns & Lounges

Restaurants

Parking

Roads Interstate On-Ramp/Off-Ramp Railroad Walking Path/Trail

Dodge St

Harney St

Farnam St

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e Av

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Midtown Crossing Map

Dr Riverfront

N. 12 St N. 12 St N. 12 St

N. 14 St

N. 10 St N. 10 St

N. 13 St N. 13 St N. 13 St N. 13 St

N. 34 St S. 34 St

N. 33 St

S. 33 St

N. 32 Ave

Nicholas St

N. 31 Ave

S. 31 Ave

Farnam St

Douglas St

Dodge St

Turner Bl vd

ron

erf Riv

S. 31 St

42â&#x20AC;&#x192; N. 12 St

NORTH/SOUTH NUMBERS 1-9 (NUMBERS 10-19 ON PAGE 40) Turner Blvd

Downtown Omaha Map

tD r

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com CenturyLink Center Omaha

Merchants Attractions OLD MARKET / DOWNTOWN / RIVERFRONT

HOME FURNISHINGS

Habitat Restore...(24th & Leavenworth)..............402.342.0044 Iron Decor & More...F16......................................402.346.6123 Julia Russell...F12................................................402.891.0691 Niche...G15..........................................................402.344.4399 Room...G15.........................................................402.342.7666 Simply Fabulous...G4........................................... 402.812.2193 Urban by Design...E16..........................................970.214.7608 Zongkers Custom Woods...(S. 3rd St.)...............402.344.7784

HOTELS

Courtyard by Marriott...H12 ...............................402.346.2200 DoubleTree Hotel...B/C10....................................402.346.7600 Embassy Suites Old Market...H16.......................402.346.9000 Fairfield Inn and Suites...C2.................................402.280.1516 Hampton Inn...E2.................................................402.345.5500 Hilton Garden Inn...C2 ........................................402.341.4400 Hilton Omaha...G7 ..............................................402.998.3400 Holiday Inn...E2.....................................................402.341.0124 Homewood Suites...D2 .......................................402.345.5100 Hotel DECO XV...B14........................................... 402.991.4981 Magnolia Hotel Omaha...A16 .............................402.342.2222

MIDTOWN CROSSING

The Afternoon...W23...........................................402.933.3809 Arian’s Barber Shop...W23..................................402.505.8767 Callahan Financial Planning...V23.......................402.341.2000 Cantina Laredo...W21.........................................402.345.6000 Coldstone Creamery/Rocky Mountain Chocolate...X22.............. 402.359.1719 CRAVE...W22......................................................402.345.9999 Definitive Vision...W23.........................................402.502.7323 Delice European Bakery...W23............................402.505.9500 Element by Westin...X21.....................................402.614.8080 Fashion Cleaners...X22........................................402.916.1987 Garbo’s Salon & Spa...X22..................................402.933.8988 Glo Lounge...X23................................................402.342.4505 The Grey Plume...W22........................................402.763.4447 Ingredient...X23...................................................402.715.4444 Marcus Midtown Cinema...X23..........................402.345.0102 NT Nails............................................................... 402.991.7676 Pana 88...............................................................402.934.7262 Parmida Home Concepts....................................402.504.9267 Peerless Art Gallery.............................................402.876.5309 Prairie Life Fitness...W22....................................402.916.5000 Three Dog Bakery...X23...................................... 402.715.4500 Wohlner’s Neighborhood Grocery and Deli...X21.402.551.6875 Verizon Wireless by Z Wireless...X23...................402.991.1180

MUSIC SHOPS

Antiquarium Records...D15................................402.345.0294 Homer’s Records...E15.......................................402.346.0264 Drastic Plastic...E16...........................................402.346.8843

OLD MARKET PROPERTIES

902 Dodge Condos...G11................................... 402.215.7118 Brandeis Building...A13......................................402.345.6564 Farnam 1600 Building...(1905 Harney St.).........402.342.1616 Grubb/Ellis Pacific Realty...F15..........................402.345.5866 Harney Street Apartments...G18.........................402.934.7510 Old Market Lofts...K3......................................... 402.346.1000 Riverfront Place...C14..........................................402.397.4837 Shamrock Development/Paxton Building...C14..402.934.7711 Skinner Macaroni Apartments...D17..................402.346.2346 The Cornerstone Apartments...F15.................... 402.346.0510 The Greenhouse Apts...H13............................... 402.341.3200 TipTop Building...C2............................................402.345.8000

SPECIALTY FOODS & COFFEE

13th Street Coffee Co...E16.............................. 402.345.2883 Aromas Coffeehouse...G18................................402.614.7009 Bliss Bakery...G18...............................................402.934.7450 Blue Line Coffee...D3.........................................402.932.0294 Cubby’s Old Markey Grocery...E17..................... 402.341.2900 Hollywood Candy...H4........................................ 402.346.9746 La Buvette Wine & Grocery...G16.......................402.344.8627 Nosh Wine Lounge...G11.....................................402.614.2121 Old Market Candy Shop...G16............................402.344.8846 Patrick’s Market...C15.........................................402.884.1600 Red Mango...D4................................................. 402.933.8815

omahamagazine.com

Scooter’s Coffeehouse...F16.............................. 402.991.9868 Soul Desires...G16 ............................................. 402.898.7600 The Tea Smith...F15...........................................402.932.3933 Ted & Wally’s Ice Cream...F16.............................402.341.5827 Urban Wine Company...G18...............................402.934.0005 Wheatfields Express...F15...................................402.991.0917

SPECIALTY SHOPS

Ashley’s Collectibles...E15..................................402.934.3100 Basic Tease...E16...............................................402.991.2869 Cibola of Omaha...G16.......................................402.342.1200 City Limits...F16................................................. 402.345.3570 Cornerstone Gem & Bead Co...E16................... 402.346.4367 DSR Power Sports...E15..................................... 402.991.1383 Goldsmith/Silversmith...G16..............................402.342.1737 Green St. Cycles...D4........................................ 402.505.8002 Havana Garage Cigar Bar...G15..........................402.614.3800 Iron Decor & More...F16.....................................402.346.6123 J.P. Cooke Rubber Stamp Co...D16...................402.342.7175 Jay Welter Cigars...(18th & Jackson).................402.345.1965 Kessler’s...F17....................................................402.715.5888 The Lotus...D16..................................................402.347.8080 Machu Picchu Imports...D16..............................402.706.7818 Nebraska at the Market...E19............................ 402.346.3975 Old Market Sundries...G16.................................402.345.8198 Overland Outfitters...G16..................................402.345.2900 Perspective Jewelry...E15..................................402.934.4416 Red Square...G15.............................................. 402.342.8878 Reserve Goodwill in the Market...E16................402.342.4102 SG Roi Tobacconist...G16...................................402.341.9264 Simply Fabulous...E17........................................402.812.2193 Studio 13...(1736 S. 13th St.).............................402.934.1111 The Summit...(1601 Dodge St.).........................402.341.5555 Susie’s Baskets...E13.........................................402.341.4650 Takechi’s Jewelry...(17th & Harney)...................402.341.3044 Tannenbaum Christmas Shop...G16................. 402.934.8389 Visions Custom Framing Studio...E17............... 402.342.0020

SERVICES

Banking & Finance American National Bank...C14......................402.457.1070 First National Bank...F16.............................402.885.2574 Pinnacle Bank...G12....................................402.346.9180 Security National Bank...G16...................... 402.344.7300 Commercial Alliance Group...G18................................... 402.344.7700 Clark Creative Advertising...D16.................402.345.5800 J.P. Cooke Rubber Stamp Co...D16.............402.342.7175 Market Media.............................................. 402.346.4000 Vic Gutman & Associates............................ 402.345.5401 Information Downtown Omaha, Inc.................................402.341.3700 Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce...D15..................... 402.346.5000 The Encounter Magazine.............................402.884.2000 Old Market Business Association...(www.oldmarket.com) Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau...G14.402.444.4660 Omaha Downtown Improvement District......402.916.1796 Omaha Public Library...C13.........................402.444.4800 Legal Boyle & Associates, PC...F16....................... 402.706.7810 Cullan & Cullan...F15.................................... 402.397.7600 Klein Law Offices...H16.................................402.391.1871 Stinson, Morrison, Hecker LLP...E14.............402.342.1700 Sutera & Sutera Law Office...F15.................402.342.3100 Other Big Brain Productions...F17..........................402.342.2885 Movers Not Shakers...H13............................ 402.614.9770 Old Market Mini Storage...(501 Pacific St.)..402.342.0022 Salon & Spa Edgeworthy, a Fringes Salon...G16...............402.345.0404 The Hair Market Salon...G14.........................402.345.3692 The Nail Shop...(9th & Douglas)...................402.595.8805 Rain Salon...(1006 S. 10th St.)......................402.991.9974 RARE...E15...................................................402.706.9673 Sirens Salon & Day Spa...F16.......................402.933.9333 Urbane Salon & Day Spa...D15.....................402.934.2909

the encounter | september/october 2013

Visit us in the historical RILEY BUILDING at 1016 Douglas On The Mall, 402.346.9180 or online at pinnbank.com.

T H E

W A Y

B A N K I N G

S H O U L D

B E MEMBER FDIC

Downtown and Council Bluffs ART & MUSEUM EXHIBITS A Bug’s World

Through September 8 at Omaha Children’s Museum, 500 S. 20th St. A larger-than-life interactive exhibit that allows children to experience what it is like to be a bug. Tu-F/10am-4pm; Sat/9am-5pm; Sun/1pm-5pm. $9 adults & kids, $8 seniors, free for members and children 2 & under. 402-342-6164 – ocm.org

A T. Rex Named Sue

Through September 8 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. Visit one of Chicago’s Field Museum’s traveling exhibitions, Sue, the largest, most complete, best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex in the world. M/10am-5pm; Tu/10am-8pm; W-Sat/10am-5pm; Sun/1-5pm. $9 adults, $7 seniors (62+), $6 ages 3-12, free for members and children 2 & under. 402444-5071 – durhammuseum.org

Ron Parks at the Fred Simon Gallery

Through September 20 at Fred Simon Gallery, 1004 Farnam St. Sculptor Ron Parks showcases this craftsmanship in this exhibition of contemporary Nebraska visual artists. M-F/8am-5pm. Free admission. 402-595-2142 – nebraskaartscouncil.org

The Lorax

Through November 3 at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. A showcase of selected Dr. Seuss preliminary crayon drawings and final pen and ink line art for this iconic book from the collection of the LBJ Presidential Library & Museum. Tu-W/10am-4pm;

Th/10am-8pm; F-Sat/10am-4pm; Sun/12-4pm. Free admission. 402342-3300 – joslyn.org

Featured artists Daharsh, Ocken, and Vande Voort

September 3-29 at Artists’ Cooperative Gallery Ltd., 405 S. 11th St. New works by glassblower Frank Daharsh, painter Virginia Ocken, and painter Dar Vande Voort. TuTh/11am-5pm; F-Sat/11am-10pm; Sun/12-6pm. Free admission. 402342-9617 – artistsco-opgallery. com

Goose Bumps! The Science of Fear

September 28 – January 5 at Durham Museum, 801 S. 10th St. Created by The California Science Center, Durham Museum presents the many sides of fear. Test yourself against four common fears. Observe how fear changes and learn simple ways to combat stress. Tu/10am-8pm; W-Sat/10am-5pm; Sun/1-5pm. $9 adults, $7 seniors (62+), $6 ages 3-12, free for members and children 2 & under. 402-444-5071 – durhammuseum.org

Legacy: The Emily Fisher Landau Collection

September 28-January 5 at Joslyn Art Museum, 2200 Dodge St. A selection of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from a historic gift pledged to the Whitney Museum of American Art in 2010 by Emily Fisher Landau. Her collection features some of the most influential artists of the 20th century, including Andy Warhol, Glenn Ligon, Sherrie Levine, Agnes Martin, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, John Baldessari, Kiki Smith, and Ed Ruscha. Tu-W/10am-4pm; Th/10am-8pm; F-Sat/10am-4pm;

September/October Calendar of Events Sun/12-4pm. Free admission. 402342-3300 – joslyn.org

Featured artists Johnston, Methot-Swanson, Stizman

October 1-27 at Artists’ Cooperative Gallery Ltd., 405 S. 11th St. New works by painters Judith Anthony Johnston and Katrina Methot-Swanson, and sculptor Tom Sitzman. Tu-Th/11am-5pm; F-Sat/11am-10pm; Sun/12-6pm. Free admission. 402-342-9617 – artistsco-opgallery.com

Featured artists Akers, Fetter, Gaines

October 29-November 24 at Artists’ Cooperative Gallery Ltd., 405 S. 11th St. New works by mixed media artist Sean Akers, painter Joan Fetter, and weaver Agneta Gaines. TuTh/11am-5pm; F-Sat/11am-10pm; Sun/12-6pm. Free admission. 402342-9617 – artistsco-opgallery.com

CONCERTS End of the Summer Concert Series

Through September 27 at Midtown Crossing, 31st to 33rd, Farnam to Dodge sts. A weekly concert series to end the summer, featuring Billy McGuigan and a joint concert with the Omaha Symphony and Opera Omaha. F/7:30pm. Free admission. 402598-9676 – midtowncrossing.com

Scotty McCreery

September 13 at Stir Concert Cove, Harrah’s Casino, Council Bluffs, IA Scott “Scotty” McCreery is an American country music singer from North Carolina and winner of the tenth season of American Idol.

Doors open at 6pm; show at 8pm. $35 general admission. 712-3296000 – harrahscouncilbluffs.com

Bret Michaels

September 20 at Stir Concert Cove, Harrah’s Casino, Council Bluffs, IA Rock out the end of the summer with actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and reality television personality Bret Michaels, formerly of the band Poison. Doors open at 6pm; show at 8pm. $33 general admission. 712-329-6000 – harrahscouncilbluffs.com

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

October 10 at Holland Performing Arts Center, 1200 Douglas St. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy gained national attention when “You & Me and the Bottle Makes Three (Tonight)” and “Go Daddy-O” were featured in the film Swingers. Their concerts feature big horns, wild jungle-jazz rhythms, zoot suits & dancing flapper girls. 7:30pm. 402-345-0202 – omahaperformingarts.org

Keith Urban – Light the Fuse Tour 2013

October 18 at CenturyLink Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St. One of the industry’s most electrifying live performers, four-time Grammy Award winner and American Idol judge Keith Urban is bringing his “Light The Fuse Tour 2013” to Omaha. Special guests include: Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch. 7pm. $37-61.50. 402-3411500 – centurylinkcenteromaha. com

Avenged Sevenfold with Deftones and Ghost B.C.

October 22 at CenturyLink Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St.

september/october 2013 | the encounter omahamagazine.com