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A Good Place to Get Old in Omaha
July 28, 2010 • No comments
Getting old in Omaha got a little bit easier this week. On Monday, the University of Nebraska Medical Center held a grand opening ceremony for the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging. The new 30,000 square foot, $10 million facility on the UNMC campus is poised to offer cutting edge geriatric care on site and remote training for physicians throughout the world. The center is named for Home Instead Senior Care, a local business founded by Lori and Paul Hogan, the primary benefactors of the privately funded facility. Since its founding in 1994, Home Instead has grown into the world’s largest private provider of non-medical in-home senior care. Lori Hogan called the day a dream come true, but noted that this was simply the first step in the overall vision. “We
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Local Youth Sets Service Example
July 28, 2010 • No comments
While most high school students are anxiously drinking up the last days of summer, soon-to-be-senior CJ Vickers is preparing to leave on a week-long mission trip to Haiti with the Harvey Oaks Baptist Church. It is just one of many volunteer efforts this remarkable youth has completed over the last decade. “We are so proud of him,” said his mother, Mary Vickers. “He has seen his own potential and is living up to it.” Meet Charles “CJ” Vickers—son of Chuck and Mary Vickers and local volunteer star. This young man has recently received public applause for his long list of volunteer efforts. In the last year alone, Vickers has served as president of the Heartland Chapter Red Cross Youth Council, assisted for three months with the Autism Puzzle Walk, prepared school
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Summer Reading Program Shatters Records
July 28, 2010 • No comments
Summer readers at Bellevue Public Library didn't just make a splash, it was more like a tsunami. Children's Librarian Alice Boeckman said 1,330 youth from toddlers through 6th grade signed up for the 2010 summer program, around 200 more than normal. “It's probably been one of my most rewarding summers,” Boeckman said as she prepared for the program's finale – a pool party for participants who read at least 10 hours by Jul. 22. “We've seen so many families come and day cares have brought kids, I just feel like we've provided a very valuable service. It's been great, just great.” Boeckman, her assistant Tammy Henry, and a host of youth volunteers helped organize summer programs, sometimes two or three a day that included story times, themed parties, marsh walks, an
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Citizen’s Patrol Unit Strong and Growing within Burlington Road Neighborhood Association
July 28, 2010 • No comments
Virgil Patlan was a police officer for 25 years. Even still, the president of the Burlington Road Neighborhood Association had to go through a class just like the other neighborhood volunteers to become a citizens patrol officer. Now, Patlan said, about 10 community members have stepped up to the task, creating BRNA’s first Citizen’s Patrol Unit. They patrol neighborhood streets on their own time to watch for suspicious activity and keep the neighborhood safe. “I thought it was important to do some of the work the police couldn’t do,” Patlan said. “They can’t be everywhere all the time.” When two basketball hoops were stolen from Pulaski Park in June, just a month after the patrol unit started, it gave patrollers added incentive to keep an eye on the area.
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Sadie’s Dream of a Better Dog Park is in Your Hands
July 27, 2010 • No comments
by April Christenson Sarah Bickerstaff and her dog Sadie, a Great Dane-pointer mix, love to visit Hefflinger Dog Park near 112th Street and West Maple Road in Omaha. The pair frequently go to the recreational area so Sadie can get some exercise and play with other dogs. Sadie enjoys any trip outdoors, but Bickerstaff saw that the park could use some improvements. A rather barren landscape at the 7.5-acre park, no shade for sweltering summer days, a lack of easy access for older or disabled visitors and a lack of lighting for day-shortened fall and winter visits make the space rather less than inviting. Bickerstaff aims to change all that. Her entry is one of ten finalists in a video contest sponsored by Purina's Beneful dog food. The grand prize is a $500,000 dog park
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Cox Classic Tips
July 27, 2010 • No comments
Last year, Cox Classic had a record-breaking attendance of 103,000. This year, the national professional golf tournament stop played at Champions Run in Omaha since 1996 will not be televised, a point that has organizers looking at the potential for even bigger crowds. Champions Run Assistant Golf Professional Dennis Sigafoose said he hears from many professional golfers, locally and nationally, that Omaha is one of the more popular stops on the nationwide tour. “Its absolutely a good event to have in Omaha,” said Sigafoose, “We have a great golfing population here and its neat for the community to have the opportunity to get together and see these professionals play every year.” Presented by Lexus of Omaha Jul. 29 through Aug. 1, locals and visitors come to see
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This week in the West: Swimming and Golf for Kids
July 26, 2010 • No comments
The end of the week, Cox Classic Presented by Lexus of Omaha begins at Champions Run Golf Course. Before the tournament begins Thursday, there are opportunities for families and fans for free fun. Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. Subway is hosting a free golf clinic for youth at the Champions Run Driving Range, including the fundamentals of golf, sportsmanship, one-on-one advice, a free t-shirt and other games. At 11 a.m. thereafter Subway will host an Autograph Day where the professional golfers will be available to sign golfing items for free. Both events take place at Champions Run Golf Course at 13800 Eagle Run Drive. For details visit coxclassic.com. At the end of the week,
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Editor’s Pick: Joslyn: Inside and Out
July 26, 2010 • No comments
Music. Art. A summer evening. What could be better? Oh, it’s free. Come be inspired this Saturday at the Joslyn Art Museum, as the Omaha Conservatory of Music performs a final 30-minute piece, marking the end of its week-long OCM Institute. “Joslyn: Music Inside and Out,” a composition for string orchestra written by Emily Meyer of Rockville, Maryland, is inspired by art in the museum’s collection. The OCM commissioned Meyer to compose the piece, which showcases works by Dale Chihuly, Thomas Hart Benton, Jackson Pollock and N.C. Wyeth. The enormous Chihuly glass sculpture in Joslyn’s 50-ft-high atrium is the namesake for the composition. “Inside & Out” is, in Chihuly’s own words, “a monumental window of color and form.” It greets visitors with an
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Editor’s Pick: Downtown Summer Cinema
July 26, 2010 • No comments
Maybe you've seen Cool Hand Luke before. Maybe you've even seen Cool Hand Luke a lot of times. But I'm guessing you've never seen Cool Hand Luke from the roof of a parking garage with downtown Omaha as the backdrop. If that's the case then you're in luck as the Downtown Summer Cinema is showing the 1967 Paul Newman classic this Saturday on the rooftop of the Brandeis Parking Facility. Sponsored by Polyester Gallery, CinemaOmaha.org and The Brandeis, the Downtown Summer Cinema series provides a unique setting for film buffs to experience some classic films from the comfort of, well, the Omaha skyline. Screenings for this seven week series begin at dusk (approximately 9 p.m.), and the facility opens at 7:30 p.m. with a rotating list of local DJs and bands offering music prior
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A Vision for Generating Innovation for Teachers and Students
July 21, 2010 • No comments
Bringing a guest speaker into a high school Honor’s English class might seem a bit ho-hum. Bringing that speaker all the way from Israel is anything but ordinary. Two years ago, Millard West English teacher Kip Colony took on the ambitious idea of finding a way to host holocaust survivor Livia Bitton Jackson. His class had just finished reading her book, I Have Lived a Thousand Years, and one of his students suggested they invite the author to their class. Ms. Jackson accepted the invitation to come, and Mr. Colony and his students were left with the daunting task of paying for her trip. Enter Paula Hinger – parent to one of Mr. Colony’s students and supporter of the unique effort. Five years ago Paula Hinger’s husband Eric died suddenly of a heart attack over
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