FC Dallas is about halfway through their spring training and has two scrimmages tomorrow (Saturday, February 9th) at Toyota Stadium: Bayern Munich U23s at 2 pm and San Antonio FC at 4 pm. These games should provide a good progress check on the team under new head coach Luchi Gonzalez.
You can stream the matches here or get tickets to watch the games in person. Either way, here are some things to look for while you watch.
We've been asked a lot around these parts about Coach Gonzalez's tactics and formation. So here's a quick primer on what he's mostly been using in training and scrimmages.
I call this formation a 4-3-3 and it's distinguished by what coach G calls a "single pivot" 6 or in more common parlance a single deep holding mid in front of the back four. You'll also see two high wings playing off a center 9 and in midfield is either two 8's or an 8 and a 10 in front of that aforementioned 6. These two higher mids almost always make a triangle shape with the 6 that rotates through the game.
The latter 8/10 combo is similar to the way Oscar Pareja had this team playing circa 2016-2017 before Kellyn Acosta got hurt although the 8 in Gonzalez's system doesn't sit deep next to the 6.
Here are a couple of diagrams of the two basic shapes.
FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez's base 4-3-3 with dual 8's (left) or an 8/10 combo (right).
Honestly, there isn't much difference between dual 8's and an 8/10. Mostly with the dual 8's you'll see one or the other pop forward into the 10-hole.
You can see, however, how key that 6 is going to be. It requires some serious range, work rate, and game reading to play that spot solo.
Clear First Team or a Mix?
So far this spring, Coach Gonzalez has rolled out a pretty clear first team and second team in scrimmages. Will this one be the same or might we see a mix this time?
Generally speaking, coaches start the spring with some mixes and tend to distill down to a clear XI by opening day. Since Gonzalez has started the spring in a first and second set up I expect that to continue.
If I were a betting man, I would put money on the first team versus Bayern Munich's U23s and a second team versus San Antonio FC.
Of the front three, we know of two lock starters at the 7/11 spots: Santiago Mosquera and Michael Barrios. So the important question is, which 9 partners with them: Dom Badji or Zdenek Ondrasek? So far it's been Badji this spring. Keep an eye on this one.
In the back line, we know Matt Hedges and Reto Ziegler are the first choice so who pairs with them on the outside and at keeper is important. Reggie Cannon has been with the US National Team and Bryan Reynolds took his place. But we should expect to see Cannon back with Hedges and Ziegler.
Left back is the more interesting question. The choice so far this spring has been Ryan Hollingshead as Marquinhos Pedroso continues to work back to full fitness after offseason core muscle repair surgery.
In net, will Jesse Gonzalez or Jimmy Maurer get the choice with the starting back four?
In the midfield, we know Carlos Gruezo remains the 6 with Brandon Servania second in this spot. In the few games so far we've seen Pablo Aranguiz, Paxton Pomykal, Jacori Hayes, Edwin Cerrillo, and Ema Twumasi all get looks at the 8/10 roles with Pomykal being the most consistent performer.
FC Dallas broke their transfer record for Honduran International Bryan Acosta. FCD worked on getting this guy for 18 months. He arrived in Dallas on Thursday night (visa delay) and should have gone through his entrance physical and baseline fitness testing on Friday morning. He's going to start as the 8 in this team at some point.
I just don't see Coach Gonzalez throwing Acosta to the wolves by starting him on his second day. A good 20 minute run out at the end of one of the games sounds good to me.
FC Dallas has three rookies that are important and a couple who are, no offense yo anyone, less so.
FC Dallas head coach Luchi Gonzalez with FC Dallas' two 2019 SuperDraft picks Callum Montgomery (left) and John Nelson (right).
4th overall pick Callum Montgomery isn't under contract yet but has been the second choice at left center back alongside new Brazilian defender Bressan at right center back in the scrimmages so far. He's almost a Matt Hedges clone, it's quite remarkable. He looks big and strong, so far his defense is solid, passing good, but his dribbling could use a little development. Ball skill matter in coach Gonzalez's build out.
10th overall pick John Nelson can play either outside back spot although he's predominantly a left back. He's been playing both sides in the spring but with Cannon's return will slide down the roster a bit. He really loves to get forward and is a very direct player.
Edwin Cerrillo is the wild card of the rookies having come right out of the Academy at the age of 18. A potential Homegrown, I'm stunned he hasn't signed yet, he's been playing as an 8 this spring and out playing some vets. I think he's a destroyer 6 long term (like Chris Armas). Just how far up the depth chart is he?
Later round draft picks Eduvie Ikoba, a 6'3" striker, and Sam Ebstein, a holding mid from Cal, may not see action tomorrow and probably have to carve out a spot with North Texas SC team if anything.
Last but not least, let's talk about one of the early tactical developments I've been watching coach Gonzalez implement with this side and it involves a tactically fluid shape when FC Dallas is in possession.
Now, this isn't earth-shaking tactics, as most modern pro teams do this kind of thing, but it's still something to watch for as you look to pick up on Coach Gonzalez's basic tactical principles he's been instilling in the side.
When FC Dallas is building out of the back the shape shifts with the outside backs pushing up to provide the width in midfield, the center backs split wider, the holding 6 sits in the gap and you effectively get a 3-4-3 formation going forward.
Thus making the holding 6 the "single pivot" around which the team shifts. Here's a diagram of what it looks like in possession.
A basic diagram of a 3-4-3 type shape adapted by head coach Luchi Gonealez's FC Dallas sides when in possession.
Ok that's our list for this weekend. Two games for FCD: Bayern Munich U23s at 2 pm and San Antonio FC at 4 pm.
See you at Toyota Stadium.


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Music Oct 19, 2006
Gaudy Sabbath
Danava's Demonic Space Rock
by Nathan Carson
"I've never been a contemporary," says Dusty Sparkles. "I've always been in the shadows." The lead singer, guitarist, songwriter, and visionary of Portland-based rock band Danava is rapidly becoming a hot property now, though. After a U.S. tour with Glass Candy (for whom Sparkles also drums), Danava are coming to national attention as a glam-metal act. Their live intensity and progressive aesthetic make them a modern classic.
Musically, Danava (pronounced "Don-uh-vuh") take liberally from the Black Sabbath catalog; riffs strafe overhead like bombers raiding a city. Danava favor repetition, with choruses chanted over and over—frenetic, breathless, and building. Drums pound and bass throbs. Guitar leads scream, but melody is never forsaken. The songs always seem to resolve—no matter how far a tangent is explored. Atop all this guitar-driven bliss is Sparkles's clear, Nugent-like vocal wail; beneath it swells a bed of tasteful analog synth.
"People compare us to Hawkwind," Sparkles says. "The synthesizer angle is there, but that could be just as much Pere Ubu." Sparkles admits he's obsessed with old heavy metal, synthesizers, and Midwest rock. Clearly, the energetic insanity of a Danava show takes more cues from the Jesus Lizard than any '70s dinosaurs. But he's not stuck in one specific part of the past. "I can't even listen to Big Black anymore. There are just some things that have to sit in the vault for a while. Some things will always be there, though—like Slayer."
Sparkles, who moved to Portland from small-town Illinois a few years ago, simultaneously hit upon a formula for making old rock riffs sound new, and dressed his band in frilly shirts and flashy haircuts. Catching the ear and the eye has been crucial in getting the band noticed. So has the internet. "People started sniffing as soon as we got on MySpace. Kemado found us about a week later."
It's rare in this era for a deserving band to write great music, put on devastating concerts, and then promptly get discovered. But the savvy folks at NYC label Kemado Records heard sonic gold in Danava's epic rock and signed them before a feeding frenzy could begin. Sparkles has made it clear that he's mistrustful of the industry in general, but not of his new business partners.
The quandary facing Sparkles is that he's worked so hard for so long for so little. Now that things are finally going his way, he's concerned about staying grounded during this rapid change. "I didn't expect anything. I thought people would think we were wanking. I didn't care anymore. I was like, 'fuck it.' Just crank the guitars up!"
Regarding the upcoming show with Witchcraft, Sparkles is pained that his friends might not be able to afford the price. "I don't want it to be a $10 show. I don't want to get into those realms." He'd prefer all Danava shows were a few dollars or free. But there is a practical sensibility at work, too. "Us getting signed is the only way we can stay together or go further."
The self-titled Danava album is one of the most listenable hard-rock records ever to come out of the Northwest, up there alongside works by early Nirvana or the Sonics. These five songs simply do not quit or bullshit you for a second. The disc has its share of quirks, but all the texture and originality work in its favor, rather than making it more difficult. Thanks to an honest recording by Johnny Jewel of Glass Candy, all the sounds are fully in the red, but never slick or overproduced.
Danava boasts a heavy sci-fi element, referencing Galactic Gods and Eyes in Disguise. But there are both metaphysical angles and personal aspects to these lyrics. "'By the Mark' is kinda like being afraid of being sent to hell as a kid. Hearing about Satan and God, light and dark, was frightening." In his lyrics, Sparkles simultaneously draws from his childhood, literature, and personal relationships. Ultimately, it's the questions he asks that continue to inspire him. "Why do I have bad posture? Why can't I quit smoking? I'm probably worried about a year from now or running out of money. Dumb shit. What's my deal? For some reason I feel like if I get too damn comfy, it might make the music go away."
To Cancel, or Not to Cancel, That Is the Question 💀
It Sort of Started as a Joke... but the Giallo-Loving Band Blutbraüer Are Bloody Amazing
Here's What You Should Do This Week: Jingle Gayly, Run From SANTACON, Kick All the Way Back
by Jas Keimig, Matt Baume, Chase Burns and Charles Mudede

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Serving Victoria, BC for over 20 years, Simply The Best is an institution for both locals, business people and travelers alike. We carry over 10,000 items from the world's leading and most exclusive brands for your wardrobe, kitchen, wine cellar, office, studio and life. We are the leader in Elegance, Quality and Design.


text:
The Wider Earth
Monday 28th February
At 61 LARAPINTA DRIVE, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870 61 LARAPINTA DRIVE, Alice Springs, Northern Territory, 0870
https://araluenartscentre.nt.gov.au/whats-on/wider-earth
Dead Puppet Society's
by David Morton
BEFORE DARWIN CHANGED THE WORLD,
ONE VOYAGE CHANGED HIS LIFE.
The award-winning drama The Wider Earth tells the story of the rebellious young Charles Darwin.
Join the twenty-two year old Darwin on HMS Beagle's daring voyage to the far side of the world and discover the gripping story behind one of the most important discoveries in history.
An ensemble cast, remarkable puppetry, cinematic projections and an original score by Lior and Tony Buchen all combine to bring to life uncharted landscapes and incredible creatures in this highly ambitious theatrical event.
"This is a voyage of extraordinary theatrical discovery that celebrates the power of curiosity, the natural world and big ideas. " – Sydney Morning Herald


With all the mass produced, manipulated "banana nose" Beaujolais washing our shores (thank you, Mr. DuB), why not try the real thing? From vine to bottle as naturally as possible (not that hard, Mr. DuB). Full round, spicy & lively w/ red cherry, plum, blueberry & a note of pepper. Surprising complexity at this price (c'est dommage, Mr. DuB).


text:
«Звичайна людина» — американсько-шрі-ланкський фільм режисера Чандра Рутнама, що вийшов на екрани 2012 року. У головних ролях — Бен Кінгслі та Бен Кросс.

Сюжет
Не завжди хаос і руйнування слідують по п'ятах тільки за агентами терористичних угруповань, які роками готуються до своїх атак. Фільм розповість про звичайного чоловіка, який замінував кілька об'єктів на Шрі-Ланці. Його вимоги – дати свободу раніше заарештованим екстремістам. Та навіщо йому це, і що рухає подібною особистістю? Це й повинен з'ясувати поліцейський інспектор до того, як вибухи заберуть десятки життів.

У ролях
 Бен Кінгслі
 Бен Кросс
 Нумая Сірівардена
 Патрік Рутнам
 Фредерік-Джеймс Лобато
 Джером Де Сілва
 Душіянтх Віраман

Посилання

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Potapivka (în ) este un sat în comuna Sopîci din raionul Hluhiv, regiunea Sumî, Ucraina.

Demografie

Conform recensământului din 2001, toată populația localității Potapivka era vorbitoare de rusă (100%).

Note

Potapivka, Sopîci, Hluhiv, Sumî
Potapivka, Sopîci, Hluhiv, Sumî
Potapivka, Sopîci, Hluhiv, Sumî


Many people travel to water parks during the hot summer month to spend time swimming and checking out some water slides. A Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas is set to open the world's tallest water slide this Thursday called the Verruckt.
Verruckt is a German word that means insane, and that is exactly what the world recording holding slide is. Verruckt stands 17-stories tall making it the world's tallest water slide as verified by the Guinness World Records folks as of April.
The slide stands 168 feet tall and riders in rafts will reach speeds of 60 to 70 mph, each of those rafts hold four people. The slide will open this Thursday after a couple delays to the opening for more testing.


text:
Tag Archives: Bellevue University
Bellevue University's Strategic Partnerships
January 22, 2019 by Andrew Nelson
In an era when hundreds of thousands of young people labor under the spectre of crushing student debt, a solution for many may lie on a college campus just south of Omaha.
Over the past two decades, Bellevue University has developed various corporate learning programs as part of its strategic partnerships with local and national businesses.
Essentially, it means Bellevue provides educational programs these companies need. Employees of the corporations enroll in these programs and take the corresponding classes, making them more useful employees to the companies.
In return, the companies fund part or all of their employee's education, allowing them to graduate with little or no student debt.
For many of these employees, attending college would be difficult without this aid.
"Since college tuition has been really expensive, I kind of didn't want to do it. But since this opportunity came, I decided, 'why not?'" says Felicia Gadberry, 29, a Walmart associate and participant in the program.
The students need the education, and with baby boomers retiring at a rapid rate, businesses need the trained workers.
"Right now in the United States we are losing about 10,000 people per day to retirements," says Jim Nekuda, Bellevue University's vice president of strategic partnerships. "With that loss in the labor market, it has created a gap in talent because there is not enough people to fill these positions. So organizations have had to get a little more savvy on how to recruit and how to retain these employees."
The lightening of their financial load is not the only thing that motivates students, Nekuda says. Their next priority tends to be professional development. Students are looking for employers willing to invest in them.
Bellevue works with some companies to develop specific programs.
For example: to take advantage of the tuition program at Walmart, a student must enroll in either the school's supply chain, transportation, and logistics management program, or the business leadership and management program. The already-existing programs were revamped in cooperation with the company to satisfy a need—business managers and leaders who understand the
supply chain.
"The learning centers around what is going on at Walmart," Nekuda says. "They are able to translate what they use in the classroom the very next day on the job."
Gadberry, a supply chain, transportation, and logistics management student, says that was a big benefit.
"I'm in class with different Walmart employees as well…and they are also talking about their experiences," she says. "It's giving me an idea of what other Walmarts are like."
In other cases, companies will fund their employee's education without regard to what kind of degree they pursue. Employees at Disney can enroll in any program under their benefits structure.
"Their focus was on, 'We want this to be a good benefit for our cast members. We want them to get an education. We want to help them,'" Nekuda says.
It was the same with Chipotle, he says. The company knows it will have a difficult time holding onto employees once they graduate. But it wanted to do something to help them as part of its corporate social responsibility mission.
"They want to educate the workforce no matter where they go," Nekuda says. "But many [students working for these companies] do stay and they are loyal to the company because that organization invested in them."
While these efforts could be construed as public relations, most of the conversations between Bellevue and the companies revolve around corporate social responsibility and an educated workforce.
A big benefit to the business is saving money on recruiting. "When they don't have to spend $5-to-$10,000 because someone leaves, they are saving money," Nekuda says.
Rod Sanders, vice president of talent management at Marco's Pizza agrees: "If that incentivizes them to stay even a month or two longer, that's a big benefit to us in this tight labor market."
Which makes the amount the companies spend on education seem worthwhile. What companies contribute to the education of their employees depends on the company. Some only offer $1,000 per year and others pay for everything. For Walmart associate Gadberry, the company is covering the majority of the cost of her education. She pays $5 per week throughout the semester. Disney pays for all costs associated with an employee's college degree at Bellevue.
The same is true for post-graduation requirements. Some companies ask their employees to stay for a year or two after graduating. Others, like Marco's Pizza, have no post-graduation requirements.
For the Toledo-based chain, the relationship with Bellevue has the potential to pay off as the rapidly growing company increases its number of corporate employees. And Sanders sees Bellevue as a potential source of training for human resources and other subjects at the undergraduate and graduate level.
"They have a very good reputation," he says of the university. "It adds a sense of security and comfort, having them as an educational partner."
These programs aren't just for undergraduate students. Bellevue's MBA program has 19 different concentrations, many of which were developed in conjunction with companies such as First Data and PayPal. Other master's degrees were started through different corporate partnerships.
"They had a need," Nekuda says. "Most of their workforce already had bachelor's degrees, but they needed [people with] advanced degrees."
And for the students, the benefits are more than monetary.
"It's making me look at my work better," Gadberry says. "It's giving me more ideas on how to be a better employee."
Thanks to her degree, "I feel like I'll be more knowledgeable later on in life," she says.
Visit bellevue.edu for more information.
This article was printed in the February/March 2019 edition of B2B. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Posted in: B2B Magazine, Business
Topics: Bellevue University, Felicia Gadberry, First Data, Jim Nekuda, Marco's Pizza, PayPal, Rod Sanders, Walmart
September 18, 2018 by Michael McCurdy
Mancuso: a name revered in the Omaha area for their family's event planning business, Mid-America Expositions.
From hosting grand events in Omaha's late Civic Auditorium to formulating events like "Taste of Omaha," the Mancusos' impact has been felt in the Omaha area for more than 50 years. It is their passion for sports, however, that has held the family together.
Youngest son Mike says his father, Bob Sr., grew up in Omaha with a heavy interest in sports thanks to Mike's grandfather, Joe, being in charge of the city parks. Mike also says because his father grew up in a time without television and video games, sports were something he could easily focus on.
Bob Sr. took his passions to Kansas State University on a wrestling scholarship and later qualified to wrestle at the 1956 Olympic trials. However, before the trials started, Joe fell sick and passed away; Bob Sr. needed to move back to the area. Bob Sr. took a job coaching wrestling at Bellevue High School (now Bellevue East). He led the team to their first state championship, and within a few years, the University of Nebraska offered him a job coaching wrestling in Lincoln.
"Bob Devaney was just hired as the head football coach in 1962 and Frank Sevigne was the track coach, so he was just really enjoying the new environment and coaching at the time, as were us kids," Mike says.
Since their days in Lincoln, the Mancuso family has owned tickets to every season of Nebraska football.
"When my dad started coaching at Nebraska in the '60s, he got a couple of seats for every football game," Mike says. "We've kept those seats every year since it's a tradition of ours to attend every game, through the good and the bad."
Mike says he best remembers Saturdays at Memorial Stadium with his dad.
One October 1994 game in Lincoln has remained apparent in his mind.
"It was a huge Big 8 matchup with Colorado, and Brook Berringer got the call at quarterback because Bobby Newcombe wasn't feeling too good," Mike says. "We had the tunnel walk and HuskerVision for the first time, and [then] Colorado came out before we [Nebraska] came out onto the field. And because of that, I can just remember the stadium…going absolutely nuts."
For most games, the Mancusos have traveled to Memorial Stadium from Omaha. The family's residence in Lincoln was cut short, in part due to Mike entreating his father to move home.
"1964 is when our family decided to move back to Omaha, since coaching, at the time, wasn't paid in a substantial amount like it is today," Mike says with a laugh. "I inspired our dad to start [Mid-America Expositions] and come to Omaha to start managing events."
Mike and his older brothers, Bob Jr. and Joe, took their Cornhusker pride and athletic passion to the ball diamonds and courts of Omaha. Bob Sr. was also a prominent figure in the Omaha sports community.
"We grew up around Omaha sports, playing in a variety of different leagues," Mike says. "Like his dad, my dad also coached a lot, mainly because he loved teaching. He also was very involved in the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, originated by my uncle Charlie, and continued by my dad after Charlie's death."
Mike says his dad's involvement in the Greater Omaha Sports Committee created many surreal experiences as a child, where he and his brothers worked as bat, and ball, boys for Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association exhibition games.
"I remember one time I was a ball boy underneath the hoop and Sam Lacey was the big center and 'Tiny' Nate Archibald was the little guard," Mike says, speaking of two Kansas City Kings players. "During the game, Lacey went after a ball and tumbled into the stands, causing everyone to [launch] their pops, creating a mess. I had to get my towel out and clean it up in front of everybody."
At the core of the Greater Omaha Sports Committee, and the city, was the College World Series. Bob Sr. and fellow committee members often held a welcome luncheon for all the participating teams, hoping to provide unforgettable experiences in Omaha.
The Mancusos' contribution and involvement in college baseball's grand series carried on throughout the tournament as Mike and his brothers helped to enhance the experience in any way possible.
"We would run the dugouts, trying to clean them up between each game," Mike says. "We worked the fields, and if we had time, would run up and clean the press box. Up there we took care of the press by giving them something to eat and plenty of water to drink at the games. We'll just say I made a lot of Zesto runs."
A newspaper clipping from Wilmer Mizell's appearance in Omaha
One time his father even gave up their family's premier seats to former Saint Louis Cardinals pitcher and U.S. congressman Wilmer "Vinegar Bend" Mizell.
"Ben Mizell came in for breakfast one morning before the games to speak in front of some of the players who were involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes," Mike says. "After the speech, my dad generously told him to take our seats, kicking my brothers and I out. Luckily, there were spots up top in the GA [general admission] section, and at that age we liked to run around anyway."
Like Bob Sr., his three boys also played college sports. Mike inherited his father's passion for wrestling, taking his talents to Iowa State University. Bob Jr. also took the Mancuso name to Ames, though for baseball, while Joe played baseball at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Although the brothers now longer watch sports with their dad, who passed away in 2015, in many ways, sports act as a microcosm in demonstrating the core aspects of family, which is why the Mancuso brothers' passion in athletics ceases to fade.
Visit showofficeonline.com for more information.
This article was printed in the August/September 2018 edition of B2B.
A souvenier given to CWS teams
Posted in: Omaha Magazine
Topics: B2B, Bellevue University, Bob Devaney, Bob Mancuso, Business, Greater Omaha Sports Committee, Jo Mancuso, Major League Baseball, Mancuso, Mike Mancuso, National Basketball Association, Nebraska, Nebraska sports, Omaha, Omaha Magazine, sports, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Zesto
Like a Kid Again
September 9, 2018 by David Williams
Don Byers' teammates on the Bellevue University golf team saw the notion of shooting your age—one of the rarest feats in the sport—as a canard of the wildest conceit.
But the athlete who played for one semester with the Bruins came within a mere stroke of doing just that last year during a golf vacation in Arizona.
That's because Byers, who is 61 (and shot a 62 on a Par 62 course that day in the desert), had a four-decade advantage over most of his collegiate competitors.
This most unlikely of feel-good sports stories began with a chance meeting on the first tee of his home course, Champions Run, when he was introduced to Rob Brown, the school's head golf coach and a friend of one of Byers' golfing buddies.
There was nothing senescent about Byers' swing that day. He was crushing it—with drives of nearly 300 yards and playing well under par.
Brown came to learn that Byers was a former pitcher who had blown out his arm before ever taking the mound for the University of Nebraska-Omaha baseball team back when Gerald R. Ford was in the White House. The coach playfully inquired as to whether Byers had any remaining college athletics eligibility.
But Brown, it turned out, wasn't joking, and he discovered that Byers could play for Bellevue University because the Bruins play in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. While the NCAA restricts student-athletes to playing within five years of graduating from high school, there is no such limit in the NAIA. So the longtime insurance agent, who lives in Elkhorn with his wife, Debra, enrolled at the university with an undeclared major and green goals.
Byers encountered several challenges in joining a team of students who could be his grandkids, the first being that he was no longer the lean, lanky, 6-foot-4-inch fire-baller of his youth.
When uniforms were issued, the father of three and grandfather of four explained, "Coach handed me a pair of 38-inch-waist pants, the largest size they come, and I just kind of stared at them. I hadn't worn a 38 in, well, quite a while."
The team's winter training regimen incorporates CrossFit, and Byers' return to college athletics led to him shedding 50 pounds the hard way.
"The whole floor around me was soaked at the end of our first workout," he says, "but the other guys hadn't even begun to break a sweat."
And it wasn't the end of the workout, one of his teammates explained. "That was just the warm-up!" Byers recalls, "I could barely walk the next day."
As he came back into fighting weight—and shape— he looked forward to contributing on the course.
He played in three rounds in the spring 2018 semester: shooting 21 strokes over par in two rounds at the March 30-31 TPC Deere Run Invitational in Silvis, Illinois, then finishing seven strokes over par at the April 17 Midland University Spring Invitational.
Records on the subject are sketchy, but Byers is among the oldest players in any sport in the history of college athletics, and his back-to-school story was featured in Sports Illustrated, the Golf Channel, Golf Digest, ESPN's website, and USA Today.
Although he only pursued collegiate golf for five months, Byers insists his quest was anything
but quixotic.
"I've always been competitive," Byers says, "and this [was] no lark. My goal was to make the team and then make the starting five" on the squad of seven golfers. "I was treated like everyone else. I earned my place."
Visit bubruins.com for more information.
This article was printed in the September/October 2018 edition of 60Plus in Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
Posted in: 60 Plus in Omaha, People, Sports
Topics: 60PLUS, Active Living, Bellevue University, Champions Run, david williams, Debra Byers, Don Byers, ESPN, golf, Golf Channel, Golf Digest, Omaha, Omaha Magazine, sports, USA Today
A Timeline of Chinese in Omaha
March 18, 2018 by Doug Meigs, Betty Chin and Bing Chen
Chinese migration to Omaha began, indirectly, during the Gold Rush of the mid-1800s. The "Old Gold Mountain" (i.e., the Chinese term for California) attracted a flood of unskilled laborers known as coolies. Nationwide, the Chinese population grew by leaps and bounds: from 758 (in 1850) to 35,565 (in 1860) to 104,468 (in 1880), according to U.S. Census data on the country's foreign-born population.
Facing open hostility in the goldfields, many went to work in agriculture, mining, fisheries, started laundry or restaurant businesses, or joined construction of the nation's first transcontinental railroad. The railway industry dispersed Chinese migrants throughout the American interior. With Union Pacific's headquarters in Omaha, it's likely that the railroad helped populate Omaha's own early Chinatown. But documentation of Union Pacific's role in attracting the city's earliest Chinese residents remains scarce.
"We don't have archival records of Union Pacific bringing Chinese labor to Omaha, but we've seen this pattern throughout cities and towns of the American West," says Patricia LaBounty, curator of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs. LaBounty spoke with Omaha Magazine while preparing a research presentation focused on the contribution of Chinese labor to Union Pacific.
Among the earliest documentation is an illustration of Chinese railroad laborers crossing the frozen Missouri River with Omaha's sparse skyline in the background—including the old territorial capitol, now the site of Central High School (printed in the Jan. 22, 1870, edition of Harper's Weekly).
Mounting opposition to Chinese immigrant labor led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which halted immigration and banned citizenship. Many American Chinatowns dwindled and disappeared in subsequent years, with Chinese-American communities remaining staunchly Cantonese-speaking due to the early immigration from China's southern regions. Post-World War II waves of Chinese immigrants predominantly spoke Mandarin, the language of mainland China and Taiwan.
The second wave of Chinese immigrants arriving in Omaha—and the U.S. in general—consisted of Chinese Nationalists and their families coming overseas after civil war split the Republic of China (Taiwan) from the communist People's Republic of China.
A third wave of immigration followed normalization of U.S. diplomatic ties with Beijing during Richard Nixon's presidency. This group included highly educated professionals, scientists, doctors, and students from the People's Republic of China.
At the dawn of the 21st century, the number of students coming to U.S. universities (evident at the University of Nebraska system, Creighton, and Bellevue University) has steadily grown. Meanwhile, what could be considered a fourth wave of Chinese migration to North America has taken the form of wealthy Chinese looking to the U.S. for property and stock market investments.
Promontory, Utah—The driving of a ceremonial golden spike signals the completion of the nation's first transcontinental railroad. Chinese labor played a critical role in completing the eastbound Central Pacific that met with Union Pacific.
Harper's Weekly prints "Chinese Coolies Crossing the Missouri River" with Omaha pictured in the illustration. The article claims 250 Chinese laborers passed through Omaha to build a railroad in Texas.
Early documentation of Chinese labor passing through Omaha
The 1872/1873 Omaha City Directory lists Chinese laundries for the first time. There are two: "Yingalongjingjohn & Yingyang" between Farnam and Harney on 10th Street, and "Hong Lee" on Harney between 14th and 15th streets.
The Omaha Daily Bee reports on the burial of "Ting-a-ling" at Prospect Hill Cemetery, noted as the city's first Chinese burial. His death is attributed to "too much ironing and ice cream." The article explains that his remains will be exhumed after two years to be returned to China for final burial in accordance with traditional custom. The article also notes that the local Chinese population consists of 12 men and one woman.
Omaha has 14 Chinese residents.*
The Chinese Exclusion Act is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur.
The national Methodist Episcopal Conference is held in Omaha. A speaker condemns the Chinese Exclusion Act for jeopardizing U.S. missionary work in China, denounces the U.S. president and Congress, and argues "that the Chinese had the same right to be here as other foreigners, notably the Irish" (according to the New York Times on May 7, 1892).
Omaha has 91* or 93 Chinese residents.**
Dr. Gee Wo Chan goes to the Supreme Court of Nebraska for practicing medicine without a license. He will lose his case, but his traditional Chinese medicine practice continues. At the peak of his business, he operates storefront clinics in Omaha, Milwaukee, and Chicago. The Omaha Daily Bee frequently publishes full-page ads promoting that Dr. C. Gee Wo "the greatest doctor that China ever produced is in your city." His 1892 marriage to a Caucasian woman in Chicago was reported in the Omaha Daily Bee. His life story will be featured in a free online book, Chinese Medicine in Post-Frontier America: A Tale of Three Chinese-American Doctors (published in 2016).
Dr. C. Gee Woh ad in June 7, 1891 Omaha Daily Bee
An article in the Omaha Daily Bee covers a revolutionary meeting of 150 Chinese "from Denver, Cheyenne, Sioux City, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and other surrounding towns within a radius of 200 miles," who meet to discuss overthrowing the Qing Dynasty. Chinese revolutionaries draw support from overseas Chinese communities around the world. Years later, China's Revolution of 1911 will overturn the country's last dynasty and set in motion the establishment of the Republic of China.
The 1895 Omaha City Directory lists at least 21 Chinese-owned laundries (featuring names that appear to be Chinese).
The Omaha World-Herald reports that 438 men, women, and children—including artists, performers, and cooks—were brought to the United States from China to help with the Chinese village at the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha. The expo allowed them to bypass the Chinese Exclusion Act restrictions. The newspaper alleges human trafficking and claims that women were sold into slavery or prostitution.
Omaha has 94* or 103 residents.**
The Illustrated Bee publishes an article titled "Chinese in Omaha—Some Prominent Men," which claims a Sunday school has offered English language education to Chinese youth since September 1885. Laundry is the chief occupation of local Chinese residents, and cleaners tuck "good luck mottoes" into fresh linens. Opium smoking is on the decline (allegedly the only crime in an otherwise "peaceable, quiet, and law-abiding" community). A sort of Chinese credit union offers loans to the immigrants at exorbitant rates. Joe Wah Lee is named as the community's best English interpreter, the wealthiest local Chinese person, and the shrewd owner of Bon Ton Restaurant. Leo Mun, head of Quong Wah Co. is named the community's most educated in Chinese but lacking in English skills."Henry" Hong Sling is noted as affiliated with the community but based in Chicago where he is a railroad passenger agent.
Gin Chin opens the Mandarin Cafe at 1409 Douglas St.
The Omaha World-Herald reports on the opening of a "new hall" for the Omaha Chinese Merchants Association at the first known site of the On Leong Tong (111 N. 12th St.). Leo Wing is president and Chue Fing Sue is secretary. The report claims there are 150 Chinese living in Omaha.
The former home of the On Leong Tong, photographed in 2018
Omaha has 126 Chinese residents.*
Gin Chin opens the King Fong Cafe near 16th and Harney streets.
Photo from the September/October 2007 edition of Encounter Magazine
Following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, a city directory is not printed in 1930. The 1931 Omaha City Directory lists at least eight Chinese laundromats remaining in Omaha (six are included under a "Chinese Laundry" category, two are listed as hand-laundries). Omaha has 147 Chinese residents.* "When the Depression came in, there was no more business," says Jeanette Chin, wife of Carl Chin (Gin Chin's son). "If families could save some money, they could go back (to China) and live like royalty." She came to Omaha in 1942 from a prominent family in New York City's Chinatown. Local Omaha papers claimed her 1942 marriage to Carl was the city's "last arranged marriage."
The Omaha World-Herald reports on firecrackers and festivities involved in the dedication of the relocated On Leong Tong at 1518 Cass St. The article notes that the tong is raising funds for China's fight against Japan in the war effort.
Omaha has 69 Chinese residents (44 native-born and 25 foreign-born).***
The year after the Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed (1943) during World War II, Gen. Albert Wedemeyer takes command of U.S. forces in China, relieving Joseph Stillwell. Wedemeyer was born in Omaha in 1897. He was likely familiar with Omaha's ethnic Chinese community as he attended Creighton Preparatory School (when the school was located near downtown on the Creighton University). In 1919 he went to West Point Academy. Upon graduation, he was assigned to Tientsin, China, where he learned to speak Mandarin and gained a deeper understanding of China's turbulent political climate with the consolidation efforts by the Nationalists and the rise of the Communist movement.
The 1946 Omaha City Directory lists one business under the category "Laundries—Chinese" (Louie Chas at 209 S. 13th St.), and the name disappears in the next year's directory. The Chinese laundry category vanishes from record in subsequent city directories.
Omaha has 130 Chinese residents.****
Joe Kuo and his wife, Alice, open the Great Wall Restaurant at 72nd and Farnam streets. The restaurant's success will spawn other Great Wall restaurants downtown (at 11th and Farnam streets), near 84th and Center streets, at Oak View Mall, and in Council Bluffs. Kuo had graduated from Fort Hays State University in Kansas with a mathematics degree in 1972, but with a new family decided against doctoral studies to enter business as a restaurateur in New York City and Chicago before coming to Omaha. The Kuos were founding members of a Christian fellowship of Omaha Chinese (established in 1977), which started as a bible study group (officially renamed the "Omaha Christian Chinese Fellowship" in 1980, and again renamed as "Omaha Chinese Christian Church" in 1986). Kuo's restaurants host bible study gatherings. The church's founding minister, Pastor Job Lee, is married to Joe's elder sister (Grace). The church fellowship serves as a center for Chinese language and culture education. The Kuo family will sponsor local Chinese cultural events, leading to the creation of the Metropolitan Omaha Chinese American Association.
The Omaha Chinese Christian Fellowship rents space at First Presbyterian Church. A few years later, in 1983, the fellowship will relocate to First Christian Church on 66th and Dodge streets.
Mid-1980s
The Metropolitan Omaha Chinese American Association forms with the goal of bringing all Chinese immigrants and American-born Chinese together, regardless of regional origins or political affiliation. The organization's board includes Dennis Chin (a Bellevue Public School educator and Gin Chin's grandson), his wife Betty Chin (a research organizer at Creighton and UNMC), and UNL engineering professor Bing Chen, among others. The association will eventually discontinue as political tensions mount and the community shifts to a predominantly mainland Chinese orientation.
From left: Dennis Chin, Betty Chin, and Bing Chen (at the Nebraska Chinese Association in 2018)
The Metropolitan Omaha Chinese American Association's Chinese New Year celebration moves to UNO's Milo Bail Student Center for a Chinese meal cooked by UNO chefs under the watchful eye of Joe Kuo followed by music, acrobatics, and dance performances at the Strauss Performing Arts Center. During its years of operation, the group also participates in the Omaha Ethnic Festival at the Civic Auditorium and hosts Mid-Autumn Moon Festival and Dragon Boat Festival gatherings.
The Omaha Chinese Christian Church purchases its own building at 81st and Blondo streets.
Mainland Chinese in Omaha are believed to organize local community events, including Lunar New Year gatherings. (Individuals known to be involved did not respond to Omaha Magazine's request for comment.)
Omaha has 1,155 Chinese residents.****
In 2000, UNMC begins a formal faculty exchange program with Shanghai University. It is the first time the Chinese government has "awarded and funded a faculty exchange program between a Chinese medical school and [a] U.S. medical school." In subsequent years, UNMC's exchange programs with Chinese medical institutions continue to develop. By the year 2018, UNMC's Asia Pacific Rim Development Program will have established partnerships with more than a dozen Chinese medical schools.
Creighton philosophy professor Jinmei Yuan begins annual student trips to China, supported by the Rev. John Schlegel (president of the university) and Soong Ching-Ling Foundation in China.
Omaha-born filmmaker Alexander Payne is part of a group that buys King Fong Cafe from the Huey family that has managed the restaurant in the years following Gin Chin's passing. Also in 2007, the Confucius Institute (which operates around the world teaching Chinese as a second language) opens at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; the institute will become a key sponsor for holiday celebrations with the UNL chapter of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association, Lincoln Chinese Cultural Association, the Asian Community Center in Lincoln, and the Omaha Chinese Cultural Association/Nebraska Chinese Association.
In 2008, Creighton's School of Pharmacy and Health Professions establishes a three-month Rehabilitation International Summer Program. By 2014, the university will establish the China Honors Interprofessional Program for medical students and health care professionals in China. Partner schools will include 10 universities across China (along with universities in five other countries).
The Omaha Chinese Culture Association establishes in the wake of China's tragic 2008 Sichuan earthquakes. In China, more than 69,000 are confirmed dead and 5 million people are displaced. Bellevue University's director of global partnerships in Asia, Julie Verebely, was born in the area devastated by the quake. Verebely knew her home was affected, but she didn't know how badly. She couldn't contact any friends or family in the province. "She called me up and said, 'We need to do something. It's my hometown,'" recalls Linda Steele, who works with Verebely at Bellevue. With a core group of more than 30 Chinese-Americans and Chinese expats, they arrange several fundraisers that accumulate more than $30,000. During their fundraising efforts, Ping Ye (a systems analyst at HDR) suggests to fellow volunteers that they organize as a continuing Chinese association. Ye is the Omaha Chinese Culture Association's first president, followed by Mae Keith, and then Steele. John Zhang is the association's first chairman of the board, followed by Hong Zheng.
Linda Steele
The Omaha Chinese Christian Church moves to its current location at 4618 S. 139th St.
The first Lunar New Year Gala is hosted by the Omaha Chinese Cultural Association at Christ Community Church. Locations will change in later years: Millard North High School in 2010, Burke High School in 2011-2012, Westside High School in 2013, Westside Middle School in 2015-2017, and Burke again in 2018.
In April, an Omaha delegation visits Yantai (in Shandong province) at the invitation of the mayor of the northeastern Chinese city. In October, Yantai officials will visit Omaha to sign a letter of intent to become "sister cities." In June 2010, Omaha's Mayor Jim Suttle will visit Yantai, China, in a trip to establish Omaha and Yantai as "sister cities."
The Omaha Chinese Cultural Association hosts the first annual Mid-Autumn Chinese Cultural Festival at Zorinsky Lake to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Omaha Chinese Cultural Association hosts its first annual Dragon Boat Festival on a Missouri River cruise.
Bellevue University establishes a partnership with Guangzhou College of Commerce in 2012. The first group of Chinese students will arrive in 2015. Also in 2012, the UNO College of Business Administration begins annual study trips to China.
During a visit to China, Nebraska's Gov. Dave Heineman announces the state will open a trade office in China.
The UNO College of Business Administration hosts a China Conference focused on US-China economic relations and business partnerships. The conference continues for a second year in 2014.
Ceremonies in Nebraska and Shanghai are held to announce the opening of the Nebraska Center China in Shanghai. Upon taking office in 2015, Gov. Pete Ricketts continues to foster China-Nebraska trade relations with trade trips in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The Omaha Chamber also participates in overseas trips to China on an annual basis.
An estimated 1,000 Chinese investors visit Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting. In China, the "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett is known as "the God of Stock Investing." The number of Chinese visitors to Omaha during the shareholder meeting will continue to grow every year. An estimated 2,000-3,000 Chinese investors will visit Omaha for the shareholder meeting in 2016.
The Nebraska Chinese Association replaces the Omaha Chinese Cultural Association under the leadership of local Omaha businessman Hong Zheng (owner of the Asian Market) and its president Linda Steele (an adjunct professor Bellevue University).
Hong Zheng
Lion Dancers help the Nebraska Chinese Association celebrate the grand opening of the Nebraska Chinese Center in the site of a former church at 8206 Blondo St. The center offers language classes, cooking classes, a farmers' market, tai chi exercise programs, and other cultural events.
King Fong Cafe closes "temporarily."
The annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' meeting continues to draw more Chinese visitors every year. Buses take Chinese tour groups to Warren Buffett's home in Dundee for photographs. In 2017, Linda Steele estimates that there are 3,000-4,000 Chinese visitors. A gala dinner hosted by the Nebraska Chinese Association introduces overseas investors and local businesses. Steele expects 5,000 Chinese visitors for the Berkshire meeting in 2018.
Forty boxes of beef arrive in China from Greater Omaha Packing Co. The Omaha-headquartered business has emerged as an industry leader in reopening U.S. beef exports to China. It is the first shipment of U.S. beef to China since 2003 (following a mad cow scare that halted imports).
The National Register of Historic Places recognizes the historic status of the On Leong Tong at 1518 Cass St.
In the 2017/2018 academic year, Bellevue University has 258 overseas Chinese students; UNMC has 96 students from mainland China; UNO has 124 overseas Chinese students; Creighton has 36.
The 10th anniversary of the Lunar New Year Gala hosted by the Nebraska Chinese Association/Omaha Chinese Cultural Association takes place at Burke High School. Of the approximately 200 volunteers organizing the gala, 100 are overseas Chinese students. The association's members include close to 800 people.
Nebraska Chinese Association board members from left: Grant Wu, Hong Zheng, May Yap, Jun White, Linda Steele, Li Li, Sarah Luo, Qiuming Zhu, Ping Ye, Jenny McAtee
*Source: U.S. Census data provided by the Nebraska State Historical Society
**Source: An Almanac of Nebraska: Nationality, Ethnic, and Racial Groups (published in 1975)
***Source: U.S. Census data provided by the Nebraska Library Commission
****Source: U.S. Census data provided by University of Nebraska-Omaha Center for Public Affairs Research
This article was printed in the March/April 2018 edition of Omaha Magazine.
See other Omaha-Chinese content from the March/April 2018 edition of Omaha Magazine:
About the cover of the print magazine
Editor's letter: "Year of the Dog"
"Omaha's Forgotten Chinatown (and the Continuation of Local Chinese Lunar New Year Celebrations)"
"Chinatown Lost and Found: The On Leong Tong House"
"Preservation of King Fong Cafe"
Video: "Shopping for Chinese Lunar New Year"
Online exclusive: "A Revolutionary Meeting"
Posted in: History, Omaha Magazine
Topics: Bellevue University, Berkshire Hathaway, Betty Chin, Bing Chen, Creighton University, God of Stocks, Greater Omaha Packing, King Fong Cafe, Nebraska Chinese Association, Nebraska Library Commission, Nebraska State Historical Society, Omaha Chinese Cultural Association, On Leong Tong, Union Pacific, UNMC, UNO, Warren Buffett
Omaha's Korean Connection
June 7, 2017 by Michele Fan
Photography by Joshua Foo
Korean restaurants in Omaha have strong ties to the military community.
While many Offutt Air Force Base staffers developed penchants for Korean cuisine during Air Force deployments to South Korea, there are also many military spouses who relocated to Omaha from Korea. Some of these spouses have opened local restaurants.
The Korean Grill is a prime example. Its owner, Henim Stimson, used to operate a restaurant in Seoul. Her husband, Air Force veteran Scott Stimson, now helps her in the kitchen at 1408 Harlan Drive in Bellevue.
They often serve couples with similar U.S. military and Korean backgrounds.
While eating dinner recently at the Korean Grill, Cody Scott (an active-duty Air Force veteran) and his wife, Gi (who is originally from Tongyeong, South Korea), share their suggestions for finding authentic Korean food in the greater Omaha metro.
Cody grew up in Tennessee, and he studied Korean in California. The couple met after Cody relocated to Omaha. "We met at Maru Sushi and Korean Grill. Gi was working there as a waitress," Cody says. They married in 2013 and reside in Bellevue.
The Scotts listed the Korean Grill as their favorite in Omaha. The restaurant's lunch combo meals and to-go boxes attract a lot of military personnel and many Chinese students from nearby Bellevue University.
Suji's offers a wide variety of dishes.
Eating Like a Korean
Korean meals are typically served with a variety of "banchan" (side dishes) in small portions. All banchan is communal. Featuring a wide range of seasonal vegetables, roots, tofu, or small seafood, banchan can be fermented, pickled, lightly seasoned, or braised in sauce. Kimchi, fermented napa cabbage, is the most common type of banchan.
While many associate Korean food with Korean barbecue—thinly sliced meat dishes (both marinated and unmarinated) and vegetables cooked on a built-in table grill or a portable grill—rice, noodles, soup, and stew remain staples of Korean cuisine.
One of the most iconic offerings in Korean cuisine, "budae-jjigae" (army stew), is a spicy soup with Spam meat, hot dogs (or other scraps of meat), tofu, instant noodles, mixed vegetables, and sometimes a piece of Kraft cheese.
The Scotts order budae-jjigae and several of their other favorites while speaking with Omaha Magazine. The stew comes in a huge portion, best suited for two to share.
"Army stew" is an invention of South Koreans after the Korean War. As food shortages persisted, locals scrambled up surplus processed meats from the U.S. military and cooked them in a spicy soup with kimchi. Its standard ingredient—Spam meat—is beloved in South Korea. During Lunar New Year, the pork product is often packaged in a fancy box and given away as a gift.
"Gimbap" (Korean sushi) is another of the Scotts' favorites. Gi explains the dish is akin to Korean takeout food; they would eat it on the go or at picnics. Unlike its Japanese cousin, the rice in gimbap is not seasoned with vinegar but salt and sesame oil. It does not require dipping in soy sauce or wasabi. To prevent leftover gimbap from drying out overnight, Gi suggests leaving the sushi rolls on the counter instead of in the refrigerator.
"Japchae" (a sweet potato starch noodle stir-fry) is another beloved Korean dish. Although usually served as a side dish, japchae can also be a stand-alone dish eaten with rice.
Korean Restaurants Around Town
First-timers to Korean food should take a quick crash course at Korean Grill. You will find a selection of assorted dishes displayed in a food-warmer cabinet; the owner readily offers honest advice and a generous portion to guarantee a good dining experience.
Cody recommends ordering "galbitang"—a clear soup with beef short ribs—and "doenjang-jjigae"—a spicy (if made traditionally), fermented soybean paste stew. Korean Grill offers three other famous dishes—"sundae," a Korean-style blood sausage; "kkori gomtang," an oxtail soup; and "jokbal," a steamed pig feet dish. Those items are "hidden from the menu," so diners must order in advance for such delicacies.
Gi's top three picks for Korean eateries are Korean Grill, Korea King, and Maru. Rather than ordering soup, her go-to dishes usually contain some seafood, such as octopus.
Korea King offers communal family-style Korean food. The chef there used to work at Maru. "Their 'ojingeo-bokkeum' [spicy stir-fried squid], 'kkori gomtang' [oxtail soup] and 'chicken bulgogi' [bulgogi is a grilled meat dish] are good," Gi says. "Maru, on the other hand, serves personal-size dishes. I like their chicken bulgogi, 'jjamppong' [Korean spicy seafood noodle soup], and 'jajangmyeon' [Korean black bean sauce noodles]."
"Go to Korean Grill for soup; go to Korean House Restaurant for grilled meat," Cody advises. Korean House Restaurant is located right outside of Offutt Air Force Base and is known for its great prices. Cody recommends its grilled beef. You can also find Korean street food "tteok-bokki" (spicy Korean rice cake stir-fry) there. The restaurant is open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and between 5 and 8 p.m.
Suji's Korean Grill has recently reinvented its entire menu and introduced Korean built-in table grills to the Aksarben area. Cody says he has not been to the restaurant since its updates, but he used to enjoy the "Chipotle-style" Korean food Suji's offered.
The 2.0 version of Suji's is booming with business. On any given weeknight, a steady stream of diners awaits to feast on its $35-per-person endless Korean barbecue, which begins with a platter of high-quality fresh meats, including rib-eye, chicken breast, pork belly, flank steak, pork jowl, and brisket; complemented with a steamed egg dish, banchan, and bowls of rice. A picture of the meal on social media will guarantee meat envy.
In Ralston, you will find authentic Korean food at Korea Garden. Its banchan is all house-made and tastes delicious. Although the Scotts had not tried Korea Garden at the time of our interview, I highly recommend an order of the "nakji bokkeum" (stir-fried baby octopus) at Korea Garden.
Local Korean Eats
Korean Grill
1408 Harlan Drive
Korean House Restaurant
Korea King
Korea Garden Restaurant
5352 S. 72nd St.
Ralston, NE 6812
Maru Korean & Sushi Restaurant
5032 S. 108th St.
Suji's Korean Grill
1303 S. 72nd St., No. 101
This article was printed in the May/June 2017 edition of Omaha Magazine.
A selection of dishes from Suji's.
Posted in: Food & Drink, Omaha Magazine, Reviews
Topics: Air Force, banchan, Bellevue University, budae-jjigae, Cody Scott, doenjang-jjigae, galbitang, Gimbap, Henim Stimson, jajangmyeon, japchae, jjamppong, jokbal, kimchi, kkori gomtang, Korea Garden Restaurant, Korea King, Korean barbecue, Korean Grill, Korean House Restaurant, Lunar New Year, Maru Sushi & Korean Grill, nakji bokkeum, Offutt Air Force Base, ojingeo-bokkeum, Omaha, roots, Scott Stimson, seafood, Seoul, South Korea, Suji's Korean Grill, sundae, table grills, tofu, Tongyeong, tteok-bokki, vegetables
Mural Man
June 2, 2017 by Leo Adam Biga
Visual artist Mike Giron's creative life spans studio practice, teaching, and working with A Midsummer's Mural and South Omaha Mural Project teams.
"In my studio work, I have no idea what's going to happen—I just go. I'm not forcing or insisting on anything. The work creates itself in some crazy way," Giron says. "When it comes to murals, it's a lot more deliberate. You have to propose a design before you begin. So, I live in these two different worlds, and I think it's keeping me balanced."
The New Orleans native came to Omaha in the early 1990s by way of Colorado, where he met his ex-wife, an Omaha native. After her father died, the couple moved here with the intent of restoring her family home, selling it, and returning to Colorado. But Omaha proved a good place to raise their two children, so they stayed.
Giron, 45, taught art at Bellevue University and ran the campus gallery. Today, he's a Metropolitan Community College adjunct instructor.
Without knowing it, he prepared to be a muralist through his experience painting Mardi Gras floats in New Orleans. Walls are not so different from float structures—they're big and imperfect. And just as he used cut-out panels on floats, he does the same with murals.
"The Polish mural is the clearest example," he says. "There was a downspout, a chimney, and a fence around an air conditioning unit, and we used cut-outs to hide those things. It gave a 3D pop-up look effect. It also breaks the frame to extend beyond the box of the building."
Patience is a virtue for a muralist.
"Murals take a long time—maybe two months," he says. "Unless you really practice your Zen, you've got to make it enjoyable to keep on doing it every day."
The social contract of public art and the collaborative nature of murals means you'd better like people. He does. You'd better like working big, too.
"Once you experience large-scale production, it's hard to go back to small paintings," he says. "Although I still consider myself a studio painter, there's also something about doing large work. You can't help but see a wall and go, 'Oh, that would be perfect for this statement.' And then the physicality of the work feels good. You're carrying stuff all the time; you're up and down ladders. The brush strokes are not just a flick of the wrist."
But Giron says the real reason he and his fellow muralists do it is because "we're channeling the voices of people who can't do this, and we take pride in that." He says, "We feel good about delivering something that people feel does express them."
The process for the South Omaha murals involves deep community immersion.
"The more you immerse and personally connect with the people on a street level, the more you're going to be trusted by that community, and the more they'll open up and allow you in," he says.
The South O murals feature diverse looks.
"Some fall into naturalism, and others go into some other place," he says, "That's interesting to me because it's not the same. Rather than a signature style, I would prefer they look like they were done by different people."
They are. Giron works with Richard Harrison, Rebecca Van Orman, and Hugo Zamorano. Neighbors contribute stories and ideas at community meetings. Residents and students participate in paint days and attend unveiling celebrations.
The works are an extension of the new South Omaha Museum, whose director, historian Gary Kastrick, conceived the murals project. Giron serves on the museum board. He enjoys digging through Kastrick's artifact collection and preparing exhibits, including a replica of an Omaha Stockyards pen.
The idea is for the museum, the murals, and Kastrick's history tours to spark a South O renaissance keying off the district's rich heritage and culture. Muralists like Giron share a bigger goal to "make Omaha a destination for public art." He says murals are a great way to enhance the city's visual aesthetic and to engage the community. Besides, he says, murals "demonstrate to the public there is an arts community here" in a visible way galleries cannot.
Giron is impressed by the Omaha arts explosion. "There's so much going on and so many young artists hitting the scene making a big impact," he says.
Meanwhile, he continues to create studio art. His series On the Brighter Side of Post-Apocalyptic Minimalism employed fire-singed materials to make their satirical marks.
"With the process-oriented stuff I'm doing now, there's a huge amount of variety, even though I'm just using grids," he says, explaining that his personal artworks have moved away from rules of perspective and representational dictates of realism.
"When you don't use any of that, all you have is the process and the visual reality of things—line, shape, value, color, texture, and space," he says. "When you start playing in that area, where there's no limits in terms of defining what things should be or should look like, you find it's actually inexhaustible."
He intends to follow "the course of my curiosity," adding, "If you are really free as an artist, then you just follow whatever's interesting to you."
New murals keep beckoning, though. "I get pulled into all this work. You set yourself up for a fall, but the fall is where all the good stuff happens," he says.
Having completed Czech, Lithuanian, Polish, Mexican, Metropolitan Community College, and Magic City murals for the South O project, Giron and company are now working on a Croatian mural. Irish, Italian, African-American, and Stockyards murals are still to come.
Visit amidsummersmural.com for more information.
This article was published in the May/June 2017 edition of Omaha Magazine.
Posted in: Art, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, Publications
Topics: A Midsummer's Mural, African-American, artist, Bellevue University, Colorado, Croatian, Czech, Gary Kastrick, Hugo Zamorano, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Magic City, Mardi Gras, Metropolitan Community College, Mexican, Mike Giron, murals, museums, New Orleans, Omaha, Omaha Stockyards, On the Brighter Side of Post-Apocalyptic Minimalism, Polish, Rebecca Van Orman, Richard Harrison, South O project, Stockyards, Zen
Java Journey
April 28, 2017 by Anthony Flott
Like many who guzzle black gold, Sagar Gurung started downing coffee purely for utilitarian reasons.
The taste—he could have done without.
Sagar Gurung
"I started for the caffeine," Gurung says. "When I took that first sip, I said, 'What the hell is this? It's bitter.' I would add a lot of sugar, milk, and cream to it."
Gurung has come a long way in his java journey. He is the founder and part-owner of one of Omaha's newest non-chain caffeine joints, Himalayan Java Coffee House. It launched in June 2016 at 329 S. 16th St., across from the Orpheum Theater on Harney Street.
Not that long ago, what Gurung knew about coffee didn't amount to a hill of beans. He has worked as a business analyst (currently for Valmont Industries) after earning a degree in computer science from Bellevue University in 2004. Gurung was born in Chitwan, Nepal, but lived mostly in India until he moved to Omaha in the 10th grade to live with his older sister. He graduated from Omaha Gross High School.
He took regular trips back home to Nepal, and it was during one of those trips that he went from coffee novice to coffee aficionado. The spark was a visit to Himalayan Java Coffee, a franchise launched in 1999 by Gagan Pradhan and Anand Gurung in Nepal's capital, Kathmandu.
Nepal is mostly a tea-loving country, but Pradhan and Anand Gurung were changing that with a concept utilizing small coffee farmers whose harvest had mostly been going outside the country. Nepalese farmers were more likely to grow millet or maize than they were coffee, which wasn't introduced to the country until 1938 by a hermit who brought seeds from Myanmar (then Burma).
By the 1970s Nepalese farmers were beginning to pay attention to coffee as a serious cash crop. Today, it's grown in nearly three dozen districts, thriving in one of the highest elevations in the world.
Pradhan and Anand Gurung, according to Sagar, "introduced coffee to Nepal," showing countrymen how it should be planted, raised, roasted, brewed, and imbibed. Their efforts resonated—today, more than 20 Himalayan Java shops have been introduced in Nepal.
On Sagar's first visit to Himalayan Java Coffee in Nepal, "I instantly loved everything they were doing," he says. He began to lobby the duo to let him bring their brand and their coffee to his adopted homeland. He also proposed the idea to Nepalese friends who lived in Omaha, asking them to join as partners.
Finally, the founders relented. "I think they just wanted to make me stop bugging them."
The Nepalese founders are more like "strategic partners" than they are franchisees, Sagar says, but the Omaha Himalayan Java buys all its coffee from its Nepalese counterpart.
It's a competitive market in Omaha, dominated by national and local chains. Sagar says such competition only gave him more reason to launch Himalayan Java here. And none of the others in Omaha can offer the distinct Arabica flavor available in his store.
"Coffee has a natural tendency to embody its environment," Sagar says. "So the taste you get is very unique to the area you grow in."
He appears to have picked an ideal location for the startup. Customers come frequently from the Orpheum across the street, of course, but Himalayan Java also gets employees from nearby Union Pacific, First National, OPPD, other downtown businesses, students from Creighton and UNMC, and downtown denizens.
Himalayan Java offers a full complement of caffeinated beverages—espressos, cappuccinos, mochas, lattes, and more. The No. 1 seller, Sagar says, is the "Dark Roast 4." The menu also includes sandwiches, soups, and salads.
Sagar says customer retention has been strong and that word-of-mouth marketing has helped Himalayan Java enjoy 15- to 20-percent growth month over month. Enough that he's had at least preliminary discussions about expanding to a second store.
He's also heard from enough customers that he plans to introduce some home-cooking with a menu that should include Nepalese goat and chicken curry; "thukpa," an intensely flavored noodle soup; and "momos," spicy Nepalese dumplings typically filled with marinated minced meat.
"I want to introduce Nepali items you can't get anywhere else in town," he says.
For now, though, he's intent on making sure Himalayan Java makes a name for itself with its roasts — something customers should recognize just steps inside.
"We are a coffee house, and it is a beautiful thing to walk into a store and the aroma hits you," he says.
It took him a while to get there, but he says the taste is even better.
"Now I like my coffee dark with no sugar, no milk, or cream," Sagar says. "I just love the way our coffee tastes."
He's hoping more and more Omahans will agree.
Visit himalayanjavausa.com for more information.
This article was published in the May/June edition of The Encounter.
Posted in: Coffee & Tea, Encounter, Food & Drink
Topics: Anand Gurung, Bellevue University, Caffeine, Chitwan Nepal, coffee, Creighton, First National, Gagan Pradhan, Himalayan Java Coffee, Himalayan Java Coffee House, India, Kathmandu, momos, Myanmar, Omaha, Omaha Gross High School, OPPD, Orpheum Theater, Sagar Gurung, thukpa, Union Pacific, UNMC, Valmont Industries
The Nebraska Independent Colleges Foundation
August 26, 2016 by Jennifer Litton
Nebraska Independent Colleges Foundation (NICF) President James Johnson Ph.D. is used to change. Dr. Johnson, his wife, Lesa, and his Harley-Davidson moved to Omaha four years ago, after serving respected stints at a handful of universities across the nation. Such positions included president of Ohio Valley University in West Virginia, and director of forensics and assistant to the provost at Texas A&M University.
The communication skills he has gained after a lifetime in education are making a difference in the lives of underprivileged college students in Nebraska. "We raise scholarship funds to help needy students in Nebraska attend Nebraska colleges, primarily independent colleges," he says.
Founded in 1953, the NICF has a staff of three and is about to get a whole lot busier as they prepare to double their size and serve more schools. Currently, they raise scholarship funds for the students of Union College, Bellevue University, York College, and Hastings College.
Johnson says that, statistically, students who come out of independent colleges are hired quicker than state school graduates and they are promoted faster.
"I think it's because of some of the types of students that private colleges attract and also smaller class size, smaller teacher/student ratio (that allows) more individual attention in the classroom," he says.
Johnson says that the schools they currently work with are leaders in certain fields. "York, for example has an excellent teacher preparation program. Union has a very good physician assistants program with a waiting list on it. Bellevue is probably, in my opinion, one of the leaders in nontraditional programs. Hastings has such a vibrant legacy and heritage and history that speaks well for all of their programs."
Since Johnson began his teaching career in 1983 as a professor of communication at Lubbock Christian University in Texas, he has seen the average age of a student increase.
"When I started teaching, the average age of a college student was about 23," Johnson says. "Now the average age of the college student today is closer to 30. We have so many more adults going back to retrain or going back to make career changes."
A recipient of the 2008 President's Volunteer Service Award, which was presented by President George W. Bush, Johnson enjoys teaching and the relationships he has with students. He says he is able to fulfill his desire to teach through his leadership consulting firm, Ethos Leadership Group, where he serves as chief executive officer.
Johnson notes that the NICF has an annual golf tournament that has grown in attendance by 50 percent over the past four years. The tournament raises awareness and provides an opportunity for fundraising. NICF accepts donations from both corporate and individual donors.
"I enjoy being able to tell donors, when they write me a $1,000 check, that $1,000 is going to scholarships."
Johnson has his eyes set on a big prize for the foundation—a fundraising challenge of $2.5 million. If NICF reaches that goal by the end of the year, an independent donor will match that sum, bringing the total to $5 million raised. Now that's enough money for a lot of books.
Visit nicfonline.org for more information. B2B
Posted in: B2B Magazine, Business, Leaders, Publications
Topics: Bellevue University, college, Ethos Leadership Group, fundraising, Harley-Davidson, Hastings College, independent colleges, James Johnson Ph.D., Lubbock Christian University, Nebraska Independent Colleges Foundation, NICF, Ohio Valley University, Omaha, President George W. Bush, President's Volunteer Service AwardPresident's Volunteer Service Award, Texas A&M University, Union College, Union Nebraska, York College, York Nebraska
Mission,Passion, & Joy
August 18, 2016 by Charlie Litton
Roger Garcia has a lot of work to do—relationships to build, programs to create, grants to obtain, and people to help.
Yet the 29-year-old dismisses the notion that his role is "work." He prefers words like mission, passion, and joy; all of which compelled Garcia on his daily commute to Lincoln's outreach center for Hispanic and Latin Americans.
Garcia served as director of Lincoln's El Centro de las Americas from 2012 until recently, when he accepted a similar role as the executive director of Centro Latino of Council Bluffs. Although Garcia is happy to "work" closer to his wife, Yanira, and their south Omaha home, his drive to help the community still borders on obsessive.
In each person that Garcia helps, he sees the struggle that his mother, Margarita, endured decades ago.
Initially an undocumented immigrant from Honduras, Margarita gained a path to citizenship through the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Roger's father, a documented Mexican immigrant, was psychologically abusive and controlling. By 1994, Margarita had enough of him and Los Angeles. She took her youngest of three sons and left for the third and final time.
She grabbed 8-year-old Roger and packed up the few things she owned. Somehow, she coaxed a beat-up old Buick nearly 1,500 miles eastward into Nebraska. She eventually landed in Columbus for a job with the meatpacking industry. Holding only one job satisfied neither her work ethic nor demands on her pocketbook. She took up welding, baking, even cosmetology—whatever it took. Today, her knees are shot, but she owns and manages three rental properties between Omaha and Columbus.
"She loves this country, and she worked her butt off," says Garcia, who remembers his mother going to work at 4 a.m. so she could get him to school every morning during her break. "People like my mom just want to work hard and provide for their family."
The people who come through Garcia's door are reminiscent of his mother. They are looking for the same things. They want a better life for their children. They don't readily ask for handouts, he says.
Garcia's commitment to the region's Latino community runs deeper than esteem and pride for his mother's accomplishments. He grew up in rural Nebraska. He feels compelled to help those enduring similar experiences.
He encountered racism in childhood. Once, a pair of white adults accosted Garcia and his fourth-grade classmate with racial slurs. The adults kicked the kids off their bicycles. Such experiences motivated a short-lived denunciation of his heritage in the fifth grade. "I said, 'No, I'm not Mexican. I'm not Honduran,'" says Garcia, clearly pained by the memory. "I didn't want to be discriminated against."
Thanks to music, Garcia eventually found solace and comfort in his own skin. "Through American rock music, I learned that it doesn't matter how you look," he says.
His sense of ethnic identity became more complex while pursuing dual degrees in psychology and Latino/Latin American studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The occasional volunteer worker at the Omaha Boys and Girls Club found his calling. By the time he finished his undergraduate studies, he had earned UNO's vice chancellor award for student leadership.
He moved on to Bellevue University to pursue a master's degree in public administration, and became more immersed in Omaha's Latino community. He met with elected officials, served as a community liaison for then-Mayor Jim Suttle, and met with other college campus groups and leaders.
He joined El Centro de las Americas in Lincoln as the center's director and quickly elevated it to new heights. Beatty Brasch, the executive director of Lincoln's Center for People in Need and a board member of El Centro, laments Garcia's recent departure.
"He did a remarkable job. He brought the community together and developed programs there for a lot of people," she says. "We're sorry he's leaving. I wish he stayed."
His list of accomplishments garnered a new accolade in 2015 when he was listed as one of the Jaycees' Ten Outstanding Young Omahans in the 83rd annual TOYO! awards.
That's what happens when a passion becomes "a calling on a spiritual level."
As Garcia and his future wife, Yanira, built their relationship, they also forged a deeper connection to their Christian faith.
"On our first date he asked me if I would ever date anybody who wasn't a believer," she says. "I said, 'No.'"
Two years later, in 2015, they were married, and Roger is now pursuing a doctorate in theology with an eye toward possibly launching his own ministry.
Until then, there is indeed a lot to be done, but none of it should be confused with toil.
"It's what we should all be doing as believers," he says. "It's not an obligation. It's a joy. It's a joy to spread His love."
Visit sucentrolatino.com for more information.
Topics: Beatty Brasch, Bellevue University, Centro Latino, Columbus Nebraska, El Centro de las Americas, Hispanics, Honduran, Honduras, Jaycees, Latin Americans, Lincoln's Center for People in Need, Los Angeles, Margarita Garcia, Master in Public Administration, Mayor Jim Suttle, Mexican, Mexico, Omaha, Omaha Boys and Girls Club, psychology, rock 'n roll, Roger Garcia, TOYO!, University of Nebraska at Omaha
June 23, 2015 by Doug Meigs
Many job seekers from Omaha's inner-city neighborhoods currently think La Vista might as well be Lincoln—or Egypt. That may not be the case much longer. Linda Dugan, vice president of Global Operations at PayPal, has spearheaded a plan to connect PayPal's suburban office complex with new hires from North Omaha.
A cohort of 28 new customer service employees began using a pilot transportation program to travel to and from PayPal on May 4.
Dugan explains the program's logic: "Our idea is that if transportation is a barrier, and we can provide a service from the North Omaha community out to our La Vista office and provide return transportation, then we're going to help enable them to have a really rewarding career with PayPal; and at the same time bring talented and highly engaged team members into our organization."
Dugan has pondered transportation accessibility for some time. During board meetings for the Sarpy County Economic Development Council, she listened to other La Vista area businesses lament how some potential hires are logistically incapable of considering job opportunities in Omaha's outer suburbs.
"Not everyone has a car, not everyone can drive, but we do have the expectation of attendance," Dugan says. "If their car might not make it 40 miles back and forth every day, they self-select themselves out of consideration. Hopefully by solving this (problem of accessibility), we will get some teammates who want to commit to us because we are willing to commit to them."
Many people want to commit to PayPal because of their extensive benefits.
"I would put our benefits up against anyone in the community and believe that ours would still exceed," she says, speaking from a conference room in the first of PayPal's two adjacent offices, which house 2,500 employees (working in customer service, technical support, fraud prevention, corporate communications, and other capacities).
The company's comprehensive benefits package begins on new employees' first day and covers everything from family to pets. PayPal also offers tuition reimbursement, and Bellevue University teaches accelerated degree courses in undergraduate and graduate levels after regular business hours at the La Vista office.
No matter how good PayPal's employment benefits might be, unreliable transportation could force job candidates out of the talent pool.
"I am so hopeful that our pilot can prove what I think it can, that by removing the barrier of transportation we can get really great talent that wants the career opportunities," says Dugan.
The north Omaha transportation program resulted from a brainstorming session with her boss, John McCabe. "We were talking about opportunities and talent, and I proposed an idea of addressing possible barriers in the community for transportation," Dugan says.
He liked the idea. McCabe agreed to fund a nine-month pilot program. Dugan's next phone call was to David Brown, president of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. She explained how she hoped to incentivize talent acquisition from north Omaha with PayPal-funded complementary transportation.
"He was amazing!" Dugan says of Brown. More community outreach followed. Brown's team helped PayPal network with agencies, keeping a pulse on the employment needs of Omaha's inner-city community.
Representatives from Goodwill and the Urban League joined the discussion, followed two months later by Metro Transit, Omaha's public transportation provider. The coalition eventually developed a blueprint for a transportation program that allows PayPal to leverage the Urban League and Goodwill's talent pool while coordinating routes with Omaha's existing busing infrastructure.
They organized two job fairs during March in north Omaha. Soon after, the company began extending job offers. PayPal's buses would depart from the North Omaha Transit Center (near 30th and Ames), which is already connected to other bus lines throughout Omaha's inner-city neighborhoods.
"Our hope is that this cohort demonstrates the same level of engagement that we have received from our talent from across the community, and that will help us see if we are on the right track," says Dugan. "We are really hopeful that it will make a difference, that it will be great for our customers and great for the community."
Dugan has deep family roots in the north Omaha community. Her grandmother was a member of Omaha North High School's first graduating class. Dugan, her brother, and her parents also graduated from the school.
Now she's able to give back to the Omaha neighborhood that nurtured her.
"It's all about community," she says. "Go Vikings!"
Posted in: B2B Magazine, Business, Business Profiles, In the Office, Publications
Topics: Bellevue University, David Brown, featured, Goodwill, John McCabe, La Vista, Linda Dugan, Metro Transit, North Omaha, Omaha, Omaha North High School, PayPal, public transportation, Sarpy County Economic Development Council, Urban League


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EEA Names HCI's Allan Schweyer as Its New Chairman
The Enterprise Engagement Alliance appoints Allan Schweyer of the Human Capital Institute to set its operating agenda as new Chairman.
The recently formed Enterprise Engagement Alliance (EEA) has named Allan Schweyer its Chairman. The EEA, founded in 2008 to support research, education, and outreach related to the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement, focuses on improving financial results through a strategic emphasis on customer, distribution partner, and employee engagement. Schweyer was most recently Executive Director and Vice President of Research of the Human Capital Institute (HCI) and is a principal in the Washington, DC-based Center for Human Capital Innovation.
"The EEA is not an association or institution—it is an alliance of organizations whose common goals include developing the field of Enterprise Engagement," Schweyer says of the EEA. "Enterprise engagement involves numerous issues, it's impossible for any one organization to be a primary resource for everything. It is our intent to work with organizations representing all of the disciplines of Enterprise Engagement to help make corporate America aware of the critical role played by engagement and the tools necessary to profit from it."
"We're excited to have Allan on board," said Don Peppers, a founding member of the Executive Council. "He brings with him a deep appreciation for the role of human capital, and tremendous experience building successful organizations."
The organization's portal, EnterpriseEngagement.org, will go live later this month. In the meantime, for more information, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Engagement, or follow the EEA on Linkedin at www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1926267 or on Twitter at @EEA_Org.