Episode 21 Lewis and Clark Visitor Center

Sheila Jenkinson18min

Sheila Jenkinson

00:00

Hey everyone, I'm Sheila Jenkinson and you are listening to the Growing Small Town Nebraska Podcast where my co-host, Marcie Sextro, and I ask community leaders and business owners about their efforts in revitalizing the Cornhusker State. If you love your small town and you're looking for ways to make it even better, or maybe you're interested in what this revitalization movement may mean for you and your family. Join us as we talk with small town Nebraskans making our state the definition of "The Good Life."

Sheila Jenkinson

00:30

GROW Nebraska helps Nebraska entrepreneurs have access to the global marketplace. Started in 1998, GROW Nebraska is an educational nonprofit that strives to help Nebraska entrepreneurs increase online visibility through social media and other platforms. They help businesses get connections that move their business forward. GROW Nebraska provides free trainings to the public every third and fourth Thursday and a Google training on the first Wednesday of the month. Find out more at grownebraska.org

Sheila Jenkinson

01:01

Get ready for the Cowtown Classic Show and Shine Car Chow on August 26 at the City Auditorium in Wisner where you can attend the mouthwatering barbecue contest, enter the cornhole tournament, bid on silent auction items, and enjoy live music from Strings Attached. The Cowtown Classic Car Show is a yearly fundraiser for those in need in the communities of Wisner and West Point. So come on out and join in the fun! Find out more at sweethomecumingcounty.com

Sheila Jenkinson

01:28

Hello everyone. We are coming to you from the Whispering Pines Bed and Breakfast in Nebraska city where today we have Doug Friedli, the executive director of the Lewis and Clark Trail Visitor Center here in Nebraska City. I have to start off with this great quote from the information that you sent us ahead of time: "My vocation was a community banker. My avocation is volunteering on community betterment project committees." You're our kind of person. So how did you get started working on the Lewis and Clark Trail Visitor Center?

Doug Friedli

01:58

So...I served on (volunteered) in addition to my job at the bank, I served on the Economic Development Corporation Board. I was chairman of that board. And along came this opportunity (to) for us to build a Visitor Center, one of the 11 major visitor centers from St. Louis to the Pacific Ocean. And our congresman brought us that idea. He said, I'll give you $3 million in federal funds. And we were hooked.

Sheila Jenkinson

02:29

What an amazing opportunity. I'm huge history buff. So the whole history part of that I just am so excited to get to go out there and see it. So it was a very expensive, huge project. So how did you do fundraising?

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