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."
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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?
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.
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?
So was so the $3 million that Congressman Bereuter promised us evaporated.
Oh, it didn't materialize? Oh, no.
Oh yeah! I know. So by that time, we had spent a couple of years of getting into the story going to other visitor centers, tending Lewis and Clark events across the nation. Everyone was preparing for the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark. So we're totally hooked, you know? So we said, well, we'll just do it ourselves. So we ended up raising seven and a half million dollars to build a facility. And with the goal (according to) and our congressman backed it up, we will not be part of the National Park Service. We will not be. We will be independent. One of the few of the 11 that are independent, equal adage.
Wow.
Wow. Wow. Yeah.
Yeah, as we talk with people around the state, one of the themes we just continue to hear is that you have to have a good team to be able to accomplish anything in a small town. So tell us about your team that you had helping to put this together.
Yes, we had a great team, led by Nancy Hoch, who was the late Nancy Koch, but she was instrumental in so many things in Nebraska City, economic development-wise, but also tourism-wise. You know, she she brought the trolleys to Nebraska City.
We just saw one last night!
Ha. We were eating at El Portal?
El Portal.
El Portal, yes. And I said, "Is that a trolley that just pulled up?" And sure enough, there it was.
Yeah. Nancy was just so instrumental in doing things. The Morton James Public Library, she totally revamped that. The Museum Association, she found a way to hire a museum coordinator. We have nine museums here and they're run by volunteers. Boy, that's a tall task, you know, so, museum, the coordinator that Nancy helped get hired, is really instrumental in bringing all those up to code.
And that's what it takes is just one or two people can make such a huge difference. And then getting others to come alongside to help take the load and, and get things done. It's really a fascinating to see.
It takes a team, you know? And I always talk about four personality to a team. Yeah. And it's like Wizard of Oz.
(Laughing.)
All right, talk to us.
You ready?
Yep.
You've got the visionary. That's Dorothy. Right, somewhere over the rainbow. This person is thinking on a whole big level, you know. And then you have to have people supporting. You've got the tin man, you know, who has a big heart who is able to talk heart to heart to people. You've got the Scarecrow, a numbers guy, very analytical. And then you've got the lion, a taskmaster who keeps everyone on the trail, bravely. And so it's a beautiful thing when you see all elements. So we had those with the Lewis and Clark project.
So you're sitting here with us now and we really want to hear the inside scoop about the visitor center. Tell us about it. What can families expect when they visit the visitor center?
Yeah, it's interesting, because we have so many, a wide variety of visitors. Some know all about Lewis and Clark. That's why they're there. Others have no clue. They stop because they see this building up on the hill. They're curious.
Oh that's fun!
And it's their first step into Nebraska. This is the first time they've ever been to our state, and so they don't even know what to expect, you know. And they come in and they look out the window and they see the trails. Others come for the trails, you know, we have several trails. Others come for field trips, we have lots of educational field trips.
Oh, I bet!
Yeah.
And so every day, depending on who walks in the door, we have a new conversation. And for us, that's really exciting.
Yeah. So there's a lot of flora and fauna.
Flora and fauna is our theme. So plants and animals that Lewis Clark discovered...well, quotation marks discovered, because Native Americans, but about 310 animals, noted in journals new to Western science, we chose that well, because we're the home of Arbor Day...Nebraska City. So the trees for fit right into that. And also, we were late to the sea. And so other centers have already been built and picked their themes. But for us, the plants and animals are a natural.
So is there a cost to attend the center?
Yes, $8 for adults, and then we have discounts for senior citizens, military, students, kids under five get in free.
These are like videos, or are there pictures of all the flora and fauna. I mean, we're going to visit so we're going to take lots of pictures, but just for families who may want to be attending. What kinds of things could they show their kids while they're there?
Right. So we have a full sized bison.
Wow.
A stuffed bison upstairs. And that's an interesting story of how that came to be.
Yep, we have we have to hear about it now.
We also have a full sized grizzly Bear, a black bear, and all these elk, and these kinds of things. And then we have pictures of all plants and animals in one way or another. Anything.
Amazing.
Yeah. And it's a lot of hands on activities.
That's great learning.
I hated history when I was a kid. I hated memorizing those dates.
Dates, yeah.
But when I can interact when I can touch and feel, and especially if it's a reenactor...you have a first person account.
Oh, yeah, that's so fun! It's the stories!
Yeah.
That's what history is supposed to be. Is it's supposed to be the stories.
And I'm the same kind of learner. You know, if you just are going to talk at me from...I mean, if you're animated, fine...but otherwise, it's the hands on. (That) That's the way to take it all in, for sure.
Yeah.
You've got to tell us about the buffalo.
Okay, so our architect. And by the way, we have a great partnership with the National Park Service, even though we're independent. And our architect was with Park National Park Service, and I'll shave how you the pictures he's painted. I mean, he's talented. One day he came he said, "Doug, we've got this empty space up here upstairs. How would you like to have a bison?" I said, "A bison?" "My friend shot one and had stuffed. It's been in the basement."
His wife's like, "Get it out!"
(Laughing.)
You knew it. You knew it.
She was tired of dusting around it. Same thing happened with the grizzly bear. Full Size grizzly bear came from Alaska. The guy had it in his basement, you know, a trophy, and his wife said, "Nah."
(Laughing.)
Yeah. No, that's funny.
Funny.
I feel like I know that guy. Yeah. So yeah, there was there was a man from Columbus who shot a grizzly bear in Alaska like that had it stuffed and I remember asking him, "So (it) was that bear like drinking from the watering hole?" He was like, "Oh, very funny." "Yeah, but was it?" Anyway...
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So what other fun stories do you have about the Center. Either in the building up of it or just what you've seen?
Well, the visitors (there's) there's fun stories that happen every day. One that came to mind that was of a man and his two children, bicycling across the trail. Okay, so they left St. Louis they're gonna bicycle 4000 miles to the Pacific Ocean. It's...
That's a long trip!
It was in June, about this time of year.
Oof.
The boy, the son, was like 10 years old, pedaling his own bicycle.
Goodness.
And the daughter was riding behind in a two wheeled car. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.
Yeah. Yeah.
And so we learned that the son, the year before, had bicycled all the way around the island of Japan. TThe youngest person to ever do that.
Wow. What a story!
You got to meet them and visit!
Of course, he had a blog and I was following that...cutest thing. When they got up into the foothills of the Rockies and they're going up the incline at a low speed.
(Laughing.) Oh...aww...
The little girl says, "Daddy, can't you pedal a little faster?"
Right? (Laughing.)
He says, "Honey, I'm trying." "Well, a butterfly just passed us!"
(Laughing.) Awww....isn't that hysterical?
Beat by a butterfly, that's a terrible thing.
We see people walking the trail. You see people...we're seeing cars, buses, all kinds of transportation.
That's wonderful.
And one of them. We didn't know what to think. Here comes these people up the walk and the woman is dressed like Little Red Riding Hood.
Well, it takes all kinds.
The man is dressed like the Big Bad Wolf.
Oh my. (Laughing.) You never know what...
Oh....are they on something...some kind of special flora...
(Laughing.)
But, they were nice people. And they said, "Yeah, this is the way we bring attention, not only to us, but to our mission."
Oh funny.
And they walked the trail.
Well, there you go.
There you go.
I'm gonna be looking that up. Okay.
So is there anything else that you would like to share about the visitor center? And, their mission here?
Well, we have some "wish we would haves."
Yes.
And that was...and we knew better...Nancy and I knew better than to open it up without an endowment without sustainability. But, we were so anxious to get started for the bicentennial. We opened almost to the day when Lewis and Clark camped.
Right here? Oh fun.
Right. But we needed to raise that other $3 million to the endowment. But we'll we'll do it later. Now we knew better. Once your capital campaign is done. It's hard. So so that's a what if wish we would have waited it out.
So how do you do that? You said you have a lot of fundraising.
And, so that's my job; fundraising, writing grants. And we do have a lot of support. And now we're trying to get up to that national...
Level, yeah.
Because it is a national park.
It is, yeah.
Yeah!
Lewis and Clark really changed the way we look at...and the maps that they drew, they were just something that had never been done. And it's an inspiring story.
It is very. So, you've seen economic impact on the rest of Nebraska City just from your visitor center.
Oh, absolutely. Because like I said, we get people that stopped here that what else? They would have just kept driving on, right? But they stop in Nebraska City. And then we do our little sales pitches, all the way things that are to see here locally, as well as Southeast Nebraska and the rest of Nebraska. We always ask them which way...what's their final destination. And then from that, help them enjoy the rest of our state.
That's wonderful.
And now, we're now at a state Visitor Center, through Nebraska Tourism.
Ooh!
We are one of the 12 official visitor centers in Nebraska.
That's really helps as well.
So that helps.
Yeah.
We have all kinds of brochures, you know, that help direct traffic.
Well, Doug, so...I'm gonna video this, just so you know.
(Laughing.)
We always ask one final question: Doug, what do you love about living in small town, Nebraska?
The people.
(Chuckles.)
I'm sure you hear that everywhere. But, it's a family. And people are so caring and supportive. And I've lived in small towns all my life in Nebraska...had opportunities to live elsewhere...tried that and, and we hated it. Being close to family, as well as friends. That's priceless. And it's worth giving up some other things that...we don't see mountains, you know, we don't see ocean beaches, although we go to vacation there.
Yeah.
This is home.
Yeah.
Fantastic. Thank you for that great interview. I love that you're a storyteller, you know, and we just appreciate you being on the podcast with us today.
Well, thank you, and I appreciate your mission...capturing stories like this one. I'm anxious to hear the rest of them.
Oh, thanks!
That's great! Thank you!
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