Hi there, and welcome to Sheila's shout outs, bonus content from the growing small town Nebraska podcast. My name is Sheila Jenkinson, and on these shout outs, I talked about my favorite places, spaces, foods, events, activities and more that I've discovered either while growing up in Nebraska or by traveling throughout the state.
On this episode of Sheila's shout outs, a great place to find breakfast or brunch, especially if you stay on one of their unique Airbnb properties. Find a place in Western Nebraska that's got your...well everything you need. Hear about my peer to peer with Plainview trip that I got to take, exploring my own hometown that I grew up in, and a couple of places I want to point out to you in ord Nebraska, including an old theater and a brewery with a taproom and a story.
(Music) Thank you to Stanton State Bank for sponsoring this episode. At Stanton State Bank you'll find old fashioned friendly service plus the technology to bring you the latest in banking, with locations in Stanton and Norfolk, visit Stanton State Bank today for all your banking needs. Member FDIC.,
Hopefully you've seen pictures on Facebook through the Growing Small town. Nebraska podcast of a sponsored FAM trip, that's a familiarization trip, through Explore Siouxland with a group from the Midwest Travel Network. Explore Siouxland had a crazy great itinerary planned for all of us, packed full of great things, and one of those included a tasty breakfast and coffee at Koffie Knechtion. As our group pulled in to the destination, I might have hollered a little bit, and I might have startled some of them. I'm so sorry about that, because there in front of me were two Airbnb properties that I've been wanting to stay at now for quite a while.
So when I say unique, I mean unique. I know for sure my grown kids would be pretty excited to stay in one, as it's known as the Covington Hobbitlike house. As the Airbnb description states, The Covington cottage is a unique build that some call a hobbitlike or gnome home that sits on five acres of pristine landscape that is right there next to Koffie Knechtion; and it's also right next to the other delightful stay, which is an adult tree house. Guys, it's an adult tree house in Nebraska! I've had both of these properties saved on my Airbnb wish list for quite a while. So really, I was very excited when we got there.
We weren't able to go inside these homes while we were there, but we were able to take pictures and peek inside the tree house is 18 feet in the air and nestled between two beautiful cottonwood trees, and there's a really nice lower deck, and then there's a small upper deck as well. Our Midwest Travel Network group enjoyed having our picture taken on the stairs of the treehouse; and I might have shared a laugh or two in front of The hobbitlike or gnome home house with Kim Reiner of Oh My Omaha, which, by the way, is a family travel blog as well as a podcast. So make sure you check them both out. That's Oh my Omaha.
We were able to talk to the owner Maureen Knecht while we enjoyed our breakfast. She has an amazing story to tell, and you can see that by the newspaper and magazine articles that are adorning the walls of the very lovely Koffie Knechtion. I'm hoping to interview her at some point, so I don't want to share too many of her stories on here just yet, but I don't want to stop you from taking a look on your own when you go and have your own experience there soon. It's in South Sioux City. Nebraska. Thank you so much to Explore Siouxland for making that one of our stops on our incredible sponsored trip.
(Music) Thank you to 4th Street Sweets for sponsoring this episode. For your chocolate fix or an original gift you can find 4th Street Sweets at 103 North Fourth Street in Norfolk. See their delicious treats on their Facebook page: 4th Street Sweets. Let them sweeten your day.
On my way to visit Scottsbluff County through a sponsored tourism trip, I was delighted to find Morgan's Cowpoke Haven. First, it's a long trip, and I have to be honest, I needed to stop somewhere soon. Second, because it's a fun place to spend a little time on your Western Nebraska road trip. Morgan's Cowpoke Haven is in Sheridan County, in Ellsworth Nebraska. It's a great photo op, first of all, but they also have some things that are needed for that area, including fishing, supplies, guns, knives, spices, books, tack, saddles, and then I would just say a variety of items. I don't know how else to describe it, and they do boast that their items there are American made. The area is also the home of a fantastic Western Nebraska blogger, Sandhills Prairie Girl, her pictures and words capture the beauty as well as true to life moments of what it's like to live and work on a ranch. So if you're not following her, make sure you do.
The Growing Small Town Nebraska podcast, Sheila's Shout-outs and Growing Nebraska and Beyond are brought to you by sponsors. Like what you hear? Your ad could be here. Contact Growing Small Town, Nebraska Podcast at growingsmalltownne@gmail.com for more information.
A few weeks ago, I got on a bus for a peer to peer with Plainview, middle of everywhere. By the way, Plainview is where I was raised, so it was really interesting to get on a bus with people and explore this town that my family all still calls home. So they all started out in Knox County, and then I met them at the renovated Chilvers Park in plain view. We took a tour of that. We also went to the Band Shell Park. And this trip was kind of fun for me, because I grew up there, and so I got to share some stories of my childhood there, in fact, at the bandshell park one year I remember where they made the basketball court actually an ice skating rink, and so they don't do that anymore. It was a lot of fun. The year or two that they did do that.
We had a tour of Main Street in Plainview. We visited the pharmacy, Altwine Hardware. We took a peek over at Pure Revival LLC, which is actually where I get my hair done. We went into the brand new Just Love Coffee that is there in downtown Plainview as well. We were able to see Mary's, and they talked about how that story went. And of course, I know that story. That's comfort food for me, anything from Mary's, so you'll hear me talk about them from time to time as well. We happen to see Brooke Curtis of the Plainview News while we were on our trip, so we talked to him briefly, and we also enjoyed lunch at Serendipity. I'll talk a little bit more in more detail about this trip that was taken with Nebraska Extension, Knox County Nebraska, Pierce County, Economic Development. We had the USDA Rural Development. Jordan Rasmussen was actually the one who kind of wrangled us all on this trip, and she's with Rural Prosperity Nebraska as an extension educator. Glad to meet those folks and see some of the amazing things happening in Plainview. You're going to hear more about that. That's just my little snippet of that tour, and I'll share some pictures coming up with you on Facebook and Instagram from some of those locations that we visited.
(music) Elkhorn Valley Museum located at 515 Queen City Boulevard in Norfolk Nebraska has something for everyone! Discover the history of Northeast Nebraska and more through their permanent and changing exhibits. Stay and play a while in the Children's Discovery Zone. Explore Verges Park or visit their research library. Enjoy the many events and activities throughout the year. The Elkhorn Valley Museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays 10am to 5pm, for a small admission. Members are always free. Find out more at elkhornvalleymuseum.org.
On the next regular episode of the Growing Small Town Nebraska podcast, you're going to hear from Jeff Yost and Carrie Malek-Madani of the Nebraska Community Foundation. Not only did I get a great podcast episode from them that you're going to be hearing that highlights some of the amazing things being done in revitalization efforts throughout the state, but I was also invited to join them and around 30 other incredible movers and shakers on their three day asset based community development bus tour through Northeast and North Central Nebraska. One of the locations on that bus tour was Ord, where we enjoyed a tasty lunch with a coffee moose dessert. That was crazy good, I have to add that, and that lunch was at the Golden Husk Historic Theater where cultivating a creative community is the name of the game. It's located on the square in downtown Ord. The Golden Husk is named after the beautiful acoustical walls that are actually constructed with corn husks. How cool is that? You really have to see it to appreciate it. So make sure you check out their calendar of events at goldenhuskarts.org We took a walking tour of the beautiful small town, and I'm going to showcase more of that tour on later episodes. But one of the places we did tour was Scratchtown Brewing Company, where we were greeted by one of the owners, Caleb Pollard, who is also the executive director for Valley County Economic Development, the Ord Area Chamber of Commerce and the Valley County Tourism Advisory Committee. He's another person I hope to interview soon. He spoke to us about Valley County and Ord, but he also shared some stories with us of the brewery itself, which hosts a lot of events to draw people right there into the community. Their tap room serves up a variety of beers made on location, and they don't serve food, but you're welcome to order in from other area businesses, and they also help bring food trucks into the area from time to time. I think that's super cool. No, we don't have food. Yes, you can bring it in. Come on out and enjoy the company. I think that's amazing. You can follow their Facebook page like I do see some of the fun things going on at Scratchtown. But if you really want to know the lowdown, go to ord find Caleb. He's a great storyteller and enthusiastic about building up small towns in Nebraska.
That'll do it for this episode of Sheila shoutouts. Listen next Tuesday for the launch of the next regular episode of the Growing Small Town Nebraska podcast.
The Growing Small Town Nebraska podcast can be found on Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon, Pandora, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Regular episodes come out the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Sheila's shout outs are on the first and third Tuesdays and sponsored podcast launch on select Fridays. Join me again next time as I talk with business and community leaders who are working to revitalize the Cornhusker State. Thanks for listening!
