[McBain II]

Once again, I would like to get a little more discussion and activity going on this forum, so I thought we could start a thread where we could share some memories of our time in Omaha. Feel free to talk about anything, as long as it has something to do with, or took place in Omaha!

I'll go first and share a couple...

When we lived in Omaha, my mom was an AT&T operator at the downtown location. One morning, when I was about 4 or 5 years old maybe, I rode along with my dad when he drove her to work, and sitting in a parking lot about 2 blocks from the AT&T building was an old Sikorsky helicopter. This was exceptionally cool to me, as I had always been a helicopter enthusiast. This helicopter was here because one of the taller buildings was having a roof mounted AC unit replaced, and helicopter is the easiest way to do so. Anyways, my dad pulled into the lot and the pilots were nice enough to let my wide eyed self crawl all over their helicopter before they went off to work. That is something that has always stuck with me.

Speaking of helicopters, I was also fortunate enough to have parents who took me up to St. Joesph's Hospital (now Creighton Med) to visit with the LifeFlight guys. I was on a first name basis with several of the pilots and they gave me cool thinks like flight suit patches and things like that.

Another memory I have is seeing my first "new" Mustang in Omaha, just right outside Carter Lake. If we have any car guys (or girls) here, they might remember that for the 1994, Ford gave the Mustang it's first major redesign since 1979, and the car was very exotic looking for that time. I was playing peewee football up at Power Park during this time, and one day going to practice my dad and I saw a brand new, 1994 Mustang GT, black with the black leather interior. I remember at the time thinking it was a Ferrari or some other high end sports car, and was quite surprised to learn it was actually a Ford. I bought one for myself just before my 18th birthday, a white 94 GT with a 5 speed and the black interior. I still own it today.

I'll post some more later, but look forward to reading posts from others in the meantime!

[laserdisque]

One memory I have is getting this thing from DARE when I was in sixth or seventh grade that gave you one free game of bowling per day at Skylanes. I remember walking from my house on 35th and Leavenworth with my buddy to the center mall through Field Club, which is where we would sled, messing around. I just loved the fact that the Center had a bowling ally in it on the top floor. This is the place where I bowled my high score of 130-something. Bowling legend.

[TheBeagleLady]

I miss Aksarben.

I have some great memories of that place!

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by laserdisque

One memory I have is getting this thing from DARE when I was in sixth or seventh grade that gave you one free game of bowling per day at Skylanes. I remember walking from my house on 35th and Leavenworth with my buddy to the center mall through Field Club, which is where we would sled, messing around. I just loved the fact that the Center had a bowling ally in it on the top floor. This is the place where I bowled my high score of 130-something. Bowling legend.

I remember that bowling alley. It was kind of interesting having it up on the upper level. I always thought the Center Mall had a certain bit of charm to it.

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by TheBeagleLady

I miss Aksarben.

I have some great memories of that place!

As do I. I was only born in 1986, so by the time I was old enough to really remember anything, Aksarben was on its last legs. That said, I do remember going there with my mom and grandma to see the Sesame Street tour. That had to be in late 1990 or very early 1991, as my grandma died in February 91 and that was one of the last memories I have of her. I also remember going there in 93 and 94 for the Fire Safety days. Those were alot of fun.

[DOUBLE H]

Out of stater who visits friends in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area weighing in here!

Third weekend of October-1997.

I'm used to snow. Lots of it! I live in western Colorado and have done many a drive in blizzards. Somehow, I don't/can't think of blizzards when talking Omaha in mid-October. Yet it happened in 1997. I was in the area visiting the owner of Kanesville Kollectibles in Council Bluffs and planned on doing his music swap meet show at the Frefighters Hall (later called Radial Social hall). That Sunday morning anywhere from one to two feet of snow fell in the Omaha area. I stayed in town for an extra couple days basically because there was nothing available road wise to get out of the area.

Finally I-29 opened up and I drove to Kansas City to visit a high school buddy. Imagine my surprise when I run out of snow by the time I get to Nebraska City! From Nebraska City all the way to Kansas City there was no snow at all. Three days later I returned home. Going west on Interstate 70 I finally ran into snow on the ground by the time I got to Oakley. Colby is where it was 6 inches high. Goodland is where it was a foot high. At the Colorado border all road signs were covered with 6 to 8 ft. snowdrifts. And it was a mess all the way to Denver.

I'd never seen so many tree branches lying on power lines as I did that day in Omaha. What a mess!

[smithy77]

I was born in Omaha in 1953 and lived there until 1972, when I went away to college. One of my most vivid memories was meeting Bobby Kennedy on May 13, 1968 in downtown Omaha when he visited his campaign headquarters----it was an unscheduled stop and I was there just to pick up a button. He went out of his way to say hello to me; I was probably the youngest person in the room. He remarkably won the Nebraska primary the following tuesday as a 'write-in' candidate (he announced his candidacy too late to get his name on the ballot). Three weeks later he was assassinated. I still have the button and an autographed poster with his image on it. The Old Market was just getting off the ground back then. It was hippie central, so I had to sneak down there without telling my parents (most parents of teenage kids wouldn't let them venture down there until the mid-70's or so----too many "bad" influences). I thought it was a magical place back then.

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

Out of stater who visits friends in the Omaha/Council Bluffs area weighing in here!

Third weekend of October-1997.

I'm used to snow. Lots of it! I live in western Colorado and have done many a drive in blizzards. Somehow, I don't/can't think of blizzards when talking Omaha in mid-October. Yet it happened in 1997. I was in the area visiting the owner of Kanesville Kollectibles in Council Bluffs and planned on doing his music swap meet show at the Frefighters Hall (later called Radial Social hall). That Sunday morning anywhere from one to two feet of snow fell in the Omaha area. I stayed in town for an extra couple days basically because there was nothing available road wise to get out of the area.

Finally I-29 opened up and I drove to Kansas City to visit a high school buddy. Imagine my surprise when I run out of snow by the time I get to Nebraska City! From Nebraska City all the way to Kansas City there was no snow at all. Three days later I returned home. Going west on Interstate 70 I finally ran into snow on the ground by the time I got to Oakley. Colby is where it was 6 inches high. Goodland is where it was a foot high. At the Colorado border all road signs were covered with 6 to 8 ft. snowdrifts. And it was a mess all the way to Denver.

I'd never seen so many tree branches lying on power lines as I did that day in Omaha. What a mess!

That was one hell of a storm. When that happened, we had moved over to the east side of Council Bluffs and lived up on a bluff in a neighborhood with only three other houses on a private road about a quarter of a mile long. I remember waking up before sunrise because I was freezing my ass off and realized all the power was out. My dad and I went outside and it sounded like a war was going on with all the tree branches breaking. The tough part of that was that since we lived on a private road, we had to clear all the fallen trees ourselves. It took a day just to clear a path small enough to make the road accessible and about two weeks to completely clear everything out.

[McBain II]

Originally Posted by smithy77

I was born in Omaha in 1953 and lived there until 1972, when I went away to college. One of my most vivid memories was meeting Bobby Kennedy on May 13, 1968 in downtown Omaha when he visited his campaign headquarters----it was an unscheduled stop and I was there just to pick up a button. He went out of his way to say hello to me; I was probably the youngest person in the room. He remarkably won the Nebraska primary the following tuesday as a 'write-in' candidate (he announced his candidacy too late to get his name on the ballot). Three weeks later he was assassinated. I still have the button and an autographed poster with his image on it. The Old Market was just getting off the ground back then. It was hippie central, so I had to sneak down there without telling my parents (most parents of teenage kids wouldn't let them venture down there until the mid-70's or so----too many "bad" influences). I thought it was a magical place back then.

Wow! That's pretty cool! Thanks for sharing.

[bprusty33]

personally one of my favorite memories when I was a little kid is when they had moby dick waterslides right off of the interstate......I used to go their all the time!!!!