OmahaNebraska.com Interview with Mayor Jean Stothert
Mayor Jean Stothert
Thank you very much for the interview.
Sure.
Omaha has seen significant growth under your leadership. What are your top priorities for future infrastructure?
For infrastructure, I think we’re on such a good pace right now and such good momentum that I’m still focusing on the urban core, which has very definite boundary, but then I’m concerned with suburban growth too. We just want to keep making sure that the momentum stays going. An example is 192nd and Dodge. We’re building a brand new intersection out there to make that development more easily accessible. I will say, as far as infrastructure itself, we did pass a $200 million road bond issue in May of 2020. Those bonds have been reissued several times, so already we have spent over 400 million of additional dollars since I have been mayor on our roads in Omaha. And this is not filling potholes. This is rehabilitating those roads. We want to continue with that. Just in November on the ballot, it was reissuing those road bonds again. We will continue with that. Obviously, in our oldest part of the city… is on the eastern part of the city, east of 42nd Street, and those are still always a priority because the streets are older and the infrastructure under the streets is older, so that will be our focus. Our focus will be to keep focusing on that and making sure that we are paying attention not only to the urban core, but all over Omaha.
With the Mutual of Omaha skyscraper and the streetcar project underway, what other major developments can we expect in the next five years? I know you touched upon those at the meeting.
Sure and every time we talk about the streetcar … we do talk about the development that is already occurring along the streetcar route and where the rails are. The reason development occurs along the rails is they’re permanent. Development does not occur along a bus line because you could change that route any day. So, we anticipated, and it was showed to us in the beginning by the company that we had to come and evaluate along the streetcar line that we would have $2 billion worth of development in the first 15 years. The streetcar’s already successful, and we haven’t even started building the streetcar itself. So now we predict $4 billion worth. By the end of 2024, we had $1.5 billion worth of new development along the streetcar line, and the streetcar is not even being built yet. So, it’s already successful. There’s a lot that we listed during our presentation that we know of: Mutual of Omaha; The Duo, which is Central Park Plaza. The two towers, the Old Mutual of Omaha campus at Midtown … that’s completely going to be redeveloped, but there’s a lot that I know of that we haven’t even announced yet. So, there’s a lot more on the way.
Mutual of Omaha- the old campus. Do you know what the building will be repurposed to?
I do know there’s a plan. The developer is Jason Lanoha, and he’s designing it now. Their plan is not to tear down the Old Mutual buildings, but to repurpose it and then build up a lot more around there, including their surface parking lots. So, there is a lot of development that will happen there. That was one thing we were concerned with in the beginning is if Mutual moved downtown, what would happen to their existing campus?
I remember that.
Right. And that is going to be a very big development that the planning and the design is underway. They’re not ready to announce it yet.
My office is right across from the Leahy Mall and it’s been amazing to see… so many things thriving and being so busy down there.
Oh, yeah. And downtown is … like I said, it’s the place to be, right now. But that’s why… we want to get those jobs back downtown and we want to get the residents downtown … What do you do to get young professionals to come downtown? And that’s … you give them what they want, and they want affordable housing. They want walkability. They want public transportation. They want entertainment, open spaces, parks, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. And the trend is really different. It used to be that a business would come into town, they would establish headquarters, and the people would come. It’s totally different now. You’ve got to have the people down there, and then the businesses will come because they want to make sure they have enough employees.
Omaha’s done so well with having such wonderful employment rates that [having enough employees] is a really big concern.
It’s under 2%. Our unemployment rate in Omaha is around 2%. And that’s good, but it’s a double-edged sword because everybody has a job. When you’re looking at attracting a new business, they want to make sure that there’s enough people that will be their employees, too. So, what we’re trying to do is bring the employees downtown and then the businesses will follow.
How do you balance historic preservation with new developments?
You just balance it. I mean, that’s what you do. You look at what you could preserve and what you could make better and preserve what you can, but you also look at new development. I look at new development in places that that the land is not being utilized as good as it could be. Now I look at new development in where surface parking lots are. I look at new development where an old business is almost vacant, like Omaha streetcar. It was 75% vacant, soon to be 100% vacant, and now they’re doing 707 apartments there. I look at the Civic Auditorium side of what is shovel ready … a four-square-block area. All of these are potentials, and then … but you look at other buildings that just aren’t suitable to redevelop, and you look at that for new development too. So, it’s a mix.
Are there any parts of the city that you would like someone to come forward to and develop?
Well, I think we’re really focusing on the urban core right now. But then again, I said suburban development is important, too. So, you look at 144th and Dodge, Heartland Preserve, the old Boys Town property. You look at 192nd and Dodge, where a new, huge intersection is being built – an urban intersection. Right now it’s a suburban intersection, and it won’t carry enough people for that big development out there. So, all of these areas are important. So, you go from east to west. You go from the Missouri River all the way out to the Elkhorn River.
Two questions. What message do you have for people who are considering relocating to Omaha, and what are some things people outside of Omaha don’t know about Omaha but they should?
I think Omaha is just a gem, right in the middle of the country. It’s easy to get here. We’re redoing our airport, which is going to be fabulous, but I think what I hear a lot from people is that they’ve never been here, it’s a pleasant surprise when they get here, and then they don’t want to leave. Omaha has everything a big city has. It has museums and arts and culture and entertainment venues and ball games and great hotels and great restaurants, yet it’s safe. It’s not like what you deal with when you want to travel to the East and the West Coast. It’s a very clean, safe city, and we’ve got a lot to offer. Once people get here, I think they all want to stay here, and it’s only going to keep on going.
The College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference was held this morning.
Jack Diesing
Anthony Holman
Marcus Blossom
Mayor Jean Stothert
Roger Dixon
Speakers included:
Jack Diesing, President of College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
Anthony Holman, Vice President of Championships & Alliances at NCAA
Mayor Jean Stothert, City of Omaha
Marcus Blossom, McCormick Endowed Athletic Director
Roger Dixon, President/CEO MECA
Topics included:
App is available for the CWS.
Cashless Concessions- No cash will be accepted at concessions.
Reverse ATMS- For people needing to turn cash into a card, reverse ATMS will be available.
Clear Bag Policy- Still in effect.
Paperless Tickets- Tickets will be digital. If you do not have a cell phone or computer, you will still be able to attend. Admissions will be open and you can buy your ticket there.
Food- Favorites will be returning from years past.
75 year anniversary_ It is next year not this year.
Transcript of Event by OmahaNebraska.com
Jack Diesing: So good morning, everybody. Thank you all for coming. Welcome to the greatest show on dirt. I wanted to first of all recognize some of the College World Series…my board members that are here: Herb Hames, Tarci Slaybaugh, George Wachtler, Lisa Diesing. Thank you all for coming. As president of the College World Series Omaha, Inc. I’m excited to be here leading off the start of the 74th College World Series here in Omaha, NE. Today is the…really, the culmination of the Road to Omaha Journey. Omaha has become synonymous with the Men’s College World Series, much like Louisville is synonymous with the Kentucky Derby and Augusta, GA, is synonymous with the Masters, and Indianapolis is synonymous with the Indianapolis 500.
We really are proud and privileged to be able to be integral partners with the NCAA in both the past and the successive wonderful championships that this event ends up with. So we’re really looking forward to it. And as one head baseball coach said, “There are no bad days in Omaha.”
So up here with me today are Anthony Holman, Vice President of Championships at the NCAA; Mayor of the City of Omaha, the Honorable Jean Stothert; Marcus Blossom, the McCormick Endowed Athletic Director at Creighton University, the host institution; and Roger Dixon, the CEO of Metropolitan Entertainment, Convention Authority. And all of them will make a couple of comments here in a few minutes.
Just a few other things. We really, as I said, are at the Mecca of college baseball. To be clear, it all started on a much smaller stage: typically, local community fields across the nation, and that’s why every year CWS and the NCAA provide grant money to baseball and softball programs throughout the city. The “Restore the Diamond” program is what we call it. It’s a grant program that’s been supporting the community organizations’ baseball and softball programs since 1972, and this year is no different. This year, we supported eight different fields and facilities across the Metro, surrounding areas, and over the course of time from 1972 we’ve contributed about $5.3 million to these organizations to give something back to baseball and softball in the community, and that’s not to mention some of the larger contributions we’ve been involved with… with the UNO baseball field and soon to be Creighton baseball field, both of which are serving as practice fields for this wonderful event.
Finally, I do want to say—and I hate to use the word announce, but I’ll use it and know I’ll get in trouble for doing that, but we’re going to be celebrating the … College World Series 75th anniversary here in Omaha, but not this year. We missed a year. So this is the 74th of like, old Tom should tell…. He’s a hard guy to get rid of. And I kept telling this was the deal, and he said, “No, they want to do a story anyway,” so… but as part of this process, the planning is going to almost be a year-long process, and you all will be getting more information about this what will be taking place in the coming weeks following this year’s College World Series. So our partners will share a little bit more about what else is happening this year. And now it’s my pleasure to introduce Anthony Holman, the Vice President of Championships at the NCAA…Anthony.
Anthony Holman: Okay, I’ve got a few notes here, and I’ve got to change my glasses because I’m getting older and I couldn’t hit the slider before. They didn’t know that I needed glasses. I’d tell my parents I’d be in the big leagues if only they’d got me glasses earlier.
Jack was so kind to talk about the 75th anniversary that’s coming up and what the College World Series is synonymous with. I get so many calls, emails, text messages from folks that this is a bucket list type of event for them, just like Jack was saying for the Derby and the Masters and other events like that. And part of the reason why that is… it’s not just the location, it’s the people, it’s the community, that’s embraced and taken ownership in those events. And that’s certainly what we have here in Omaha. We’re so thankful for that. So we really appreciate all the support that we continue to get.
So a couple of things that are coming up with the championship. I think everybody… hopefully you’ve seen that the teams that are going to be here, we’ve got a number of institutions that are back for returners, some who were here more recently. We’ve got one that’s making their first appearance, but we’re excited to have Tennessee here for their seventh time; Kentucky is here for their first time. The Aggies of Texas A&M, making their eighth appearance. North Carolina, in for their twelfth appearance. They’re so excited they came yesterday, so we’re excited to have them. Florida State, making their 24th appearance, and the last time they were here was in 2019. And then both Virginia and Florida were both here in 2023, so we’re excited to have them back, and then NC State, excited to have them back, and I’m sure we’ll get questions about the last time that they were here.
But we’re just excited that… how resilient all of the teams are, and the opportunities that they come. There’s been so much talk, and I’m sure you guys are paying attention to it. So we’re not going to ignore the elephant in the room about what’s going on with name, image, and likeness and student athletes as employees and all those types of things. I’ll guarantee you nobody will be talking about that on the field here this weekend, right? Those…the excitement you’ll see from these young men in competing will mirror what you’ll see in August at the Little League World Series, where they’re playing for the enjoyment and the love of the game. And that’s what we want to celebrate over the next two weeks, so we’re excited about that.
A couple of announcements about our fan fest. We’re excited that our fan fest will continue to be available and open at 11:00 tomorrow and then it will be open on each of the days of competition. There’s a number of additional activities that that we would encourage folks to take part in. Thanks to our friends at MECA for helping us secure additional space to add some additional items and activities for our fans to take part in out there, so we’re really excited about that. Our partners, Capital One, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Buick, Great Clips, Rawlings are all returning with baseball activities, photo ops, giveaways, prizes, tons of activities. So we encourage everyone, even if you don’t have tickets, come on down and check that out for sure.
And we’re never sold out. There are always tickets. We don’t say that “sold out” word. Come on down; there’s something for everybody. And one of the other… last things that I’ve wanted to talk about was that we’ll also be inducting our fourth ever College World Series All Star, recognizing outstanding contributions to this wonderful event. And I’m so thrilled and excited that this year we’ll be recognizing one of my mentors and good friend Dennis Pope. And many of you know Denny, who was so integral in the development and the growth of this championship for a number of years for… both in attendance and exposure, and even bracket expansion. We were… folks won’t remember, not everybody remembers, but this was 48 teams for a long time and it went to 64 and Denny helped to usher that in. So we’re excited to have him and Donna and his family here to recognize them during the series, so please come out and help us thank him for his support.
And then the last thing is that if you if you want to stay up to date and in the know on all of the Men’s College World Series games, news, and happenings at the stadium, we encourage fans to download our Men’s College World Series app. My social media and communication team was all over me to make sure I got a plug in for that. So download the app. Plenty of information and activities to follow through that app. So we really appreciate that.
Thank you again, Omaha, for all the continued support and excitement that that we have. Folks come here in droves for a number of reasons. We’ve got tons of people who make this an annual trip and others that it’s a bucket list item for them and they can’t wait to get here. So thank you for your continued support. And we look forward to another great Series. So now I’ll ask our Honorable Mayor Jean Stothert to come up and provide a few remarks.
Mayor Jean Stothert: Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Anthony. I’ll take my sunglasses off. I don’t need reading glasses like you do, and I believe I’m a little bit older than you. But you know, just a few months. But it’s so good to be back at Charles Schwab Stadium, and we are very, very proud to be the host once again of this of the Men’s College World Series. And just thank goodness you don’t ask me to do the first pitch. I did that once at a Storm Chaser game, and I’ll never do that again. That was quite embarrassing. But again, thank you to all of our partners, the NCAA College World Series, Omaha and Creighton University, and of course… back up, the College World Series again brings great athletic competition to Omaha and thousands and thousands of visitors. It also brings Omaha together to make the next two weeks a great success that grows even bigger and better every single year, and we are ready for another record-breaking series.
This year, fans, families, and teams can visit the Heartland of America Park at Lewis and Clark Landing for the first time. It just opened last year, August 18th, and they will have a real treat walking through our new parks. The riverfront parks have exceeded all of our expectations. More than two million people have visited the parks for family movie nights, concerts, live theater, fireworks festival, walking their dogs, and special events. And so it will be a real treat for our fans this year too.
And next year. our fans can use the Baby Bob pedestrian bridge to walk from 10th Street to the Bob Kerrey Bridge and then cross over to Iowa. So those people in Council Bluffs can walk from Council Bluffs all the way to the ballpark, and that should be done later this year, this fall, and it’s another way that we are improving connections to all of our downtown events and venues, and it’s great to be downtown right now.
I would also like to thank the Men’s College World Series for supporting our community. One example of this is their continued support of the Readers Become Leaders program, which I love. Each year the College World Series of Omaha, Inc, and the NCAA partner with our schools to encourage enthusiasm for academics. This year, they partnered with 65 Omaha public schools, 3,700 third-graders, to help increase their reading proficiency. Students received incentives to read and complete reports on books. They earned prizes for their participation, including the opportunity to attend, of course, a College World Series game. Young readers completed more than 30,000 book reports, and that’s really great. Next Monday night, we will recognize Saddlebrook Elementary as the winning school. Thank you for supporting programs that teach young people about leadership and the importance of academics. I look forward to welcoming the student athletes tomorrow night at the opening ceremony and the opening games then on Friday. It’s going to be a good week. I wish I could guarantee good weather, but I can’t. But hopefully we’ll have good enough weather during the whole season this year. So now I am very, very pleased to introduce Creighton University Athletic Director Marcus Blossom. Marcus.
Marcus Blossom: Anthony talked about expansion. You get 88 in there… I think we earn that in there this year. We could talk about that a little bit later, but I do want to start by thanking Anthony and Randy and the rest of the NCAA staff. They do a great job. I happened to work with these two guys when I was at the national office, and it is a lot of work. They work tirelessly throughout the year to make sure we put on a very, very special event. Like the great game of baseball, Creighton University is full of cherished traditions and one of our most favorite traditions is having the honor and privilege of being the host institution for this special event, the Men’s College World Series. I speak for all Bluejays when I say how proud Creighton is to be partners with CWS of Omaha and the NCAA. On behalf of our vibrant community, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our President, the Reverend Daniel S. Hendrickson of the Society of Jesus; the entire Creighton Community; baseball head coach Ed Servais; and our dedicated athletic department, who spends tireless amounts of hours helping CWS Omaha and the NCAA put on this great event. Their efforts behind the scenes for the Men’s College World Series are definitely immeasurable. I do want to also acknowledge…I know she’s on the board of MECA, but she’s also our new chair of the board at Creighton, Miss Diane Duran. She helps a lot to bring this event to Omaha and she’s a big partner of Creighton University as well.
And now I have the pleasure of introducing one of the real big partners of Creighton and the one and only President of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, Roger Dixon.
Roger Dixon: Well, Diane, he introduced you, so welcome and thank you for your support. And on behalf of MECA, our extensive team of events staff, baseball management, we are proud to welcome everyone back to Charles Schwab Field. We are thrilled to be entering our 13th year as the home of the Men’s College World Series. Above all else, we are focused on creating an atmosphere here that gives fan baseball fans from far and wide a seamless experience, and that starts with hard-working staff months before the first pitch is even thrown. We are also dedicated to making the guest experience feel new and exciting every year. With the help of our talented and creative concessionaire at Levy, we are once again featuring a menu that caters and customs to the Men’s College World Series. These signature creations will be available to taste following today’s news conference, so make sure you stick around for a preview of this year’s menu.
Aside from the fun food, we want to make sure all our guests are prepared for what our venue has to offer. As a reminder, Charles Schwab Field is a cash-free environment. Only digital or card payments will be accepted throughout the building, including in our concession stands. We have multiple cash machines on site that function as a reverse ATM which will disburse a VISA gift card equal to the amount of cash deposited. Also, the stadium is digital enter only, meaning tickets must be downloaded in advance and then scanned right from the phone. Our box office staff is standing by to help anyone who needs assistance with this process.
Like every year, safety is a top priority for MECA during the Men’s College World Series. Our clear bag policy remains in place. Additionally, each visitor who walks through our doors must undergo a screening process, which will again include walk-through metal detectors at each of our gates to both enhance and expedite the entry.
We also want to remind the public that our guest service desk is available via text message for any issues or concerns that arise during the game. Simply text Omaha space your issue and location to 69050, and we will dispatch the appropriate assistance. However, it is important if you see something that requires immediate attention, never hesitate to alert a nearby MECA staff member or on-site law enforcement. We are thankful to have a productive partnership with Omaha police to ensure this event goes without a hitch. We are looking forward to another fun, exciting, and safe Men’s College World Series and our confident everyone’s visit to Charles Schwab Field will be the best one. Thank you.
Jack Diesing: Well, thank you to Anthony. Thank you to the mayor. Thank you, Marcus, and thank you, Roger, and also thank all of you in the press and everyone else for being here to help lead off the start of the 74th College World Series here in Omaha, Nebraska. Feel free after this is over to ask questions of anybody that you want to, or if you prefer to just go have food, feel free to go do that. And as we said, Omaha is synonymous with the Men’s College World Series, so it’s about time to… let’s go play some baseball, okay? Thank you all for coming.
2024
Please check out our posts on the College World Series and share!
Thank you to the Mayor for the interview for this Omaha event.
Mayor Jean Stothert
There’s been so much amazing development in the area.
Right.
It has to feel great to have so much done.
Yes, it does.
I know there’s too many lists of favorites but what are some things you are hoping people will check out when they come to the College World Series?
You know, since the teams and their families stay in hotels around downtown. First of all, it was devastating a couple of years ago because of COVID when it was canceled, and people didn’t get to come to the College World Series. Last year, we had record breaking crowds, because people were so happy it started up again. Last year, the Gene Leahy Mall looked pretty, but you couldn’t go in it. It wasn’t open yet.
This year, it’s open. Kids can go in there and run around and play and play in the great play structure there. There’s events that are going on in the Gene Leahy Mall every day if they want to go and do some yoga or whatever. They could see what the other parks are going to look like because they’re getting done. They’ll open up in August. We have the new Steelhouse downtown, the music venue where the players are going to be tomorrow night. We have the Luminarium Now it’s open, the new museum that’s down on the riverfront. Just so much has happened in this downtown area within walking distance of the stadium. So, I think people are going to really be – those that are coming back. They’ve been here before are going to see a big change. And I think those that are here for the first time in many years are pretty much going to be astounded at what downtown Omaha looks like.
I can’t even fathom how many things have happened in so short a period of time.
Yes, especially because of COVID. You know, because a lot of cities everything shut down which we shut down a lot. But development shutdown to, but it really didn’t here. And you know, the Gene Leahy Mall just kept on right on track, right on schedule, all during COVID because the money has already been raised you know, and so they were on top of it. So, it was, it’s really good that downtown has progressed so much, so quickly. A lot more housing downtown now than there was before. You know, the first phase of the Mercantile which is down, which is on the old Con Agra campus that’s open now there’s a nice lap out there. People can walk around. So that’s going to be a real fun experience for people to see what’s going on.
What’s next on the horizon for development?
Well, I would say the one that I have been working with for a long time and I’m glad to see that construction will start is number one, that Civic Auditorium site which we own that site, and we had the old Civic Auditorium and you know, it was beyond its usefulness anymore. We had it demoed several years ago.
We do have a development that will start developing this summer, and then Crossroads, which is 72nd Dodge. And that is something we’ve been working on for years and years and years and that is underway too.
So, and then, we have all the way out west on 144th and Dodge. We have Heartwood Preserve. That is a big development that Applied Underwriters is doing, but that’s just like going like gangbusters too. So, we have them all over Omaha. We have a Downtown, Midtown, all the way. And then of course, I can’t wait. We can see it started coming out of the ground, but the new Mutual of Omaha tower downtown, and that’s underway too. So all of that is going on right now.
It’s really amazing.
Yeah, yeah.
Thank you for all your hard work.
Absolutely. It’s a thrill to see it become a reality.
The College World Series Pre-Game Press Conference was held this morning, virtually, on 16 June on Zoom.
Speakers included:
Jack Diesing, President of College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
Anthony Holman, NCAA Managing Director, Championships and Alliances, Operations and Playing Rules
Mayor Jean Stothert, City of Omaha
Diane Duren, Chairwoman of MECA Board of Directors
Jack Diesing, President of College World Series of Omaha, Inc.
Anthony Holman, NCAA Managing Director, Championships and Alliances, Operations and Playing Rules
Mayor Jean Stothert
Diane Duren, Chairwoman of MECA Board of Directors
Topics included:
New App-New app is available for the CWS. Please see the below for more details.
Cashless Concessions- No cash will be accepted at concessions.
Reverse ATMS- For people needing to turn cash into a card, reverse ATMS will be available.
Paperless Tickets- Tickets will be digital. If you do not have a cell phone or computer, you will still be able to attend. Admissions will be open and you can buy your ticket there.
Food- Favorites will be returning from years past.
Fans and Players-No interactions between the fans and players this year.
I would like to invite you to the Medal of Honor Wall Dedication Ceremony on Saturday, 2pm at Heartland of America Park. Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Gomez went to Central, Miguel Keith to North High. They have schools, streets and/or parks named after them in South Omaha.
Echo Taps will be played by music teacher Kim Ingraham of Bryan High School who is part of Bugles Across of America playing at many of our 9/11, Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day services. She will be joined by her sister Carly. JROTC Cadets will carry 27 American Flags to honor our 27 names on the wall. Singing the National Anthem will be music teacher Tatiana Eskridge from OPS Mount View. Benson JROTC will provide the Color Guard.
Along with dignitaries listed below, I am excited to host the families of three Medal of Honor recipients. Dale Hansen’s brother from Wisner, Nebraska is bringing the Medal of Honor to place on display. Dale’s nephew Tom is rounding up as much of the family as possible to be on hand to honor his uncle. Mary Easley is the aunt of Miguel Keith. She is bringing Miguel’s Medals with her along with photos. She is hoping his cousins from Kansas City make it as well. Ed ‘Babe’ Gomez will be represented by Crystal Keele-Zimmermann who will be on hand to share the legacy of Babe.
Joining the event will be local Veteran’s groups to include the American Legion, Veteran’s of Foreign Wars, Gold Star families, and Honor & Remember families. Randy Zahn and Heartland Airborne Association has spent 8 years planning this monument and raising the nearly $12,000 for the granite work by JF Bloom.
This is JROTC 100th Anniversary, as part of our community service we raised $5,000 in funds to see this project to completion. Please join us as we honor the sacrifice of our fallen.
Planned program includes:
My Country ‘Tis of Thee sung by Sarpy Serenaders Barbershop Chorus
Welcome- LTC (Ret) Michael DeBolt, Omaha Public Schools Military Science Department
Presentation of the Colors (Benson High School Color Guard)
National Anthem sung by Tatiana Eskridge (Mount View Elementary)
Invocation – Heartland Airborne Chaplain Arnold Teachout
Senator Tommy Garrett remarks
God Bless America sung Sarpy Serenaders Barbershop Chorus
Keynote- BG (Ret) Don Bacon
Congressman Brad Ashford – Dedication of Wall
Unveiling of wall with assistance by Dale Hansen Family, Miguel Keith Family and Babe Gomez Family
Gun Salute Benson Post 2503
Echo Taps Kimberly and Carly Ingraham (Bryan High School/Westside High School)
Mayor Jean Stothert remarks (Omaha)
Mayor Matt Walsh remarks ( Council Bluffs)
Benediction – Heartland Airborne Chaplain Arnold Teachout
LTC (Ret) Michael DeBolt – Retire the Colors
Service Medley Song sung Sarpy Serenaders Barbershop Chorus
Medal of Honor Wall Dedication
November 5, 2016
Heartland of America Park
800 Douglas Street
2 pm
