Site: Cottage Parry Rental Sound

This section looks to cover Nebraska railroad museums found within the state. While the state is not home to many museums it does host a few which have at least some kind of a railroad display and/or exhibits. These include the Durham Western Heritage Museum, Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, and the Trail & Rails Museum. For more information about Nebraska railroad museums and traveling/vacationing in the state please click here.

Nebraska railroads can somewhat be compared to the aviation term “flyover country,” in that the state sees plenty of through trains heading to either Chicago or the West Coast. The term, however, is in no way meant to be demeaning to Cornhuskers as one can witness quite a parade and variety of trains hitting 70 mph on their way east or west with their only stop a quick refueling at places like Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte. All in all, Nebraska railroads are best known for traveling through flat, open country, lots of trains, plenty of grain, the Union Pacific, and long drags of coal heading east from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

Nebraska railroads date back to 1862 when the Pacific Railroad Act allowed for construction to begin on the Transcontinental Railroad, with the Union Pacific heading west from Omaha (and the Central Pacific building eastward from Sacramento, California), which remains the railroad’s headquarters to this day. Along with the Union Pacific Nebraska would be home to a number of other well known railroads such as the Rock Island, Chicago & North Western, the Milwaukee Road, Missouri Pacific, Illinois Central and the Santa Fe (which had a line that reached into extreme southern Nebraska at Superior).

Nebraska Railroad Museums

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jitterbugs - Apr 23, 2010

www.jitterbugs.org

 

THIS WEEK IN SWING - April 23, 2010

Tonight - UNO Big Band live at Jitterbug’s Night Out!! Proceeds to benefit the UNO band department. $10, no passes!

Free dancing to great live music this Saturday at the Durham Western Heritage Museum: Street Railway Band at 11am and the Sing Sing Swing Orchestra at 1pm! Just say you’re dancing with Omaha Jitterbugs at the front door for admission!

 

UPCOMING NOTABLE EVENTS

4/23 - UNO Big Band night at JNO

4/24 - Jazz Jam at the Durham Western Heritage Museum (live music.)

5/09 - Lindy in the Park begins.

5/15 - Eagles Clean-up Party

6/19 - Papillion Days Parade

7/02 - Yankee Doodle Dandy Night at JNO.

7/04 - Ralston 4th of July Parade.

8/12 - Dancing at Joslyn Art Museum

9/16-20 - The Eighth Annual Cowtown Jamborama

12/17 - JNO Holiday Party

12/24 - NO JNO for Chirstmas Eve

12/32 - New Years Party

 

DANCES and SHOWS

Friday 4/23- Jitterbugs Night Out featuring the UNO Big Band - Eagles Ballroom, 24th and Douglas. Beginning lesson at 8:00; open dancing starts at 8:30, live music at 8:45. $10, no passes. Portion of proceeds to benefit the UNO band department.

Saturday 4/24 - Jazz Jam at the Durham Western Museum - 10th Street, south of the Old Market. Live music all day, featuring dance-ready sounds from Street Railway at 11am and Sing Sing Swing at 1pm. Free; mention Omaha Jitterbugs at the door.

Monday 4/26 - Big Band Monday - Ozone, 7220 F Street - Live music from 6:30pm to 9:30. Free but buying something is definitely encouraged; 18 and over.

CLASSES and WORKSHOPS

Starting This Week -

 

Monday, April 26 - 6pm Lines and Levels for Lindy Hop with Nate and Christy. Eagles Ballroom. This two-hour workshop will focus on refining your look and technique for maximum dancing satisfaction. This workshop is offered at a beginning/intermediate level but will benefit anyone who wants to get their Lindy looking its best. Knowledge of (but not expertise in) the swing out and basic six-count patterns very helpful; a partner is nice as well but not required! (two hours, $20).

 

Ongoing This Week -

Wednesday, April 28 - 7pm Lindy Hop I with Nate and Christy. La Vista Community Center. A perfect introduction to the great American swing dance. Beginning level; no partner or experience required! (Week 4 of 4)

Wednesday, April 28 - 8pm More Cool Lindy Hop Patterns for Fun and Performance. La Vista Community Center. This class will cover material for social and performance dancing. A great way to expand your Lindy vocabulary! Intermediate level; familiarity with six and eight count Lindy fundamentals and Charleston essential. Partner helpful for class balance but not required. (Week 4 of 4)

 

 

Upcoming -

Monday, May 3 - 6pm Beginning Lindy Hop Plus with Nate and Christy. Eagles Ballroom. This class will meet for two hours every Monday in May. We will begin with Intro to Swing / Lindy I material and will continue through Lindy II and beyond as time permits! This is a great opportunity for a beginner to learn a lot of Lindy Hop quickly! No partner nor experience required. (Five weeks, two hours per class, $80)

Wednesday, May 5 - 7pm Lindy II. La Vista Community Center. This class will focus on more essential Lindy Hop material, building on Lindy I. Lindy I or familiarity with six-count basics and the swing-out very helpful. No partner required! (Four weeks, $40)

Wednesday, May 5 - 8pm Continuing Cool Stuff for Lindy Hop. La Vista Community Center. This class will cover material for social and performance dancing. A great way to expand your Lindy vocabulary! Intermediate level; familiarity with six and eight count Lindy fundamentals and Charleston essential. Partner helpful for class balance but not required. (Four weeks, $40)

Saturday, May 8 - 11am Balboa Swing on the Wing - Eagles Ballroom. Ready to expand your Balboa repertoire? This three hour workshop will build on the basics of Balboa, adding turns, breaks, and kicks moving from closed to open position and back. Familiarity with Balboa basic and break timing and speedy shoes are essential; a partner is not! (Rotation is optional if you have a partner.) (Three hours; $25)

 

 

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The UNO Big Band will be playing for Jitterbugs Night Out one week from tonight. Their performance for us last semester was a huge success; director Peter Madsen tells me that this show will be even better! That’s coming up Friday, April 23 at the Eagles Ballroom, 8pm. Proceeds will benefit the UNO music department. $10, no passes.

 

This Saturday, April 24th , the Durham Museum will again host Jazz Jam as part of Jazz Appreciation Month. All Omaha Jitterbugs dancers are encouraged to come to the museum and dance to the Street Railway Band at 11am and the Sing Sing Swing Orchestra at 1pm. This was a lot of fun last year, and the price is right. Just say you’re with Omaha Jitterbugs! Check

http://durhammuseum.org/about/whats-new/details.aspx?ID=111 for more information!

In response to numerous enquiries, Lindy in the Park will commence as is tradition on the second Sunday of May (May 9th) and will be held the second Sunday of each month through September thereafter. We may add the fourth Sunday of the month as well, depending on response! That’s Lindy in the Park, 1 to 3pm at Gene Leahy Mall, 10th and Farnam Streets downtown. Cost is of course FREE.

If you are interested in joining the amazing crew of volunteers that makes Jitterbugs Night Out and other Omaha Jitterbugs events happen, speak with Amada Mathison, our fantastic volunteer coordinator, or write her at jive@jitterbugs.org.

Speaking of volunteering, we will be hosting a cleaning party at the Eagles on May 15th at 10 am. Everyone is cordially invited to come and help spruce up our awesome venue!

If you aren't a friend of Omaha Jitterbugs and Cowtown Jamborama on Facebook, do log on and join us. This is a great source (in addition to jitterbugs.org) for the latest news on swing dancing in Omaha!

TRIVIA

The person sending the best response to nate@jitterbugs.org will receive $5 in Jitterbucks at the next Jitterbugs' Night Out. Put "trivia" in the subject line. Ties will be broken by time of receipt.

 

Last week's question: 1) At a swing-era gig in Connecticut, Lionel Hampton (born April 20, 1908) was asked by local police not to perform his theme song. What is that song, how did it come to be written, and why was Hampton barred from performing it that night? 2) Eddie Cochrane was killed in a car crash on night of April 16-17, 1960 while on tour in England. After the crash, a young man who would become a successful musician taught himself to play using Cochrane’s impounded Gretsch guitar. A few days prior to the crash, that same instrument had been carried to the car by another young man who would become a famous musician (and who would also die in a one-car accident.) Name the two men. 1) Flying Home. written in 1939, was based on a ditty Hampton made up as he waited for his flight from Los Angeles to Atlantic City to depart. Hampton, who had never flown before, wrote the song was a way to keep himself distracted from his nervousness about the flight. Local Connecticut police asked Hampton not to perform the song at a gig due to concern that the frantic dancing the song always inspired might cause the balcony of the theater to collapse! 2) David Harman, later known as Dave Dee of the band “Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich,” was a policed cadet at the station that responded to the crash. He taught himself to play on Eddie Cochrane’s guitar. And it was a Mark Feld - who would go on to fame and fortune as Mark Bolan, leader of the group “T. Rex” - that carried that same guitar earlier in the tour. Congratulations to usual suspects Shannon Butler, who first answered question #1, and Meghan K, who got #2.

This week’s question: Who is generally credited with convincing Chick Webb to hire Ella Fitzgerald? (Bonus: Who helped Ella secure her first professional gig, and how did he first hear her sing?)

 

See you on the dance floor!

Nate Woodhams

executive director
Omaha Jitterbugs
www.jitterbugs.org

This message was sent by: Omaha Jitterbugs, PO Box 27618, Omaha, NE 68127-0618