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November 26, 2024 • 14 mins
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I mentioned that I had a hard time keeping my
young and energetic nieces or niece and nephew's busy during
the Thanksgiving holiday last year and trying to find things
in ways to entertain them when they come to Omaha.
And there is one place right in the heart of

(00:22):
downtown that you can go to and entertain not just
the little ones, but you can entertain anybody in the
entire family.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
And it is the Durham Museum.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
And we are so happy to be joined here in
the studio by our friend Don Myron. Don, thank you
so much for being a part of our show today.

Speaker 3 (00:36):
Oh yeah, I really appreciate you having me in today.
I've got a lot to talk about that Ken, As
you said, entertain the young ones and the young at heart,
and should we say.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Oh, that's going to put that now the Durham Museum
for those I'm sure many people in Omaha are very
familiar with what you guys do. But for somebody like me,
you know, I've been in Omaha for a year, I
am quite familiar.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Because I'm a big museum guy.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
But for those who might not be as familiar, kind
of explain what the dirhm use is all about.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Yeah, so well, as you mentioned, we are located just
one block off of downtown. We are situated in Omaha's
Union Station, which is a former train station. It is
also a National Historic Landmark as of twenty sixteen. So
there's a lot of history at the museum, and we

(01:20):
are a history museum, so that makes sense. But when
you visit the Durham Museum, you're going to find a
lot of exhibits and history about the region, this area,
the things and the people that help build this area
up in the stories that tell the story of our community.
But then you're also going to find a variety of

(01:41):
traveling exhibits or featured exhibit, special limited time at exhibits
as well. And so you might find exhibits that to
deal with pop culture, industry, science, lots of different things.
And right now too, of the featured exhibits that we have,
we have the Lost World of Dragons, and that one's

(02:04):
a really fun one that really dives into the facts
behind the myths, you know, and are kind of our
obsession with dragons. I mean, if you delve into almost
every culture of the world there is in the lore
there's dragons, and so it's a fun look at that
it's also very interactive hands on exhibit. We have a

(02:26):
virtual reality dragon flying experience and then yeah, so that
one a lot of people are really loving that one.
And then there's like you can make your own stop
motion dragon movie and things like that. There's lots of
different fun things related to that. But then for those
who are maybe more interested in local history, we have

(02:50):
another great exhibit that actually we helped curate and or
that we curated, and that is Beyond Combat World War
One through the lens of Doc Cook. And this exhibit
features photographs from World War One that were rediscovered recently
in twenty nineteen. So those photos were discovered at an

(03:12):
auction house and Molly Anderson she purchased a box with
these photographs and began to unravel the stories of the
people who were depicted and the photographer who photographed them,
and she ended up sharing those photos with us, and
we have developed this really awesome exhibit that dives into

(03:35):
the experience of a soldier beyond combat and World War One,
and Dot Cook, the photographer, he just captured so many
wonderful moments that help us to understand what it wasfe
like to be a soldier and transition from civilian to soldier.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
That is awesome. That's right up my alley. I absolutely
love stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
We're speaking with Don Meyron from the Durham Museum that
is being there. And just like any museum, you guys
have the difference of you know, different exhibits that will
be coming in and out throughout the year and whatnot.
But this is the kickoff really this week to the
holiday season in a lot of different ways. And I

(04:15):
know that's something that you guys that that they're a
museum take very very seriously.

Speaker 3 (04:19):
We do, and it's a tradition that goes back a
long time. So we actually just harvested the tree. The
tree for Christmas at Union Station, presented by F and BO.
We harvested the tree last week. Many of your listeners
may have followed along in social media. We live streamed
a lot of it. But we bring a forty foot

(04:39):
tall tree into christ I mean, pardon me, into Union Station,
and that is a tradition that predates the museum. It
actually goes back to the nineteen thirties when Omaha's Union
Station was bustling train station and Union Pacific would go
and harvest a tree from the Pacific Northwest, bring it
back by rail and put it up in Union Station

(05:01):
to kind of be the centerpiece of the Christmas festivities.
So when we opened as a museum in nineteen seventy five,
next year will be our fiftieth year as a museum. Yeah, yeah,
well Union Station will have been a museum longer than
a train station. Or actually we already have hit that mark.
But anyways, so going back to that tradition from the
nineteen thirties, we continue it today, but we don't go

(05:26):
as far to harvest the tree. Union Pacific actually helps
us harvest the tree right here locally, and a big
shout out to the Mask family of Omaha who donated
their tree. We open up the tree for people can
nominate their tree to be the next Christmas at Union
Station tree. A lot of times the tree has outgrown
their yard or in this case, it kind of had
become a safety concern for the homeowners, so they decided

(05:48):
to give it a last hurrah and we're going to
be lighting that tree on Friday. Actually, the tree had
grown so big for their yard that they had stopped
putting lights on it themselves. So they are super excited
to be able to see it lit up again and
to be able to share it with the Omaha community.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
Yeah, that is a kind of an underrated aspect of
this is you know, I like a good Christmas tree farm,
just like anyone else. But for this just to be
like a tree that somebody had in their yard and
then to say this would be a great way to
kind of solve two problems for me.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
That is super, super awesome. Could you stick around for
one more segment? Absolutely?

Speaker 1 (06:23):
We had a couple of other Christmas related things I
think we should talk about before we get Don Myron
out of here. The Durham Museum what a great place.
We keep talking about it next year here on news
Radio eleven ten kfab and Don Myron is here in
the studios, and we were talking about Christmas and how
Christmas with the history and the different exhibits that exists
over there at the Durham Museum could be really just

(06:46):
a perfect mix for anybody, whether you're you know, in
your you know, elderly phase of life versus all the
way down to you know, a five year old. There's
something for everyone to enjoy. What else during this you know,
Christmas season, our highlights that you want to make sure
people know are going to be happening at the Durham Museum.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Okay, Well, of course we have to talk about the
big guy himself, Santa for sure. Yeah, so Santa is
actually going to be at the Durham Museum. I believe
it is four days a week, so he will have
a regular regularly joining us in his cozy cabin retreat

(07:24):
from the North Pole right right there in the Durham Museum.
He will be visiting us on Fridays, on Saturdays, Sundays
during the day and then Tuesday nights for family nights
with Santa. And Tuesday nights will be extra special because
we'll have special crafts, will have holiday concerts. There will

(07:47):
be an indoor snowfall at the end of the evening,
which is really fun. And yeah, it's super awesome. And
so if you're wondering, how can that be snowing inside,
little hint it's snow confetti.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
But it's love.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, it's still pretty special and I love seeing the kids.
They'll like take a handful of the competti the snow
and they'll throw it up in the air, you know,
and it's just a really joyful, joyous time.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, you're making memories for so many different people in
this way. You mentioned the tree as well, and that
in the lighting of that is always an important aspect.
You mentioned that that's going to be this Friday, so
people who want to see it, you know, with the
lighting this Friday is what they need to do. But
also you guys have a story in there. You have

(08:31):
the ability for people to give because this is you know,
like important. I love highlighting nonprofit organizations and people who
are trying to do this type of work because it
does get overlooked and it is so important to these communities.
So how can people learn more about not just your schedule,
but also how they can give and be a part
of what you guys have going on all year long
at Dura Museum.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
Well, thank you for asking that, NASA, thank you for
the support for nonprofits. Really appreciate it. You know, A
great way to support all that nonprofits here in Omaha
is Giving Tuesday is coming up next week and the
Durham is participating in that. So you can go to
share Omaha find your favorite nonprofit. You can find the
Durham Museum there and help support us making history. You

(09:14):
can help us make history and helping us to educate
and bring the stories of the community out. You can
also go to our website at Durham Museum dot org
to find out more about what's going on for Christmas
at Union Station presented by f and BO. You can
also donate there to help support things like the maintenance

(09:36):
of the national historic landmark we call home Omaha's Union Station.
But in addition to that, we also are partnering with
Shine the Light on Hunger, which is part of the
Kannager Brands Foundation drive to help stamp out hunger in
the community. So we are a donation site. When you

(09:57):
come to visit the Durham Museum, you can actually bring
your and goods or you're not nonperishable food items and
we have a key ask there and we'll be collecting
those throughout the season and helping with that initiative as well.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
So many great ways that you can be a part
of this, and the Durham Museum, i know has a
great interactive website as well as ways that people can
find them on social media. So what would be the
best way for people to learn more before they actually
make their visit?

Speaker 3 (10:21):
Okay, yeah, yeah, I'm interested in going to our website.
You can find us on Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn and
kind of check out see what we have going on there.
We'll be posting videos and the different things that are
happening and giving you some insight into what to expect.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
I love that Durham Museum dot org very easy place
to find, but you also can just throw it in
the Google machine and all those things pop up, which
is really awesome. Don This is great. I want to
learn more about the Durham Museum in the history of
that building. I can't wait to go with my family
to go check out what you got going on over there,
especially during the Christmas season. Thank you so much what
you guys do, and I can't wait to talk more

(11:02):
with you. I'd love to do some more with you guys, because, uh,
to a fault, it's a pretty big museum, NERD.

Speaker 2 (11:08):
So I love that I went to a full disclosure.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
I went to the Smithsonian as part of a bachelor
party and we went to the natural you know, science
Smithsonian Museum, and I want to see everything right like.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
I'm reading all of the little things.

Speaker 1 (11:23):
I'm looking at the rocks and everything, and I had
an intervention was done midday like we need you to move.

Speaker 2 (11:29):
Along, pal, you know, I love I love that.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
I'm gonna have to tell our our rental manager about
the bachelor party segment there. I think we're missing out
on that.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
We need more bachelor parties and museums. Yeah, absolutely, no doubt.
That's where I'm at.

Speaker 1 (11:48):
And that was a that was a great trip for
us to go to d C, which is like the
hub of museums in America. But there are so many
underrated museums locally too. You want to talk about, uh,
you know, the Duram Museum is one great example of that.
But just your location downtown, you can make that a
part of a bigger day or a night out with
some people. And you guys have members do you guys
have memberships that you know people can you know sign

(12:10):
up for?

Speaker 3 (12:10):
Yeah, we do. We've got a couple of different options
on memberships. We've got the family membership, Individual, Senior, a
lot of different options. We've got military and educators. So
do go to our website and check it out. You'll
find an option that works for you. And really, if
you visit twice, you basically pay for your membership, you know,
in terms of like if you would have done in

(12:33):
admission each time.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
And what's great is, you know, if you want to
like see it in segments or if a new exhibit
comes in and you can just see that and you
can make that a part of like a night out downtown,
hit some restaurants or bars, and just make the ther
Museum a part of like a good night out with
some friends or something.

Speaker 2 (12:48):
It's a great time. That's my idea of a.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
Good night Yeah, yeah, I highly recommend that, you know,
pairing it with something else going on downtown and making
a day of it or a night of it would
is great. And actually, if you don't mind, I'll kind
of put a shout out to to an event we
have coming up on December sixth, which is the Holiday
Cultural Festival, and that's a great one to try and
just come and like spend the day downtown and hit

(13:10):
up the Holiday Cultural Festival in the evening which brings
in like forty different organizations. We have got entertainers, we've
got special food, and all sorts of different things. So
just is really highly recommend folks looking into that.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
I cannot wait to learn more about what you got
going on, not just in the holiday season, but into
the spring, and I am going to start working on
getting bachelor parties scheduled for the Durham Museum. That is
going to be my mission in life. Don Myron, I
got to tell you this has been so fun. Thank
you so much for coming in and sharing this and
can't wait to see at the Durham Museum.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
All right, and appreciate it. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:45):
All right, it is three fifty six. I just love
stuff like that. That's my jam. What we're gonna do
is we're gonna come back. We got a Friday four,
but it's Tuesday two plus two. Does that work? It
works for me, doesn't quite roll off the tongue quite
the same way. But we're gonna do that. And we
got a very interesting family Thanksgiving rendition of this that

(14:07):
we've brainstormed up.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
We're gonna get to that.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
We'll also tell you the details of this Hesbalah in
Israel cease fire deal that Joe Biden says have actually
been agreed to, and we'll do all of that in
the next hour. Don't go anywhere. You're listening to news
radio eleven ten kfab
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