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No money? Don’t stay home and mope. Mutual of Omaha has a whale of a plan for the weekend: free concerts, free movies, free wine tasting, free art exhibits, a free dance, free admission to museums and free activities for kids.
Mutual commemorates its 100th anniversary Friday night and all day Saturday with the Wild About Omaha Weekend.
The celebration throws open the doors to more than a dozen arts and entertainment venues in and around downtown. Admission is free. Activities are free. Refreshments are free at some locations. Parking and seating may be limited, but they’re available.
Friday’s night on the town has so many entertainment options that it would be almost impossible to enjoy them all. They range from a Cursive concert at Slowdown, movies at Film Streams’ Ruth Sokolof Theater and tours of the Hot Shops Art Center to wine tasting at the Lauritzen Gardens and an ice cream social at the Durham Museum.
On Saturday, admission is free at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo. There is also free admission to a Saturday night Omaha Royals game at Rosenblatt Stadium.
“It’s an amazing celebration of the cultural activity in Omaha,” said Hesse McGraw, curator at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. “It is something quite innovative — and extraordinarily generous of Mutual — to highlight all the creativity in Omaha.”
Mutual of Omaha Chairman and CEO Dan Neary said the weekend activities are a way of saying thank you.
“It was important for us to celebrate our centennial in a way that showed appreciation to the people who have helped us reach this milestone,” Neary said. “This is our way of thanking Omaha for being such a great home to us.”
There will be shuttle buses and trolleys Friday night to move crowds between venues.
On Saturday, additional parking lots will be opened near the zoo and Rosenblatt Stadium, similar to the parking arrangements for the College World Series, and a shuttle will be available between there and the Southroads Mall, 1001 Fort Crook Road North in Bellevue.
Mutual of Omaha is underwriting the cost of admission and activities at the various venues. Arts and entertainment organizations at the sites are calling upon their staff members and volunteers to entertain the crowds.
Lauritzen Gardens, for example, asked its salaried staff, hourly workers and approximately 35 volunteers to host a wine-tasting party at the 100-acre botanical center on Friday night. They will pour wine and answer questions about both the wine and the gardens.
Lauritzen spokeswoman Maureen Thomsen said its volunteers are looking forward to the evening because it’s so unusual — with six stations for tasting and live music in six different gardens.
Sarah Brownlee, publicist for the Omaha Symphony, said the arts community is excited about showcasing the city’s talents on the weekend. Symphony musicians are performing individually and in small groups at various celebration sites Friday.
“It’s a great community project,” she said. “It shows off the musicians of Omaha, and it’s a taste of the best of Omaha.”
Contact the writer:
444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com
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