PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389
A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging
New Horizons Laurie Richards has lived December 2025 | Vol. 50 | No. 12
an unexpected life in film By Leo Adam Biga rom growing up on her family’s northeast Nebraska farm to driving-camping-trekking across state to acting on stage and screen, Laurie Richards prepared for a career she didn’t know lay ahead. When interest met opportunity in 1994, she became Nebraska’s film officer in the Department of Economic Development. For nearly three decades she courted filmmakers to shoot here, showing off Nebraska assets and identifying filming locations and sources for food, accommodations, transportation, et cetera. To support projects that did shoot in-state, she coordinated with production teams, community leaders and suppliers, cutting through red tape to ensure filmmakers got what they needed on budget and on schedule. To support the local filmmaking community she co-founded the Nebraska Film Association. In 2003 she formed her own production company, Flicka Films, and began producing nonfiction work. Upon retiring as film officer in 2022 she was asked to be interim pro-
F
COURTESY PHOTO gram manager at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Earlier this year she was named permanent program manager.
Thus, she’s gone from supporting screen activity in the field and making her own films to showcasing movies from around the world at the Ross – Nebraska’s oldest
art cinema. While film officer she intersected with film artists, both famous and obscure, and on projects, both large and small, Now she hosts visiting artists and their work at the Ross, whose exhibition program goes back to its predecessor Sheldon Film Theatre. She got to know the man who conceived and championed a university film exhibition program, the late Norman Geske, and ended up making a documentary about him. Before the Sheldon was dedicated in 1963, Geske was director of the Nebraska Art Association, which exhibited the university’s contemporary art collection in buildings around campus. He commissioned world-renowned architect Philip Johnson to design the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, now Sheldon Museum of Art. It includes a 294-seat auditorium that Geske made sure was outfitted as a film projection theater. It was a forward thinking vision in an era when many contemporary art institutions didn’t take film seriously as an art form. Geske and Johnson did. One of its --Richards continued on page 9.
Winterize your garden to prepare it for Spring By Melinda Myers Nothing beats the flavor of freshfrom-the-garden tomatoes. Keep them close at hand by growing one or more in containers on your patio, balcony, or front steps. Any tomato can be grown in a pot, but determinate varieties are shorter and more compact, making them a bit easier to manage in a container. They produce fruit in a relatively short period of time, making them great choices for preserving as well as using fresh. Look for a D or determinate on the plant tag, seed packet or in the catalog description. Indeterminate tomatoes, often designated with an I, are usually much taller and continue to grow,
flower, and produce fruit until frost kills the plant or you pinch out the growing tip. These are usually staked or grown in wire cages to save space, reduce pest problems and make harvesting easier. Many new containers have built-in trellises or creative gardeners craft their own, making it easier and more attractive to grow these bigger plants in pots. Semi-determinate varieties are in between these two. They are compact like determinates, often trailing but produce fruit throughout the growing season like indeterminate varieties. You can now find compact varieties often sold as miniature and --Tomatoes continued on page 8.
The rise of croquet: A sport for everyone From casual backyard play to high-level competition, croquet continues to capture the interest of players in Nebraska. Learn more about croquet on Page 16.