Today’s hike took me on the Keystone Trail south of Saturday’s. This took me around the Nebraska Furniture Mart. The Mart is a huge furniture, appliance, and electronics store that is famous in the Midwest. It covers 77 acres–you need a fold-up map to find your way around it.
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- Flood debris at the Dodge Street bridge
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- The trash half-way through
We buy most of our furniture and appliances there. Kathy just purchased a refrigerator, dishwasher, range set there.
But, and it’s a big but, the trail around it is covered with litter. I’m sure the wind takes the trash from the parking lot and sends it into the grass around the trail. I only picked up the trash within a foot of the trail and I could have picked up 100 times more than I did. It is a walk after all.
NFM is a respected and responsible corporate citizen so I hope they’ll respond well to my letter challenging them to clean it up. I estimate they could have a couple of people spend two or three hours once a month to keep it very clean. The first time will take some work. I’ll offer to help them.
By the way, NFM started by a Russian immigrant, Rose Blumkin, in 1937. Warren Buffett bought 90% of it in 1983 for $60 million on a handshake.
My walk also took me past Ak-sar-ben. Founded in 1895 by the Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, it housed a race track until a few years ago. Now it’s the home of the River City Roundup and several 4-H events. But mostly it’s being turned into an upscale research area. Very beautiful. Ak-Sar-Ben is “Nebraska” spelled backwards.
The sky toggled between sunny and overcast throughout the two-hour walk. I covered 3.5 miles of the trail twice, out and back. I picked up 1 pound, 14 ounces of trash. If I had the time and enough bags, I could have picked up a hundred pounds.
One older couple stopped me and called me a good citizen. They’re visiting from Denver and were impressed with the trail system.
Filed under: Omaha Trails | Tagged: hike, hiking, litter, Omaha, trail, trails
