WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023 | BEVERLY HILLS | HANSCOM PARK AO | 5:30A | CLEAR & 58 DEGREES
PAX: Julep, Touche, Bambie, Pursuit, Othello, Cyclone, Tassels, and Sputnik
QIC: Sputnik
YHC welcomed 7 PAX to a history infused beatdown at Beverly Hills. We covered the mission statement, credo, five principles and the disclaimer. There were zero FNGs.
PAX stayed by the shovel flag for the Warm-O-Rama
Warm-O-Rama
I kept the warm-o-rama short and sweet because despite a fantastic pre-run of the upcoming string o pearls route with Othello, I still had no clue if I had way too much planned to fit everything (spolier alert: I didn’t!)
15 IC – Side Stradle Hops
•15 IC – Tappy Taps
•10 IC – Big Ones
PAX did a nice slow mosey to the start of the one and only THANG for the beatdown at the tennis court parking lot.
The THANG – History String O Pearls
The string of pearls consisted of 8 stops over a 1.5-ish mile course. Each stop consisted of a little bit of history of hanscom park followed by some exercise. The first stop had a single exercise performed by a PAX selected by YHC. The second stop would have some history, the PAX that performed the first exercise would do so and and a new exercise would be performed by a newly selected PAX. By the eighth and final stop we had 8 exercises performed by each of the 8 PAX. The exercises were:
•1 – IC Alternating Shoulder Taps (OTHELLO)
•2 – Alternating Lunges (TASSELS)
•3 – IC Gas Pumpers (JULEP)
•4 – Merkins (CYCLONE)
•5 – Squats (BAMBIE)
•6 – Big Boys (PURSUIT)
•7 – Carolina Dry Docks (TOUCHE)
•8 – Jump Squats (SPUTNIK)
The mumblechatter was on point, the energy was high, and the speculation on why arson was such a big part of the park’s history was rampant.
The route of the 8 stops was as follows:
The history tidbits shared were as follows:
1.Tennis Courts – Founded in 1872 from a donation from Andrew Hanscom and James Megeath when Omaha had 1 other park on 15th and Chicago. This was considered Southwest Omaha
2. A springfed lake in the northwest corner was linked by a tumbling stream dubbed peanut falls to the lagoon in the southeast which still stands today. The upper lake was used by ice skaters and an early Omaha Curling club along with two gondolas charging a nickel a ride.
3.On the shore of the lagoon was a two story open air pavilion that was destroyed by fire in 1893. It was rebuilt in the Moorish style before burning down again in 1927. The old pavilions slab became the city’s first concrete tennis courts.
4.Early features included a dancing platform and a city zoo, which included a deer in an enclosure and a bald eagle in a cage. The dancing platform was closed 10 years later as the city banned dancing parties.
5.There was also a band stand with its architecture matching the pavilion that stood until the late 1940s. It was used for church services during the 1918 flu pandemic to prevent disease spread indoors.
6.Many of the flowers provided for the city’s parks come from these greenhouses which were rebuilt in 1913 by Sara Joslyn. They were rebuilt again in 1969.
7.The previous gazebo that had stood for much of the parks life was destroyed by arson last year. The city received four large donations to rebuild with added features like electrical service to allow for neighborhood concerts
8.The ford birth site was dedicated in 1977 from donations from the city. In the last 20 years alone, cars have run into this exact fence and retaining wall at least 3 times.
END
We ended with Name-o-rama and lots of announcements:
Concert at tracks by Sister Act
Collection for Oahu’s M
Toy drive for heartland hope
Nugent memorial run upcoming at Futurama
Prayers for Tassel’s M and those strugling with mental battles
COT
I rambled a bit, but I just wanted to let folks know that about a year since my VQ at Beverly, I’ve turned into a better person but just like the workout kept piling exercises on at each stop, I’m feeling the pressure of all my responsibilities too.
Aye, Sputnik
