OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Omaha neighbors charter bus to support local businesses on North Saddle Creek struggling during road construction, bringing 33 people to help.
- After hearing businesses like the Homy Inn and Sgt. Peffer's on Saddle Creek were struggling to get customers amid ongoing road construction, Bill and Christina Larsen came up with a plan.
- The group of friends and family took off from Village Pointe and spent the afternoon at The Homy Inn, catering in pizza from across the street, Sgt. Peffer's.
- "We appreciate it greatly. We need all the help we can get," said Terry Finkle, owner of the Homy Inn.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
It's been a slow couple of months for the businesses along North Saddle Creek, and while this part of the road is closed, the businesses are open and one group of neighbors have found a way to give them some love.
It was a coordinated effort, weeks in the making, to get all these people to eat and drink and fill up this room at the Homy Inn.
"It's the first time I've been here, it's a pretty it looks like a pretty old bar, but it's pretty cool, a lot of cool stuff here," said Alan Circo.
After hearing businesses like the Homey Inn and Sgt. Peffer's on Saddle Creek were struggling to get customers amid ongoing road construction, Bill and Christina Larsen came up with a plan.
"So spur of the moment we were discussing what would it take to get a lot of people in here and that's how we came up with the idea for the bus," Christina said.
"And we just thought, you know, we got a lot of friends, we got a lot of people from church, people from the neighborhood whatever and we thought it would just be easy to get people down there to help," Bill said.
With 33 friends and family in tow, they made their way to Saddle Creek, taking a few extra minutes to find the right parking.
Settling in at the Homy Inn, owner Terry Finkle was excited to see a site he hasn't seen in awhile — a busy bar.
"No, it, it helps a lot. We appreciate it greatly. We need all the help we can get," Finkle said.
Catering in pizza from Sgt. Peffer's across the street, Dana Peffer was looking forward to meeting the group who made this all happen.
"They are the sweetest people in the entire world," Peffer said.
It was an afternoon well spent, for these neighbors and the businesses they came to help.
"We wanna take care of the community right? We wanna just be able to help out community," Bill said.
