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GREAT
Connections
SUMMER 2017
5
difference between our new fiber Internet service compared to our current satellite
service. I am also looking forward to having significantly better audio quality during
our phone calls. What’s more, I appreciate how friendly and informative the team from
Great Plains Communications has been during the planning process.”
Virtual Field Trips
The vastly improved speed of fiber Internet from Great Plains Communications will be
especially beneficial. Otto explains, “We’re open seven months a year and get about 20,000
visitors annually. The park is operated entirely with funds generated by admissions fees
and gift shop sales; we receive no tax dollars. After Great Plains Communications fin-
ishes the installation of fiber Internet service here, we’ll have the speed we need to offer
virtual field trips to classrooms all over the world.”
He adds, “These virtual field trips will be a win-win addition to our educational ser-
vices. Schools will benefit by being able to give students the feel of visiting Ashfall
Fossil Beds State Historical Park without the time and expense of travel. And the park
will benefit by bringing in the additional revenues generated by the fees for virtual
field trips.”
Great Plains Communications is honored to help enhance the capabilities of Ashfall Fossil
Beds State Historical Park. It’s one example of our longstanding commitment to Nebraska.
Bronze Sculptures
Bring Fossils to Life
In June 2017, the University of Nebraska
State Museum dedicated two bronze sculp-
tures at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical
Park. One depicts barrel-bodied rhinos locked
in battle, and the other is a replica of a giant
tortoise. They were designed by Garry Staab,
renowned artist and Nebraska native, to rep-
resent two species whose fossils were buried
in ash for millions of years at the ancient
watering hole.
Superintendent Rick Otto notes, “These are
life-sized sculptures which give our visitors a
good idea of what these animals would have
been like when they roamed the earth. They’re
a popular backdrop for photos— kids love to
get their pictures taken in front of them.”
The sculptures were a gift from the Theodore F.
and Claire M. Hubbard Family Foundation. The
Hubbard family is a supporter of many programs
at the University of Nebraska State Museum
and previously funded a 17,500-square-foot,
climate-controlled barn that allows Ashfall visi-
tors to watch scientists unearth fossils.
After Great Plains Communications finishes the installation
of fiber Internet service here, we’ll have the speed we need to
offer virtual field trips to classrooms all over the world.”
—
RICK OTTO
, SUPERINTENDENT, ASHFALL FOSSIL BEDS STATE HISTORICAL PARK
Inside the Visitor Orientation Center (left) are interpretive displays and the fossil preparation
laboratory. Regan Douglas (right) is a University of Nebraska-Lincoln student from Weeping Water,
Nebraska. She’s looking for micro-fossils—tiny bones and teeth from small animals that lived
around the Ashfall waterhole.