PNMBR – CHRISTINA

Happy Friday! Today’s Proudly Not Made By Robots feature is on the one person who is most responsible for making Scratchtown a reality. She is the soul of this company, and without her blessing, unwavering support and hard work helping make the taproom (and my sanity) happen, none of this would be possible. That person is my wife, Christina. Originally from Omaha, Christina and I moved to Ord in 2008 for career interests outside of beer. More importantly, we wanted to move to a small town to raise our children. In Ord, we found a place to call home, along with a community where we could pursue our interests and the opportunities we found as individuals and as a married couple.

We share a love of traveling, fine fermentables and diverse cuisine experiences. Those experiences lead to the dream of starting a brewery in Ord, with a focus on sourcing local ingredients to brew uniquely Nebraska beers with uniquely Nebraska ingredients. We also wanted to build a purpose-driven, community-centric company that created measurable, positive change in our lives and in our community. Looking back at the past seven years of dreaming, planning and execution, we’re proud of the company we’ve built with our friends, partners and SBC family. None of this would have been possible, however, without Christina’s support, hard work and bread-winning in our household while we worked to get SBC off the ground and running.

Let’s get to know Christina (or Kiki as many call her):

What is your favorite SBC beer? Favorite non-SBC beer? Sideburns’ Milk Stout; either Levity Amber Ale by O’Dell or Nitro Milk Stout by Left Hand Brewing.

Think back to your most memorable brewery experience: where and why? My most memorable would be our first Scratchtoberfest event. I was blown away by the size of the crowd and the music was great. I remember how much hustle went into that day. We were all dead tired on Sunday, but happy and excited for what we would do next. We pulled off the biggest event to date and had a great time with our neighbors and customers.

What do you do at SBC? I mainly work in the taproom on weekends and help staff special events. I help with scheduling, with tasting events, cleaning and moving snow occasionally.

What is your favorite SBC event? My favorite annual event is the Darkest Day Dark Beerfest in December because there is a fantastic selection of beers on tap for that event.

What is one hobby you enjoy in your free time? Reading – I make time to do this every day.

If you had one year to go on an adventure, where would you go and why? I would spend one year exploring the national parks of the US, starting with Acadia National Park in Maine. The United States is filled with really diverse parks and I would love to see as many as possible. It would be a year full of beauty, wonder and adventure.

Who is your favorite Star Wars character? Ahsoka Tano from the Clone Wars (editor’s note: I love this woman!)

What bit of advice would you give your 18-year old self? First, it’s okay to ask for help. Second, enjoy the journey and take time to appreciate all the small moments and time you have with loved ones, family and friends.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I’m happy with what I am now, I help provide for my family, get to enjoy small town life and watch our boys grow up. If I had a dream career, I think it would be owning a bookstore.

What is your favorite thing to do in nature? Walk or sit by the water.

What is one thing you would do to make the world a better place? I would volunteer my time to things I am convinced make the world a better place: increasing food security and literacy.

Christina. Photo credit: Alan Bartels.