For over two decades, there’s been a familiar voice on Nebraska panhandle radio.

Every Tuesday at 8:05 a.m. - like clockwork - Rich Vomacka from Omaha would call into KSID. He’s known on 987 The Big Boy as “License Plate Rich,” and if you’ve heard our show on a Tuesday, you probably know why.

It started back on the old "Swap Shop" program. Rich would call in looking for license plates - specific counties, certain years. It was all part of his collection, but also part of a larger connection he had to the state, to stories and to people. He told me classic car guys look for license plate numbers that match the year of their vehicle. License Plate Rich has become a good source to track down their desired plate.

But over the years, his calls have became more than just license plates. We'd talk sports, share stories, toss jabs back and forth. Somewhere along the way, he became a regular character of our Tuesdays, part of the show, part of our lives. As if he lives right here in Big Boy Country.

As he has for the better part of three years, Rich asked me again to stop by and visit when I went to Omaha for the College World Series earlier this month. This year, I finally made it happen.

My wife Avery and I pulled up to his house on a warm Thursday afternoon. I handed the camera to Avery and told her to just push play. I wanted to learn and hear all about the famous License Plate Rich.

There he was, waiting in the driveway, Coca-Cola in hand, his garage door open with a blue 1966 Corvette Stingray parked inside. He rebuilt it himself 30 years ago, pulling the engine four times until it was just right. I parked behind his everyday car - a station wagon with license plates in the trunk.

We stepped out and he lit up with a grin as bright as the summer sun. Rich was ready to show us everything, after he offered us a Coca-Cola and Dr. Pepper. 

Rich has lived on the same block on S. 55th Street his whole life - three different homes, same neighborhood. He left for college, came back and never really left again. He and his wife have spent the last 12 years in his current home, and it’s a time capsule of stories, collectibles and garage sale items. Don't let him fool you. Those two bucks in his living room are from a garage sale. He didn't hunt for them.

His basement is a workshop, where he repaints and restores plates for collectors. His office? A shrine to Nebraska sports history and Yankee baseball. In the center of it all hangs his most prized plate: July 1905, the 278th license plate ever issued in Nebraska.

“This is the neatest license plate I have,” Rich told us. “They started with number one in 1905. This is number 278. That’s pretty cool.”

On the wall is a photo of him and his son Pat after a Creighton Prep state football title win. A grainy black-and-white photo of a football game is on the front cover of a book Rich pulls from his desk. It was Rich's 1960 Prep team versus Omaha Central, where the final score was 0-0. Co-state champions. No overtime back then.

“That’s me, number 75,” he said, pointing at a blur in the background. “That’s Gale Sayers. I caught him. Saved a touchdown.”

After giving us a tour of his plates - neatly sorted on metal shelves in the garage - and showing off a Yankees plate from the team’s post-World Series barnstorming tour in 1927, Rich handed me a Nebraska Bicentennial plate and an old Omaha Knights hockey pennant.

I couldn’t leave without giving him a Big Boy t-shirt and train whistle. We wrapped up with a photo together, his corvette in the background. That photo now hangs in the Big Boy studios next to the license plate and pennant he gave me. 

I’ve grown up listening to License Plate Rich, then got the honor of taking his calls on air. To finally meet him in person, to hear his stories firsthand and see the sparkle in his eyes when he talks about history, family and cars. That was a neat way to begin our trip to Omaha.

It’s easy to think this job is just about music, microphones, mowers, big wheels and news. But sometimes, you realize another joy of what we do is in the relationships we get the honor to build - on air and off. Getting out of the studios and connecting with people will always be a treasure to me. That visit will remain a highlight in my career.

Thanks for the stories, the plate, the Coca-Cola and the friendship, License Plate Rich. We’ll talk to you again on Tuesday.