State Fair experiences

Mary Loftis

Going to the Nebraska State Fair always provides some interesting experiences. Now, I’m talking from my own perspective as an extension staff member for over 34 years, plus my personal experiences as a 4-H member.

The State Fair was always been a big thing…even when I was a kid and went with my family. The bad news was we always had to go through ALL the buildings before we ever got to see the midway! Back then my Dad loved the chocolate and nut covered ice cream on a stick so we all got one. All I can remember is losing more chocolate than what I ate as it melted and slid off my ice cream.

When I went to the State Fair as a 4-H member it was even more exciting. Seeing ALL the beautiful exhibits other 4-H members made and trying to find an exhibit of mine somewhere in the huge old 4-H building in Lincoln was amazing. Giving a 4-H demonstration at the State Fair was a special honor, even though the stages were curtained off in part of the big building until they built a special presentations building, but that was LONG after my State Fair exhibitor years!

In college the University of Nebraska Collegiate 4-H Club ran a concession stand (or two) on the first floor of the 4-H Building, basically under the arena seats. As you can imagine, that was a fun experience, but I especially remember a young 4-H member racing into the concession stand needing a carton of milk for her 4-H demonstration. She had forgotten it at home and in her rush she didn’t have any money with her to buy it. I gave her the milk, wished her good luck and she later came back and paid for it. I knew she would!

When the State Fair became part of my JOB, it took on a different, but still exciting look. Packing and taking all those exhibits from the county fair to the state fair was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun as you run into (sometimes literally) extension friends from other counties as we hauled everything into the 4-H Building.

If you remember the huge 4-H Building in Lincoln, a vast majority of the exhibits were carried up two flights of steps to the second floor to be judged and then displayed. Of course the building was not air conditioned and it was always a very HOT August day carrying them in and helping getting them judged. I think we were tougher then, younger…and in better shape, as carrying some of those heavy and awkward items up the stairs was a real challenge.

Today, we are still doing much the same things taking things to the State Fair only since 2010 the Nebraska State Fair is in Grand Island instead of Lincoln.

Carefully packing and recording all the exhibits is quite the process. John Wilson is a packing expert. (Obsessive is another way to describe him!) He can fit more stuff into a vehicle and get it safely to State Fair than anybody I know. However we met our match this year.

Do you remember the beautiful glider porch swing that sat outside the 4-H Building at the county fair? It was selected to go to the state fair. Brent Miller of Lyons refurbished the swing using plastic lumber (not the hollow stuff…the HEAVY stuff!) His family called before bringing the swing down to ask if we thought there would be room for it. I thought there would be and knowing John’s skill at packing figured it would be no problem. WRONG!

Since we were trying to get it into a van it just wouldn’t fit! Well, actually it did fit, but then nothing else would get to go to state! I called the Miller family and told them I had been overly optimistic about fitting it in and they were very understanding…after jokingly suggesting we could put it on top of the van! John, the Master Packer felt he had failed, but I didn’t miss it at all when we unloaded in Grand Island!

The good news about the new 4-H Building in Grand Island is the lack of stairs and it’s air conditioned! The bad news is that there isn’t nearly enough space for the 4-H exhibits as we are still sharing space with State Fair vendors and FFA. The challenge of carrying something the size of a small kitchen cabinet through a tight maze of home environment exhibits trying to find the right entry number sign for it was nearly impossible without falling over or running into other exhibits. CRAZY!

Talk about CRAZY, getting the tags printed for the exhibits this year was a nightmare, but thanks to Sharon Wimer, and the wonderful people at the state fair fixing all the problems, everything got entered. Hopefully it all got judged and recorded too. Hopefully the results will be up on the website very soon!

Make your own State Fair memories this year in Grand Island. The State Fair runs through Labor Day, September 2. Go to the website, http://www.statefair.org or for more detailed 4-H information and results go to:http://4h.unl.edu/nebraskastatefair.

Mary Loftis,

Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929

Fax: (402) 374-2930

Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu