State Fair move meets with mixed reaction

With hundreds of thousands of people visiting the Nebraska State Fair, getting a read on public opinion about the fair's 2010 move to Grand Island is only possible with a survey.

And that's exactly what State Fair officials are doing.

Anybody who walked into the 1868 Foundation Building during the fair was invited to sit down at one of several computers and take an online survey.

That opportunity also is available to all Nebraska residents by going online at www.statefair.org/fair.

While the results might not be as comprehensive, that doesn't mean some interesting opinions can't be picked up with a few "man-on-the-street" interviews of people at the fair.

Lincoln resident Dan Woodward certainly had no problem expressing his feelings about the move, noting that he attends the fair every year.

Woodward said no one event draws him to the State Fair. Rather, it's "all sorts of things," including the opportunity to "eat food on a stick." The Lincoln resident is not only an annual attendee, but also he usually visits the fair two or three times each year.

But when asked if he plans to visit the Nebraska State Fair after it moves to Grand Island, Woodward responded with a quick, "Nope."

"It's two hours there and two hours back," he explained. "That's an expensive trip."

Woodward also said he believes the fair will be diminished in its first year in Grand Island. He predicted that it will take several years in Grand Island for the State Fair to build up to the level it's currently at in Lincoln.

He said he might consider making the trip to Grand Island at that time.

Asked what he would do if he had a magic wand and could magically change the State Fair, Woodward said he would turn it into the Iowa State Fair, which draws 90,000 to 100,000 people each of its 11 days and even attracts people from Lincoln.

Woodward said he thinks the Nebraska State Fair will never be like it was in the 1970s and 1980s. He thinks having so many agricultural equipment manufacturers put their focus on Husker Harvest Days instead of the State Fair contributed to the fair's decline.

Like Woodward, Eldean Johnson of Bertrand has been attending the State Fair for decades. He said he started making the trip with his late wife, and now he makes an annual pilgrimage with his grandkids.

Johnson said he usually picks out a day to attend the State Fair and then mentions that fact around his grandchildren. He said they immediately start clamoring to go along with him.

On Wednesday, Johnson was at the fair with three grandkids, two of whom are younger and one of whom is scheduled to start classes at Southeast Community College in Milford in January.

Johnson said he usually picks one day a year to attend the State Fair. But when it moves to Grand Island, he said, he might try to come more than one day because it will be a much shorter trip. Johnson said it can be difficult to see everything at the State Fair in a single day.

Johnson likes "all the free entertainment" at the fair. He thinks that makes admission a great value. Although his grandchildren are very familiar with farm animals, he said, the Birthing Pavilion "still fascinates them."

Heidi Davis, who said she has no permanent home address because of her husband's career in the military, said she manages to come back to the Nebraska State Fair every year to work.

She said she considers the fairgrounds to be "family ground." That's because her grandfather worked as the fair manager from the 1960s to the 1980s. The fairgrounds include a street named for her grandfather, Henry Brandt Avenue. She said her grandfather and grandmother still work as superintendents at the Devaney Center.

With that family background, it was hard for her to hear the decision to move the State Fair to Grand Island. But Davis did not hesitate when asked if she would continue returning each year after the fair moves to Grand Island.

While it may be painful to see the fair move, it would be even more painful to think of the Nebraska State Fair not being a success and continuing its long tradition. As a result, Davis wants to come to Grand Island and help the event be successful here.

Davis said she has not talked to her grandfather about his plans on working at the State Fair after it moves to Grand Island.

"I haven't asked him," she said. "I'm afraid to bring it up to him. He's real hurt by its leaving.”