By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

That's a point local representatives hit on repeatedly last week as they made their case before the Legislature's Agriculture Committee that Grand Island is the best alternative location for the State Fair.

"A State Fair needs to celebrate the experience. It needs to celebrate agriculture in a safe, family-friendly environment," former Grand Island Mayor Jay Vavricek said in his testimony before the ag committee.

The ag committee will meet in an executive session at 8 a.m. today in Lincoln to discuss whether the State Fair should move or stay in place.

That will be the first time the group has met as a whole to discuss what should be done with the State Fair Park land, where the University of Nebraska hopes to build a public/private research campus.

To support its argument that the State Fair should move to Grand Island, the city's recruitment group has gone looking for input from the state's agricultural groups.

"I think any time you want to be successful in a large endeavor the size of moving the State Fair, you have to have a broad base of support," said Don Dunn, chairman of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors. "If you're going to focus on agriculture, then you need the agricultural groups in the state to be in tune with what you're doing."

First and foremost, community leaders sought the formal support of Farm Progress Shows, organizer of Husker Harvest Days, for a possible State Fair move.

For 30 years, Grand Island has been the host of Husker Harvest Days, the world's largest totally working irrigated farm show, and community leaders said they don't want to damage that highly successful event.

"It's a necessity that Husker Harvest Days feel comfortable with our approach to the State Fair," said Cindy Johnson, Grand Island chamber president.

In a formal letter submitted to the ag committee, Farm Progress officials said they would, in fact, be comfortable with having the fair move to Grand Island.

"I think the rumor may have been out that Farm Progress didn't want this (State Fair move) to happen," said Matt Jungmann, national shows manager for Farm Progress. That rumor is false, he said, as Farm Progress sees the fair as a potential benefit to its own event and the city of Grand Island.

"I think it would bring more hotel rooms and more emphasis to the Central Nebraska area, which would help both of the events," Jungmann said.

Farm Progress officials have been hoping to see more hotel rooms pop up in the Grand Island area, and the addition of the State Fair could help move that process along, Jungmann said.

The group's only concern about the fair would be potential competition between it and Husker Harvest Days, Jungmann said. Ideally, there would be a two- to four-week buffer between the two events.

In addition to support from Husker Harvest Days, local State Fair recruiters have also sought input from the Hall County Agriculture Society, which organizes the annual Hall County Fair. The ag society supports the State Fair move, Dunn said.

Also, a few weeks ago, community leaders met in Lincoln with representatives from the state corn growers, pork producers, ethanol board, Farm Bureau and other organizations to discuss Grand Island's ideas and receive input on plans for programming.

For most of the groups, it was the first time they had been invited into a conversation about the State Fair, Johnson said, and the groups' representatives appreciated an opportunity to voice their opinions.

"They were, I think, pleased that we had incorporated so many agricultural components in our thought process," Johnson said.

In Grand Island, the State Fair would have the opportunity to create a world-class facility for hands-on agriculture teaching experiences, she said.

For those involved in FFA and 4-H, a centrally located fair may be more accessible. And for families visiting the fair from more urban areas of the state, the event could offer a "day-at-the-ranch" atmosphere, Johnson said, with interactive displays and other hands-on features.

"At the end of the day, as we take our children or our grandchildren, it has to be something that engages our imagination, engages our hands," Johnson said. "If we can create that kind of environment, then we'll have gone a long way."