Many have positioned this bid to host Nebraska's annual summer party as a contest between Lincoln and Grand Island. While Lincoln had a huge advantage just in terms of history, available private partnerships and legislative muscle, the truth of the matter is that Grand Island's bid relied on two things.

The first major factor that led to the legislature's receptive vote on Thursday is that the community of Grand Island seized the moment. OK, the moment may have been a five-month moment, but it sure flew by fast. Grand Island had never stretched its collective muscles like this on the state stage before. On October 5, 2007, this newspaper challenged the community in an editorial that included these words:

"The major obstacle to presenting a proposal to bring the State Fair to Grand Island is that there isn't a cohesive plan and a solid leadership group in place to mount an effective campaign. Can the community put together a dynamic plan in the next seven weeks to capture the State Fair? Only with a visionary, passionate leadership team that can focus the energy, resources and talents of the city."

"It will require a unique combination of leaders from the Chamber of Commerce, Fonner Park, Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., private business leaders and elected leaders of the city and county. It is a significant challenge for the community and will require the talent and skills of many people to create the vision necessary to develop the plan by early December. We are not saying that it cannot be done, but the clock is ticking."

The community and Central Nebraska came together to present a solid business case for bringing the State Fair to the area. With the clock ticking away, the leadership plan came together under the careful stewardship of Don Dunn, the well-known local attorney who is the board chairman of the Chamber of Commerce. He took the reins and assembled a potent and robust team that meshed together very well. They hit the ground running.

The other major factor that led to Grand Island's favorable reception in the legislature is the presence of Fonner Park in the city. Fonner Park, with the existing popular race track, animal exhibition facilities, significant infrastructure and managing expertise in place and a gorgeous new Heartland Events Center on the premises, was vital to the city's bid. The cooperation of Fonner Park and the Heartland Events Center was outstanding, despite the numerous technical, logistical and operational obstacles.

There will be many more opportunities to discuss the State Fair, but the final bill must continue its journey through the legislature. The governor has promised to sign the final measure in Grand Island when the legislature approves it. And when that indeed does happen, Central Nebraska deserves a moment to celebrate a remarkable feat before rolling up it's sleeves to take on the challenge.

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Editor's note: Tomorrow in this space readers will be able to read the reaction of the Lincoln Journal Star to the Lincoln bid to keep the State Fair in that city.