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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 16, 1984)
A - i W I c- 2 ........ J v SSJ& 1 0 CI 1 it lags Once the showpiece of a thriving farm economy, the Nebraska State Fair isn't packing 'em in like it used to. Folks who follow the fair business speculate that the future of the fair lies in education as a 162-acre monument to Nebraska's rural past. ... H I' enry Brandt deals in dreams. He has for almost 20 years. As state fair manager, Brandt lives on the fair grounds and works seven days a week dur ing August and September a downhome Mr. Rourke, making the magic Nebraskans flock to see 10 days every fall. But the dream business is fickle. Brandt's magic just isn't pulling folks in like it used to. Some blame a declining farm population and increasing competition for the enter tainment dollar. Whatever the reason, the flock has thinned and even Brandt sees a need to change his art if the fair is to survive Brandt has covered losses with horse racing rev enues. But last year, the track recorded a loss of $102,000. After three weeks of rac ing, this year's pari-mutuel handle is off 2.5 percent, or 58,000 a day. Attendance is down 5 percent. -" . j- - . . . i M - V( - - - in 1 859. By the turn of the century, the fair "The population is getting thinner and was a center of social ativity, rivaled fairgoers are getting older," Larson says. 'We can't survive like this," says Brandt, perhaps only by weddings and prairie fires. "Some county fairs aren't worth playing A fairgcer in the 1900s could gape and anymore, ost of Brandt's options are prefaced guffaw at sideshow freaks and crude with "cut back," "discontinue," or burlesques along an abridged version of qually threatening, says Larson is a "increase the price of." All seem the latter-dav midwav. iU "soohistication" he sees in the foreign to Brandt, a steadfast optimist who The social role of the fair as entertain- JLJ average fairgoer: "They are becom- built his reputation on words like "bigger," ment continued to grow through the 1980s, ing more picky about how they spend their "better" and "best." changing to fit public demand. The circus entertainment dollar." Such optimism still leads Brandt to talk rave way to rock n' roll; cotton candy made Once a window to the future, the fair Attendance this year during the 1 15th of enclosing the track's lower grandstand room for nachos and potato skins. Most increasingly is becoming an important link fair was 550,000, down 35,700 from last area and remodeling the exposition build- recently, the freaks, geeks and burlesques to the rural past Lewis Miller, executive ing among other things. have been replaced with heart-stopping director of the International Association of But the times they are a'changing, and as thrill rides. Fairs and Expositions, says the social role of in the past, the fair too must change. Roland K. Larson is executive director of the fair nationally is changing from enter- Brad StamenThe Sower year, and the second worst attendance since the fair was expanded to 10 days in 1973 1980 was the worst. This comes at a time when the International Association of Fairs and Exhibitions reports steady or slightly increased attendance at state fairs across the country. Last year's fair posted a $736,743 loss, continuing a slide which began in 19S0. Brandt has cut his seasonal staff in half, paring 150 people from the fair payroll over the past two years, raised gate admis sion $1, and postponed plans for major capital improvements until the fair is back in the black And, in a controversial move that had independent concessionaires screaming earlier this summer, the Nebraska State Fair Board took over concessions at the grand stand, the Fair Cafe and the fair beer "Success is not how many people come through the gate, but how many people participate. " f, 5 r Henry Ersndt tainment to education. Traveling around the country this year, Miller says he noticed an increase in the importance of livestock exhibits to fairgoers. "People take their kids to see the livestock exhibits because there's no Grand father's farm to go to anymore," Miller says. William E. Caldwell, assistant director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln co operative extension service in charge of the 4-H program, says 4-H participation is up 25 percent from last year. Caldwell says 30 percent of the 60,000 4-H members across the state are from Omaha and Lincoln, as urban participation has increased 10 per- In the early days of fairdom, neighbors the Outdoor Amusement Business Associa- cent during the past five years Horses stamp nervously at the gate, garden. If these ventures prove profitable, would gather for a little friendly competition tion, a Minneapolis-based agency that keeps Though the farm population is thinning, jockeys tense for the signal . . . and the board says it has plans for making and trade. It was a time to exchange ideas tabs on the carnival business. Larson says Caldwell says a stepped-up recruitment they're OFF! further inroads into the food and beverage and catch up on the news of the world. most carnivals have dropped freak arts program has held rural membership steady: business. Nebraska's state fair traces its roots back from their traveling shows because they "There are fewer kids living on farms these In the past, when the fair has flopped, to the territorial fair in Nebraska City, held don't draw crowds like they used to. As for days, but we're reaching a larger percentage : .--o- .L - i i "ti ' u r .1 " uie ounesuue: jnerc a more iu mx uh uie oi mem. beach these days." At this year's Nebraska fair, fairgoers Generally, registration statistics show an could get hung, flung, wrung and spun on overall increase in fair participation the latest in breathtaking, teeth-shaking including all events, but particularly in the metal monstrosities. But "Pop-eye," the fat food and craft exhibits, lady and the bottled whale didn't make this That's good news to Brandt, who says: trip victims of Hollywood and the 10 "Success is not how many people come o'clock news. through the gate, but how many people While Larson says he thinks this has been participate. ATi1 I I 1 Uk.-.ll-"'- ' W f nmrmm .ji&aJi iuSM mil .- X' fc i 4 I r"' . v. f j- - i the best year in the history of the carnival business, he fears business has peaked He thinks Nebraska's attendance problems could be a harbinger of things to come nationally. Brad Stameiv'The Sower Set favorite, bet the loitgsfcot, bet your fsvorite jaciey or bet your dog's birthday it all comes down to the last few sscosds. The tip of a horse's nose can mske or break the racing fan, and his pocketbock.