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| Left to right: Tom Messick, Karen Rutt, Ron Dowding, Kendra Ronnau, John Cooper, Jamie Bauman (Dec 2, 1980 - Feb 5, 2020), Jim Swanson (Director til Dec 2020), Ron Suing, Jennifer Rawlinson. | Pictured top to bottom: Bryce Doeschot and Lynn Hagan. |
Who is the Lancaster County Agricultural Society?
The Lancaster Event Center and the Lancaster County Super Fair are managed for the Lancaster County public by the publicly elected, separate county-level political subdivision called the Lancaster County Agricultural Society.
The nine board members are publicly elected volunteers that come from Lancaster County with a passion for the Ag Society’s mission to further the understanding and engagement of the community with the agricultural and natural roots of Lancaster County with a special focus on supporting youth in the 4-H and FFA programs. Annual election for the Ag Society board members (with 3 year terms there are three board members up for election each year) is held each December before the Annual Meeting—see December agenda for details or call the Lancaster Event Center office at 402.441.6545.
The Ag Society had the vision to build the Lancaster Event Center to open on February 1, 2001 after the Lancaster County fair had outgrown the Nebraska State Fairgrounds before it decided to move to Grand Island (now UNL Innovation Campus). Over 750 Lancaster county 4-H/FFA youth participate in year-round 4-H competitions and meetings at the Lancaster Event Center which culminate in over 4000 entries in the annual Lancaster County Super Fair competitions. The Super Fair provides a great learning opportunity as well as chance to earn a berth to compete in the Nebraska State Fair.
The Lancaster County Super Fair is organized entirely by the Lancaster County Ag Society with support from their Lancaster Event Center full-time staff and funded by an approx. $200K operating budget provided from a property tax levy as is done in every county since the inception of the State of Nebraska over 150 years ago. The Lancaster County Super Fair is the largest county fair in the state of Nebraska with the lowest per capita funding due to the growth in Lancaster County over the years while the funding is capped under a Nebraska state lid law. The Lancaster County Super Fair celebrated its 147th year in 2017.