Blue ribbon performance

HARTINGTON — The 2023 Cedar County Fair will be a tough act to follow.

This year's fair drew in record-breaking numbers, packing the midway, show arenas and grandstands.

Cedar County Fair Board President Greg Heine said early rodeo sales made the board realize they weren't going to have enough seating at the rodeo arena.

'We realized we were going to have a sellout Thursday night and there was still more demand for tickets,' Heine said. 'We added about 250 more seats at the rodeo. We put extra bleachers in every little corner we could put a set of bleachers in.'

All three of the grandstand shows featured up-andcoming country music stars.

Both Friday night's Carly Pearce concert and Saturday night's Gabby Barrett concert were near sellouts, as well. Sunday night's Cooper Alan concert also drew in a large crowd, Heine said.

The grandstand entertainment wasn't the only thing worthy of bragging about this year.

The carnival brought in more rides than the Cedar County Fair midway has ever seen, Heine said.

'They said they wanted to bring a few more rides this year — and they sure did. They had a really nice Ferris wheel. There were 12 different rides set up, and they all looked busy,' Heine said.

The fairgounds also featured more food vendors than in past years, too. Including the 4-H stand and Lutheran Lunch Stand, fairgoers had seven different food options to pick from during the fair.

'That was the most food vendors we've had before, too. Just about everyone was selling out of food, too, and had to restock before Saturday night,' Heine said.

A couple of added attractions took place at the traditional Wednesday night free hamburger feed, as well.

Just prior to the start of the hamburger feed, Heine, Fair Board members and 4-H families held a flag-raising ceremony to launch the fair in style. Even though it was a late addition to the program, Heine said, the event was well-received and he hopes to build on it next year.

'That flag-raising ceremony was kind of a last-minute thing. But it was pretty cool,' he said.

The night's other added feature wasn't exactly appreciated. The skies opened up just before 7 p.m. for a brief rainstorm that sent everyone rushing for cover.

The storm, and its thunder and lightning, moved through the area pretty quickly, and no damage was caused here. Despite the early blip, all in all, the weather was really close to perfect for the fair, Heine said.

'The weather was great. You just never know what to expect for weather in July in Nebraska. You can always be surprised by something,' he said.

One good thing the Fair Board has been surprised by the last couple of years is all of the volunteer help they've been receiving.

'I am always surprised by the amount of help we get out of the community. People just seem to come out of the woodwork and volunteer their time to help us,' he said.

Heine said this year's fair can be labeled as a big success.

'We had a very good year,' he said. 'We really lucked out with some good weather. We had great entertainment, and a great carnival. It couldn't have been better.'

The planning for next year's fair begins now. 'We always have to see what we can do to top the year before,' Heine said.