State Fair manager sends off his beloved event

STATE FAIR PARK — For Henry Brandt, the Nebraska State Fair is practically his blood and bones.

As fair manager, he lived in a stately brick house on the fairgrounds for nearly 25 years. His daughter, Connie Decker, is a fair employee. His grandchildren played on the fairgrounds and now volunteer at fair time. Even his great-granddaughter participates.

“It's been our life, our whole family's life,” he said.

Brandt was tapped to serve as senior grand marshal, representing the fair's history in Lincoln, at a Grand Celebration parade Monday, the State Fair's last day in Lincoln.

He has experienced 87 of the fair's 108 years in Lincoln.

Born in 1922, Brandt attended his first fair before his first birthday. His father was a fair board member who headed the grounds maintenance crew in the 1950s. Active in 4-H, the Brandt family never missed the fair.

Brandt, who once served as dairy show superintendent, continued that tradition with his own two children.

After a stint farming in Gage County, Brandt was hired as fair manager in 1964.

“When I moved off the farm, I moved onto the fairgrounds,” he said.

His first fair as manager was in 1965. His career got off to an ominous start: A carnival ride collapsed and killed five people. His daughter, then a college student, was one of those injured. She said her father aged visibly during that first fair.

The fair received no subsidies from the state. It was self-supporting with revenues from its horse-racing operation, until competition from other forms of gambling cut into racing profits.

“We had to make our own way,” Brandt said. “I was always jealous of a lot of fairs, like Iowa, Illinois and Texas. They had money running out their ears from the state. But we made it, and we've done a pretty good job.”

Brandt retired from the fair in 1989.

He serves on the State Fair Foundation board, and he and his wife, Lorene, spent each day of the fair running the information booth inside the Devaney Center.

Although he won't be moving to Grand Island, Brandt said he would do everything he could to help the fair.

“My love is for the fair. I hope it's a success out there.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9581, leslie.reed@owh.com