An economic success

If you haven't walked in the west door of the Arena and grabbed a seat in the stands, you might be missing the best entertainment in town. The venue happens almost daily and the price is right -- free. The public is more than welcome. Every seat in the house is a good one and an excellent sound system will keep you abreast of what is taking place in the big open arena below the stands.

Typically, last Saturday was barrel racing for about 50 young ladies. They bring their horses and come from Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado as well as all across Nebraska. All are competing within classes for a portion of the purse, the few win but most finish "out of the money." Winning is nice, but all will tell you that it is the challenge that provides the thrill. Deb Christy with Triangle Cross from Norton, Kan., put it all together and it is a class act! On alternate Saturdays, Robin Bennett from Maywood holds barrel races that are officially sanctioned by NABRS.

The next day a like number of men showed up to do breakaway roping followed by the real "take 'em down and tie 'em up" calf roping. Breakaway roping for guys? Yeah it is for old guys, like me and Don Klein, who can no longer get off the horse to tie the calf! That doesn't include Tom Kiplinger, of course, who still does the throw-the-calf and pig-tie-its-legs thing! In the afternoon, team roping challenges ranged supreme, over 150 team runs this week.

The men's Sunday event was, in part, a fund raiser for Coach Justin Nokes' Hastings College Rodeo team. Justin grew up south of McCook, and he and brother Garrett are products of District 8 and McCook Senior High. Garrett furnishes a lot of the "timed-event stock" for the roping and bull dogging in the arena. That means calves for breakaway and tie-down roping and Corrientes (a whole 'nother story!) for team roping and bull dogging.

The contestants showed in spite of disagreeable weather, and it being Super Bowl Sunday. I guess it's different priorities for different athletes. Incidentally, Hastings College hosts the Nebraska High School Rodeo finals and estimates that each year that event brings an economic impact to their community in the neighborhood of $2 million.

A like estimate for our own community is the November Farm Show put together each year by Darren Dale, Bird City, Kan., promoter. His estimate is that the 300-plus vendors in attendance generate some $2.5 million worth economic impact for this community. In addition the arena hosts the Nebraska Junior High Finals Rodeo and another earlier Senior High School Rodeo event held here before the State Finals. A big draw annually is the rodeo elite Cutting-Horse contest, a paid event with every seat in the arena occupied.

Deb Lafferty, the fair board secretary, tells me that the Kiplinger Arena is busy an average of 25 days per month year round. Most use is horse-related, exactly the dream of Tom Kiplinger when he had the vision and committed the money to build this wonderful facility. Garrett Nokes, McCook's own world-class cowboy, conducts roping school every December and has weekly practices all winter long. Implement dealers use it for, protected from the weather, farm shows, sprayer clinics and more. In fact, all matter of farm-related expos take place inside. The McCook Bison football team has even been known to practice inside out of the rain. Most users participate by paying small fees for the use of the arena. Typically, though, youth participants, FFA and 4-H clubs that sort of thing, use it for free. An intangible benefit for the fair's encouragement for local youth is a number of college scholarships earned by those involved in such activities.

For Don Klein and Tom Kiplinger, birthing the arena that we see today was a real challenge. For one, City Manager John Bingham fought the process all the way. John used every harassment arrow in his quiver, zoning, building codes, fees and on and on. John was probably abetted by at least one member of the City Council whose most memorable remark concerned visions of "horse turds" floating down the city gutters if the arena came to pass. Doesn't happen, and on a happy note, the present City Manager, Kurt Frisch has been very supportive of the whole enterprise!

The fairgrounds of today provide one dynamic economic engine for Southwestern Nebraska. The fair is a part of the Red Willow County budget and thus available for the public to view. The Ag Complex is 50 percent rented to governmental agencies that pay reasonable rents with the other half being occupied, free of charge, by the County Extension Office and the County Health Department. The 4-H building is rented for auctions as well as fulfilling its mission for the youth. The community building is rented more than 300 days a year for wedding receptions, trade shows and a hundred other community events. The county fair, the ongoing use of the community and 4-H buildings, stock car races and the arena drew somewhere south of 80,000 people to our community last year alone. Even the ball parks, leased for $1 a year, are part of the fairgrounds that draw crowds from a large area. The county shop and Heritage Senior Center also occupy space on the grounds.

With all the activities taking place at the fairgrounds and especially in the arena, a large number of potential customers for McCook's businesses are drawn this way. Somehow, when people come to town they seem to leave a little cash in local restaurants, motels, gasoline stations and our many other shops and businesses. Joan at the Chief says the Arena is "Huge for us!" Yes the economic impact is "huge" for the whole community. For example, on the dates of Garrett Nokes' Wayne Boyer memorial timed events extravaganza, for the November Ag Expo, the Cutting-Horse Contests and several other events, every motel room in a 50-mile radius of McCook is booked. Thanks Tom Kiplinger, Deb Lafferty, Don Klein and all the other fair board members for making it all possible.

That is the way I see it.