32 Nebraskaland • August-September 2025
Association. Board members became
spokespeople for the expo and vital to
fundraising and recruiting volunteers,
which they needed by the hundreds.
The educational aspect of the expo
made fundraising easy; generous
sponsors contributed and continue to
today. These dollars go toward paying
for the demonstrations, entertainment
and activities off ered, such as the
dock dog show, Axe Women Loggers
of Maine, delivery and set up of the
rock wall and ropes course, and many
more. Logistical costs include renting
shuttle trailers, port-a-potties and golf
carts.
Don Andersen, a longtime resident
and former mayor of Ponca, became
one of the expo board's fi rst members.
He remembers the day Fields called
him.
"Jeff had a vision of what we were
going to do," Andersen said. Andersen
believed in the vision, too, and spent
the next 10 years on the board helping
grow community support.
Fields knew staff buy-in also would
be critical to the event's success, and
Game and Parks' northeast district
were more than willing to roll up their
sleeves. No matter which division staff
worked in, they participated in the expo
handling diff erent aspects of the event.
With these pieces in place, execution
was the next step, and the fi rst expo in
September 2004 became the true test.
That weekend, Ponca set a record
for the most rain in a two-day period;
8 inches of rain fl ooded the riverfront
where activities were stationed,
forcing everyone to move up to the
visitor center. Still, 1,500 to 2,000
Children get close and personal with Nebraska's reptiles, including this fox snake. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
