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State Fair mourns longtime seasonal worker and reports livestock and youth-program updates
Summary
The board announced the death of longtime seasonal worker Wilma Knippelmeyer and received agriculture updates including livestock scale improvements, broiler order openings, and a 30% enrollment increase in a shifted PASE schedule.
During the agriculture committee report, Dawn Caldwell and staff updated the board on several livestock and youth-program items and announced the passing of a longtime seasonal State Fair member.
Caldwell thanked John McKeever and Vaughn Sievers for work on livestock scales and said planning with the new facility and harvesting champion animals is proceeding well. Staff reported that broiler orders are open for the Aksarben Stock Show and DNA submissions are being collected.
The board also announced the death of Wilma Knippelmeyer, who worked seasonally with the State Fair for about 50 years; Executive Director Jaime Parr and Competitive Exhibits Manager Kourtney Lingeman attended the funeral. Parr and Lingeman noted Knippelmeyer’s long service and said she will be greatly missed.
Kathleen Lodl reported that 4‑H enrollment and activities are active, and that the Premier Animal Science Event (PASE) contests have been shifted three weeks earlier this year in response to youth feedback, producing about a 30% enrollment increase so far.
Why it matters: livestock operations and youth programming are core to the State Fair’s mission and the death of a long‑time seasonal worker is a notable personnel loss for the community.
Next steps: staff will continue facility and exhibitor preparations ahead of the fair and 4‑H and AKSS programs will proceed as scheduled.
