93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Wes Blecke--Community Minded, Northeast Nebraska Leader
In this episode, we visit with Wes Blecke, currently the City Administrator of Wayne, Nebraska. We discuss community development, the importance of collaboration, the current state of Wayne County and the City of Wayne, Wayne Chicken Days, and why his one word for Nebraska is "family."
Nebraska, it's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 counties that are home to innovative individuals, caring community, and a spirit that runs deeper than its purple story. It's a story that should be told. Welcome to 93, the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to 93 the podcast, where we talk about Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen. I'm Mark Folson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rembrandt. This episode is about community and one of the people helping to make community happen here in Nebraska. Today we head to Northeast Nebraska, Wayne County to be exact, and we're going to visit with someone who has spent much of his young life helping to build and grow Nebraska communities, including Wayne County and the community of Wayne, Nebraska. Wes Blakey, thanks for joining us. Tell our listeners a little bit about yourself.
SPEAKER_00:I grew up in Northeast Nebraska. About where? Between Wayne and Wakefield.
SPEAKER_02:What county?
SPEAKER_00:In Wayne County.
SPEAKER_02:And what's the license plate number?
SPEAKER_00:27.
SPEAKER_02:I think you're the first person on from 27 County, so that's great.
SPEAKER_00:And we are still 27.
SPEAKER_02:I know Lincoln and Omaha and uh uh Sarpee County lost their designations. Yeah, no, and and we're still 27th population-wise. Yes, we are. Okay. That's interesting.
SPEAKER_00:It is.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that's good.
SPEAKER_00:I think so. Yeah. You've held pace. We have. Yep.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So uh Wakefield High School.
SPEAKER_00:Wakefield High School.
SPEAKER_02:Then where'd you go?
SPEAKER_00:Went to Wayne State all the way across the county to Wayne State College and graduated in 2000 there with political science, public administration, history, and coaching minor.
SPEAKER_02:Did you play sports?
SPEAKER_00:Not in college, no. Okay. High school, lots of sports in high school, but not in college.
SPEAKER_02:I figured you played basketball or something.
SPEAKER_00:In high nope, just in high school.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So you go to Wayne State, you get a fancy pants degree, then what'd you do?
SPEAKER_00:Fancy. Uh political science history, if that's a fancy. Then I uh went to UNO, University of Nebraska, Omaha, and got an MPA, Master's of Public Administration there.
SPEAKER_02:And when people get a master's in public administration, sort of what are they generally what type of occupation are they looking at?
SPEAKER_00:Well, so I had a concentration in budgeting and financial management, so I wanted to work right across the street here at the Capitol, and I thought I'd be in like a fiscal office behind closed doors, not having to deal with people. I just want I just want to deal with numbers. That was my goal. Or that was my that that was my course in life.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you kind of ended up in the wrong position.
SPEAKER_00:I deal with a lot of people now.
SPEAKER_02:It's still numbers though. So you got your MPA. What was your first uh adult job uh in public administration?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, my first job was uh city of Ashland. I was a city administrator there for three years.
SPEAKER_02:That's where we first met.
SPEAKER_00:We did, you were the city attorney.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and so yeah, yeah, that was I did that for three years. Uh, made my way, I guess, back home, had an opportunity, or my wife had an opportunity as a physical therapist to move back to our to our roots, right? Um, and so she took a job up in Wayne, and I followed along and I got into economic development. And next thing I know, it's 12 years later. I was still in economic development.
SPEAKER_02:In your position that you currently hold?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I'm the city administrator for the city of Wayne. Um, I've been doing that for about eight and a half years.
SPEAKER_02:For folks who haven't been to Wayne before, describe at least geographically where it's located in Nebraska.
SPEAKER_00:So if you're in Nebraska, we just say, well, you're between Norfolk and Sioux City, Iowa. If you're out in Nebraska, we usually say it's about two hours north. Well, you can't say hours, right? Because hours is all relative, about about a hundred miles north of Omaha. That's typically how we how I describe it.
SPEAKER_02:And the economy of Wayne County, is it largely ag like the rest of Nebraska?
SPEAKER_00:It is, but we're fairly diverse. Um, we've got some major manufacturing, and then the the college, the Wayne State College helps. We have a we have a uh a robust hospital as well. And so um, but yeah, I mean ag in the county for sure is is gonna be agriculture.
SPEAKER_02:What's the current population of the city of Wayne?
SPEAKER_00:The sign is gonna tell you 5973, but the mid-census or so to about 62 to 6300.
SPEAKER_02:So you broke through 6,000.
SPEAKER_00:We have, yes.
SPEAKER_02:So you're a growing, expanding Nebraska community.
SPEAKER_00:I would agree with that. Yes. We are uh slowly. I mean, nothing nothing extravagant, but uh yeah, we're keeping pace and uh it's a good growth. It's a good steady growth.
SPEAKER_02:Where does the name Wayne come from? I haven't done a history lesson. So uh you have a history uh background, so you should know the answer to this.
SPEAKER_00:I did not learn this in undergrad my history degree. Uh Matt Anthony Wayne was a general in the Revolutionary War. Um he was known for being uh let's just say aggressive. I guess if you're a general in the con the revolutionary war, you're probably gonna be pretty aggressive. But um, so that's there's a lot of Wayne's, a lot of Wayne counties throughout the country, and that's they're named after Matt Anthony Wayne.
SPEAKER_02:And have has the city uh erected a big statue in his honor? We have not. Have you thought about maybe that's the next building project in the city of Wayne?
SPEAKER_00:I have not. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:What's the largest employer today in the city of Wayne?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh, Great Dane trailers. Um it's kind of it's kind of cool because you'll see their their mud flaps all over the all over the country when you're driving around. Um, but they make refrigerated trailers um and have we've had them in Wayne since 1985. They were tempty when they came to Wayne and then changed to Great Dane in I think 86.
SPEAKER_02:So you've got Great Dane trailers, you've got the hospital, you've got Wayne State College. What other types of industries have you been able to attract or have started to flourish?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh the the the Tompkins family uh brought heritage homes to Wayne, a manufactured um home um maker. Uh they spun off into ATM kiosks when the economy tanked, the housing economy tanked in in the 80s. Uh they started making kiosks for ATMs. And so all the little buildings you see with the ATMs around the country, really, probably a major, major portion of those came from Wayne. Um so they spun off to that. Um Rod Tomkins was an entrepreneurial here through and through, and so he had multiple businesses like that um in Wayne, and then most of them still exist today.
SPEAKER_02:So, what role does Wayne State College play in the community of Wayne and its economy?
SPEAKER_00:Our greatest asset. I mean, it really is um to have a four-year institution like that, um, very reputable, very it's it's a regional institution, not just you know, just around Wayne County. I mean, it we get we get students from all over the place. Um, they have grown a lot recently. They're up to about 4,600, I think 39 or maybe undergrads, and about 700 are graduate students. Um, I went there 25 years ago or so, and I think we were probably about half that. So it has really grown over the last few years.
SPEAKER_02:In those those smaller colleges across the U.S., many are failing. What has Wayne State done not only to thrive but to grow? Have they done any new residence halls or any new buildings to try and keep up?
SPEAKER_00:Uh you know, honestly, that's all nice, but I think it starts with the leadership. We've had really good leadership over the years there. Um current president is very aggressive with growth. Um, and we we had really good growth for for the last few years. Now we've really kind of stagnated, which is a is a really a good thing. And throughout the country, that's that's kind of the trend right now to be actually going the other way. But um, so just being being at 0% or 1% growth is is really good. Um, she's done a great job, uh, Dr. Ramis up there. And then yeah, we we actually just put a new um a new dorm online last year. And so there's that, there's always renovations going. We have a new air-supported structure, which is an indoor uh football facility track. Uh they can play baseball or softball in there. And so it's yeah, there's always improvements being made at at the college.
SPEAKER_02:So your career has been dedicated to public service as a city administrator doing economic development. What led you to public service?
SPEAKER_00:Probably in high school, um, you know, I never I never really wanted to go into business. Um, agriculture, I grew up on a farm, a dairy farm. I never wanted to go the ag route. Um, and you know, I had a teacher, you know, like we all do. We had those teachers in high school or college, whatever that kind of give you that nugget of, wow, that's kind of cool. Close up as a junior in high school, going to DC, and always kind of wanted that political route. It was what I thought. I was I was gonna go to law school. That was my plan. But I wanted to do it to be a politician. And one day I just thought, that is such a disservice to clients. Me, just a disservice in general, to be an attorney, you know. But that's how I thought I had to get there, and so I really wanted to go that route. Um funny, you know how life takes you, right? Um, my wife, or at that time fiance, was looking to go to PT school and it was kind of I'm gonna follow you wherever wherever you end up. And she got into UNMC. And so I decided you UNO made sense, and they had a better public administration program than political science, and so I went to public administration route again, wanting to just to be away from people and do and do um administrative work, I guess, uh you know, financial stuff on the side. And that's totally different than being a politician, you kind of at least you got to fake it well enough, right? To like people. Um, and so that's the that's kind of how I fell into public administration, and then how I got into city administration was I had a Chris Anderson, was the administrator at Ash, Ashland at the time, came and gave a guest talk to one of our municipal administration courses, and kind of fell in love with the profession, just like I didn't know that that existed in public administration, and that's how that's that's how it was.
SPEAKER_02:So, growing up on a dairy farm near Wakefield, how many cows did you have uh growing up?
SPEAKER_00:You know, at the at the very most, uh we might have had 30 at one point, but so the joke is when people say, What'd you do and when your dad get out of it or I said we had 13, and I don't mean 1,300 like you think of a dairy, we had thir literally 13. But if you have one or three thousand, it's the commitment level is intense. You know, you've you've got to be there morning and night. And did you milk most days? Um you're looking at me. Yeah, I no. No, I was while I respected the profession, I would have rather been in doing dishes with my mom. I mean, seriously, I mean I was I was not a farm, your typical farm kid. Now, I had to don't get me wrong, I did plenty of work on the farm. Um, but that was not a love or a passion of mine at all.
SPEAKER_02:It was all being not around people and doing numbers.
unknown:Right.
SPEAKER_00:Or the even the cows weren't bad because they didn't talk back to you. Yeah. But so no, I was I was not your typical Nebraska farm boy, I don't think.
SPEAKER_02:So let's uh talk about the city of Wayne and the County of Wayne. So, what role does collaboration between the city of Wayne, the county of Wayne, and the private sector, what does that play in Wayne's success?
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think it's it's necessary. You gotta have it. Um, we're lucky. I think we're lucky. You hear those stories of the school doesn't get along with the city or the county or the what whatever. We just don't have that. And I think that has to do with a lot of the leadership that's at those levels. Um, but we've just we have to, we have to get along um in order to do projects. We don't have large donors in the county. Um, so when we do projects, we have to go to many people. It takes way longer to get things done. Um, but at the end you probably have a stronger project because you don't, you're not, you don't just don't have one funder that you that's gonna patronize that business or that whatever it might be. Um so it works out well for for us. But yeah, collaborating, you you can't do it any other way. I'm a huge regional guy. I mean, what's good for Wayne is obviously good for Wayne, but what's good for Norfolk is still gonna be good for Wayne and and vice versa.
SPEAKER_02:So what's the biggest challenge facing the city of Wayne?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, like rural America, you know, housing and and and workforce, and really the the what's the future of workforce? You know, anything with AI and things like that and robotics and what can what can those what can computers do that that people can't? Um you know that's kind of a I don't know what that's gonna what what that's gonna lead to. Nobody really does. But that's probably the greatest challenge again is is the housing. Um we have a lot of older housing. We've we've made a lot of strides recently, like again, a lot of a lot of uh Nebraska communities have. Um that's an opportunity as well, too. How can you be a better community? Um the the workforce is so different now that you can live wherever you want. You know, you can be in Chicago or you can be working in Chicago for a Chicago company and and live in Wayne, Nebraska. Um, how do you get people to to want to do that? Um, you're not gonna attract the people from Chicago to Wayne, but the people in Wayne, you can promote, hey, there's jobs in Chicago remotely, stay right here in Wayne. It's it's way easier to keep the people you have or to bring people back that have already know your community versus trying to attract those from the outside.
SPEAKER_02:So, what are some innovative things uh you and the city of Wayne or have been doing when it comes to the housing? Uh it is a it is an issue that many smaller communities across Nebraska face. What what are you doing that you think may at least help solve the problem or at least put you on the path to solving that issue?
SPEAKER_00:Well, it's you have to be creative. Um, you know, a house in Lincoln costs just as much to build in Wayne. People think, well, you've got, you know, they're way more expensive in Lincoln. Well, to build the house themselves, though, is this it's the same, it's the same materials, right? Um, and it might actually cost a little more because you're having to ship that material. Um so we've you what Wayne has used, we've used a lot of tax increment financing. Um we have for years and years. Um but now you've done that for residential.
SPEAKER_02:We have. Okay, so uh let me add, don't don't answer if you don't want to, but has there been any pushback or concerns raised by r residents using TIFF for residential uh projects?
SPEAKER_00:You know, just recently we've had, I guess you could say a little more pushback from other taxing entities, uh, not necessarily residents, but maybe it's through through you know pressure to to their to their um taxing entities. But we've we've taken a better, uh, a broader look now at saying, you know, if we're gonna do something with housing, maybe there should be a commercial component to that. So you've got residential on upper floors or something like that, and then commercial on the first one. We haven't had any of those developments, but that's what we've been talking about now. We've used residential for a lot of years, and now we're kind of to a point like, okay, let's pump the brakes on that. Um but for example, we just did a subdivision, more of a uh I'm gonna say an mid to upper level uh subdivision that was not tax was not tiffable. Um so we used uh utility incentives. We said this is I came up with it, it's it's tax anticipated financing, right? Um that you're gonna use utility funds up front and get paid back as the meter spin over the years. And so we did that just for a for a development, and like I said, they're they're they're mid to upper level housing. So again, the city's willing to do that. We need all kinds of housing. You know, typically we always talk about affordable housing, and that's you know, what's affordable to you is not affordable to me, is affordable to somebody else. Um but we we need all kinds of housing, not in just Wayne, but but all across the state. And so however you can incentivize, um developers have to make money or they're not gonna do it. Um so however you have that breaking point of what's what's too much of an of a of a return, and that's what that's where you gotta you know dial it down and say, okay, is TIFF needed on this one or what type of incentive is needed to make this project go?
SPEAKER_02:So it's been a while since I've been to Wayne. Is there a traditional small downtown area that that's at least been maintained as somewhat historic?
SPEAKER_00:There is. Uh we actually have it's considered a histor, it's on the historic preservation, or um, it's a historic downtown. Uh was on the register, I don't know even when it was 2006, 2007 or so. Um, and ironically enough, it's it you have to be you have to have certain criteria to be on the historic register on that. And we made it through transportation because we had a railroad that came through town and we have some railroad history. We don't have a railroad today, but um that's how we were able to make make the register on that. Um it's on a state highway. So there's lots of challenges to our downtown because it's on a state highway. Things that you you can't do that you can in other communities um with the right-of-ways and things like that.
SPEAKER_02:So are many of the buildings in the downtown area of WAN, are they occupied with um uh existing businesses? Are there some still vacant?
SPEAKER_00:We have a couple vacancies, um, which in my economic development days, that's a good thing, right? Because then you have opportunities. If they're all full, that's great too, but you you don't have the churn, the the economic churn. Um yeah, we've got a few open, open buildings, um, but probably 95% are occupied. Um a lot of service. You know, retail is very difficult in small communities. Um, as you just don't get that as much as you you used to, and it's very difficult to do.
SPEAKER_02:How do you how do you pursue economic development but still maintain the small town culture, the feel that many small towns, it's one of one of the huge benefits that they have. How do you uh can you can you do both of those things at the same time?
SPEAKER_00:I think you can, and economic development has really changed since I was in it however many years ago, now 10 years, um, where you're not going after your smoke, you're not smokestack chasing, right? There just aren't those projects out there anymore. Um there's so much fewer workers, or you know, you have so many, so many more um openings than you have the people. Um, and so I'm a huge entrepreneurship guy. I love entrepreneurs and talking to them and getting them in involved in the community. Um, you know, you grow your own uh instead of going out and attracting things. Um we had, I mean, we had a great attraction project in would have been in 2012. We had a spec building, which you don't hear that much anymore. That's a four-letter word that people don't use. Um, but we had a spec building in Wayne, and it took us about five years to get it filled, but started with I think six to ten employees, and they're at like 55 to 60 right now. They added on, they expanded from a 20,000 square foot facility and they now have 60,000 square feet. So that's the type of thing. But that wasn't attract that was a true attraction project at the time. But um, you just don't see much of that anymore.
SPEAKER_02:What role has broadband played in the ability to attract and retain not only people but businesses as well to Wayne or other parts of rural Nebraska?
SPEAKER_00:Well, so that question on the attraction piece or the how do you retain your young people, how do you attract young people? If you didn't have the broadband, you're not going to. I mean, that's that's like electricity was to to whoever, you know, our our our parents. Um you have to have it and you have to have high speed. Um, you know, the hour of the death glass, right? The swirls, you can't have that anymore, or people aren't going to locate in your community. Um, it's really changed the way you can you can do business because you can be sitting in Wayne, Nebraska, and working for anybody in the world, whereas um, you know, before you couldn't do that. But no, Wayne has a very has has has quality broadband and um yeah, we would not be as successful as we are if we did not have that.
SPEAKER_02:What are some special success projects that you have worked on with the city of Wayne that you feel especially proud of that worked out well and you can point to today? One of the bad things about being a lawyer, there's it's rare that we can point to things, or at least I can't, to that they look, dad built that or dad did this. I mean, you probably can, right? There are things in the community that you had a uh very integral part of.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the interesting thing about I talk about that attraction project, it was Williams Form Engineering out of Michigan. That um I literally went out and raked the inside of that building because it was not finished. Off and I had no floor. So I had my kids would come with me. Um, and so they could remember the times where dad went around and raked because we had a a prospect coming into town and it was wet because of the condensation. And so I didn't want to make I want to make it look as good as possible, so I would physically rake it. So that is a project that I love to point to and say, Yeah, I had a I had a stake in that. Um, I mean, personally, I don't want to get into what I did personally necessarily, but the leadership program that we created um in the mid, well, probably 2007, 2008, um, off of grant funds. And typically those, you know, you get pro programs off of grant funds, and you whenever the grant funds run out, you you shelve the the project or the program. That program's still going today. We're in, I don't know, year 17 or 18 of a leadership wane. Um, and you can see the the fruits of the labor, right? That you can you can see that, oh, that that councilman, that council person came through that leadership program or whatever they are today. It's kind of fun to see that. Um, that's probably the one of the most proud things that I that that we accomplished when I was in economic development.
SPEAKER_02:So a lot of uh small to medium-sized Nebraska cities are are are doing some things again to retain folks, to attract new people. Those it can range from a new swimming pool, it can be a new community building, it can be a exercise facility. Is there anything like that that you have been working on or plans in the future?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we just decommissioned a 30-acre lagoon. And did you do that yourself? I did not do that myself. And that's been you know 10 years in the making. I'm got a new treatment facility that is a mechanical plant that um you know you didn't need the lagoon any longer. Um so that's been a very long project being decommissioned, and then what are we gonna do with the lagoon? Um many wanted to put housing in it.
SPEAKER_02:Why not a swimming pool?
unknown:Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_00:And some said just leave it as a huge thirty 30-acre lake. Right. Um, but we were we were thinking of of housing. It's like digging a basement in a lagoon. Uh yeah, we we thought maybe there'd be some. On a rainy day, it may smell a little bit might push a little pushback there. So we turned it into a park. And so it has a four-acre lake that is all well water, it's not runoff water or anything like that. Um, four-acre lake, we've got a new park and rec building. Um, we've got 17 full service camper pads, we're putting in three new ball fields, and so two new soccer fields, things like that, ball fields meaning baseball and softball. Um, so that's been a really good project. Um, there's never enough enough money to go around. Um council, our council was very forward-thinking, and we took a we did bond out um to get some some of the startup going. We've we we've used low local foundations, state of Nebraska, any any dime we can find, we're putting into that project. So that one that that's gonna have a lasting effect. I mean, it's just it's a really good project, something the community we really felt needed, and that will bring people, I think, it's just one of those, one of those things like why would I stay in Wayne or why would I come to Wayne? That it's called Prairie Park. That is gonna be a park that they're gonna say, that's that's a cool, cool area. We would that that's where we can hang out and and do different things in in that park.
SPEAKER_02:So for folks who haven't been in uh small communities in Nebraska within the last say five to ten years, one development that is kind of cool, but also kind of a pain and a safety issue is a lot of Nebraska small towns have now legalized, thanks to a state statute, the use of UTVs, ATVs, and golf carts in the city. Do you do that? We are in the middle of it right now, Mark. I see, I didn't even know that. It's it's an issue, right? It's it's a positive, but there's a the there there are issues you need to think through.
SPEAKER_00:There there are. And a bigger issue we're having right now are our motorized scooters.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_00:That are really becoming an issue, um, both our college-age kids as well as young, young kids, that it's it's gonna take it's gonna take something not good to to push the envelope on not allowing these or putting major major regulations on them. Um and so that's that's probably our bigger issue. We but we right now as we speak is on our agenda is to talk about golf carts and legalizing golf carts and allowing golf carts on on streets.
SPEAKER_02:I uh four or five years ago I was at a city council meeting, and this is a council where maybe one or two people usually show up. There was at least 60 people there for the meeting on the golf carts and the UTVs, all everybody wanting them, right? They they they wanted them. Uh they were willing to agree to some of the safety restrictions, we know driving them only during daylight hours, things like that. But uh it is an interesting development when you drive through Nebraska small communities that you find a significant number that now allow golf carts and uh ATVs and UTVs to be driven in the city.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and we currently we allow UTVs and ATVs to be um golf carts we hadn't, but we're also throwing in their skid loaders and lawnmowers. Oh. Because that's starting to be an issue with people driving lawnmowers. Just like up the street? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. Especially if you don't, if you're not licensed to drive a motor vehicle, they're driving lawnmowers. And so that will be a restriction that you have to have a valid driver's license to drive a lawnmower as well.
SPEAKER_02:As opposed to the eight-year-old kid just driving up the street to go mow someone else's lawn.
SPEAKER_00:And there'll be exceptions in there, you know how those can be written. Yeah, if you're going from workplace to workplace, you're fine. But otherwise, yeah, you're not going to just drive a lawnmower on the city streets.
SPEAKER_02:What other unique issues is uh Wayne sort of dealing with? What what what else is on the upcoming agenda? Anything fun?
SPEAKER_00:Anything, well, it's all fun to me, but um, you know, we we always talk a lot about chickens because we are we have we're the home to the Wayne chicken show, the 46th annual. Oh, that's right. I forgot all about that.
SPEAKER_02:Tell tell folks about that. What is that?
SPEAKER_00:46th annual Wayne Chicken Show will be this this July. Uh the chicken show started with an arts council that wanted to do do a uh a community festival, and um they chose chickens. We had no connection to chickens. Well, right up the road where you grew up. Well, Wakefield has the chickens, but when I grew up, they had pumpkin days. It's like why do you have pumpkin days and Wayne has chickens? We have no pumpkins either. Okay. But the so born out of the arts council, they liked chickens because they were easy to draw and they were easy to make fun of. And so they wanted to be able to have a light, airy, you know, arts festival, crafty. And so it started in in 81 and has grown ever since, and we're into the 46th annual one. You know, some things it's kind of cheesy um that you know you're celebrating chickens. Yeah, that's what we do. Um, and so, but we don't allow them in city limits.
SPEAKER_02:You still don't? No. Wow. Yeah, again, a number even Lincoln, Nebraska allows you to have so many chickens in town.
SPEAKER_00:We we have had some discussions, and at this point, there's there's not well what happens during chicken days?
SPEAKER_02:Can they bring chickens? Is it like a limited exemption?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, we'll call it a limited exemption. But we do have chickens in our park for the chicken show, and uh we see if they can fly. We push them out of a helicopter, helicopter, a mailbox, okay, an elevated mailbox, and they do fly. Chickens do fly.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. Yeah. So what time of year is that festival?
SPEAKER_00:It's the second Saturday of July, and then it's the Friday prior to. So that's how we always designated them.
SPEAKER_02:Do you have like a rock band? Uh is it they go walk what kind of cool things happen during chicken days?
SPEAKER_00:So the the most notable had always been the national clock off. And so the next have you participated? I have never participated. I've had children participate, but I have not. Because when I was in the with a chamber of commerce, I was running it. Running. Yeah, right. So I guess we'll say I couldn't, I couldn't perform. Um, but the national clock off, and they were on Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Regis and uh Kelly. So that that that designation has meant something, I guess, right? Um, we they don't do that anymore to get on those talk shows. Maybe they will, maybe we could try it again. Um, but so you have the national clock off. You've got we always we have a huge parade, and you think, oh, everybody has a parade. Well, when you get 150 to 170 entries, it's crazy. It takes over two hours, this parade. Um, and always during political season is always right until the politicians, yeah, they come out. Um, but yeah, we get a lot, we get a lot of parade entries. Um we have egg, egg toss, we have wing eating contests, we have ache eating contests, which is completely disgusting. Eating hard-boiled eggs, and then when you have to have a eat-off because you tied.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, so like the hot dog, they have to eat they see how many they can get hard-boiled eggs. Well, approximately what what the what's the record?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, geez. Um I think you get you get four minutes, or you get two minutes to eat and two minutes to clear your mouth, and like 35 or 40. Uh, like I said, the the eat-offs are always, and I've had to, you know, judge or have to be there feeding them the eggs or giving them the eggs. Does not smell good. Uh, there's nothing good about it except there's prize money. Um, and so yeah, it's just there's quirky little things like that all all throughout the couple days that we do, we do that stuff.
SPEAKER_02:And do you think it'll ever get as big as like the Nathan's hot dog eating contest on the 4th of July? Probably not.
SPEAKER_00:We could invite him though.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, you could Kobayashi.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, uh we have a we have a cement chicken auction that people paint chickens, decorate chickens, and we've had chickens go for almost a thousand bucks. And is it the same chicken design and everyone paints it differently? It's the same mold depending on the theme um of the year. So yeah, it just it's it's again, it's foul, it's good foul fun.
SPEAKER_02:Well, who's the most famous person who's come up for chicken days?
SPEAKER_00:Oh wow. I don't know if there is one. We had a 13-time champion, Del Hampton, and he was well though, you know, he's been on, like I said, uh, he's been on Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, and he doesn't he was from Arkansas. So I mean we get people from all over the country. It's it's crazy. Um, they would come in for the chicken show because you know the locals we just think, oh geez, how can we get out of town? So we don't have to deal with this. Um, but it it brings a lot of people to town. Um, like I said, the parade we've we've estimated close to 10,000 people are watching this parade. Um now today you could do a lot better count. You could have a drone fly over and actually calculate that, but that's the I guess that's that's what we say. We say close to 10,000. I doubt any it's been even close to that, but that's the we have the we have the longest the largest chicken dance, which we do chicken the chicken dance at second and main street, because we close the highway for this event. Um, and I don't know how many people have have done the chicken dance at once. I'm sure at a large wedding you get just as many, but we say it's the largest chicken dance until somebody call until somebody calls us on it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I I love these uh small town Nebraska celebrations. Each town has sort of their uh their thing, and it does help build the community, but also bring people and draw attention to the the the town. Absolutely. So looking back, I mean you've been a significant leader in northeast Nebraska and Wayne County. What are some of the formative experiences that shaped your leadership? You're a pretty humble dude.
SPEAKER_00:Lee, you know, honestly, my first job in Ashland was humbling. Came in as a 24-year-old gonna try to change the world. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, you have two ears and one mouth for a reason, and I had to learn that. Uh, you need to listen twice as much as you talk. Um, and so some of those types of things, and not just saying this, things like you got to have a good city attorney and things like that. And honestly, that really helped me through some things because Ashland was a tough town uh during that time. Um, and um, I think that those types of things help to say, you know what, there are resources out there. Leadership is you gotta know when to say you don't know something and when to reach out to people that have the expertise in certain certain ways. Um, you know, situational leadership too, that in my position, I don't have to make a decision, you know, right there, then and there. I can usually consult with somebody to say, is this the right way? So to know when you should make a decision, when you shouldn't. Um, I'm also big on you don't have to lead from the front. You can be in the back and you can be prodding people along and making sure that their talents are being used as much as possible. Um, so yeah, I yeah, I I like to say I'm I'm a I'm a humble guy, um, but um I think hopefully some of the things that I've done have helped other people in leadership roles. Um, I'm a huge proponent of this profession of city administration, and so I want to help people any way I can through internships, just discussing with them, coming to classes and talking to them and say, this is a noble profession. I mean, it's government, so you don't most people don't think of it that way, but it really is. It true public service is a noble profession, and you can do good for for many people, um uh just in your little nugget of the world.
SPEAKER_02:When was the last time you drove through Ashland?
SPEAKER_00:It's probably been a couple years. Has it changed a bit? Oh, absolutely. I go back past my old house, and yeah, I still know the streets by a lot of names. I still talk a lot to Jessica Priester, who's down there. I hired as a city treasurer so many years ago. Um, so no, that place has a near and dear, near and dear place in my heart. My wife and I loved it. Um, uh great proximity to you know Omaha and Lincoln. We absolutely loved our experience there. It was just a matter of we had a chance to really go home, and um, that's what we chose to do.
SPEAKER_02:So Ashland has just it's been uh literally uh uh evolved into this wonderful town, as you mentioned, all those great things. I know you're humble, but Wes, I gotta tell you, a lot of those things that have come to fruition were all started back but when you were the city administrator at the ripe age of 24 years old.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, I and I don't I don't disagree with that. Um it sometimes takes that long to see the fruits of your labor, right? Um but yeah, no, Ashland I think is a great community, you know, got a great school system, and it's yeah, it's flourishing. It can it can get as big as it wants to get, right? Just with the proximity um with Omaha and Lincoln. Um so no, I I agree. It it it does take it it takes time to make those those changes happen, and you know, people want to see them overnight. It just doesn't it doesn't work that way.
SPEAKER_02:So, Wes, one question we ask all of our guests, and you get one word. What is the one word that to you best describes this place where you grew up in Wayne County, went to Wakefield High School, went to Wayne State, went to UNO, we're a city administrator in Ashland of for many, many years have been leading economic development and being the city administrator of the city of Wayne, Nebraska. What's your one word for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_00:You know, I should have uh listened to your other podcast to see, so I didn't uh take other people's words. I'm sure this has been used, but to me it's family, and it's really a personal thing because my family is in Northeast Nebraska and mostly in Wayne proper. Um, but even when you go outside your own community and you talk to other people, I mean you even you know, you and me have a uh a history with work and stuff, and it's like you just feel comfortable, and that's to me, that's what family is. When you get around your family at holidays or whatever, it's like it's a comfort level. So comfort could be the word, but I I think family best describes it in my mind.
SPEAKER_02:Perfect. Thanks, Wes. Thanks for joining us. Folks, if you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. And be sure to share it with someone who might find it of interest. Please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska. It's great communities, it's number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks. This has been Nighty Three, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Ludke.
