From first-timers to 17-year veterans, 800 volunteers power the Nebraska State Fair

“Usually, I come every other day anyway,” Hoffman said as she rode a tram around the fairgrounds Wednesday morning.

“I've been talking about volunteering, and I thought, you know what, maybe I better do this because maybe something will happen, and I won't be able to,” she said. “So, I thought I better do it while I can.”

Hoffman — who worked at the north Skagway for 26 years before it closed in 2015 — began volunteering at the fair Saturday with the State Fair Marathon. She and Deborah Luna worked together.

“And then we did ID bracelets for children Sunday night, which was a very good program,” Hoffman said. “I think I'm going to be here about five days, off and on. I usually work a day, and then I'm off a day.”

Hoffman and Luna are part of an army in yellow T-shirts, about 800 strong. While some are rookies like Hoffman, it’s not hard to find those who have volunteered every — or nearly every — year the fair has been in Grand Island.

Ask Jane Gloor how long she and her husband, Mark, have been volunteering at the State Fair, and she’ll say, “Since the start of the fair.”

That makes this the 17th year for them.

“Right now, my husband and I go all 11 days,” she said. “Mark has been all 11 days since it's opened, but since I retired, the past nine years, I've been every day. But otherwise, it was just weekends.”

The Gloors are both retired educators. Mark taught English at Central City High School for 34 years, and Jane retired as principal of West Lawn Elementary in Grand Island after 36 years in education.

On Wednesday, they were working at the information booth just inside the main gate.

A fair guest approached the booth and said, “We're hoping to see the Miniature Hereford show.”

“It will be in the Five Points Bank Arena,” Jane said, showing the location on a map and giving directions.

Giving directions is a big part of a volunteer’s duty at this location.

“Where something is located, or what is something that we should see. It's our first visit here,” she said, repeating some common questions. “We'll direct them to what we think would be the best thing for them to do.

“Usually, we'll tell them to hop on the tram,” Jane said. “Best way to see the fairgrounds is to hop on that tram, go all the way around. Then you can know where you want to visit going back.”

She said they have worked at the Welcome Center and “wherever they need us.”

“I love the trams. Give me a walkie-talkie, and I can talk anything about that,” she said. “But right now, it's the main gate. We really do like this.”

“It's just getting to greet the people,” Mark Gloor said of why he likes volunteering at the fair, “interacting with people from all over the state and countryside.”

He has met people from as far away as Hawaii and Asia while volunteering. One group from Europe was on a tour of America’s state fairs.

Inside the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center, Gloria Trejo had almost as much volunteering experience as the Gloors.

“The very first year that they came out here, I did not work here because I really didn't know too much about it,” she said. “So, then the next year came, and I thought, I'm going to volunteer … and I've been working since then.”

At the information booth just inside Pinnacle’s east doors, volunteers field a lot of questions about where to find things.

“We look it up on here and then tell them where it's at,” Trejo said, referring to a tablet computer. If the thing the fairgoer is looking for is outside the building, the volunteers refer to a map. “If it's out there, then we look it up, and we try to tell them.”

Trejo, who retired after working 25 years at CNH, also volunteers for what she called “pre-fair” work.

“That's like when all the people bring in their vegetables and plants. … That's over in the 4-H Building,” she said. “That's kind of fun. Then you get to talk to a lot of people and see the vegetables that they bring in, stuff like that.”

Her co-worker Wednesday, Cathie Pankowski, drove three hours to get there.

“My sister and I decided we needed to try this,” Pankowski said about a half-hour into her first shift. “She lives at Elwood, and I'm in Ainsworth. We had to travel a ways to come.”

Pankowski’s husband drove their camper, and the couple were staying at the State Fair’s campground.

“So, it cost us a little to come volunteer, but we thought it looked like fun,” she said.

Pankowski worked as an elementary school paraprofessional for 30 years and had already bumped into one of her former students, but she said she hadn’t fielded any questions from fair guests yet.

“You were asked about the Whiskey (Morning) Coffee,” Trejo said.

“My husband came and asked that,” said Pankowski, whose husband isn’t volunteering. “I couldn't talk him into it.”

Harry and Nancy Brown, who have been married 59 years, were in their second of three days volunteering at the fair.

Outside the main gate, they were making ID bracelets for children.

“We put their name on there and their telephone number for their parents in case they get lost,” Harry said.

The Browns, who have three children and nine grandchildren, remarked about the number of youngsters streaming through the gates.

“I thought yesterday was the largest classroom, but boy, look at all these kids again today,” he said.

Nebraska’s Largest Classroom took place Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the fair.

“Can you imagine if they all came at once?” Nancy said.

When asked how long they have been volunteering at the fair, Harry said, “Many years.”

“I think we didn't do it the first year, but from then on, we’ve volunteered at the fair,” Nancy said. “It's nice to visit with people and just get out of your house.”

Deborah Luna, who was hosting the tram with Kay Hoffman on Wednesday, said she likes to volunteer for similar reasons.

“Seeing the kids’ faces, the people, the smiles,” Luna said. “Just being helpful.”

She responded to a question from a fair guest asking where the tram goes.

“All the way around like a tour of the fair,” she said. “Come on, you can get on now.”

For five years, Luna has begun her volunteering each year at the State Fair Marathon.

Answering questions is a big part of a volunteer’s job.

“What time's this? Where's this program? Where's this stage?” she offered as examples. Teammates have to rely on each other. “She has the answer to that question. … She does know where that stage is, where that performance is that they're looking for.”

The tram is a pretty good assignment, Luna said, “in the morning with the coolness of the day.”

“One to 5, I'll be at the 4-H Building — air conditioning,” she said. “You get to know where you want to work with various people, too, in various sites.”

Luna, who worked for Archer Daniels Midland in Lincoln for 30 years, considers herself a people person.

“Oh, yeah, for sure. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this,” she said. “It's fun. I love it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here.”