This past month, I participated in a meeting of the Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation (KFF) Board of Directors.
As a member of this board for the past 10-years, I am always impressed that our leadership team takes whatever time is needed to cover all topics under consideration. We do not rush things through. We all share a love for the Kansas State Fair.
This meeting lasted 2 hours and 45 minutes. As one board member was heard to say afterwards, “we thoroughly vet everything before making a decision.”
Decision making is a constant in everyone’s life, which ranks right up there with paying taxes and death.
And, from what I have learned serving on this board, standing still, and resting on one’s laurels is not an option. Capper Cooperative Park, the White House and the 1861 Club are prime examples of good decision making in a relatively short period of time.
The internet has more ideas on how to achieve goals than there are people on the planet. Many are deserving of consideration.
Many successful ventures are achieved by people working behind the scenes. As Kansas’ most distinguished citizen, Dwight D. Eisenhower, said, “much can be accomplished if no one worries who gets the credit.”
Many projects lack 100 percent consensus when undertaken and years later, one wonders why there could have been any doubt. I am told a story of how, in 1965, there was discussion on purchasing a 160-acre tract of land across the street on the east side of the fairgrounds and adjacent to Plum Street for use by the State Fair. Perhaps, some thought it was a waste of the state’s money. Others doubted the wisdom of taking a quarter section of land out of an area, which was then a part of the city’s growth and expansion.
The Kansas Legislature approved the purchase, and Governor William H. Avery, an avid supporter of the Kansas State Fair, without hesitation, signed it into law.
Sixty years later, this strip of land is used year-round for parking during the fair and for use for non-fair events. The east side of this tract of land adjoining Severance Street, now includes everything from a baseball field to a swimming pool. In retrospect, it is proven to be one of the great decisions made to enhance the fair.
We should be grateful for that decision and the many others made since the fair’s origin, which have advanced our State Fair experience for the past 113 years.
Fairgoers attending the 2026 Kansas State Fair will enjoy some of the improvements ironed out at meetings of the KFF. We all have much to look forward to at this year’s fair.
-Richard Shank
Kansas State Fair Ambassador
Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation Board Member
About the Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation
The Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation (KFF) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Founded in 2003, KFF’s mission is to further the renovation, construction, preservation and beautification of the Kansas State Fairgrounds with a vision of inspiring excellence and understanding of Kansas agriculture, industry and culture through the Kansas State Fair, activities, educational programs and opportunities. The Foundation exists to enrich the unforgettable memories and traditions people experience only at the Kansas State Fair and at the 500+ events on the Fairgrounds year-round.
