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Nebraska closed out its fiscal year on a record-high note, with net tax revenues nearing $6.35 billion.

A state Department of Revenue report says the state collected $624 million more for the fiscal year that ended June 30 than predicted just four months earlier. That total is up 10.9 percent from those February projections, which in turn were $370 million higher than projections issued in October.

The director of the state’s Legislative Fiscal Office, Tom Bergquist, said the revenue growth was a record-setting 22.1 percent, more than 7 percentage points higher than the previous record of 13.5 percent that was set last year.

Before last year, Nebraska’s previous record-high revenue growth was logged in the late 1980s, at around 12 percent, Bergquist said. At the start of the fiscal year, he said, the state’s forecasting board projected Nebraska would see about 10.6 percent revenue growth.

We’re less than a month away from our state’s biggest annual celebration—the Nebraska State Fair.

From Aug. 26 through Sept. 5, Nebraskans from across the state will gather to share all that Nebraska agriculture has to offer. It will be the 153rd time we gather for this time-honored tradition.

Last year, the State Fair attracted more than a quarter-million attendees to Grand Island, including visitors from 10 countries and 43 states. This year, we’ll be ready to welcome even more guests looking to get a taste of the Good Life.

At its core, the State Fair is a fantastic celebration of Nebraska’s number one industry. Agriculture is the heart and soul of what we do here in our state.

It accounts for roughly 20 percent of our economy and is a powerhouse for job creation—one in four Nebraska jobs are connected to agriculture.

After wrapping up another county fair and heading back into other extension programming, it’s good to reflect on the county fair experience as this is one of the capstone experiences for 4-H youth.

This marks nearly my 17th year in extension and 16th fair which is hard to imagine! I am still amazed and blessed to have so many excellent and caring volunteers to make the fair a positive experience for our youth.

Finally—the countless hours spent preparing ahead of time allows for a much smoother week during the fair. I’d like to give a lot of credit to the entire staff of Fillmore and Clay Counties.

Weeks before the fair, data is entered into the computer system, stall assignments are created, awards ordered, reminders sent to exhibitors about completing quality assurance, registration deadlines, etc.

Without the collaboration of staff, fair would not occur. Also, there is a lot of time spent from volunteers such as Council members and superintendents.

This year’s fair certainly had some exciting moments during it, not just in the show ring but in the forecast.

To celebrate 150 years, the weather not only threw hot temperatures and a humid feeling as it usually does, but also a tornado (a small one), and some downpours.

I started the first day of the fair off helping with the 4-H photography area; meaning organizing photos and information, and then helping the judge.

We had a lot of a great photos come through our hands; all of those 4-H photographers should be proud of their work.

Wednesday evening meant the extreme bull riding. I love taking photos of bull riding; the emotion and textures you can get in a photo are so worth sitting on the ground for however long.

I also grabbed a photo of a guy getting tossed by a bull...and the guy just got right back up like nothing happened.

Hopefully the guy was actually OK, but that moment did make for a decent photo.

Mister Rogers, at least for adults in my era, was one of the most influential human beings that I can recall during my growing years. His way of life, his calm nature and the way in which he delivered a daily message was like no other.

He’s been gone since early 2003, but his impact on life continues for many. I happen to follow a social media site called “MisterRogersQuotes,” and every now and then a quote comes along that just hits the spot at the right time.

While sifting through so much ugly stuff on social media, I ran into a quote from Mr. Rogers that was shared on this outlet that read: “I’m very concerned that our society is much more concerned with information than wonder, in noise rather than silence. How do we encourage relection? Oh my, this is a noisy world.”

Living in a noisy world is so exhausting that at times one just has to take a step backward, catch your breath and hit the “restart button.”

Our busy weekend officially began Friday, July 1. Although there were a couple of items Thursday night to kick-off Dugout Days, I didn’t officially cover anything until the swimming activities Friday morning.

From there, it was a straight shot through several events for Dugout Days and Clay Center’s first-ever Freedom Festival.

Between the events in the two towns, we came back with a ton of photos (which will be posted soon), and I enjoyed going through everyone’s captured moments.

It’s fun to see the same event through someone else’s lens, and I’m able to do that each year going through photos of whoever covers these bigger events.

Saturday was an extra special day because the Clay County News was named the grand marshal of the Dugout Days parade by the Sutton Chamber of Commerce.

Honors and awards, while they are always a wonderful feeling when they come our way at the Clay County News aren’t what drive me personally. Absolutely, they are fantastic to receive, but for as long as I’ve been in the newspaper business, I consider almost each and every day a “growing day” if you will.

This past Saturday during Sutton’s Dugout Days parade, the Sutton Area Chamber of Commerce honored our hard-working staff as grand marshals during the 151st year of Sutton being a community.

Thankfully, we’ve been greatly successful amongst our peer group within the Nebraska Press Association. I’ve lost count as to how many awards we’ve obtained through the NPA’s annual “Better Newspaper Contest.”

Those honors are attributed to the hard work that this staff has put forth through my 13 full years with the Clay County News.

It’s been a little bit since we’ve had a big community celebration, and EdgarFest’s 150th Celebration was a fun one.

As previously mentioned in a few places, we have three towns celebrating 150 years this year, and Edgar was the first to host theirs last weekend.

Despite a short, soft rainfall in the morning Saturday, the sun eventually came out and large crowds of people covered the lawn behind the community building, and the town bustled with activity.

It was fun to get to see so many people I haven’t seen in a while, as well as watch the activities that were going on.

One of the entertaining ones was the fire department water fight.

I watched as teams of three stood on either side of a keg tied on a high wire, with the goal of using the hose to push it across the other team’s line.

People were soaked by the end of each round, but that didn’t deter smiles from crossing their faces.

Summer sports highlights have been really big this year, at least from my perspective. As you might remember, last week we featured the Sandy Creek’s 12 and under girls softball team earning a district title and heading to the state tournament this coming weekend to defend a state championship this team earned last year in the 10 and under age group. Good luck girls!!

This week’s highlights for me begins with more of an observation perspective. While taking in a game in Central City between the Sutton Juniors and Ord, I was able to watch Sutton umpire Larry T. Nuss call balls and strikes and everything else.

I don’t know how long Nuss has been calling baseball, but I know he’s been at it longer than I’ve been in Clay County.

In my observations, “T” does it right! After texting him a picture with him in action, and a compliment about his work in that particular game, his response was spot on, “Thanks Tory. I always try to bring my best each time out.”

Realizing that yet another year of serving Clay County in this newspaper at times seems unreal, yet at other times, it seems like yesterday that I pulled into town, a U-Haul truck full of stuff and a new step in my life.

This issue of the Clay County News brings me to the start of my 14th year in the county, and yet it still seems like I was spending my first nights as a citizen of the county. A lot has changed, mostly for the good, some maybe not so good, but as I reflect, I have been blessed to do what I do and met so many people who have become lifelong acquaintances and friends.

I’ve lost a few of those along the way, all of whom will continue to leave a lasting impression on my mind and in my heart!