KEARNEY— After the Christmas lights come down, it’s time to look ahead to possibilities of the new year.
That means the 30th-annual Home and Builder’s Show sponsored by the Kearney Area Builders Association, which comes to the Expo Building at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds Friday to Jan. 13.
The show, a 30-year tradition, will feature more than 100 booths showcasing floors, curtains, kitchens, wall coverings, ranges, carpeting, garage doors, cabinetry, electronics and landscaping.
There will also be pools, spas, sunroom designs and more, along with what’s being called an Atlanta show home from Wardcraft Homes that will have three bedrooms and two baths in its 1,568 square feet.
“The house will be finished except for the floor and furnishings,” said Mark Weller, Wardcraft plant manager in Minden. “Whoever buys the home can pick those items out.”
“This show is the bread and butter for our association,” said Paul Fredrickson, owner of Fredrickson Cos. of Kearney and a KABA board member. “We have a Parade of Homes benefit every fall, but this is our moneymaker.”
In charge of the show for the fifth year will be Diane Jorgenson, executive officer of KABA. She is assisted by a committee that has been meeting since mid-July. Co-chairs this year are Kyle Flaherty of Platte Valley State Bank and Rich White, who is semi-retired.
The three-day show was the brainchild of Fredrickson and the late Gary Shubert, owner of Mid-Nebraska Cabinets in Lexington, who were pondering a new way to promote what was then called the West Central Nebraska Home Builders Association.
The organization needed a reliable source of income beyond member dues, which it shared with the Nebraska State Home Builders Association and the National Home Builders Association.
“No more than 60 percent of the dues income stays here, and we needed more money,” Fredrickson said.
At a meeting in Hays, Kan., he and Shubert began chatting with Irene Miller, who put on the North Platte Home Show every year. Grand Island had an annual home show, too, but Kearney didn’t.
“Following our board meeting, I brought up the idea: Why not start a home show in Kearney?” Fredrickson said.
The WCNHBA launched a show and hired Miller to run it for several years. Capitol Productions in Lincoln and others ran it, too, but when KABA hired Jorgenson as executive director four years ago, she was put in charge of it.
“She’s such a capable person, we finally had someone here to do it,” Fredrickson said. “She does a wonderful job, and the show keeps growing.”
In the last 30 years, the show has grown from about 80 vendors to the 110 who will be there next week. Each booth measures 20 feet by 20 feet.
The show offers builders and tradesmen a chance to meet the public and “gives our home builders good leads,” said Fredrickson, who sits on the committee. It also lets citizens browse casually to get ideas about new lighting, cabinetry, flooring and more.
Some vendors will offer demonstrations at their booths. Lifetime Cookware will demonstrate its products; Traeger will cook food on their grills and pass it out to attendees, Jorgenson said.
“We’ll have little mini-seminars at the booths, too,” Fredrickson said.
KABA is a professional association of 125 members primarily from Kearney, with a few from Holdrege, Riverdale, Elm Creek and Gibbon. It changed its name from the WCHB in the past year in order to eliminate the word “home.”
“We wanted to include all builders, commercial as well as residential,” Fredrickson said.
KABA promotes the “residential and light commercial building industry by serving anyone who is interested in buying a new home or remodeling their present home.
“What’s big now?” Jorgenson said. “Theater rooms. Big kitchens. Open floor plans.” Visitors can see all that and more next weekend.
email to:
maryjane.skala@kearneyhub.com
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