County-owned carnival

Travis Theobald, left, explains Furnas County’s “county-owned carnival” to Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, during Ricketts’ stop in Beaver City Wednesday. The locally-owned and -operated carnival was the vision of Lawrence Kentfield more than 25 years ago, Theobald said, and it celebrates a quarter-century of existence this summer. “It’s family-friendly. We like to call it ‘county-owned’ because all the neighbors volunteer here,” Travis told the governor. Kentfield was most excited about the Ferris wheel. “I couldn’t wait to get that Ferris wheel up, so I could ride to the top and see Beaver City from the top,” Kentfield said at the carnival’s 10th anniversary, in 2003. Kentfield and other early organizers and supporters did this, they said at the 10-year anniversary, “to see the kids’ faces … to feel the parents’ trust.”