Five Questions: Nikki White

What does the foundation do, and what is your job?

My job doesn’t deal directly with the fair, but the goal of the foundation is to support youth in agriculture and to support the mission of the Ozark Empire Fair, while also trying to raise money to make fairground improvements (and) improve our facilities.

How does your previous experience prepare you for your new job?

With those previous positions I had a lot of nonprofit experience, working with youth and adults in the agricultural field. That’s a lot of what we do here at the fairgrounds. Plus, there’s the fact that I’m from this area and grew up exhibiting beef cattle in the area – I’m very familiar with the area and the fair is a very important part of my life. That should help me get this job going and expand upon what the foundation has done.

What improvements are planned for the fairgrounds, and what will they cost?

We have a project going on right now where we’re adding a new barn – the Noel Boyd Youth Livestock Facility – and we hope to have more projects in the future. The foundation hopes to preserve what’s already here – we have some facilities that are in need of updating. We haven’t had a meeting yet to sit down and figure out what our goals and objectives are going to be and set our priorities. We are looking not only at building improvements but things to improve the looks of the fairgrounds as well – some of our trees are dying, and we’d like to replace some of those. As for cost, that will be determined once our plan is in place.

What programs are planned to raise the money that will be needed?

Our main project is the Gold Buckle Extravaganza, scheduled for the week before the fair. We’ll bring in youth exhibitors from all over the district – they’ll show goats, hogs, lambs and steers – and then we’ll have the Gold Buckle Gala to sell the winning animals. The proceeds go to the kids and to the foundation. Throughout the year we also do Horse Fest, Farm Fest and the Lawn and Garden Show.

Does agriculture have a part in your personal life?

My husband and I own a very small beef cattle operation. In our spare time, (we) are very active in showing and exhibiting cattle at different fairs. We like going to shows and helping out the youth with 4-H and (Future Farmers of America) projects. (My seven-month-old son) Caden already has cows and horses and dogs.[[In-content Ad]]