Plans continue for Wauneta’s Harvest Fest

    This year’s Harvest Festival in Wauneta is still on — so far.
    Wauneta Chamber of Commerce members decided Monday to carry on with preparations for the festival, scheduled the last weekend in July.
    There will be some changes, however. Any activities formerly held inside probably will be moved outside, for example.
    “If it’s outside, people can stay as far apart as they want,” member Ashley Einspahr said.
    And perhaps just as importantly, if the County Fair is canceled, “people need something to do,” member Angie West said.
    Rogan Einspahr noted that Harvest Festival organizers are mulling the idea of holding Wauneta-Palisade’s annual alumni banquet at the same time
    The Chamber’s Harvest Festival committee will continue meeting and planning the event and evaluate the possibility of holding it.
    In other business Monday, Mandi Miller updated members on a proposal for the village to buy the Chateau Theater and lease it back to the Chamber.
    The move has been proposed because the theater recently lost its property tax exemption from the county. Under the proposal, the village would pay the property taxes and insurance.
    Mandi Kramer said the county has not yet appraised the building for tax purposes, so it’s uncertain how much that will be. Both sides are awaiting that information from the County Assessor’s Office. The village board tabled the matter last week pending release of the property tax bill.
    Ashley Einspahr noted that the distributor that sends films to the theater won’t resume doing that until at least the end of July, because movie studios have shut down productions until the pandemic is over.
    West also told members that the June 6-13 Tractor Relay Across Nebraska, which was to pass through Imperial and stay overnight in Wauneta, has been cancelled.