LINCOLN — Something big is afoot concerning Bigfoot that could translate into big bucks.
After seeing 750 people show up for a first-ever Bigfoot conference in February, Hastings is eyeing a weeklong celebration of Sasquatch as an encore.
The central Nebraska city’s top “Bigfooter” and founder of the first Bigfoot event in Hastings predicted that the next big event, in February, will sell out the city auditorium, which seats 1,400 people.
“We’re going to pass up Kool-Aid Days, that’s my goal,” said Harriett McFeely, referring to Hastings’ annual Kool-Aid Days festival.
McFeely, who is convinced she’s seen a Bigfoot twice in the mountains of Colorado, said the 2018 event will feature some of the biggest stars in the Sasquatch world. They include Bob Gimlin, one of two men who captured the famous film footage of a supposed Bigfoot named “Patty” in the northern California woods 50 years ago, and Cliff Barackman, one of the stars of the cable television show “Finding Bigfoot.”
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She said her phone has been ringing constantly since confirming last week that Gimlin would be coming.
“He is the absolute godfather of Bigfoot. Every Bigfooter knows his name. Everybody,” McFeely said.
Tickets go on sale in a week or so. There will be a Bigfoot conference, scheduled Feb. 15 to 17 (and possibly Feb. 18), as well as community events planned for Feb. 12-14 by local businesses and tourism promoters in Hastings.
Think Bigfoot brown ale from the town’s First Street Brewing Co., or maybe foot-shaped cookies from Eileen’s Colossal Cookies, both Hastings landmarks.
Of course, my first thought was, “Doesn’t this spoil Valentine’s Day for Sasquatch?” I’ve seen the commercials when they take away beef jerky from the big hairy guy, and it isn’t pretty.
McFeely, a feisty 72-year-old retiree, said if Bigfoot shows up, a Valentine’s cheeseburger will be waiting.
But the thinking in Hastings is, if 750 people attended a pretty quickly organized, 1½-day Bigfoot fest, a stampede will show up for a really big seminar on Sasquatch.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for our community. We love going outside the box,” said Kayla Nelson, executive director of the Adams County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Kool-Aid Days (celebrating the powdered drink mix invented in Hastings) is held every August. On Dec. 7, the city is hosting an Ugly Sweater Soirée.
McFeely started the Hastings event last year at the urging of her late husband, Dick, a longtime chamber of commerce executive. The couple, she said, were growing tired of driving to Oklahoma or California to attend such events.
Among the speakers at the 2018 conference will be members of the Bigfoot Ladies, which McFeely also founded. She said it’s the only all-female group of Bigfoot researchers and speakers in the country. Members include a nurse and a horticulturist.
Tickets to the 2018 event, which may cost $15 to $20, would make a perfect Christmas gift, maybe even a great Valentine’s treat, according to McFeely.
For more information about tickets and the speakers lined up, access the website, nebraskabigfoot.com.
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Something else that is as rare as a Bigfoot sighting is seeing State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha show up at a banquet.
But on Friday night in Omaha, the often-controversial and now 80-year-old senator attended an event at the Field Club to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nebraska chapter of the Sierra Club.
Unlike almost every other state senator, Chambers doesn’t take free lunches from lobbyists and doesn’t attend the constant stream of free breakfasts, lunches and dinners provided to legislators as information sessions by lobbying groups. (Thus the saying about Nebraska’s unique one-house Unicameral: “It pays $12,000 and all you can eat.”)
The Sierra Club honored the senator for his record-long career in the State Legislature. But mostly the award was for his efforts to protect the mountain lion and get a state license plate created for the big cats.
Jim Cavanaugh, a member of and legal counsel for the Nebraska Chapter of the Sierra Club as well as a Douglas County Board member, said Chambers decided to attend the event Friday because he appreciated the support from the environmental group.
“There weren’t a lot of groups who stepped up on that (cougar plate) initiative, but he remembers who his friends were, and weren’t,” Cavanaugh said.
Chambers has crusaded, without luck so far, to ban the hunting of mountain lions. He has said the overwhelming success of the cougar plates is evidence that other Nebraskans also want an end to hunting.
Others, though, say the beauty and low cost of the mountain lion conservation plate (only $5 for the version with assigned letters and numbers; plates with a custom message cost $40) is the reason for its popularity, particularly when compared with the rather plain standard state plate.
By the way, the cougar plate idea didn’t originate with Chambers. Former State Sen. Charlie Janssen, now the state auditor, introduced the idea as an amendment to another bill in 2014.
That amendment was later withdrawn. But in 2015 Chambers introduced a bill that became law. That bill was passed despite opposition from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, which has received a windfall of more than $205,000 from sales of the cougar plate and had argued that the plate would be unpopular.
The plate has been nothing close to that. As of last week (as noted in this column last Sunday), 21,351 of the cougar plates had been sold, making it the state’s top-selling specialty plate. Soon there may be more mountain lion plates actually on the road than the special Husker plate, which, it should be noted, is quite a bit more pricey at $70.
paul.hammel@owh.com, 402-473-9584