VERDIGRE, Neb. -- A northeast Nebraska community is celebrating an infusion of funding for a local festival.

Verdigre, known as the Kolach Capital of the World, is the latest recipient of a $5,000 grant in honor of the annual Kolach Days. The funding from Farmers Pride and Cenex will support updates to the infrastructure on festival grounds.  

Kolach Days, which is put on by the Verdigre Improvement Club, has been a tradition in northeast Nebraska for over 50 years. Each summer, the Verdigre community hosts the festival, which attracts people from across the state for live music, kolach eating contests, tractor pulls, kid’s activities and more. The grant from Farmers Pride will help the Verdigre Improvement Club refresh the infrastructure for the event, with plans to purchase new picnic tables and bleachers. 

“The whole community looks forward to that weekend in June where we celebrate in community all that this town has to offer,” said Dave Spencer, sales and marketing manager at Farmers Pride. “It’s an honor to support an organization that pours so much joy into the town of Verdigre.”  

This is the second time Farmers Pride has honored a community with its grant. The first was given to Yankton Festival of Lights in Nov. 2020 to help revamp their beloved Santa’s Workshop setting.  

Each year, communities like Verdigre are nominated and selected through the Hometown Pride grant initiative. This supports cooperatives like Farmers Pride in honoring what makes their communities special. Now in its fourth year, local organizations across the Cenex footprint will have received $400,000 in grants to support the thriving communities that they call home.   

“The Cenex brand is committed to supporting and celebrating what makes local communities across America special,” said Mimi Berlin, communications manager at CHS. “We are proud of Cenex dealers, like Farmers Pride, who are actively involved in supporting and highlighting local organizations, events and change-makers in their community."