Community pride on display at Tilden Prairie Days

TILDEN, Neb. -- As county fairs continue across the state, a northeast Nebraska town held a community celebration for young and old.

Committee member of Prairie Days Kenny Kube said the weekend long event began in 2004 and has events such as fireworks, a car show, and antique shows.

Kube said current and former residents are proud of the community with one family making a big donation to the town.

“We’ve had a family that lived here and moved to California, and they come back and build us a library, you know," Kube said. "Can’t beat a deal like that.”

One of the notable attractions at Prairie Days is the Pieces of the Good Life Quilt Show held on Sunday. 

Before Prairie Days was started, the quilt show was an idea started by a group of ladies in Tilden 21 years ago and Norda Johnson said the event has experienced growth since its inception.

“This thing has grown," Johnson said. "It’s drawn people together. It has made it an art exhibit as well as a quilt.”

The show allows people to submit quilts, and Johnson said quilts from all parts of Nebraska have been displayed.

Roseanne Ross, a new member of the quilt show, said the show is unique every year and enjoys spending time to set up for it.

“It is always a fun day to get together with all of these ladies," Ross said. "We have no idea what the quilts are going to be until we start unpacking everything. Then it’s always amazing how to put them together and how to coordinator them.”

With Prairie Days reaching its 19th celebration, Kube said he has enjoyed his time helping with the event and said the community is full of pride.

“It [Tilden] has been here a long time," Kube said. "There’s a lot of families here in town that was here from the beginning, and they’re pretty proud of this place.”