DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The Farm Progress Show is just over a week away from returning to Decatur for the 11th time.
The Brix family owns or controls 350 of the about 600 acres the show uses on a bi-annual basis.
David and Dawn Brix went to Iowa in 2004 to see what the show would look like if it came to their land.
"I always say if we had to do it all over again exactly how it was in '05, it would be hard to do another one, but we knew every one would get easier," David Brix said, "And they have."
At first, FPS deemed Decatur to be too far west from where it wanted a permanent site.
"We were way too far west," David Brix said. "They wanted it over by the border somewhere because it was going to be the Illinois/Indiana site. We were way too far west, but Decatur threw together such a great package, it was an offer they couldn't refuse."
Dawn Brix added, "That's verbatim what they said."
The couple knew even in 2004 how much would change if they were able to get the show to Decatur.
"Originally, it was a 20-year deal that they wanted us to sign on for. Well, we've passed that. And we said then, in 20 years, we'll probably have grandchildren. 20 years later, we have three," David Brix said.
Being a part of the world's greatest ag fair was something the family could not pass up.
"We went to the Bloomington show, we went to the Dalton City show, the Springfield show when it was over there," David Brix recalled. "So, it was always the Super Bowl of agriculture basically, so to have that opportunity to be a part of it, that was like, what could we do?"
David and Dawn's kids grew up helping with the show, and now their grandkids are seeing it, too.
"Our girls had a lot of adopted dads and grandparents and just people that loved to see them every two years," Dawn Brix said. "The three days of the show, our girls would just disappear because they would be riding with an FPS guy and just take off, and they loved it. And now their babies are getting to experience the same things."
The Farm Progress Show is in Progress City Aug. 26-28.
WAND News will have live coverage throughout.
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