Perhaps Carnac the Magnificent would have predicted the growing success of one of Northeast Nebraska’s hottest summer treasures.

Some of you – if over age 25 – may remember the mystic of the East portrayed by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. Sidekick Ed McMahon would assure the audience that the envelopes had been enclosed in a mayo jar that had been under Funk and Wagnall’s porch since noon, and absolutely no one knew the contents of the hermetically-sealed packets.

Then Johnny – or Carnac – placed the envelope against his beaded red turban, announced the answer to the impending question, ripped open the envelope, and produced the punch line.

For the fourth year, Carnac’s favored spot in June undoubtedly would be center stage at the Johnny Carson Theater, as Norfolk hosts the Great American Comedy Festival. The festival began as a tribute to hometown hero Carson and his legacy to the comedy world.

Called the King of Late Night, Carson played an instrumental role in the career paths for multiple comedians. This year’s headliner, Louie Anderson, got his big break after appearing on The Tonight Show. While performing his set, Anderson listened for Johnny’s laughter and for him to hit the desk.

Other past festival performers have mentioned another sign of comedic success: being invited to sit in the chair next to Johnny’s famous desk and chat with Carson.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to attend one of the myriad shows available, pencil it in on your calendar. Shows begin next Wednesday, June 15!

Amateur competition heats up Wednesday evening with the winner determined by audience vote.

On Thursday and Friday, 20 professionals vie for a chance to compete in Saturday’s Gala showcase, featuring Anderson and this year’s Johnny Carson Legend Award winner, Cloris Leachman.

On Sunday, the Skit Guys entertain at the family show. The duo combines humor and faith for hilarious results.

If you’re looking for something a little more risqué, check out the late-night sets on Thursday and Friday. The professionals will share different sets with content for a mature audience.

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of the festival’s planning committee and director of the youth camp since its inception. The youth camp remains one of the festival’s quiet commodities and proves anyone can tickle someone’s funny bone. Instructors come from top comedy institutions: The Second City and the San Francisco Comedy College.

Here, students learn more than the art of a joke or the timing for a Saturday Night Live-style skit.  As an observer, I see confidence take root, break through the underlying barrier of shyness and self-doubt, and form into a confident individual who realizes it is okay to laugh and poke fun at your own mishaps.

That’s one of the beauties of humor.

Carson once said, “Talent alone won’t make you a success. Neither will being in the right place at the right time, unless you are ready. The most important question is: “Are you ready?”

Placing envelope to the forehead, Carnac’s answer for the participating comedians: Yes.

I adore flowers. It doesn’t matter what type (although daisies, peonies, iris and lilies are my favorites). I’d have a yard filled with multi-colored blooms, if I could afford it. A few years ago, my mother in law was thinning out the daylilies in front of the dairy barn and I brought a few home to plant in front of our house. WOW! I love the beautiful orange tiger lilies that line one side of our house. In just two years, these flowers have spread their green leaves and sprouted so many delightful flowers.

I never knew Nebraska had a Daylily Society until last week. The NDS organized in 1986, promoting the growth of daylily varieties and hybrid forms of the plant. Every July, the group hosts a bloom show for its membership. I imagine it’s a beautiful site! The group also supports and cares for the Memorial Garden, located on the east side of the Lifelong Learning Center on the campus of Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska.

Across the state, five approved display gardens show off their gorgeous flowers. A favorite in Northeast Nebraska is Garden Perennials, located near Wayne. Between July 1 and August 7, visitors can see thousands of daylilies in their glory. I’ve never stopped here, but I have driven by during the summer and it’s a giant burst of color splashed against the lush green landscape.

Another daylily farm is located west of Bradshaw. Harmony Nursery and Daylily Farm is in its fifth year of operation. They produce over 400 different daylily cultivars. Since this is along my route to Lincoln, I’m definitely stopping next time. Hopefully, I’ll come home with new plants!

Who’s ready to plant lilies?

After the pink-orange strands of a Nebraska December sunset fade from the horizon, sparkles of multi-colored light emanate against the black night sky. It’s the season of lights in mid-America, a time to show your holiday spirit with captivating choreographed light displays, a reason to unleash your inner Clark Griswold (think National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation) and outshine your neighbor’s simply-decorated Christmas tree.

                Across the state, holiday displays – both in residential areas and business districts – exalt the reason for the season. Some offer simple praise to the commercialized vision of the holiday. Others present a combination of both ideas.

                Treks to some of the monstrous displays have become yearly rituals, where visitors come by car- and busloads, bearing gifts of congested suburban streets, smelly gasoline fumes, and jarring blasts of car horns.

                It’s those car rides to check out Christmas displays that bring back some of my favorite childhood memories. Along with our grandparents, our family bundled up and squeezed into our Ford Galaxy 500, traveling up and down the streets in Wausa, checking out the brilliance that stood out against the darkened night.

                The glow of the red or the soft combo of blue and green were my favorites. Several houses exhibited Nativity scenes; others posed Santa and several mischievous elves loading presents into a plywood sleigh. Each display revealed the personality of the homeowner and viewers learned a lot about their neighbors’ interpretation of the Christmas story.

                When my children were in grade school, we continued the family look-at-lights tradition, but we expanded our route, including the Santa Land display in Creighton, a stop in Osmond – a.k.a. The Christmas City, and a visit to the avenue of scenes set up at NECC in Norfolk.

                We’d marvel at the blend of colors twisting upward toward the heavens, and undoubtedly, the kids would sing some favorite carol or silly holiday ditty as we crossed over the river and through the countryside on our long journey home.

                Just a handful of years ago, Courtney and I took a holiday carriage ride through Omaha’s Old Market. The million twinkling lights, ice sculpture designs in the park, and old-world charm made it a memorable Christmas.

                Nebraska offers other fantastic holiday displays. Minden’s tradition began in 1915, when the City light commissioner wanted to impress attendees of the state G.A.R. convention. J.C. Haws strung lights from the railroad depot to the town square. Eventually, the lights moved to the courthouse. Now, the 12,000 lights illuminate for miles and draw guests to Minden’s yearly “Light of the World” pageant.

                All sizes of holiday spectaculars can be viewed across the Cornhusker state. From Chester to Scottsbluff, Belvidere to Gothenburg, light displays present a town’s take on the reason for the season.

                Something magical happens when a string of lights gets plugged in. A radiance of hope and peace lifts everyone’s spirits, igniting the innocence associated with this time of year.

                From the Schindler house to yours, turn on the lights and experience a blessed Merry Christmas.