Minden hosted its first "Light of the World" pageant in 1946. Nearly 80 years later, the annual tradition, which helped earn Minden the moniker Nebraska s Christmas City, is still going.
Now 26 years later, that novel approach has, by many accounts, proven to be a success, with an additional 10,000 acres of habitat restored and shortages in target water flows on the decline.
Wildlife habitat conservation is only one activity in the vast Platte River Basin. The water also allows for irrigation, hydropower production, municipal water supplies, economic development and recreation.