Founder has hopes for future Comstock music festivals

Financial troubles signaled the end of a popular music festival in small-town Nebraska back in 2010, but the Comstock Windmill Festival returned July 22 through 24 and the founder said he plans to keep it that way for years to come.

Under the windmills of Comstock, thousands gathered as a popular concert series made a comeback after a six-year-hiatus.

"It's a Mission: Impossible type of deal," festival founder and organizer, Hennry Nuxoll, said. "I should call it the Lazareth Festival because I believe in miracles and I believe in Jesus and if Jesus can bring Lazareth back from the dead, a festival should be a piece of cake."

Over the years, people have traveled to see world-renowned acts in the village of just over 100 people. The 2016 line-up included rock legend, Jackyl, among others.

"We played here quite a few years ago and they said, 'We want to have you back.' So they invited us and we said, 'Absolutely, can't wait,'" added Dave Kingsley, a member of Treo, the opening act on Sunday. "Comstock is back and we're going to be a big part of it."

The lively scenery was six years in the making. Court documents state Nuxoll was convicted in Custer County District Court back in 2008 for issuing bad checks worth between $500 and $1,500.

He pleaded no contest as part of a plea agreement.

In January 2009, he was sentenced to four years probation and had to pay $100,000 of restitution.

"A receiver took money from our funds at the festival when a district judge told him not to and that left me short on covering checks," Nuxoll explained. "I didn't intend on defrauding anybody. I wouldn't defraud a newspaper stand."

In Nuxoll's mission to make right with ticket holders, this weekend he honored tickets from people who bought seats for the concerts in 2011 that never happened.

Cliff and Karen Jones were two of those customers happy to return and camp out all weekend.

"They honored them and I'm just as happy as can be," Cliff said. "That was really nice of him to honor them, you know. It was one of those things beyond his control and the man has got guts to try it again."

Nuxoll adds this year's mission was about spreading the word about the festival rather than making money. In fact, at this year's Kearney Cruise Nite, he passed out about half of the Comstock music festival tickets.

The number of tickets sold to attendees over the three-day series was still being tallied as of Monday, but Nuxoll said the crowd doubled each day and he estimates there were thousands of people. It's not quite the 30,000 concert-goers there once were years ago, but he said he's already planning the 2017 concert series.