We’d like to pay an ultimate insiders’ compliment from the Butler Eagle newsroom.

You can set your watch and your calendar to Jim Lokhaiser’s comings and goings.

Every July, when the Eagle begins to put together its special section for the Butler Farm Show, the veteran organizer is there, right on time, with every answer to every question, every detail in place. No surprises, no curveballs.

We’re sure the Eagle is not alone. So much goes into the planning and production of the Farm Show, from rounding up the entertainment and the exhibits, to scheduling the performers and making sure exhibit judges have everything they need. There’s printing and sponsorships and advertising and one deadline creeping up after another. There are health regulations, fire regulations, animal regulations, vendor and labor regulations. The lists are endless.

And it’s all old hat for Jim.

So it’s big news to us — and to the rest of the community — to learn that Lokhaiser intends to make the 70th Farm Show his final production. It’s big news that the 25-year veteran pitch man and point man is turning over the show grounds to others after years of perfecting his craft.

Obviously and foremost, lavish congratulations are due. Thanks Jim for a job well done. The community is grateful for your contribution.

Then comes the question: now what?

Well, if we know the Farm Show guy the way we believe we do, then two things are pretty certain.

First, all the essential tasks have been assigned and delegated. Everyone has a job to do, and they’ve been trained to the point of confidence in their work. The show will go on.

Second, and more importantly, Lokhaiser has been grooming a younger generation of leaders for the past several years, putting his focus on a junior board of directors and developing leadership characteristics within the ranks of 4-H membership.

The Eagle news staff knows this because he’s had a habit of quietly drawing attention to his young leaders every year, suggesting feature stories about them and heaping praise on their progress.

Jim’s been in the business of building of the Farm Show, definitely. But more importantly, he’s been all about building up the young people who will succeed him in its production. He raised up its young future leaders just as surely as the 4-H kids raised champion crops and livestock.

That’s a leadership characteristic that few people take the time to develop, but it’s essential if community is to pass on its values from one generation to the next.

When you see Jim at the Farm Show grounds next week, be sure to thank him for a job well done.