Topic: County Fair Time (photo heavy)

[Patty S]

It's time again for County Fairs all over the country. Does anyone else enter anything (canning, plants, photography, crafts, needlework, etc.) in them? 

I don't really care about entering my plants & flowers, myself, but it gives BG an opportunity to show off what she's worked so hard on in our gardens, & to pick up a little spending cash as a bonus for her efforts.  It also gives me the opportunity to show her how to select the best things for exhibition & to help teach her about sportsmanship.

We didn't find "Flower Arrangement" section in the Fair Premium booklet until it was too late to register an entry, so we missed out on that.  Instead, all our entries went into the "Horticulture" section & we competed against each other in a few of the Divisions.

Our entries this year included a red Tea Rose, a Canna Lily stalk, two kinds of Coreopsis, Dianthus...
     

Shasta Daisies, a small branch of Spirea, Hydrangeas, & our "variegated" Basil.  BG also entered a branch of Malva Zebrina (far right), but we didn't know that it doesn't make a good cut flower, so she removed it when it started wilting & got real droopy before we left.
     

Another one that we weren't sure was going to make it, was the Devil's Claw that LaRelle thought we should enter, at the last minute.  It did fine for the first couple of hours after we potted it, then started to wilt a little after we put it in the car! 
         
           (Monday)

We took our chances & it did perk back up!
     
       (BG today, with her Variegated Basil & the Devil's Claw.)

I really thought that her Basil would bring in a ribbon, cuz it's sooo pretty, but I guess it wasn't unique enough for the judges.
     

Her Coreopsis took a first place blue ribbon...
     

...As did my Canna stalk with the seed pods on one of the branches.
         

She wanted to enter the Tea Rose, but I smacked her... friendly-like   ...& told her that roses are the only flower she doesn't take care of around here, so she couldn't have it! (She's too short to deadhead the tall plants... but she frees me up so I have time to take care of them, so she'll get the prize money for my entries, anyway.)
         
         Second place.

The Dianthus took a white 3rd place ribbon,
         

but our pretty purple/blue Hydrangeas didn't stand a chance against this pink & white beauty!
         

Being in the smallish building where the flower & plant exhibits were, along with 34 other kids, we were lucky to find as many of our entries as we did, & snap quick pics of them.  We'll have to go back when we have more time, to find out how the other ones did.

I haven't been very happy with the way they've run the Floral Division or the judging, over the past couple years, & if it weren't for BG, I wouldn't bother with the fair at all.  This year they didn't add water to any of the vases during the week (as you can tell by the shape a couple of them are in, in today's pics... 4 days after they were registered), so there are a whole mess of flowers sitting on display that look absolutely awful! Also, on my Creme Brulee Coreopsis tag, someone had crossed out "Coreopsis" & wrote the name of a different flower there.... disqualifying it from competition!   (I wish I'd have had a pen with me, cuz now I can't remember what was written there.  The only other "Creme Brulee" plant that I know of is one of the Heuchra varieties.)

At any rate, we fared pretty well & BG is happy.  We'll pick up our potted plants & her prize money on Sunday.

[patches]

Well, Patty, it you and BG did pretty well at the fair.  I think it's so neat to see kids involved in doing something like this.  Most kids today couldn't be bothered with entering something in a fair.    Good job!!!

[Patty S]

I decided to go back to the fairgrounds tonight, while the stamp on the back of my hand still showed from this morning, so I wouldn't have to pay to get back in.

I went to the floral building & found another ribbon winner... BG's Shasta Daisy entry took 2nd place. Our friend, Elizabeth (the lady whose flowers BG took all those great pics of that I posted in the Hobby forum), will probably be pleased that BG beat her out, as her Shastas took 3rd place. (She's so crazy about BG that she wishes nothing but the very best for her!)
         
I can't say much for the blue ribbon winner here, but then again, I didn't see any of them before the water ran dry in their vases!

I was also surprised to see BG's Malva Zebrina entry there, & it looked terrific! (No ribbon, though.) I was sure that she pulled it out of the competition when it started wilting so badly. Apparently, she changed her mind... maybe she noticed that I didn't pull the Devil's Claw, when we thought it might not make it, & she didn't want me to be the only one to be embarrassed!  
         

I think that 5 winners out of 13 entries (3 of them being the same flower) is actually pretty good, considering that we obviously weren't the only ones who thought there wasn't a flower arrangement category this year... there was a LOT of competition in the horticulture section!  BG will have $11 in her purse on Sunday, when we go to claim the prize money & pick up what's left of our entries. (I almost snatched my Creme Breulee back tonight, so I could keep them alive for the seeds!  I argued with myself when I cut the only 3 flowers that were bloomed, cuz I really wanted to let them go to seed! I'll get more blooms from those plants, though.)


I also got a shot of that Creme Brulee entry tag...
         
Now I know why I couldn't remember what was written on it earlier... I thought it was something like "callenchula" (which isn't a flower that I've ever heard of).  If it's supposed to say "Calendula", it's either awfully sloppy, or it's spelled wrong... either way, if it were to appear on a paper at school that way, I'd red pencil it!  Still, in the Calendula world there are no blossoms that are named "Creme Brulee"! (BTW, speaking of sloppy... I wasn't the one who originally filled that tag out... just told the lady what the flower was, & signed my name to it!)

I'm going to call the Fair office tomorrow & find out exactly who does the judging in this section. It's really hard to teach kids good sportmanship when competitions aren't handled right at the top. In a few years, when BG starts noticing the kinds of descrepancies that go on there year after year, she'll probably get discouraged & quit (as I'd like to), but I really don't want to see that happen, cuz she loves participating. There are plenty of official flower judges in this town, that would probably be glad to take on the job & volunteer their time. (That's what county fairs are supposed to be about... the community in action, & it would be a shame for people to let it die!)

To avoid having to pay $4 for parking, I parked my car at the high school, which is a pick-up point for the free bus to the fair, & runs every 15 minutes. (Driven by volunteer bus drivers.) The "Poison" concert had just gotten out when I arrived, & a half hour later I was ready to come back home, but the lines at the bus stops were a couple blocks long! I went to our church/school booth in the main pavilion & hitched a ride from the ladies who were pulling a shift there, figuring that I'd get home sooner... & it still took us a full hour to get out of the parking lot! (Concert tickets are $25 plus the $8 gate fee... I guess that the people who go to the concerts there don't have any money left, so they take the bus! They surely wouldn't have any left for their gas tank, even if parking was free!)
                 I need a magic carpet or a jet pack!

[patches]

I'm going to call the Fair office tomorrow & find out exactly who does the judging in this section. It's really hard to teach kids good sportmanship when competitions aren't handled right at the top.

I certainly agree with you on this one, Patty!  I would find out what's going on, who the judges are and waht their qualifications are.  Unfortunately, this kind of thing goes on in many other areas of our life too 

[Patty S]

I think I must have contracted "Fair Fever" somewhere!  I found myself back down there again tonight... and even paid to get in! I treated Dave, Amy & BG to an evening at the fair (I forgot their anniversary this year), where we went to the Blake Shelton concert. Yee haw!    

I'd also forgotten until today, that LaRelle had entered her Cactus garden in the fair, when she went with us to register our plants & flowers...  & it took a Blue Ribbon!
     
I made this for her last Christmas, but was too cheap to spend $3 on a deeper planter dish, so I bought a 75¢ one & glue-gunned chips of lava rock onto it, from our back pathway! It turned out to be a much nicer planter than the boring terra cotta ones, even though Keith just rolled his eyes & shook his head at the time it took me to avoid spending $2.25! 
 Waste not, want not!

Something I hadn't noticed yesterday was that not only was my Creme Brulee tag altered, but the same thing was done to several of them... including the one on BG's Coreopsis!
              
Not AGAIN! I've been fighting this Coreopsis/Cosmo thing for several years now.  I wish I could find someone who can set straight, once & for all, cuz they are not the same flower!! I think it's pretty rude of the judges to change the info on the tags (for the public to see... as though the people entering the competition are stupid), & I hope they're ready to back up their info! I was so busy today that I totally forgot to call the Fair office to find out who the judges were... but I WILL!

[patches]

Darn it, lost my post again!!! 

not only was my Creme Brulee tag altered, but the same thing was done to several of them... including the one on BG's Coreopsis!

Patty, that is shame!     I can't believe this is standard practice for any fair.   

I've been fighting this Coreopsis/Cosmo thing for several years now.  I wish I could find someone who can set straight, once & for all, cuz they are not the same flower!!

I hate to tell you this, Patty, but you might as well give it up!  I've run into this many times before and you are never going to convince these "true believers" that they are different plants.    They WILL NOT and DO NO bend!    My  friend Pam was one of these "true believers"!  

I think it's pretty rude of the judges to change the info on the tags (for the public to see... as though the people entering the competition are stupid), & I hope they're ready to back up their info!

I agree, Patty!  It's a pretty tacky thing to do.  Geesh, if this happened to me I sure wouldn't want to enter anything again!    It's like a put-down!    I sure hope you get to the bottom of this. 

[Patty S]

I talked to the director in charge of the floral exhibits & was told that the judges are all from out of town & are "experts in their field". I told her what my take is on their "expertise", & also about their foul-ups last year, when they awarded ribbons instead of disqualifying arrangements that were entered with no regard to the specified themes within the divisions.   She thanked me for my comments & said that she'll try to do what she can about things like that next year... but added that everyone volunteers their time, including the judges.
    (Guess what? Things won't change at all!)

At any rate, we went back this morning & got our plants & ribbons, so my girls are happy. No doubt, we'll be back again next year & take our chances again.
     

This was LaRelle's first year in competition here (but only because she happened to be here & I told her that her Cactus Garden fit one of the themes, & it happened to be here at my house), & she was impressed with how easy it is to get a bit of mad-money for plants that are just sitting around the house ...& trust me, her house looks like a jungle, so she's ready for the next fair, already!

She said "gosh, I haven't gotten a blue ribbon from the fair since I was 8 years old & we had all those chickens! Those are such good memories!" I hope that BG will cherish her memories of the County Fair, too!

[patches]

I talked to the director in charge of the floral exhibits & was told that the judges are all from out of town & are "experts in their field". 

Yeah, right!!!    Patty, if they are experts in their field then why aren't they judging "those fields", instead of the messing around with the floral exhibits.   

[Patty S]

                 Patti! 
              Yer killin me here!
GAWD! I wish I'd have thought of saying that!
         

[patches]

Geesh, Patty, I wish you would have thought of saying that, too!!!  Of course, you may be banned from any future County Fairs,  but what the heck!!!  I think it would have been worth it.   

[Dianna]

Patty, the next time you enter the county fair, maybe you ought to include a web link that shows the difference between a calendula and a coreopsis!

Congratulations on the ribbons and the winnings that you all took home from the fair!

Patti... Made me chuckle, too....