Are you gearing up for your local fair?

The Kentucky State Fair in Louisville begins in mid-August and runs for ten days of contests, talent shows, concerts, the midway, vendors and more. For those of you who stopped at that first word--contests--your time is growing short. I've spent time this past week preparing my photos for the Clark County Fair and Horse Show in hopes that they might be able to advance to the State Fair.

Of course, it is not always necessary to win your local fair to show in Louisville. But I do. I like seeing the photos of friends and neighbors at the local fair and then trying to see how he/she/they did against the best of the best at the state Fair. In 2020 I didn't enter anything; that Covid thing interfered.

But I've entered events at several of the county fairs where Jeanine and I have lived. In Grant County we won the Blue Ribbon and the Grand Prize for our pickle relish, Jeanine won a red ribbon for her pickles. In Clark County I entered pictures two years ago, but won a white ribbon (third prize) for an antique woven basket I inherited from my mother, long home to fruit atop her refrigerator.

Still, for me the challenge is in doing something--take a photo, can something, etc--and see how my skill at whatever stacks up against others. I'm not a good photographer, certainly not an expert home canner but going to a fair and seeing my artistic or kitchen efforts on display gives me a thrill I find hard to believe.

So, if you live in Winchester/Clark County you have the weekend to get your pies or cookies or whatever baked, your garden vegetables plated or your art works or crafts finished and Fair-ready. Everything needs to be turned in between nine am and one pm on Monday (June 28th).

Too late for this year? No way you can pull something together before Monday? Well, head on out to the Fair and Horse Show at the Fairgrounds on Ironworks Pike and gain inspiration for next year!