Scrapbooking Ribbons Earned at County & State Fairs

Tag : knitted h

I have always loved going to the State Fair. I was reared in Oregonand we would drive 20 miles to the 'big city' for the fair everyyear. Since I was 9 years old I was in 4-H. So I always had areason to go the fair other than for the carnival rides.

Some of my happy memories of the fair start with the year my friendand I were on the second floor of the fine arts building. This iswhere the bottled fruit, vegetables, jam, clothing, knitted andcroquet items were. Low and behold they announced they were lockingthe doors because it was time to judge the items. We thought itwould be fun to judge so we stayed in the building. I was surprisedthey let us 'kids' judge.

I was 11 years old at the time. They gave us judging sheets and apen. My friend wanted to compare notes but I took it very seriouslyso I wouldn't share my findings. I remember looking at the bottlesof beautiful peaches stacked perfectly in the jars. I checked thebottom to see if one pit was left in for color. I marveled at thepatience of those canning the green beans as the beans werestanding up straight and fit the jar from top to bottom perfectly.

When I picked up an article of clothing I examined the seams forstraight stitching and judged how many stitches to an inch they hadused. When I sewed for 4-H I would get out my little ruler and makesure I had nine stitches to the inch. I checked for raw edges andif they had sewed French seams I looked to see if they wereperfect.

We only had a half hour to judge so we hurried from table to table.I thought it was great fun, when we left the fair I forgot allabout the judging contest. Back in my home town a few weeks laterseveral people told me congratulations. I said thank you butwondered why I was being congratulated. Finally I asked someone andthey said they had read in the paper I had taken grand champion ofthe judging contest at the fair. Sure enough I was sent a bigpurple ribbon and a few dollars. This was exciting for me toreceive this award.

When I was in high school I was now living in Utah but I entered inthe state fair a beautiful yellow sweater I had knit. The patternwas a pop corn stitch and the sleeves were short. I didn't get tothe fair that year but again I was being congratulated by peoplewho knew me. This time it was because I had taken first place formy sweater. I wonder how anyone ever saw my sweater among the manythat are entered.

This summer as your children or grandchildren are working on their4-H projects or other projects they are looking forward to enteringin the fair I have some great advice on what to do with theirribbons. When they bring their ribbons home have them write on thepaper on the back; their name, date and other information listed.We all think we will remember what it was for but I promise youthey won't and neither will you.

Another thing to do is to take a picture of them with their projectholding their ribbon. If the project was food then take a photobefore entering it in the fair. If they have a journal have themput their picture and ribbon in it so it won't get lost. Or itcould go in a scrapbook. The book the photo and ribbons go indoesn't have to be fancy; it just has to be done. Another place topreserve the ribbon and photo is in the 4-H journal they get whenthey start projects in 4-H. Just don't throw them in a drawer asthen they are easy to lose. Taking care of little things like thishelps preserve precious memories.

Marilyn's bio
Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and theirfamilies create space and end clutter in their homes and offices bysetting up custom made systems.
Marilyn invites you to visit her website where you can findsolutions to your organizing needs. She offers free tips in herblogs, articles and videos for your home and office organizingsolutions.
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Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors & theirfamilies to create space and end clutter in homes and offices bysetting up custom made systems. Visit her website www.marilynbohn.com for free organizing tips.
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