THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 13, 1995 TAG: 9509120115
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
LENGTH: Long : 251 lines
LAST YEAR, ORGANIZERS of Isle of Wight County's first fair in half a century took many of the ingredients used successfully years ago and sprinkled them with rides, amusements and entertainment.
And they cooked up a success.
This year, those boosted by that success - and others impressed by it - have been working all year long trying to re-create the country fair from long ago and have embellished it to satisfy modern crowds.
So, folks, here's the menu: 'Local talents on display'
Last year, Debra Weir heard just one complaint about the county's first fair in more than 50 years: There were no arts and crafts.
So Weir, who works for the Isle of Wight Recreational Facilities Authority, has spent the past six months coordinating an arts and crafts division for the 1995 fair.
That has made people like Peggy Sack, an avid crafter, and other lovers of handicrafts happy.
``I love it. I hope a lot of people will enter the arts and crafts division and show their crafts,'' Sack said. ``I like crafts, and I would like to see more local talents on display.''
Sack, who lives in Smithfield's Waterford Oaks community, said she intends to enter several pieces of crocheting: a television cover, a table runner, a sweater and her favorite - a prize-winning, double-diamond popcorn crocheted afghan.
Sack spent much of the winter of 1993 crocheting the afghan, which last year won awards at the Woman's Club of Smithfield and Virginia Federation of Woman's Clubs. She made the thick, cream-colored afghan without a pattern after seeing a similar one a friend had made.
``My husband says I can crochet in my sleep,'' Weir said, laughing.
- Allison Williams Food to fawn over
When Elsie White wasn't yet 4 years old, her mother was hospitalized, and she stayed there for most of her life - leaving White's father at home with seven small children.
``Daddy cooked, he washed and sewed,'' White said recently. ``He did everything.''
He taught his children everything he knew, she said. But there was a lot, White knows now, that he left out.
Like the art of making pickles.
White didn't learn that until long after she was married and started attending the local Homemaker's Club at the county extension service. There, she credits former extension agent Mary Wells with finally teaching her about many of the finer things in life.
``She taught us so much - about financing, running a house, how to read a recipe,'' White said. ``She wanted all of us to can and freeze and put up pickles. She was a real blessing to me.''
That's when White first started making her own pickles. Now, they have become a mainstay at special family gatherings, right along with homemade macaroni and cheese and fried chicken.
And this year, White, 69, will share her special pickle-making talent with the county fair, when she enters three jars in competition.
``All of my children love the pickles,'' she said.
Favorite family recipes like White's pickles will be a vital part of the fair this year, said Ann Hampton, another former extension worker who recently moved to the county.
Hampton is chairing the agricultural division of the competition, including food, grains, food preservation, vegetables, fruits, nuts and baked foods.
``I went to the fair last year, and I thought it was great,'' Hampton said. ``I was very impressed with it. It was easy to get me involved. And this year, we're looking for a lot more people to participate.''
Anybody can enter the competitions, reminiscent of an old-time country fair, but only one entry is permitted per class.
Homemakers, gardeners and hobbiests can enter everything from nuts grown on backyard trees and the full bounty of their gardens - fresh or preserved - to that apple pie made from grandma's favorite recipe.
For more information about the food competition at the fair, call Hampton at 357-2277 or her co-chair, Virtley Porter, 357-4799.
All entries must be taken to the fairgrounds between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. Thursday.
- Linda McNatt
Handsome and handmade
Dianne Blevins has a place in her heart for old, handmade quilts.
She searches them out in antique stores. She finds them at auctions. And when she discovers one that's beyond repair, she tries to save it anyway.
Blevins recently salvaged one old quilt when she found a new way to save pieces of the patchwork and frame it.
The heart-patch quilt had been stained, and a corner had been cut. Blevins read an article in a handcraft magazine that described how to rip out the patchwork and applique the material, making it suitable for hanging.
Her heart-patch applique picture will be one of many handcrafted works entered in competition at the Isle of Wight County Fair.
``The old quilts were made in a different time, when women worked at home,'' Blevins said. ``Back then, clothes were used until they couldn't be handed down any more, then they used the material to make quilts so they could stay warm.
``I can picture the women doing their work at home during the day and then sitting down to quilt at night.''
Thursday will be the last day to enter handmade items in competition, and entries should be taken to the fairgrounds between 1 and 4 p.m.
The categories, for machine and hand-sewn articles, are: article of adult wearing apparel; article of children's wearing apparel; article of home furnishing; dolls, toys and stuffed animals; original creations; exhibitor's choice.
Crafters also can enter competitions in crochet, knitting, counted cross stitch, quilting, other needlework and ceramics.
- Jody Snider
Green thumb ribbons
Bernice Edwards is used to walking away a winner from Isle of Wight's county fairs.
And just as she did last year, the 81-year-old Smithfield native is hoping her green thumb will earn her several blue ribbons this weekend from the 1995 version in the horticultural category.
Edwards was one of fewer than a dozen people who entered last year's competition. She won several awards to add to those she won from the Isle of Wight County Agricultural Fair in 1931. She still has several of those old awards. Most special to her is a bronze necklace she won in the fair's spelling bee by beating the man who later became her husband, Archer Edwards.
``That's really how we met,'' she said.
Last year's fair drew only a few horticultural entries. That was because it was the first Isle of Wight County Fair held in more than 50 years, said Kasey Jones, co-chair of the horticulture committee.
``Although we didn't have a tremendous turnout for the horticulture competition last year, the entries we had were wonderful,'' Jones said. ``I think part of the problem was that many people didn't realize what the exhibit involved. I think a lot of people discovered it last year and that we'll be seeing a lot more entries this year.''
The horticulture committee is prepared for more than 100 entries this year, Jones said. Gardeners can compete in 12 classes: container-grown foliage plants; container-grown flowering plants; container-grown budding plants; hanging baskets; cut flowers, mixed varieties; cut flowers, single variety; tea roses; floribunda roses; miniature roses; bonsai; orchids; and herbs.
Less than a week before the fair opened, Edwards had yet to decide which of her plants would compete this year.
There's the gigantic fern she nursed back to life three years ago after a long, dry spell on her daughter's porch. Or the pineapple plants or the snake plant, which at 6 feet stands taller than Edwards herself.
The flowers and plants the community will see at the fair are but a sampling of the garden and yard that surrounds Archer and Bernice Edwards' farmhouse.
``We set out a lot more bulbs and plants this year than we have in a long time,'' she said. ``I love pretty things. That's why we do it.''
- Allison Williams
The county fair this year will have its own version of an animal fair, complete with birds and beasts.
Varieties, however, will be confined to domestic and farm animals.
Like the two young lambs Casie Jones has been grooming for the past two months to be champions. The 11-year-old Windsor youngster has fed and trained the animals as prize-winners.
Jones is one of eight 4-H'ers planning to show nine lambs at the lamb show Friday.
``They're kind of a pain,'' she said. ``When I go outside and they see me, they holler and scream. But taking care of them is teaching me responsibility and discipline because you have to care for them and love them.''
The care and responsibility comes with making sure they're fed each day and that the lambs, named Appi and Patch, are trained in the commands needed for competition.
Fair livestock chairwoman Laura Gregory said there is a certain way to show the lambs. Judges look for lambs that lead well, stand still on command and have the proper foot placement in the ring.
``If the kids stand in front of the lambs and block the judges' view, that's points off,'' Gregory said. ``The lambs need to have a nice, even slope from their neck to their back end. And they look for muscling. They don't want to see a lot of fat.''
Jones made $250 last year from selling her two lambs that won first in showmanship, reserved champion and second and third place in the heavyweight division.
The fair also will feature poultry, rabbit and horse shows. A heifer show was scheduled, but Gregory said that show was canceled because of lack of funding.
Friday's poultry competition is this animal fair's biggest, Gregory said. There are 142 entries in 50 classes. Birds include chickens, ducks, turkeys, large fowl and water fowl. The show is closed to the public, and entries are now closed, she said.
``A judge . . . judges each bird on its build and the breed standard for that bird. Every bird has its own standard. The bird that most resembles the breed standard with the least disqualifying faults wins.''
Winners of this show can take home $2.25 per bird.
``That doesn't sound like much, but if one person brings 30 birds, you can make some money,'' Gregory said. ``However, this isn't the kind of show you do for money. You do it to exhibit the birds.''
A backyard bunny show is scheduled for Saturday. Judges look at market standards to determine winners. The champion gets $5 and a ribbon.
The fair's first horse show will be Sunday, with competition in 31 classes, four awards in each. Entry fees are $5 for each class before Thursday, $6 after. Fee for the Jack Pot Barrel race is $15 per horse.
Gregory said she hopes to see about 30 horses at the show, but she won't know how big the show will be until the day it happens.
``If there's rain, there won't be many horses. You can't show a horse in the rain.''
In addition to the shows, there also will be a petting zoo with a horse, pig, goat, cow, geese and rabbits for children to see.
- Jody R. Snider
Speaking of animals, this year's fair even has the family pet.
The fair's pet show, scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, will reward the animal winners first-, second- and third-place ribbons. Animals will compete in a variety of categories: costume, prettiest, ugliest, largest, smallest, best-behaved, most well-trained owner and even a pet/owner look-alike competition.
Owners need to bring a water dish for their pets.
You can register or obtain entry forms in advance by calling Carrollton Nike Park at 357-2291.
- Allison T. Williams
You can't have a county fair without throwing shoes, can you?
The horseshoe competition will be 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Categories include: 18 years and older men, 18 years and older women, 55 and older men and 55 and older women.
The competition is free. First- and second-place trophies will be awarded in each category. Horseshoes will be provided, but participants may bring their own regulation horseshoes.
Registration for all classes is 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday.
- Jody Snider
Picture yourself a winner
A lot of people will be taking pictures at the county fair, but some may be bringing photos: The amateur photography competition is scheduled for Thursday.
Participants can enter [ one picture in each category of color and black-and-white. Categories are: portraits, still life, landscape/scenic and animals - fin, fur and feathers.
Deadline for entries is 4 p.m. Thursday.
- Jody Snider] ILLUSTRATION: Photos by Michael Kestner
ON THE COVER: Casie Jones has been grooming two lambs to show Friday
at the fair.[color cover photo]
LEFT: Peggy Sack crocheted this afghan.
Photo by Linda McNatt
BELOW: Elsie White plans to enter her sweet pickles in the fair.
Photo by JODY SNIDER
Dianne Blevins salvages handmade quilts by framing the patchwork.
Photo
Archer will be pulling for his wife, Bernice, to win again at the
fair.
Graphic
Fair Schedule
by CNB