Variety of competition entries on display at Gilmer County Fair
Exciting, brightly-lit rides may be the biggest draw for most younger Gilmer County Fairgoers, but the fair also has a strong history of showing competitive exhibits entered by local residents.
From homegrown tomatoes and canned preserves to handmade quilts and crafts, exhibit displays are again part of fair festivities returning to the Ellijay Lions Club Fairgrounds this week.
The county fair, which kicked off Tuesday, Aug 10, will continue through Sunday, Aug. 15. Times are 5-10 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 5-11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 4-10 p.m. on Sunday.
Exhibits can be seen during those same hours and there is no additional charge to view them, confirmed Ruthann Harding, Lions Club past president. The displays are set up inside the Lions’ Barn, located near the front entrance to the South Main Street fairgrounds.
“We want to get this thing built back up the way it should be,” said Harding about the judged exhibits.
There were 10 categories in which adults could submit entires this year, while the competition also offered a division for elementary schoolers and agriculture, craft and food categories for middle and high schoolers.
Lions Club members received all the entries on Sunday, and they all had to be set up and ready for judging Monday morning, Harding noted.
“There’s a lot that’s put into it. We put them in the categories, line them up and make sure they’re ready,” she added.
Entires aren’t judged by members of the Lions Club, but instead by outside panels of judges. Winners of blue, red and white ribbons are chosen for each category, then all blue ribbon winners compete for a purple best-in-division grand ribbon.
“We don’t feel that it’s fair for us to judge because we know who brought them in, but (the judges) don’t. The names are flipped and sealed so they can’t see who brought what,” Harding said.
There are very specific entry requirements for all categories, which include agriculture, canning, baking, sewing, photography and quilting.
If you plan to enter your best corn crop, five ears are required. The same number is needed for blackberries, grapes, okra and peppers. However, pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe and gourd growers need only enter one pick for each of those categories.
Though they aren’t opened or tasted, quart-size canning entires must be prepared according to FDA standards and are judged according to size, color, texture and other criteria, Harding noted.
Possible canning entries include beans, applesauce, kraut, pickles, salsa and honey, and each jar must have a tight Ball seal.
“If the judges push the top and it’s not sealed, then it’s disqualified,” Harding said.
Quilting was a popular category in this year’s competition, which saw judging of 40 quilt entries Monday morning.
“We didn’t have that many the last time we did this, so this is a really good show,” said Linda McKinley, of the Apple Country Quilt Guild.
As she judged those 40 entries, Lynn Rinehart, also a member of the local quilt guild, said some of the things she looked for were innovative fabric choices, use of blocks and quilting techniques. “We have a lot of really nice entries, and it’s not your grandmother’s quilts. Quilting has changed,” Rinehart said.
The local fair’s exhibit competition has seen up to almost 800 entires in a really good year, but recent years have had 200 or less entries, Harding noted.
“That’s still OK. We just want to see it bigger,” she added.
The Lions would love to see more entries from young people, Harding emphasized.
“We used to be overrun with elementary school and youth (entries), but it’s kind of backed off the last couple of years. Part of it might have been that school hadn’t started (when we used to do the fair). Now that it’s started before the fair, we may get a little more interest. We’re hoping so,” she added.
Harding said she’s also trying to revive a previously popular exhibit category -— live animals. Past fairs welcomed competition entries of live pigs, goats, horses, cattle and chickens.
“Any county fair I’ve ever gone to has had animals. It did come back, and we had it for about five years, then it also kind of backed off again. We’d have something each night, and there was a big pen set up behind the barn. Pigs would be brought in one evening and goats one evening, (and so on),” Harding said.
The exhibit hall is a direct link to old-time county fairs that, for decades, have drawn crowds in communities big and small. The Ellijay Lions hope fair attendees will take time to stop by and check out the displays.
There will also be a display of antique household items and farm implements set up in the back area of the barn, Harding noted.
“Most of the young ones come for the carnival, but a lot of the locals just like to walk through and see all the exhibits,” she said.