Fair Report....

First up, in the position of Full Disclosure, entries were WAY DOWN this year from when I last entered (2009, I think.) WAY DOWN. I had wondered why, when the rules clearly state only 1 entry per person per class the admin encouraged me to enter BOTH pairs of socks......

I was the ONLY knitting entry. NO children/juniors/seniors/other adults bothered to enter. :sigh: So...my Irish socks got 1st and my Alhambra got Best of Category (which is funny, because the county rep watching the exhibits (for security) told me that at least 12 people wanted to "liberate" my Irish socks. :lol:)

There were *3* entries in Jewelry - Herself got Best in Category AND Grand Champion for her "Blue Scarab" necklace (I'll post photos when we get them back - the ones I took last night, you can read the info card. :oops:)

There were maybe 60 photos. SG entered 4. His night photo got Best in Category (1 other entry), his macro photo got Best in Category (1 other entry); his landscape got 1st (about 10 other entries, I think); and his flora entry got Honorable Mention (about 6 other entries). Not bad, but.....not a whole lot of competition, y'know?

Herself's art didn't have much competition, either. Usually, the schools require ALL Art students to enter.....if that's still the case, then there are just NO Art students any more. AT most, across ALL levels, there were 40 entries. (Again, child/junior/senior/adult. Child/junior/senior are ALL school-aged kids.) Her "life and death" got Honorable Mention, and her "Phoenix" got First.

The Grand Champion in Art......well, it wasn't a fair entry. The lady took a photo of our dearly-departed DA and wife and (obviously) used an overhead projector to blow it up on a canvas. She then did a black outline of it......I'm sorry, but I don't think that was a fair entry, because OUT HERE, the way everybody is STILL reeling over it, there's NO WAY the judges wouldn't have tapped it for top honors. (She had another painting entered - we know it was hers because she *signed* both of them....poor form when entries are supposed to be anonymous! - and...well, it was nice but NOT as perfect as the winner.)

There were NO crochet entries, 2 (yes, only *2* - we have a VERY active Quilting Guild out here!) Quilts, 3 total sewing projects, 1 bar of soap, 2 Lego models, 3 sculptures (all school kids), about 10 food entries......dismal.

I guess I need to go back on a mission to try and boost fair entries. :sigh: I've already got 2 entries planned - SG's kilt hose (at his request - he wants them entered) and 1 pair of stranded socks. I'm going to try to get my sweater finished, and then try to get a pair of lacy socks, a hat and a pair of gloves done. If possible, I'll try to get some weaving done, too - there were NO weaving entries. (Also no spinning, but I'm *over* trying to drum up more interest. Last time I did that, I started a guild and promptly got booted out because *I* wanted it to be informal and fun and 2 other people wanted to charge dues. Um. It's dead in the water now from what I can tell.....never mind me, I'm still a little bitter over that.) I'm going to try and nag Herself into doing at least 1 crochet piece, and Himself wants to enter some sort of costuming piece. (When I did this before, entries spiked the next few years and I had some competition. :fingers crossed it works again:)

Why? Because people NEED to have hobbies, and most people need the spur of competition. Honestly, I'm NOT in it for ribbons (because, really? They don't mean much) - I'm in it for the finished items. Spurring people to try and out-do me? Fun stuff. :lol:

So. I have my work cut out for me. I was already trying to finish 1 project/month...now I need to step it up. :rofl: