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Exhibit hall has stories to share at Putnam County Fair
Back in the day when Greencastle Wash ‘n Fill used to brighten our lives with funny or poignant comments on its sign along Bloomington Street, one of the perennial favorites this time of year found owner Steve Jones heralding the arrival of the biggest event of the summer with “Moo, oink, cluck ... it’s the fair.”
Notice that the sign reference focused on some of the many animals that tend to dominate fair interest and coverage.
Whether it is the Dairy Show, Goat Show, Swine Show, Beef Show, Sheep Show, Rabbit Show or the Poultry Show that tends to capture your interest, it’s important to note the fair is plenty more than cows, pigs, horses and Legionburgers.
And a visit to the 4-H Exhibit Hall is a great place to start understanding that.
Photography exhibits dazzle in color and black-and-white. Clothing offerings illustrate style and attention to detail. And woodworking entries -- particularly a boat shelf exhibited by Opry Curran -- offer artistic ingenuity.
But examining some of the varied displayed 4-H projects more closely, intriguing items and stories come to light as well.
Cake decorating is always a fun stop and the 2018 exhibit doesn’t disappoint.
On the top of one shelf, Brookley Oliver uses a fish motif with the motto “Hooked on 4-H” to decorate her multi-award-winning cake, while another interesting entry features penguins atop icebergs of icing in an entry Megan Manning dubbed “Just Chillin’” in winning several awards as well.
Meanwhile, in the southwest corner of the hall sits something Lexy Oliver refers to as a Mermaid Memo Board and Bow Holder, an original creation for helping organize the ingenious ninth-grader’s room.
“I took an old picture frame,” she explained, “and threw away the mat and glass that was broken.”
After painting the backing and the frame differently, she fashioned rhinestone stickers to it and glued various sea-worthy objects onto the frame for both form and function.
After cutting and taping netting over the back of the frame, Lexy glued rhinestones onto closepins, creating a clever way to clip memos to it.
But it is among the 4-H Electricity champion entries where several interesting lamp creations can be found, most notably champion Caroline Hodge’s trouble light.
However, at least a pair of other projects share details and descriptions on how and why the 4-H’er created the lamps made for the fair contest.
For example, Keegan Gibson created a firefighter helmet lamp in honor of his father, Eric Gibson.
“My dad is a firefighter and he will be retiring after 20 years of service,” Keegan’s note states.
In honor of him, Keegan took a firefighter’s helmet that he found at an auction, cleaned it up, and made it the centerpiece of the lamp. For good measure, the thoughtful 4-H’er painted his dad’s firefighter number on the front of the helmet to personalize the lamp.
“My plan is to give it to him to put in his office,” the youngster added.
The 4-H Electricity endeavor entered by 4-H’er Brian Ladd was even more poignant.
He calls it “The Fisherman’s Lamp,” explaining that it was designed to honor a friendship between Ladd and his elderly neighbor.
A few years ago, Ladd’s neighbor, a Mr. Brown, retired his ice fishing gear, giving Ladd his collection of poles, his sled and other gear.
“Knowing the poles would eventually wear out,” the 4-H’er noted, “I decided to make a keepsake of one of them to have to remember him by.”
Brown, while in his 80s, still actively fishes most of the year, Ladd pointed out in his written project information.
“He and I have become very good friends and often share our fishing stories,” the boy noted, shedding more light on his efforts. “I am glad I will always have a part of him near with my fishing lamp.”
And that is a perfect display of what “head, heart, hands and health” is all about.