Author: Cassi

Kentucky Dairy Farmer Lizzy Turner Works Hard and Dreams Big Kentucky dairy farmer Lizzy Turner is an expert juggler, not balls or glass bottles, but she juggles her busy schedule like a pro. Raising dairy cattle keeps a girl busy, but add in school, softball, volleyball and other activities, and it’s hard to believe anyone can keep track of it all. But Lizzy does. For Lizzy, it’s important to chase her dreams, and exhibiting dairy cattle tops her list of priorities. Unofficially, Lizzy has shown cattle since she was just a toddler but officially she joined 4-H and started competing when she was nine. Since then she’s shown her animals at county, state and national levels.  Day On the Farm Each day she gets up early to feed the heifers and calves, then she milks the cows and does her chores. Luckily, she doesn’t have to help with her family’s crops, but like any Kentucky dairy farmer she does have to feed her animals every day, 365 days, rain or shine. She knows the ins-and-outs of cow nutrition, how much to feed and how to take care of her livestock.  Raising livestock has taught her a lot.  “It makes you strong and shows you can handle responsibility like caring for your animals,” Lizzy said. At the Fair Competing in the Kentucky State Fair isn’t just a few hours of work in the show ring, but a 24 hours experience living, sleeping and eating side-by-side with her cows in the barn. “You get to see all your friends, meet new ones and stay in the barn. Most nights are sleepless and noisy, but I get to spend time making memories with my family,” said Lizzy.  Interested in being part of the Kentucky State Fair this year, visit our compete page for more information.  […]

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Celebration National Dairy Month with Fourth Generation Showman Caleb Lipps We’re celebrating National Dairy Month by highlighting our exhibitors. This week we are featuring Caleb Lipps. For Caleb Lipps, raising Brown Swiss Cattle is a family affair. As a fourth generation showman, he’s attended livestock shows since infancy. His mom carried him to his first cattle show at only eight-month old. By the time he could walk, he was ready to show cattle himself, jumping straight from stroller to show ring. “My favorite part about cattle is being able to spend time with my family showing.  My great grandfather started our herd in 1947,” said Caleb. It’s a lot of work to run a dairy farm. The Lipps family raises a lot of cows, mainly heifers. Fortunately for Caleb, his papaw milks the cows, a twice a day, 365 days a year commitment. Each morning Caleb starts his day feeding his show calves. After that he mucks the pens and adds new bedding twice a day. A dedicated competitor, Caleb spends extra time training his skills and practices leading his calves every free moment he finds in his busy schedule.   “Farming is a way of life.  We are passionate about caring for our animals and our land. It requires hard work and dedication every day, year-round.  There are highs and lows. Mother Nature plays an important part of daily tasks and getting chores done can be difficult. Agriculture can be a part of everyone’s life but you must first take the first step. Most farmers are eager to share their stories. Just ask!” said Caleb. At the Fair  The Kentucky State Fair is the place-to-be for any self-respecting Kentucky dairy showman during August. Over the years Caleb has made a lot of friends at dairy shows and the Kentucky State Fair is the perfect place where they can spend a week celebrating their accomplishments while competing for banners and prizes.  What advice does Caleb have for future showman? Stay calm, do your best and winning isn’t the main goal.  “The most important thing to know when showing and raising dairy cows is to never give up.  The second you give up, the cow knows it,” said Caleb.  Interested in being part of the Kentucky State Fair this year, visit our compete page for more information. […]

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You’ve decided to enter the Kentucky State Fair. GREAT! Whether it took years of coaxing or you’re simply entering on a whim, we’re excited you decided to be a part of the Kentucky State Fair this year.  Never entered before? The Kentucky State Fair premium book can be a little overwhelming. First: It’s BIG. Second: It’s full of rules and regulations, which are necessary to keep the competition fair. Pro-tip: Save time and only read what’s necessary in the premium book. Don’t read the whole book. A lot of work goes into creating the book, but there’s a reason you don’t see it on the best sellers list.  So what do you need to read? The general rules, which are the first 19 pages of the premium book.  The section related to what you’re entering. For example: You create a fantastic handwoven scarf that deserves a blue-ribbon. On our website we’ve already divided the premium book so you just need to find your Department. Go to the the Premium Book and click on Textiles for your scarf. Here you will find some overall information about the textile department and some basic rules. From there find the more specific type of textile arts and see if there are any additional rules.  What do these words mean? (In the context of entering the Fair) Superintendent – Head honcho for the department you’re entering. They’re the go-to expert on your department, the rules and the premiums or prizes.  Department – The Fair is divided into departments to help make the rules and information more specific. It’s the broader category you’re entering. For example Textiles is a department. Division – Within departments there are divisions. For example, rugs and quilts are different divisions. Divisions can be based on type of entry, experience level or age of the exhibitor. Class – Within divisions, there are classes. It’s the specific competition you are entering. For example, a hand-quilted piece is a different class than machine-quilted entries. This allows everything to be judged fairly. Exhibitor – You! Exhibiting your talents at the Kentucky State Fair, whether it’s showcasing your animal in the show ring or displaying your quilt in the East Hall, makes you the exhibitor.  Premiums – Prize money. In the premium book, this is often identified simply as 1st – 4th with the corresponding dollar amount. General Entry Departments – Are all the fun and interesting departments that aren’t livestock.  What are the departments?  There are 28 departments within the Kentucky State Fair. Full list of departments 4-HFFA Antiques Bee and Honey Country Ham Culinary Dairy Products Egg Show FFA Field, Seed & Grain Fine Arts Fruits and Nuts Homemade Beer Homemade Wine Plants & Flower Textiles Tobacco Vegetable and Melons Beef Dairy Boer Goats Dairy Goats Mules Jacks Sheep Swine Pigeons Poultry Rabbits   How to Choose What Category to Enter I’ve made this thing, now where do I enter it? The Premium Book is divided into sections based on where the display is […]

Read More… from 2022 Kentucky State Fair Premium Book User’s Guide

Celebrating National Dairy Month with Dairy Exhibitor Emily Goode We’re celebrating National Dairy Month by highlighting our exhibitors, starting with Emily Goode.  Farm kids are built differently. Young dairy farmer, Emily Goode, is the perfect example. Instead of hitting the snooze button on her alarm clock every morning, she spends hours each day feeding, milking, cleaning out pens, clipping hair and working with her livestock. And when she’s done with her chores, she loves spending more time in the barns just hanging out with her cows.  “Raising dairy cattle is not an easy job. The cows have to be milked and the calves have to be fed twice a day everyday no matter what. The animals rely on you for everything they need. While raising dairy cattle is tiring, it is also so rewarding. The bonds with the cattle and the lessons you learn are unmatched,” said Emily.  Life as a Dairy Exhibitor An award-winning dairy exhibitor, Emily began showing at her local dairy show at age four, advancing to the Kentucky State Fair when she was eight. For her, the Kentucky State Fair barns feel like a second home. She looks forward to competing at the Fair every year.  Emily’s advice to future dairy exhibitors: put in the hours. “The most important thing to know about raising and showing dairy cattle is that it is an all year, 365 day thing. You have to care for them the same in the winter as you do in the summer. There is no off season. You cannot begin caring for the animals right before a show and expect a good outcome,” Emily said. As much as Emily loves showing, that’s not her favorite part of being a dairy farmer. She loves watching a cow she raised become a mother, giving birth to its own calf. For her watching the new life develop is nothing short of magic.  Interested in being part of the Kentucky State Fair this year, visit our premium book for more information.    […]

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When she planted her first gourds, award winning gourd artist Jane Adolf wasn’t thinking about blue-ribbons. Prior to retiring in Kentucky, Jane lived in New Mexico where the desert climate prevented growing most plants. Once she arrived in a more cooperative climate, she decided to plant egg gourds. Her crop was a wild success, which left a different challenge. What to do with all the gourds?  Before long Jane started inking on the smaller gourds and found the process relaxing. Then she began experimenting, refining her inking style, testing out dyes and learning to use hand tools for carving her gourds. After graduating to larger gourds, she began to find her creative vision – covering each piece in very detailed drawings and Zentangle inspired design.  “My favorite project is probably a larger bottle gourd that took hours and hours to complete. It was one of my earlier projects, and I love the movement and tranquility in all the chaos of the artwork,” said Jane.  Earning Awards for Her Art Jane received her first blue-ribbon at the Shelby County Homemaker’s Showcase. From there, her pieces advanced to state competition where she also won numerous blue ribbons. “That gave me confidence to enter my county fair and eventually our Kentucky State Fair. In 2021, I received Best in Show in the gourd category – what a thrill!” said Jane.  A Craft for Any Skill Level Creating gourd art can be as simple or complex as the artist makes it, from basic drawings with markers to elaborate carved pieces. Gourd artists paint, draw, carve, burn, dye and even weave on their gourds. The variety of shapes and sizes offer canvases for many different types of art.  For beginners, Jane recommends getting a clean dry gourd in a shape or size they like. You can often purchase these online at Etsy or at local festivals. Then decide your artistic medium, drawing or painting for example, then anyone can create art.  “When I’m vending, I love to hear them chuckle or laugh out loud when they look at my silly critter gourds or find a gourd reminiscent of their pet,” said Jane.  From Seed to Art  Growing your own gourds is a lengthy process. Each year in May, Jane starts her seeds indoors then transplants them outdoors when the soil warms. She harvests gourds at the first frost, then dries and cures the gourds outdoors until spring. The mold and fungus that grows on them can be toxic, so Jane works outdoors when cleaning the gourds. That’s part of why she recommends buying clean, dry gourds, when just getting started.  To learn more about Jane’s artwork, visit her website https://sweetwaddyjane.com.    […]

Read More… from Award Winning Gourd Artist Jane Adolf

For National Craft Month we’re featuring Kentucky State Fair exhibitors like blue-ribbon winner Cora Flispart.  Cora Flispart knows her way around a sewing needle. As a four-year-old Cora started sewing by making clothes for her dolls. After her mother threaded the needle, Cora would go to work attaching fabric to her dolls making handcrafted outfits. Whenever they needed a wardrobe change, she would cut off the old fabric and start again.  That’s not the only craft Cora excels in. The list is long: sewing, knitting, crocheting, weaving, jewelry craft, resin craft, painting, flower arranging, quilting, machine embroidery, hand embroidery, leather work and basketry.    For years she worked as a costumer at New Albany High School and Hazelwood Middle School. Back in 2014 her costume work traveled to the National Theater Festival in Lincoln Nebraska when Hazelwood Middle School’s theater program performed Antigone. There were many misadventures in her years of theater work, from an exploding serger to iron-on decorations flying off when performers danced only for Cora and her trusty needle to save the show.  Nowadays she mostly sews for her old theater students. From altering wedding dresses to creating 19 custom Lord of the Rings capes, her former students appreciate the quality of her work. When faced with a challenge, Cora often solves problems that lesser sewists might think impossible. An award-winning crafter, Cora has been racking up ribbons at the Kentucky State Fair for many years. She won her first blue ribbon with a decorated Christmas tree skirt and fittingly her first Best in Show was in the doll clothing competition. An exhibitor can only win Best in Show once every four years. Cora has won three times.  From Competing at the Kentucky State Fair to Judging Not only does Cora compete in the Kentucky State Fair, she uses her expertise to judge at county fairs in her home state of Indiana. “When judging county fairs, I look at the workmanship of the article, from cutting thread tails in sewing to weaving the thread ends in knitting and crocheting. When I go back to pick the winners, I look at the difficulty of making the article. If everything is equal, I choose the one I like the best, be it the color of the item or the extras placed on the item,” said Cora. Competing at the Kentucky State Fair gives Cora a place to showcase her creations. As a youth, she exhibited her work in county fairs and has competed in the Kentucky State Fair for more than 25 years.  […]

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Celebrating National Craft Month with Kentucky State Fair exhibitor Sarah Cawthon In only a couple years, Sarah Cawthon went from a complete needle felt beginner to winning the Best of Show at the 2021 Kentucky State Fair. She is no stranger to creating art, over the years she’s won multiple ribbons in quilting, while also dabbling in painting and drawing.   She has Pinterest to thank for introducing her to the craft. While scrolling through pins she stumbled across a pair of incredibly realistic needle felt horses. They were so good she initially took it for a photograph. After clicking on the article she discovered the horses were actually 12-inch works of art created by fiber artist Sara Renzulli.  As a lover of animals and all-things-cute, Sarah was instantly hooked. She began watching videos from Sarah Renzulli’s YouTube channel Sarafina Fiber Arts, learning how a simple ball of wool could be turned into an adorable animal by tangling the fiber with a barbed needle into a sculpted creation.  Needle felting is the art of sculpting wool and fiber, through the use of a barbed needle, into a 3-D work of art.  “Sculpting in 3D was not a skill I had developed though I’ve enjoyed drawing and painting in the past. It’s very satisfying to hold your creation as it comes to life. There is a point where you look into its eyes, and you connect,” said Sarah. Interested in learning needle felting? National Craft Month is the perfect time to learn a new craft. Sarah recommends starting on YouTube. Her favorite is the Sarafina Fiber Arts channel, where there’s a variety of projects for all experience levels. She also recommends getting your materials from a quality fiber provider, favoring Living Felt and Sarafina Fiber Arts. Though there are kits on Amazon, higher quality wool increases your chances at success. A good beginner project is Sarafina’s Sleeping Bunny.  Sarah is currently working on several projects she hopes to showcase at the 2022 Kentucky State Fair. […]

Read More… from National Craft Month – Needle Felter Sarah Cawthon

March is National Craft Month, which gives us the perfect opportunity to showcase many of our talented Kentucky State Fair exhibitors! Each year, thousands of ribbons are awarded in 31 divisions. In the Fine Arts and Crafts Department everything from weaving to wood carving is showcased.  We’re starting our celebration of Kentucky State Fair crafters with Terryl Allen. Crafting has always helped Terryl de-stress. Maybe that’s why she’s picked up so many different hobbies, from quilting to cross-stitch. We sat down with the blue-ribbon winning Kentucky State Fair exhibitor to learn more about how she got started and her award-winning creations.  What crafts do you do? I knit, crochet, sew clothing, and quilt. I also make doll clothes and do counted cross-stitch, embroidery, needlepoint, and have done some smocking. I always say, “Give me a needle and thread and I can probably do something with it.” I used to do liquid embroidery and ceramics, but have moved on from them. How did you get started? My mother taught me to sew and crochet when I was about 9 years old, and I think I was embroidering before that. Mom kept up with the trends in the 70’s and 80’s (counted cross-stitch, afghan stitch (Tunisian) crochet, etc.) and made me aware of them, too, so she was always the impetus for all my crafting. Other than knitting. Mom never had any interest in learning that, so I taught myself from the books that were available in the 80’s. A far cry from today’s YouTube lessons! Do you have a favorite project? Ooh, that’s tough. I’ve done many things over the years that I’ve been proud of, but I guess my favorites lately have to be a zoo-themed quilt I made several years ago, because it made me step outside of my comfort zone, a peacock quilt I made in memory of my mother that incorporates aspects of embroidery, and an appliquéd pansy wall-hanging that also made me work outside my box. What awards have you won? The above mentioned zoo quilt won Honorable Mention at the KY State Fair in 2013. That was the first time I won any kind of an award, and I was thrilled! Since then I’ve won some 1st & 2nd place ribbons at the Fair for doll clothes, a 3rd & 4th place ribbon on some clothing, a Blue Ribbon for an embroidered Temari ball, a Red Ribbon for a Tunisian Crocheted shawl, and a Blue Ribbon for a wool skirt made as part of an historic outfit. That last one made my day on opening day last year, because it was the first thing I saw when I entered the Textiles Department! If someone wanted to get started with either needlework or sewing, what tips would you give them? Find like-minded people to help and inspire you – whether that be on-line, through local shops, local or statewide guilds, or just a couple of friends getting together to chat and create. Having someone to share […]

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