by Marion Larson, Sterling Garden Club
To celebrate our region’s agricultural and horticultural roots (pun intended) the Sterling Garden Club
encourages you, your family, and friends to enter your best floral arrangement, prized vegetables,
largest pumpkin, decorated gourds, or delicious preserves at the Sterling Fair. It’s not too early start
planning, planting or processing your produce for exhibit entry. Sterling Fair dates are September 8-10
at the Sterling Airport.
Agricultural exhibits are a time-honored tradition of community agricultural fairs. People bring their
preserves, flowers, field crops, and vegetables to be admired and judged. This is the venue to show
off your skills, talents and creativity to thousands of fair attendees while competing for ribbons and
bragging rights!
You don’t have to be a resident of Sterling to enter…everyone from near and far is welcome. There
are a host of farm and garden-related exhibit opportunities for folks of all ages to participate. Unless
otherwise noted all adults and juniors may submit entries in any of the listed classes. Juniors are
young people who are under 18 as of January 1 of this year. Exhibit entry is free and your
submission(s) will be on display for the length of the fair.
For more specific details on exhibits, visit the Sterling Fair web link on the Exhibit Hall Booklet.
(http://sterlingfair.org/exhibits/ ) Browse the exhibit categories and decide which classes that you want
to enter. Note Judge’s tips, age categories and other requirements.
Exhibitors must bring their entries to the Sterling Fair Exhibit Hall tent on Thursday, September 7,
between 5 – 8PM. Judging will take place either that evening or the following morning before the Fair
opens in the afternoon. When visiting the Exhibit Hall, chat with Sterling Garden Club members
staffing some of the exhibits.
Flowers and Herbs: There are numerous categories including floral arrangements, single specimen
flowers to groups of flowers. All plant material must be grown by the exhibitor.
Vegetables: These entries must be grown, selected, and arranged by the exhibitor. Uniformity
among the vegetables is a key judging component.
Largest Produce: Bring the largest or tallest of your homegrown produce! Show off your sunflowers,
cornstalks, tomato plants, pumpkins or squash.
Children’s Pumpkin Decorating: Open to children up to 12 years old. Decorate a pumpkin no larger
than 15”, homegrown or purchased. No carving or cutting is allowed.
Vegetable and Gourd Decorating: For anyone 13 and older. Entries must be created by the exhibitor
and can be decorated in any manner. Exhibitors can use either homegrown produce or purchased.
Vegetables and gourds may be cut as part of decoration.
Fruits: Open to adults. Fruits are arranged on paper plates and may be washed but not polished.
Uniformity in shape and size is key.
Preserved Products: Jams, jellies, relish, pickles, and other processed products must consist of
produce grown and processed by the exhibitor between last year’s fair and this years’ fair.
Support and join the Sterling Fair family by participating in the Exhibits and invite others to do
the same.