That is so funny to read this post...I am definately going to enter something into the
competition. It is funny to read it because I am trying to make something that will
pass as something lace-like for the fair. I just got done telling my husband TODAY
(like he cares!) that I am going to enter something. A woman down here in Suffolk (VA
not UK) on a farm said it was the same kind of thing with spinning wool. I will
definately be in the beginner category because I have only been doing it for a month,
but I am definately going to enter and hopefully get to go see other peoples work!
-Lydia
Norfolk,VA
"Tamara P. Duvall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Gentle Spiders,
On Aug 15, 2004, at 5:25, Elizabeth Ligeti wrote:
> You may have to wait a few days for a reply from Helen, as she is
> currently
> in Pueblo, judging the lace at the Colorado State Fair.
It's that time of year again; the round of State (and local) Fairs has
started, and the competitions with them. Many of those include lace as
a separate class/category; in some, you can enter lace under a
diffferent "umbrella". But, please, *do* enter. How else will general
public get to see that handmade lace is still alive?
Yesterday, the mail brought my yearly invitation to judge lace at the
VA State Fair, and my DH asked: "are you going to do it?" Somewhat
ungraciously, I replied "I guess so; if I don't, who will?"
The reason my answer was so unenthusiastic is that, every year, I've
seen less and less interest, with fewer and fewer entries. I had to
skip going last year for personal reasons, so don't know what was there
but, 2 yrs ago, I was the only judge (for lace) who showed up, and I
was given only about 5 entries to judge. Clay, who accompanied me,
graciously agreed to serve as a second judge - I don't think it's fair
that entries should be judged on the whim of a single person - but that
meant that she had to pull out two entries of her own (we re-designated
them as "non competitive, for education purposes"). *Very* unfair to
her, and it left us with even fewer entries - no competition at all, as
each of the entries was in a different category.
It's a 300 mile (round) trip for me, and I don't like to drive... :( I
wouldn't mind it "eating up" my Sunday - 2.5 hrs driving out; abut
that much there, given the administrative details that need to be "seen
to" in addition to the "judging proper"; then 2.5 hrs driving back -
*if only* I knew I was doing something *useful* "for the cause of
lace".
If, OTOH, "the cause of lace" is deader than a doornail in VA, at least
on this particular front, then it's pointless for everyone concerned to
try and keep the zombie alive. Pointless for the Fair organisers to
print the ribbons, pointless for me to go and judge what's not there
*to* judge. I might as well advise them to cut the lace class enitrely
(I already had to advise them to limit the number of "classes", and
they had)...
Unlike the Colorado State Fair and the Craft Adventure that Sumac has
mentioned, *only Virginia residents* can participate in the VA State
Fair competition, unfortunately. But I know we do have quite a number
of lacemakers in VA... And yes, I do realise how much pain in the neck
(and expense) it is to mail stuff out to Richmond (I wonder if it would
be possible to mail out *batches*, to cut on costs?). But...
So, to the lacemakers in Virginia: If you have lace which had never
been entered in the State Fair before, *please* send it in. There's
still time - the application forms need to be in Richmond by September
3, the entries by Sept 18 (judgement day being the 19th ). You can
find the rules and regulations and print off the entry fom from:
http://www.statefair.com/youth_arts.asp
Please scroll down, till you get to the adult section - it doesn't seem
to have a URL of its own. General rules (what, when, where) are the
same for all; the specific "classes" for lace can be found in Sections
33 and 34 of the Needlework, though lace can also be entered in other
Sections (Seniors, for example)
I hope to see enough entries this year to make my trip to Richmond
justifiable; if I don't, it'll be my last trip to Richmond :)
And, BTW. We get "paid" with a pair of tickets to the Fair. Since I get
to see all that I'm interested in during the "judging Sunday", and
since the distance is really too big for me to go for other things, I
always have them to spare. So, anyone who wants a couple of free
tickets, to go and see what others have wrought in lace, can have mine.
*Provided* that you are one of the entrants... :)
---
Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet:
no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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