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MANSFIELD — Dan Vincent was shocked by the results during his first year competing at the Richland County Fair.
His entries included canned and baked goods — all homemade.
His favorite was pickled corn, an Eastern Kentucky staple made using his grandmother’s recipe.
“I entered nine things and I got blue ribbons in all of them,” said Vincent, a retired educator and now frequent competitor at the the Richland County Fair, now underway at 750 N. Home Road.
In his younger years, Vincent kept busy as a father and public school administrator.
Now 70, the fair has become a perfect showcase for his retirement hobbies. He cans and pickles. He makes jams, jellies and preserves. He paints old timey landscapes that capture the rustic and rural scenery of Richland County and beyond.
“My first two years I did baking and I won everything I baked. I gave up on that just because I kind of made my point,” he said.
Vincent entered four paintings this year, racking up two blue ribbons and a best of show.
The thrill of victory hasn’t worn off.
“I do get excited and I never take it for granted. I remember telling my wife, when we were driving over last night I said, ‘I’m kind of nervous,'” Vincent said Monday afternoon, the day after this year’s paintings were judged.
‘We need to see more people involved’
The Richland County Fair is known for a variety of youth livestock competitions.
But there are also have plenty of contests for kids and adults alike to show off their skills in fine arts and homemaking.
Carrie Au has competed in just about all of them.
“I do the pie auction. I do the arts and crafts. The needlecraft. I do the baked goods and I do the hobbies. And normally flowers — but not this year,” said Au, superintendent of the needlework division.
Au grew up at the Richland County Fair, watching her mother run a booth with their church. Her three sons all competed, entering bean mosaics in the children’s art competition and showing hogs through 4H and FFA.
She and her father used to compete against one another, each submitting cloves of garlic.
There’s still friendly competition between Au and her 88-year-old mother, Sylvia Webb, in the pie contest.
Au said she doesn’t have a favorite competition at the fair.
“I love them all,” she said. “I think we need to see more people involved.”
‘If I can do it, anybody can’
Matthew Dunlap has racked up several ribbons for photography, including some first and second place honors and best of show this year.
The 16-year-old is also part of the open class draft horse contest. He’s been entering photos at the fair since he was 11.
“I just like taking pictures,” he said. “I take my camera and around to all the horse shows we go to and take pictures around the farm.”
Dunlap said the fine arts competitions are important because they make the fair accessible to more people.
“If they live in town they can’t own livestock, it gives them a chance to participate in fair activities too,” he said.
Vincent’s advice to other communities considering competition is not to overthink it.
“Just do it. A lot of people say ‘I wish I could do that’… I didn’t think I could do it either,” he said. “If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
