May 29, 2015

Changes coming to this year's Mississippi County fair exhibits will not just be for the adults, according to the Mississippi County Fair Board and the Mississippi County Cooperative Extension.

Changes coming to this year's Mississippi County fair exhibits will not just be for the adults, according to the Mississippi County Fair Board and the Mississippi County Cooperative Extension.

Changes are being made to bring the county fair more into alignment with exhibits at the Northeast Arkansas District and Arkansas State fairs, according to Fair Board member Sharon Meyer.

"The changes we are making will make it easier to take a winning exhibit from the county fair directly to the district or state fair," she explained. "As it is now, many of the exhibits we are accepting do not qualify for entry in either of the other fairs."

The two biggest changes in the youth exhibits are classification by age rather than grade, and the addition of a new department that will allow students who do projects in science, mathematics, technology, agriculture or Arkansas history to enter those in the fair exhibit competition.

Until now, a child would enter in one of the departments according to their grade in school. Although the fair rules specifically stated the child would be entered by the grade they completed in the spring, some of the youth exhibits were being entered by the grade the child was entering that fall. Because of this, an 8-year-old child might be competing against 6-year-olds in one department, say photography; but be competing against 11-year-olds in another, say cooking. Also, in some cases where a child was home-schooled, the child might be in third grade in one subject and in fourth grade in another, making it confusing as to what grade they should be entered in.

To simplify the registration process, make it fair for all children, and in compliance with the other fairs, this year children will be entered according to the age they are at the time of the fair. All departments will be changed to four age categories rather than grade categories.

The new exhibit department, youth educational exhibits, has four classes separated by age groups. They are step by step demonstration for doing something, making an animal creature from produce, an experiment, construct or diorama in the areas of math, science, agriculture or Arkansas history, and technical display, including robotics, or video. The first two categories were moved to this department from the youth exhibit department, which has been eliminated. The second have been added as new exhibit categories this year.

Collections from nature and collections of like items, the other two categories in the former youth exhibit category, have been moved to handicrafts to conform with the district fair.

A department that was eliminated a few years ago from the youth division, youth field crops, has been brought back, and all field crops including corn, peanuts and sunflowers, have been moved to that category along with the regular list of field crops, again to conform with the district fair.

Changes have also been made to some existing departments. A number of new classes have been added to the photography department, allowing young aspiring photographers to enter more of their photos. The 8x10 size requirement and matting have also been added this year to conform with the district and state fairs.

As with the adult canning department, new top-mounted labels will be required beginning in 2016, but they will be accepted this year along with the former side mounted labels. The labels are available now free of charge at the Cooperative Extension Office in Blytheville.

Also starting in 2016, all youth art must, as with the adult art, be matted and framed in a frame with no glass, and a wire on the back ready for hanging. The change is being announced this year, and letters will go out to art teachers in the schools in the fall to allow them to select paper for their art students that is compatible with a standard sized frame.

"We plan to make contact with all art, science, mathematics, history and agriculture teachers in all the county schools this fall to make them aware of the new fair rules and the new exhibit opportunities for their students," explained County Agent Pam Pruett, who is working with the fair board and other volunteers on the fair project. "We want to encourage anyone who is considering entering items in the fair this year to pick up a fair catalog and read through it carefully for all the changes taking place."

Catalogs will be available sometime around the first of August from the Extension Office, Pruett said.

plen@rittermail.com

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