Fair registration begins for early bird exhibitors
By Steve Herring
Published in News on September 25, 2017 5:50 AM
News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Saturday afternoon was early-bird registration day for exhibits in the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair that opens Thursday, Sept. 28. Volunteers Susan Herring, right, explains the process to Kristy Speight, center, who entered medicine bottles. At left is Speight's daughter, Sara Couch.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Sarah Howell, right, looks at the photo her grandmother Lois Sasser, left, is entering into competition at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair that begins this Thursday. They were among the many who took advantage of early-bird registration Saturday afternoon.
News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Medicine bottles being entered into the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair by Kristy Speight are tagged and ready for exhibit.
DUDLEY -- Kristy Speight is hopeful that the antique medicine bottles she has will prove just the right prescription for wins at the Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair.
Speight entered for the first time last year placing two bottles into the competition. She won first- and third-pace ribbons. This year she is looking to lock up first- and second-place honors.
Speight said she has so many different types of the bottles at home that she could enter something different every year for years to come.
She was among the many ribbon hopefuls Saturday to take advantage of the early-bird registration period to get their entries in for the the 69th annual Wayne Regional Agricultural Fair that will open at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28.
Exhibits also will be accepted from 4 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 27, and from 8 to 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 28.
All of the items will be judged at 1 p.m. on Thursday.
"These are different pharmaceutical bottles that I have collected over the years," she said. "It has just been years of going to antique stores and flea markets, looking around until I found something that struck my eye."
She said she can only enter so many bottles a year and that she will keep coming back until she has entered all the ones she has stored in a curio cabinet at home.
For Speight, the early-bird registration was just what the doctor ordered.
"Being able to drop my things off today has been very convenient," she said. "We have been out running errands. The Wednesday evening that they are taking in entries interferes with us going to church.
"Thursday's is during the day and I have a job. So Saturday works great for us. It is good to be in here and get stuff in."
It is only the second year the early-bird registration has been held, fair Manager Eddie Pitzer said.
"We really did it as a convenience thing because our other registrations are Wednesday evening and Thursday morning," he said. "If you are working, it is kind of difficult to get the time. So we thought a Saturday would be a good chance to do so."
Animals, baked goods and horticulture products were not allowed during the early entry.
Also, to encourage people to enter items for competition, the fair is adding a new category this year for first-time entries, he said.
"We have an additional premium for that," Pitzer said. "You can enter into, say needlework. We will judge it all. But then we will turn around and look at anybody who is a first-time entry and just judge those.
"So you may not win the category, but there may be two or three first-time entries, and you may win it in the first-time entry and hopefully get new people to bring some stuff in."
Owned and operated by the Wayne County Livestock Development Association, the fair will be held Sept. 28 through Oct. 7 at the fairgrounds on U.S. 117 South.
Powers Great American Midways already has begun to erect rides including the 108-foot tall Ferris wheel.
The midway will feature several new rides this year including one called Speed. It is 110-feet tall with rides on each end.
The hours will be 4 to 9 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday.
Tuesday, Oct. 3, is Senior Citizens Day with free admission for anyone 60 or older.
Ticket prices, both for admission and carnival rides, are unchanged from last season.
General admission tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for ages 12 and under.
Carnival ride wristbands are $25 weekdays and $30 for Saturday and Sunday.
Discount wristband are available online at waynefair.com or at a local Walgreens for $20 for weekdays and $25 for the weekend.
Once a wristband is purchase the wearer they can ride all day long
Fair catalogs can viewed online at waynefair.com.
For more information, call 91-735-7277.