I have to tell you all a funny story. When we lived in Indiana, I ran an art / teaching studio. I taught several classes--some for adults, but many for children. I had one little girl who started with me when she was 4. Each year I told ALL my students that it was a requirement of class that they enter the county fair. Most of the adults didn't, but some did and all the kids did. Those who weren't in 4-H were entered into the open class where those in charge expected them and greeted them warmly. We did have a few kids, who were from another county and they did things differently over there. There were at least a hundred entries from kids, broken down by age groups.
We had done our best to prepare this little girl, telling her that not everyone could win a ribbon. She was so excited and I was sure she wasn't getting the whole "you may not get a ribbon thing." When Sheri and I got there, we found one of her pictures right away with a blue ribbon hanging from it. A former student was there and was excited to find a blue on one of her paintings, too. Each of these kids were still searching for another entry. Sheri found them side by side on the very front row...little Felicia's with a blue, a red, white and blue, and a huge purple rosette! The other girl had a blue and rosette, as well. They were so excited. The newspaper people were there and Felicia got her picture in the paper as the youngest to win a championship award. The next year we were telling Felicia, "You don't ALWAYS get three ribbons at ther fair!"
Marilyn Brown
Artist
Facebook: Paintbrushbrown