Congratulations to ribbon winners at the Five County Fair. Mary Dimmie won a blue ribbon on her entry of cake from a commercial mix. She followed box directions, with added ingredients, for a “sock-it-to-me” cake. Mary received red ribbons on: apple pie, cornbread, bread and butter pickles; and a white ribbon on whole-wheat muffins.

John Dimmie won blue ribbons on bar cookies and on whole wheat bread, and a red ribbon on Molasses muffins.

There was a huge turnout of entries in the Fine Arts Division. Ruth Easter won a blue ribbon on her eight by 10 entry in landscape photography.

In the produce division, Sarah E. Dooley won a blue ribbon on her sunflower. Brandon Dooley won a blue ribbon on his sunflower, which grew more in the shape of a heart than a circle. In the educational division, Brandon Dooley won blue ribbons on collection of seashells and collection of rocks.

Northern Neck Farm Bus Tour

By Dottie J. Farmer and Audrey Robinson

Lee and Dottie Farmer joined with farmers and retired farmers from Westmoreland and Richmond county area for a bus tour of farm crops, horse farms and some specialty factories and greenhouses through north central Kentucky. The trip was coordinated by Sam Johnson, Prospect native and career official with the Extension Service in the Montross area. Also, a Kentucky Extension Service employee assisted with the farm portion of the Kentucky trip. The summer excursion was called the Northern Neck Farm Bus Tour.

The first stop was a huge greenhouse covering 23 acres and filled with huge modern equipment. Over 100 employees tended this Colorpoint Greenhouse business, which included a building for weddings.

The Clairborne Horse Farm, owned by the Hancocks, has thirty-one-thousand acres. The race horses have multiple owners. The annual operating budget of $5 million, includes insurance on the horses with Lords of London. Secretariat, born in Caroline County, is buried here, after many years of royal treatment.

The following day, the racing facilities at Churchill Downs were toured. At Undulated Farm the group saw where American Saddlebreds are raised. The Mansion house was included in the tour.

At the one thousand acre Gallrein Farm, the main crop is sweet corn. The group toured the assembly line where workers separated and bagged the corn. Other crops are hay and vegetables.

Manufacturing stops included the Mark Peyton Glass Center, featuring glass blowing. In Frankfort there was a visit to the Rebecca Ruth Candy Factor, makers of bourbon candy on the same equipment used in 1919. This was before women could vote so they didn’t use their last names; thus trading as Rebecca Ruth. During the World War II sugar rationing, family and friends gave them their sugar to continue operating. Also in Frankfort, the Buffalo Trace Distillery gave a tour of the making of bourbon, with various time periods for aging.

The Louisville Slugger Museum where baseball bats are made, offered complete tour of the factor. Bats are started with a wood cylinder, then cut to exact computer dimensions for each player. A wood engraver is used to burn in the name of the museum. The souvenir shop was a popular stop.

One lunch stop was at Claudia Sanders Dinner House. She was the second wife of Col. Saunders. There was catered barbecue lunch at the Bourbon County Fairgrounds of Paris, KY, another day. Before returning to Virginia, this group had lunch at the Mason Jar at White Sulfur Springs, WV, near Greenbrier.

To the travellers, this was a wonderful six-day journey to add to their appreciation of farm crops and horse country.