The 47th Annual Kiwanis Ogeechee Fair is right around the corner, and  the agricultural fair involves much more than a midway filled with rides.
    The fair serves seven counties and offers citizens of all ages the opportunity to display crafts and projects for competition as well as for the enjoyment of visitors.
    “All residents of counties in the Ogeechee Fair area are invited to enter exhibits in the home arts and crafts regardless of age,” said Laverne Batten, member of the Statesboro Pilot’s Club which handles the arts and crafts exhibits for the Statesboro Kiwanis Club during the fair.
    The categories available for entry are extensive. There are several categories for handmade clothing, and household items such as bedding and table wear.
    Other categories include toys and stuffed animals, wall hangings, rugs and holiday decorations.    
    Those handy in the kitchen are invited to enter cakes, breads, cookies, muffins and candies, or canned foods such as preserves, jellies, pickles and relishes or fruits and vegetables.
     “Exhibits must be the work of the exhibitor and should be completed within the last year. They should never have been exhibited in the Ogeechee Fair previous years,” she said.
    Those whose skills lean toward agriculture will be able to exhibit their prized crops as well. The categories for agricultural exhibits include competition for the following: best 10 ears of white corn, best 10 ears of yellow corn, best three stalks of corn, best stalk of corn; best three stalks of soybeans, best peck of soybeans; best peck of oats; best hill of velvet beans; best peck of sweet potatoes; best hill of peanuts; best five pounds of pecans; best hand of tobacco; best bale of Coastal Bermuda grass; best quart of homemade syrup; best peck of field peas; best pumpkin; best three stalks of sugar cane and most unusual display.
    Students in 4-H, FFA and FHA will also be able to enter mini-booth projects on a variety of topics.
    All exhibits will be accepted Saturday, Oct. 11  between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. as well as on Sunday, Oct. 12  between 2 and 5 p.m.
    No exhibits will be accepted after this time. Public viewing of the exhibits will begin on Monday afternoon at 6 p.m. when the fair gates open, and neither visitors nor exhibitors are will be allowed in prior to this time, Batten said.
     Exhibits will be judged on Monday, Oct. 13   before the fair opening. The decision of the judges is final, she said.