I was asked to judge the LEGO category at the NC State Fair again this year.? Fortunately Joe Meno was in town this year and was able to join me.? The Fair changed their entry submission process this year and required all exhibitors (for all categories, not just LEGO) to preregister.? Unfortunately it appears that many people didn’t read the submissions guidelines very well because entries are waaaaaay down this years (again – for all categories, not just LEGO).?
The entry process is now computerized as well so there is no chance to “fix” an entry if a parent or child has filled out their entry incorrectly.? Unfortunately, this resulted in a number of kids having their entries disqualified or judged in the wrong category.? In particular, a nice model of the Fair itself was not entered under the NC theme category where it would have won first place.? Instead, it was judged in the Original category where it won a 3rd place ribbon.
This is the second year the “kit” category hasn’t existed yet several kids still submitted kits.? We DQ’d four entries because they were just kits.? I am sure some visitors will wonder why the beautiful model of the Wright Flyer didn’t win the blue ribbon in the NC theme category but it isn’t original.? The woman who runs the fair really appreciates that Joe and I know which are kits and which aren’t.
So until next year, judging is complete and unfortunately, the Fair isn’t going to add an adult category as we had requested.? I guess that makes it easy for us to judge -it would be hard if I had to judge my own entry!
