Winner's Circle: Peppers, Poetry and Pottery Win at Arlington County Fair

Dozens of people gathered in a back room at the fair Sunday afternoon for an awards ceremony that named the winners of this year's competitive exhibits.

“A big congratulations to every single one of you,” said Tiffany Kudravetz, chairwoman of the Arlington County Fair board of directors.

“It's fun to see the talent we have in Arlington, Falls Church and Joint Base Myer — the entire local community. It just amazes me what we have.”

The competition fielded a wide range of categories: food preservation, decorative food/baked goods, needlework and apparel, crafts, fine arts, photography, herbs and vegetables, and flowers and potted plants. Even though they were inherently different, each entry had to adhere to this years theme of “Tell Arlington's Story.”

“(The theme) is interpreted in a variety of ways,” said Linda Crocker Simmons, an organizer for the competitive exhibits.

Within each category, winners were named in three divisions, according to age: adult, teens and youth.

“(The exhibits) really give us the opportunity to see what Arlington is,” Simmons said. “Many people put their heart and soul into it. It's really a snapshot of the county.”

The various judges were all professionals within their given divisions, Simmons said. They included Master Gardeners from the Virginia Cooperative Extension, photojournalists, teachers and local artists, plus a few representatives of the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Hayley Spolter took home two awards in ceramics, including the grand prize.

“It feels really good,” she said. Spolter said she had only been working in ceramics for two years and is going to take another class in it in the fall.

“We're really proud of her,” said her mother, Ellen Spolter.

Isabel George won grand champion in vegetables for three of her Islander peppers and she won grand champion in flowers for one of her sunflowers. George said her whole family is into gardening and, at some point, all of them have won something at the fair.

“It surprised me a bit,” said Samantha Spytek about her grand champion win in poetry.

Spytek said she wrote the winning poem for a school project. She explained that while she writes for school, she doesn't really do it in her spare time.

“I guess it's a hidden talent,” she said.

Simmons said the creativity contestants put into their exhibits “encourages the young kids to make something proudly, and to encourage that is important.”

“While not everyone is a Rembrandt, or is going to be a Rembrandt, it enhances their capacity and skills in other ways,” Simmons said. “There definitely is value in it for the young and old alike.”