As the Upper Cumberland fair season draws to a close, thirteen-year-old Walker Fox has his eyes on next year, after recently securing 145 ribbons at the Overton County fair after submitting 223 different entries.
The Rickman Elementary student said his family assisted him with the large volume of submissions he brings to the event nearly every year. Fox said the total number of items grew as the fair date approached.
“It’s a blessing to be able to enter the stuff every single year and to be able to enter that much this year was especially pretty cool,” Fox said. “But I would say it’s more just having the opportunity than to winning ribbons.”
Fox said the preparation process for the entries typically requires several days of gathering items and finding ways to keep flowers alive with water. The submissions included various crops such as cucumbers, corn, and sorghum.
“Usually we have a garden every year so we usually enter some stuff from that: tomatoes and cucumbers, corn, stuff like that,” Fox said. “But then we also get sorghum and some other different crops.”
Fox said he earned approximately seven Best of Show awards during the competition. While he did not recall the specific number of first-place ribbons, he said he brought home between 160 and 170 total awards.
“Excitement really is about all,” Fox said. “Yeah, I’d just say excitement.”
Fox said the logistics of the fair required three different vehicles to transport all the items for entry. He said the most difficult item to present was watermelon because his family does not grow it.
“I would say sometimes things aren’t going to go your way,” Fox said. “Sometimes you get some tough ribbons and stuff. Maybe things you thought could do better than the others they didn’t, but yeah.”
Fox said he hopes to submit even more entries next year and encourages other people to participate and win as well.