Participation in the McCracken County Floral Show held at the Fairgrounds 

Need: The Covid pandemic was far from being over, so the restrictions were still in full force. The horticulture agent, horticulture assistant, and the Master Gardeners (MCEMG) had to make a quick decision regarding the fair. The fair takes place in June so the planning beginning in early January. To abide by the states Covid regulations it was decided to have an alternative to the usual fair. 

Horticulture Agent and Horticulture Assistant Roles:  The agent recommended we have youth floral displays, demo garden for educational purposes, promote the 2022 showcase, and showcase the 2020 virtual fair. In floral hall the agent, agent assistant, and master gardeners set up a “Pallet Garden” for demonstration. This showed residents that anyone can have a garden even if you live in an apartment or don’t have land to dig up. The agent purchased ornamental perennials, shrubs, and cut flowers from several local shops to help teach fairgoers about arrangement and identification. The horticulture assistant asked her father to bring in several succulent arrangements to show as well that you can make arrangements out of any plant or planter. One arrangement was in the back of a red truck used for table décor. I met Sherry Dorris at a business to help purchase the vases used for the youth designs. 

Seed Giveaway: As fair goers first enter Floral Hall they saw our table, which had a large UK blue tablecloth with McCracken County Extension Office. At that table we had a bucket of free seed packets. This would impact 100 residents so they could take the seeds home and plant them. A local-big-box store donated the seeds to the Extension office at the end of the growing season for us to giveaway to the public. 

At the Fair: Regarding the 2021 McCracken County Fair, 12 Extension Master Gardeners helped to set up, pickup items, maintain and take down the displays at Floral Hall. The Extension Master Gardeners held a floral design class for that had 24 youth in attendance. The cut flowers were bought by the Horticulture agent at a local florist with the help of the Horticulture Assistant. The MCEMG donated 120 hours of volunteer time. Due to restrictions, the only events taking place was floral hall, carnival rides, and horse racing. About 8,000 fair goers passed through Floral Hall where the educational displays and arrangements were featured. 

After the Fair: The leftover cut flowers were made into bouquets and donated to local hospital workers. One of the McCracken County Horticulture Council Members were directed that the plants should be given to MCEMG after the County Fair was over. The MCEMG sold some and donated 15 shrubs to the residents of a local women’s shelter. The demonstration garden and some of the plants that was on the stage, was transported to the Nuckolls Barn at the Extension Office. The Horticulture Agent and horticulture assistant replanted the plants into the potting soil bags so they can be viewed at the barn.