EATON — At the age of 91, Violet Farmer was the oldest exhibitor at the Preble County Fair this year.
Farmer has been exhibiting at the fair for 73 years now. She noted, the changes to the fairgrounds over the years has been “gorgeous.”
Her entry was a rug which won first place. Farmer made the rug for her granddaughter Crystal Lawson, who actually entered the rug for her grandmother, wanting to be her “biggest fan and supporter.”
“I make these for my grandchildren and my two daughters. I have six altogether that I have finished. I’ve been making these rugs for a good while. My daughter used to work at the fabric store and they had kits on displays so I started. I can’t walk too much, so I like having something to do when I sit down,” Farmer said.
“Crystal told me she was going to enter the rug into the fair and I said okay, because I’ve been exhibiting at this fair for 73 years now. We started out with produce and we put up a farm display. Then we did cattle and horses. Both our daughters were in 4-H. It’s fun [to exhibit at the fair].”
“She started exhibiting when she was 18,” Lawson said. “She still lives by herself. She is 91 and she has been widowed for 15 years. She is very independent and awesome. She’s always our biggest fan, whatever we’re doing, Grandma says to do it. We felt like we needed to be her biggest fan and tell her to submit her rugs.”
As for being the oldest exhibitor, Farmer said, “I can’t realize that I am. We used to camp out here in the camper, I’ve had four different ones out here. This fair has changed gorgeously, a big improvement. It is a very nice fair and I’m so glad I’ve lived in Preble County all my life.
“I have four rugs ahead of me right now and it takes me three months on one, because it is 150 squares and it is an hour a square. When my fingers quit, I have to quit.”
“I might exhibit my new rugs next year,” she added.
