BENTONVILLE — As Nina Quinn of Bentonville walked through the aisles of the exhibit hall at the Benton County Fair earlier this week, she couldn't help but throw up her hands and cheer.
"I got another ribbon," Quinn said as she bent down to discover that her photo of the National Cemetery in Fayetteville was chosen"This is my first county fair. I am from New Orleans. We do not even have counties, let alone county fairs, and I am already winning." - Nina Quinn as one of the winners of the fair's photography contest.
When she caught a glimpse of the photo of her children running into the ocean at sunset and the ribbon wrapped around the corner ofthe photo, Quinn broke out into a victory dance.
"This is my first county fair. I am from New Orleans. We do not even have counties, let alone county fairs, and I am already winning," Quinn said.
Quinn moved to Bentonville with her family last September - just in time for the county fair.
As Quinn and her children walked around the county fair last year, they started to think about entering the competitions..
"I was just so amazed at all of the stuff you can enter, so we gota book and kept track of all the entries and even grew our own vegetable garden with compost from the composting facility," Quinn said.
From the family's vegetable garden, Quinn's son, Sam, picked a banana pepper and entered it into the fair.
Sam took home a third-place ribbon for the banana pepper and a second ribbon for a photo he took of his parents lounging in a swimming pool.
"I am so excited. We come into town and we just own. I love this town," Quinn said. "And we win ribbons, too."
Today's events
◊Noon Midway opens Midway
◊Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday Afternoon at the Fair
◊2 p.m. to 4 p.m. No exhibits open.
Pick up exhibits. Exhibit Building
◊1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Jammin' for Jesus To be determined
News, Pages 1, 12 on 09/20/2009