What A Turnout-The Franklin County Fair

A couple of weeks ago was my county's fair. I am a member of 4-H. This will be my 4th year at fair, I think...
Well, fist year I did a photography project, got state alternate. Now I really, really hoped the state fair girl wouldn't be able to go mainly because I didn't want to go to band camp(band's a whole different story!).
The past three years I have done Self-Determined Reptiles. This project is not eligible for state fair but can get Best of Show in the county. This project only gets best of show, no 1st, 2nd, or 3 rd place. First year, didn't get it. Ok, my first year, my friend got it. Next year, didn't get it. My friend got it once again. And I know I would have gotten best of show if I haven't of turned my paperwork in first, therefore going first. And I had an outstanding project. Most people do their projects on "what my reptile is, what it eats, how to keep it healthy, blah, blah." I did mine on how snakes move. Now this year my friend was not going to county fair. I still didn't get it. I lost 10 points this year because I forgot a sheet of paper I needed to print from the online thing for self-determined projects. I couldn't believe it. It was very depressing. I had judging a day later and I just didn't want to go. I was done. But I still went.

I also did another self-determined project, one that I could do on any topic. I chose to do letterboxing. Honestly, I took most of my informational How 2's post from my blog, changed a couple of things, then put them on a poster. I did what is letterboxing, supplies you need to go letterboxing, finding clues, and finding boxes. It's a really need poster. Went to the fair and wasn't really confident about it. I was there with Tyrus and my best friend and they kept on encouraging me no matter how down a felt about my reptile project.
We waited and waited in the hot Ohio heat(hottest week of the summer and it just had to be fair week!) and my name was finaly called. I was a bit nervous but I grabbed my poster and letterboxing bag and went to meet with my judge. She was an older lady who was a teacher. She didn't know a thing about letterboxing! I got into it and started telling her about the hobby I love. She often interrupted me and wouldn't let me talk, but she was so interested she pulled out her smart phone and took down the sites I provided for clues!!
I was there forever talking with this lady about letterboxing. I explained everything to her and even brought a sample box to show her. She flat out told me that she was going to give me a 100. I was so happy! But there were a lot of other kids in the Self-Determined Senior class(13 and up, I believe) and only one, ONE is chosen to go to states.
The three of us hung out for a while. Looked at animals, crashed virtual cars, arrested each other and sat in the cop car until it was time for judging. We headed back to the tent and waited through until they got to Self-Determined Senior. I was very nervous by then.
They listed the 5 or 6 kids for Honorable Mention......................... Then state alternate............................. Waiting...................... Only have one chance left................... Waiting.................. Then they call my name!!! I jumped up and practically ran to the back to get my ribbon, T-shirt, and state fair packet! Out of all of the seniors in the class they chose ME to go to states!!! Boy was I excited! I still am!

Nice big purple ribbon! State fair for my class will be on August 4th, 2013 at the Ohio State Fair. All the judging starts around noonish. Boy am I excited! However, I have to redo my poster because it's not the right size. Now, at states I can go as far as winning the clock trophy or something. But I can't wait to see where I go. All thank to Mamma Huntin Dog, she introduced my class to letterboxing and I'm the only one who has ever really tried and stuck with the hobby. And thank you, to everyone. To all the letterboxers. We are like one big family and I have gotten a lot of support and love though everything I have participated in. So, thank you. Without you guys, I don't think I would actually be here.

But that's not all the excitement! Two years ago, while on a scary Ferris wheel, Tyrus asked me out. We just celebrated our two year anniversary. We even rode the scary Ferris wheel again!

What a blast. I truly love letterboxing(and Tyrus too.... I guess :P).

~Catchow

We're Back in the Game!

I meant to post this a long time ago but I've been so busy! My event is coming up so all post will be delayed.



We finally got back to letterboxing!

It started with some planting. I carved a series we were going to plant back in December down in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a good spot to plant the five box series so we planted them in Ohio. Tyrus and I spent almost 2 hours planting Tribute to Hostess. I then spent another 2 hours or so writing the clues. I like writing clues. I really liked writing the clues for this series because everything just seemed to work out perfectly.
In the cemetery we planted the boxes, there is a large mausoleum in the center of the property. We looked inside and found this:

It looked like someone (or something) broke out. Kind of creepy....

The next day we went letterboxing! We went own to Greenlawn Cemetery for a couple of hours of boxing.
Our first stop was one of my boxes that needed a new logbook. It was the first logbook that I had to replace. I was happy replacing the logbook because that meant a lot of people found my boxes!

One of my favorite series we found there was Do You Wanna...? Series 2. Sadly one of the boxes was gone.
We spent a lot of time on one series. It took a long time to find because it was like driving through a maze. It didn't help either that there was a bunch of workers out cleaning the grounds.

While boxing we saw this plant...

Does anyone know what type of plant this is?

The last box we found was pretty neat. Had a cool story to go along too. It was about a haunted bridge on grounds.

The bridge obviously isn't being used any more and is pretty hidden. I though it was really neat. I would have loved to see it when it was first built.

That's one of the things that I love about boxing.  Letterboxers take you to places you didn't know about and introduce you to new thing and I love that.

Well, this series also took is to this rope....

 

Weird, huh? I really want to know why it is there and what it was used for.... and why it hasn't been taken down.

 

I really like Greenlawn. A lot of boxes there but also a lot of history and plants and animals.

Like groundhogs!

We found these burrow openings which were pretty neat as long as you didn't trip in them!

 

We also saw a deer on the way out. That was a first for me while letterboxing.

 

We found a couple of other boxes but had to leave soon. While stamping in our last box that we found, I was complaining to Tyrus about how no matter where I go, I'm always the one taking the pictures and so I'm never in them. So he took my camera while we were stamping in.



My mom said I was looking very Australian. It was hot out...

 

Tyrus stamping in.

 

Well, after our lovely time letterboxing we started heading home. Everything was fine and dandy then the wind began to pick up and the sky darkened.

The weather was turning and we left just in time to not get hit by the storm while letterboxing. However, we started noticing some tornado fingers forming.

 

Luckily, there were no tornados that afternoon! I'm happy to get back into boxing! The season has begun!

 

~Catchow