Hello Friends and Family,

Link to this year's index by clicking here.


Maui County Fair - Art, Crafts and Ag

In addition to the Orchid Show, the War Memorial Gym is home to art, crafts and agriculture. Along one wall (where the seats have been rolled back) stands a temporary wall adorned with hundreds of photos. There are, of course, age categories so that the younger photographers have a chance to win a ribbon when competing against the older, more experienced photographers. I must confess that I am not a fan of the judging of such competitions because, in my humble opinion, the judges are generally looking for something eye-catching that they haven't seen before. So when I look at the photos, I judge them on how the image impacts me — and, as usual, I found quite a few excellent photos, including some from the youngsters. Good job!



On the opposite wall, hung art work done by hand, again separated by age categories. I was particularly struck by the portrait in the center that received a blue ribbon. It strongly resembles a friend and neighbor back here in Phoenix. And this award-winning artwork was created by a high school senior. Impressive!


The 4H area has diminished over the years. For example, I recall not so many years ago seeing many different types of bananas — even exotic types like apple bananas, orange bananas, striped bananas and square bananas (click here and scroll down to revisit those from 2011). In general, in previous fairs there were more types of fruit and more varieties within each type.


How fitting that in the year when production of sugar cane has ceased on Maui, the only sugar cane entry that I saw won the blue ribbon. Perhaps next year there will be none.


Wow, look at this massive jackfruit! Supposedly they can grow to a weight of 80 pounds, making them the largest tree-born fruit in the world. Wikipedia tells me that "The flavor is comparable to a combination of apple, pineapple, mango, and banana". Sounds cool — love to try one.


I love the exotic-looking starfruit. I have eaten these but do not know how to describe the flavor except that they are slightly tart. Wikipedia says, "The taste is difficult to compare, but it has been likened to a mix of apple, pear, grape, and citrus family fruits."


Even though I have shared photos of dragon fruit before, I cannot resist with their bright red skin and blade-shaped appendages. I have never tasted one but Wikipedia says "very bland...like a melon or kiwifruit," with a "mild sweetness".


There used to be tons of tropical flowers on display — now just a few. But these torch ginger are certain very special.


In the craft area, a 10th-grader molded this figure of a man in deep contemplation. Quite impressive work by someone so young!


Interesting — Lego construction as a craft. I did not see a descriptive note but I wonder if this was made as a Lego version of real building. Now that would be pretty cool.


Last for today is a ceramic version of Pikichu. (I confess I had to get help from Johnny to know which character this is.) Obviously, I also needed help for background and Wikipedia again came to my aid, saying that Pikichu "are a species of Pokémon, fictional creatures that appear in an assortment of video games, animated television shows and movies, trading card games, and comic books licensed by The Pokémon Company, a Japanese corporation." If any of you are playing Pokémon Go, you have likely encountered and perhaps captured one of these little guys.


To be continued...

Life is good.

Aloha,
B. David

P. S., All photos and text © B. David Cathell Photography, Inc. — www.bdavidcathell.com