I have always loved going to the State Fair. I was reared in Oregon and we would drive 20 miles to the 'big city' for the fair every year. Since I was 9 years old I was in 4-H.

So I always had a reason to go the fair other than for the carnival rides. Some of my happy memories of the fair start with the year my friend and I were on the second floor of the fine arts building. This is where the bottled fruit, vegetables, jam, clothing, knitted and croquet items were.

Low and behold they announced they were locking the doors because it was time to judge the items. We thought it would be fun to judge so we stayed in the building. I was surprised they let us 'kids' judge. I was 11 years old at the time. They gave us judging sheets and a pen. My friend wanted to compare notes but I took it very seriously so I wouldn't share my findings.

I remember looking at the bottles of beautiful peaches stacked perfectly in the jars. I checked the bottom to see if one pit was left in for color. I marveled at the patience of those canning the green beans as the beans were standing up straight and fit the jar from top to bottom perfectly. When I picked up an article of clothing I examined the seams for straight stitching and judged how many stitches to an inch they had used. When I sewed for 4-H I would get out my little ruler and make sure I had nine stitches to the inch.

I checked for raw edges and if they had sewed French seams I looked to see if they were perfect. We only had a half hour to judge so we hurried from table to table. I thought it was great fun, when we left the fair I forgot all about the judging contest. Back in my home town a few weeks later several people told me congratulations. I said thank you but wondered why I was being congratulated.

Finally I asked someone and they said they had read in the paper I had taken grand champion of the judging contest at the fair. Sure enough I was sent a big purple ribbon and a few dollars. This was exciting for me to receive this award. When I was in high school I was now living in Utah but I entered in the state fair a beautiful yellow sweater I had knit.

The pattern was a pop corn stitch and the sleeves were short. I didn't get to the fair that year but again I was being congratulated by people who knew me. This time it was because I had taken first place for my sweater. I wonder how anyone ever saw my sweater among the many that are entered. This summer as your children or grandchildren are working on their 4-H projects or other projects they are looking forward to entering in the fair I have some great advice on what to do with their ribbons. When they bring their ribbons home have them write on the paper on the back; their name, date and other information listed.

We all think we will remember what it was for but I promise you they won't and neither will you. Another thing to do is to take a picture of them with their project holding their ribbon. If the project was food then take a photo before entering it in the fair.

If they have a journal have them put their picture and ribbon in it so it won't get lost. Or it could go in a scrapbook. The book the photo and ribbons go in doesn't have to be fancy; it just has to be done.

Another place to preserve the ribbon and photo is in the 4-H journal they get when they start projects in 4-H. Just don't throw them in a drawer as then they are easy to lose. Taking care of little things like this helps preserve precious memories. Marilyn's bio Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors and their families create space and end clutter in their homes and offices by setting up custom made systems.

Marilyn invites you to visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com where you can find solutions to your organizing needs.

She offers free tips in her blogs, articles and videos for your home and office organizing solutions.

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors & their families to create space and end clutter in homes and offices by setting up custom made systems. Visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com for free organizing tips.