LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Kunana, represented by the Wooton family, was the big winner at the produce section of the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair which wrapped up Sunday night at the Vidinha Stadium fairgrounds. Kaua‘i Kunana topped the High Point
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Kunana, represented by the Wooton family, was the big winner at the produce section of the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau Fair which wrapped up Sunday night at the Vidinha Stadium fairgrounds.
Kaua‘i Kunana topped the High Point winners, earning $100 for a total $393 among its many ribbons.
Additionally, the Wooton family also captured the top three places for the special vegetable radish competition, its Plum Purple taking first place, the Pretty in Pink getting second place and a white variety, Known-You, getting third place.
All three specimens were entered as organic.
George Mukai of Kapa‘a copped Best in Show honors for his ulu, or breadfruit, and finished second in High Point honors with total winners of $276.
Gary Ueunten of Ueunten Farms, a finalist in the recent Kaua‘i Coffee Business Plan Competition, finished third in High Point and was named Best in Show for his green onions which can be found at the sunshine markets in Koloa, Kalaheo, Hanapepe and Lihu‘e.
Zong Ping Huang, another strong sunshine market vendor, finished fourth in High Point honors followed by Sandra Henmi getting the fifth-place nod.
Of note, this year’s farm fair did not have its fruit and vegetable auction due to health concerns.Instead, the entries were donated to The Salvation Army, a fair official said.
Garden Island Orchid Society
Keith Do and Allen Yamada, both avid orchid growers on the island, topped the awards in the orchid garden hosted by the Garden Island Orchid Society.
Do, a frequent contributor to local orchid shows, earned an American Orchid Society Highly Commended Certificate for his Vanda “V. Fuch’s Delight x V. Kasem’s Delight,” a big purple variety which showed its displeasure at being displayed in the warm humid tent.
Yamada earned an AOS Cultural Merit certificate for his Den. Maiden Charlotte.
Kaua‘i Anthurium Association
On the opposite aisle, the Kaua‘i Anthurium Association presented its Best in Show for a “Tropic Lime” to Holly Moises.
The field included 12 entrants submitting a total of 114 plants with participants earning either a blue, red or white ribbon for first, second and third places.
Top five winners included James Amimoto, Elia Lagoc, Moises, Doreen Morita and Yvonne Mukai.
Other growers submitting specimen for consideration included Lillian Amimoto, Patricia Macadangdang, Consalacion Manera, George Mukai, Valli Sendan, Masing Suetos and Liz Ronaldson.
Kaua‘i Family and Community Education Association
Kaya Ramirez of Lawai, an Island School student, was thrilled to show off her blue ribbon for a medium tote Sunday when picking up her entries from the 2012 Home Economics Show hosted by the Kaua‘i Family and Community Education Association with Lenore Klass as its president.
Kaya’s mother said this was the first time her daughter entered anything, after just learning how to sew over the summer from Eileen Miyasato.
In addition to the blue ribbon, Kaya finished with a red ribbon for her baby futon, her mother’s favorite, and a pair of white ribbons, one for a vinyl cosmetic pouch and the other for a nine-patch pillow.
Sydney Brady, on the other hand, was a Best in Show winner for the youth division Quilted Items, the student modestly showing off the rosette.
Her mother said this is only the second year Sydney has entered and to win a Best in Show was thrilling.
Erla Bukoski was awarded the Best in Show for the Quilt class and Pelagia Suetos got the Best in Show nod for Needlework.
Jean Sato was the Best in Show for Arts and Crafts with a big wreath fashioned from driftwood and garnished with a smattering of shells earning Best in Show for the Christmas Decor category for Marti McHenry.
Cheyenne St. John must have had a lot of people drinking beverages and eating peanut butter, using lids which would normally be discarded since they aren’t accepted for recycling, to fashion a rainbow scene. Depicting each color section using the plastic bottle caps won her the Best in Show nod in Recycled Arts.
Spencer Tsukamoto got the Best in Show for his crane in the special youth Lego contest.
Meagan Rice rounded out the Best in Show honors by taking the Special Ingredient – Citrus in the baking contest.
Ed Karkel and his Tahitian Lime Pie was joined by a Papaya Tropical Pie baked by Natasha Saia in the special live Open Judging competition on Saturday afternoon.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@ thegardenisland.com.
