Fair edition of Antiques Road Show to debut

FINDLAY — Will there be a treasure uncovered at this year's Hancock County Fair? Visitors will find out when the new Antiques Road Show debuts on Aug. 28. "We're trying to come up with our own version of Antiques Roadshow," said Jill Taber, superintendent of the open class antiques, hobbies and collectives department. "What we want to do is have the people bring in items that they want to know more about." Part of the impetus for the new event is to tell participants what they have and give them an estimated value. They will also learn the differences between items that are collectible — valued for its potential monetary worth, its rarity or its interest to a collector; vintage — 50-years-old or older; or antique — which have to be at least 100-years-old. The 11:30 a.m. show follows the antiques judging that starts at 9 a.m. in the Grange Building. There is a limit of three items per person, and the cost is $2 per piece. Linda Spahr and Lyle Gephardt will evaluate the items. Taber said Spahr is a longtime collector of local glass, particularly Fostoria glass, while Gephardt, who will be one of the judges of the earlier show, has been an auctioneer for some 40 years in Crawford County. If needed, Taber will also step in to help. She's been doing antique shows for approximately 40 years. Taber said the antiques business is ever changing as the value of items shift. "The favorite antique now may not be the favorite antique later," she said. "I have found that being supervisor (at the fair), most people know they have something old. They don't know time period. They have not educated themselves. I do because I put my money into it sometimes and it's still a crap shoot," she said. Research was once done at the library, Taber said. Now much can be found on the Internet. "And I notice a lot of stuff on the Internet is not knowledge," she said. "It's just what people want to put on there." Family history is also important so parents can pass along at least part of an item's history to their children, said Taber. "And if you have a piece, it (information) should be written down somewhere, dated and how far is goes back," she said. "Either put it in a file or, if it's a piece of furniture, tape it to a drawer or the backside of a cupboard or whatever it is." Taber said the last treasure they saw was on when a woman brought a quilt for judging about four years ago. "I looked at Mr. Gephardt's eyes, and they were like this big," she said, making circles with her thumbs and forefingers. The piece was a signature quilt from Fremont. "A signature quilt in the late 1800s, the ladies at a church would pay so much to sew their signature on the quilt," Taber explained. And there he found the signatures for R.B. Hayes for the 19th president Rutherford B. Hayes, and L.L. Hayes, his wife "Lemonade Lucy" Hayes. "So that just elevated that quilt from a $200 quilt up to probably a $1,000 quilt," said Taber. "And she (the owner) had no idea. She had bought it at an auction in Tiffin." When the exhibitor's mother picked up the quilt, Taber told her why it was so special and suggested that her daughter protect it and store so it won't fade. "So that's what we're doing with the Antiques Road Show. It's a new show to get people interested. And you never know what you'll see. We definitely have the good, the bad and the ugly," she laughed. Meanwhile, a new and improved flower arrangers' competition will be held Aug. 29, said Mary Schwepe, the open class flowers department superintendent. The contest will feature three professionals who will compete at 2:30 p.m. Contestants will include Kelly Musgrave-Andres, Carla Treadway and Kelly Ridge. • Musgrave-Andres is the granddaughter of the late Dorotha Mengert, who served as fair secretary for 30 years. Schwepe said Musgrave-Andres attended OSU Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster and has had some training in floral design. • Treadway is developing a large farm on Ohio 613 called Treadway Acres Flower Farm. She does arrangements for various events and likes to do nontraditional styles, Schwepe said. She has also brought flowers to the Friday Flower Show at the fair. • Ridge grows flowers and provides them for events under the business name Elizabeth Lane Flowers. Schwepe said the family is currently developing a flower farm on Township Road 94. Ridge won ribbons at the fair's 2024 flower show. "They each have been asked to do a special design so the people will see different ways of doing arranging," said Schwepe. Ridge will do an L-shaped design, while Treadway will work on a vertical arrangement. Musgrave-Andres is doing a diagonal design. Schwepe said they can start their pieces at home. At the competition, they will have 15 minutes to complete the arrangement. The audience can also ask questions. An OAGC (Ohio Association of Garden Clubs) judge from the morning's flower show will critique each design and assign it first, second or third place. But the ranking will not be revealed until the audience also has a chance to vote. Cash prizes and ribbons will be awarded. Schwepe said there has been a flower arranging contest at the fair before, but not to this extent. "I decided to upgrade it. I saw at the Philadelphia Flower Show they did a competition with three different arrangers," she said. "I'm trying to get people away from the idea that everything should be a mound or a horizontal type idea because that's pretty much what's done." "I just want people to know there are different ways to do these designs," she said. Deb Brumley, a former member of the senior fair board who oversees activities in the building, will auction off the arrangements which will be kept at the fair until Aug. 31 for visitors to see. Brumley said all of the buildings on the fairgrounds were challenged a few years back to come up with ways to make upgrades to their buildings. "It's the Grange that really jumped out, and these ladies have just come up with some marvelous ideas," she said. Schwepe said the atmosphere in the building has really changed since she started helping in the flowers department years ago. "There were empty areas on the south wall. It was dark, the lighting was terrible. This year it may be more comfortable," she said. Three large commercial-grade ceiling fans have been added this year to help cool things down. It will also be less noisy than the electric fans that had been used. There's also LED lighting in the building now. A cooler was added in the baking department in 2022 that will be used to hold entries in a special "Cool Treats" division featuring Jell-O molds. Brumley said the Legos section has also been expanded, and the photography department has new classifications. The annual baked goods auction is scheduled at 5 p.m. Aug. 26. Proceeds from the sale and the flower auction will go into the Grange Building account to help with upkeep and improvements. Brumley said one of the next investments may be locking display cases. The staff uses makeshift locks on the current cases, she said. Amy Carles, a senior outreach and education specialist, will be at the OSU Extension booth from 3-5 p.m. Aug. 29 which has been dubbed Financial Friday. She will answer questions and share money-saving tips along with the latest consumer news from the Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel. Carles will also offer guidance for seniors concerning scams. The theme for the Master Gardener's booth this year is "Flowers, Butterflies, and Bees…Oh My!" And a 1/64 scale farm equipment, animals and displays contest will also be held with classes for contestants ages 15 and younger and those 16 and older. The show will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 26.