Georgetown resident Cheryl Goldman said she hates summer “with passion.” To her, the nearly triple-digit temperatures in July and August are unbearable, and she counts down the days until fall every year.
“I am not a summer person, I don't like it,” Goldman said. “I don't like being hot. I don't like being sweaty, and when it gets super hot, the air quality is bad”
But there’s one thing she does look forward to during the summer months: submitting dozens of entries in Kentucky State Fair competitions.
According to 2024 state fair records, the most recent available, 2,993 Kentucky and Southern Indiana residents submitted work in the event’s contests. Goldman had the most entries at last year’s state fair, surpassing Joyce Salmon, a state fair veteran specializing in canning and vegetable contests. Goldman’s 81 submissions were from her collection of plants, herbs, crochet projects, vegetables and miniature paintings.
She won six first place ribbons, 20 second place, 15 third place and five honorable mentions in 2024.
Goldman first entered a competition in the mid-1990s.
“One time, when my husband and I went to visit the fair, I kept looking at all these exhibits and thinking, ‘I would love to do this,’ or, ‘I could do that,’” she said. “And I got brave enough one day and decided, ‘I'm going to enter the fair.’”
She started with a miniature painting of a sunset. Goldman said she has loved fine arts since she was young.
“And it actually got second place,” she said. “I was literally shocked. But that just kind of started that whole thing, and doing miniatures.”
She said her husband’s grandmother taught her the basics of crochet. Goldman eventually weaved her way into the textile competitions, submitting pieces such as baby shoes, sweaters and scarves.
Another annual trip to the fair inspired her to test her green thumb in the plants and flowers category. Goldman said she started with typical herbs like rosemary, parsley and oregano. Over time, she experimented with more herbs she found to be unique, such as lemon balm, chamomile and lamb's ear.
“The first year I entered that, I ended up getting the Best in Show,” Goldman said. “Which really shocked me, because there's so many talented people out there.”
She used her garden to create Christmas and holiday wreaths, which she also submitted to the fair over the years.
“It just kind of snowballed. It accelerated from there,” Goldman said.
At her peak, Goldman said she typically submitted more than 100 pieces per year.
“I have things, stacked and put away, and just a variety. It's something else,” she said. “It takes over my house for a while.”
Goldman, now 71, has competed in six of the 16 state fair contest categories: fine arts, hobbies, textiles, plants and flowers, vegetables and culinary. She said some days it can be overwhelming to prepare.
“The herb show took up a lot because there was a lot of entries, but I loved every bit of it,” Goldman said. “It was exhausting, to say the least, but I love the fair.”
This year marks Goldman’s 30th Kentucky State Fair competition, and she said she submitted 64 entries. She said plans to take her work to other art competitions and sell some of her pieces at craft fairs around Southern Indiana later this fall.
She said she already started some of her artwork for the 2026 competitions.
“I just enter because it is what I love to do,” she said. “And there's just so many talented people. I go and I see the things these people make, and some of it's such intricate work, and it just amazes me of the talent that's out there. And I think, ‘I could do that, right?’”
The Kentucky State Fair continues through Aug. 24.
