2005 Newsletter May - Aug, Page 40, Blue Ribbons, Floral Design Institute, Floral design school, floral school, floral classes, floral supplies, floral videos, home study, wedding design

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I have a favorite photograph of my husband David as a young boy. In the photo he’s about ten years old. He is wearing a white shirt and white pants, black shoes, black belt, a narrow black bow tie and the biggest, brightest smile you have ever seen. In one hand he holds the halter of a Guernsey cow that stands far taller than him, and in the other hand he holds a big blue ribbon. The cow’s name was “Snowdrop” and this was David’s first blue ribbon.

David grew up on a dairy farm in Indiana and in his youth the country fairs were the highlight of his summer. All summer long he would care for, train, and groom a selected group of cows, heifers and bulls for showing at a series of county and state fairs. At the end of each summer he would travel with the “show string” feeding, milking and grooming them as they traveled from city to city. He would sleep and eat in the cattle barn, watching over and caring for his show string. David did this from the age of ten until he finished college. Quite literally he “grew up” in the cattle barn.

Being a “city girl”, I never really understood the experience of David’s youth or his passion for those adventures and blue ribbons until he took me “back home” to the Indiana State Fair. We toured the cattle barn. Sure enough, it was just like David had explained. Beautifully groomed cows were neatly tied up and resting in clean and tidy straw. Each exhibitor had an area next to their cattle set up with sleeping cots, tables and chairs, tack boxes for storing equipment, even mini-refrigerators, microwave ovens and hot plates.

We went to the show ring to watch the cattle judging. Boys and girls of various ages, dressed just like David in the old photo, were leading their cows around the coliseum, showing them off to a judge standing in the center of the circle. The judge pointed his finger at the smallest boy and motioned him toward the center of the arena. The boy, looking far too intense and serious for his age, moved his cow skillfully to the designated spot. Other boys and girls were motioned to line up next to the first boy and his cow.

The judge looked long at the line of cattle then turned sharply and walked out of the show ring. A pretty young girl wearing the tiara and satin sash of the “Dairy Queen” walked into the arena and handed the small boy in first place a big blue ribbon. He broke into the biggest, brightest smile I’ve ever seen.

I got it! I finally understood the importance of the blue ribbon. The experience of doing something that you love, of working very hard and doing your very best. Win or lose, it’s the joy of competition.

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