The 2019 Allen County Fair is barely underway, and Jenni Armstrong has already had one of her most successful years.
The 15-year-old Prairie Rose 4-H?er was crowned overall grand champion in Tuesday?s Style Revue for a dress she constructed over the summer.
On top of that, her home environment project, a two-sided wall hanging that can be shown for Halloween and Christmas, took home the reserve grand champion prize.
She also earned another purple ribbon for a wooden Santa post she designed for arts and crafts.
Judging begins today on her many foods projects, ?and then I?ll be done,? she said. ?Then I get a sigh of relief.?
Not to be lost amid her wave of purple was the overall grand championship Armstrong earned at the Southeast District Favorite Foods event in Emporia earlier this month. She earned the prize for her dish prepared and displayed on a handmade table runner, decorated with an Indian theme. The decor came courtesy of her older brother, J.D., who worked briefly in India with Payless.
Armstrong is the first Allen Countian in recent memory to win a district-level Favorite Foods event.
?I told myself, ?I want to win that someday,?? she admitted afterwards. ?That it happened this year was pretty cool.?
Not to be lost amid Armstrong?s accomplishments is the fact that another Allen Countian, Abby Rinehart, earned reserve grand champion at the district event. Armstrong and Rinehart are cousins.
?Pretty cool,? Armstrong said.
Fair Week culminates a monthslong endeavor to get all of her projects done well in advance of the actual judging.
Armstrong had completed the dress she modeled at the Style Revue by Memorial Day. The wall hanging, which took an estimated 60 hours of labor, was wrapped up the first week of July.
?When I get something done, it?s like, ?Yay, now let?s move on to the next project,?? she said. ?I set a certain time to get things done, so I can move on.?
It?s a work ethic that Armstrong, daughter of Jim and Brenda Armstrong, has honed through her eight years of 4-H. ?I used to be a bit scatter-brained,? she admitted. ?I?m getting better at it.?
ARMSTRONG is a third-generation 4-H?er.
?She?s already beaten all of my old records,? Brenda Armstrong said.
