ORANGE COUNTY FAIR Collections Exhibit   2007
Costa Mesa, California

As a bit of a lark, I decided to enter some items from my Doors collection into this year's Orange County Fair exhibit.  Registration was required several months in advance.  I was totally in the mood because that was just prior to my trip to Cleveland for the opening of the major exhibit honoring The Doors at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.  read about that

There are very specific guidelines regarding entries in the competition, including specific classes or categories, the maximum number of items that can be submitted for each class, and the overall dimensions that the exhibit must fit within.

In addition, there is a requirement to include a card explaining the collection:   the date it started, how the items were collected, dates of the oldest items in the collection, and number of items in the entire collection.

Most of the classes are limited to a maximum of five items;  I selected the 'Famous People' class which allowed ten items.

The collections are exhibited in glass display cases inside an air-conditioned building that gets locked up when the fair is closed.  Regardless, I was careful to not submit anything that could not be replaced or that I did not have a duplicate of.  Only a very old and rare key ring (I have never seen another one like it) and a vintage bumper sticker could probably never be replaced if lost.

The other items I selected to include were (an extra of) my I ♥ DOORS license plate;  the Jim Morrison action figure;  a comic book;  a Christmas ornament;  the first Doors biography by Mike Jahn;  a clock picturing all the band members;  a ribbon with 5 metal Doors & Morrison badges/buttons;  and a page layout that included postcards showing Jim's original headstone, his current headstone, and the apartment building where he was found dead.

The Orange County Fair opened last Friday, July 13th, but it was not until last night while I was there for a concert, that I got to find out how my exhibit submission fared in the competition.  I had a good feeling about it and the diversity of the items I included in my submission, and was delighted to discover that I got a blue ribbon for First Place in the 'Famous People' class!

I think there were no more than half a dozen total submissions for that class.  I did spot the usual ones that are there every year:  Elvis Presley and Princess Diana.  I think the judges welcomed a new topic!  My brother-in-law pointed out that it doesn't matter how many others there were:  there is still only one blue ribbon  for the class!  ☺

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July 18, 2007

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