A trip to the Big E, 2025 edition

I can tell you this. I’ve had better Competition Seasons in the past. This year, my photos have gone ribbon-less, and when one of my artworks finishes in second place in a one-entry race … you start to develop a complex.

So I’m kinda hoping that a trip to the Eastern States Exposition – also known as the “Big E” – will change my fortunes. Hope hope hope.

Three of my photos were accepted to the walls of the New England Center, while my latch hook rug A Bicolor Sunflower was accepted into the handcrafted rugs category.

Now it’s just a trip to Springfield to find out how things went.

And like all my fair entry trips … I have traditions. Traditions are important. They must be honored each time.

Before I can enter the New England Center, I must get breakfast on the fairgrounds. “Breakfast” is a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich (with hash brown) at one of the Agawam Lions Club eateries.

I also have to visit all six “state house” properties and see what kind of local treasures are available this year.

And before I leave the fairgrounds, I have to pick up a six-pack of the Big E’s signature eclairs and cream puffs for the girlfriend. Sweets for my sweet, don’tcha know.

I will say this. Leaving Albany at 6:00 a.m. to arrive at the Big E by 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday has its positives – decent parking, minimal traffic into Springfield. It also has its negatives – the temperature was 41 degrees at 6:00 a.m., and by the time I arrived at Springfield, it had reached a balmy 44 degrees. Yeah, it’s going to be a chilly chilly winter this year, I suspect.

Plus, arriving at 8:00 a.m. means the Faigrounds are open … but the nice warm buildings are closed until 10:00. That means lots of wandering around the Fairgrounds, with a stop at one of the few open buildings on the grounds – a restored church in the Big E’s Storrowtown Village plaza. Storrowtown Village uses the same concept as The Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village, where historic buildings are uprooted and replanted into a small walkable arrangement – in this case, Storrowtown Village features a vintage New Hampshire house of worship that was relocated from its original moorings and positioned into Springfield.

The other benefit of an early morning arrival into the Big E is that you can witness all the setups and maintenance – such as this person hot-walking some Clydesdales. I’m kinda suspecting that I wouldn’t see a Clydesdale at any of the Saratoga race tracks … but hey, with advancements in breeding these days, you just never know.

Okay. Now it’s time to check out the artworks. At this point, I’m resigned to the fact that I need to crank up my photography game for 2026.

So here’s the CPKC Holiday Train photo … and …

That white ribbon means this picture earned a third place award. The Big E awards merit on the Danish system, where you’re not competing against everyone else; you’re competing against a standard of quality. So this is the first silk for any Canadian Pacific / CPKC Holiday Train imagery. And I’ll take that any day of the week.

Now let’s see if that infrared shot of the Alexander Hamilton statue achieved any success … and …

Nice. Second place. Among my Hamilton College shots, this is the second time one of my campus images has scored as high as second place.

Okay. Can we get at least some love for Soaring on a Manhattan Morning? Any love? Any? Last chance for a blue of any sort in 2025?

There it is. Blue ribbon. First place in its category. Finally. Whew.

Now let’s see if my latched hook rug project actually picked up a pretty blue silk. Or even a pretty red silk. At this point, I’ll settle for a pretty beige silk.

Let’s make ab-so-lute-ly sure that’s a blue ribbon. Zoom in on that lower left corner.

Ka boom. That’s s a blue ribbon. Blue ribbon for a first place claim. Of course, paranoid me has to double-check to make sure I didn’t get a blue ribbon by accident. Trust me, it’s happened before.

And you know … as per tradition … a blue ribbon earned at any fair competition means I must try some exotic fair food. And by “exotic fair food,” I went back to the Maine state house and chomped down on a fully loaded Maine baked potato – trust me, these potatoes came all the way from Aroostock County. And when I say “fully loaded,” I mean this thing was slathered with butter, sour cream, bacon bits, chives, and melted cheese sauce.

Want some?

Look, it was either that or two scoops of dill pickle ice cream, and I think I made the wiser choice.

A few more looks and photos and wanderings around for ideas and inspirations for next year … because, yeah, I have to come up with something new in 2026 – and Competition Season 2025 is now complete.

Now I have to crank up my abilities and really pull something out for Competition Season 2026. I mean, I already have the latched hook I’ve worked on for almost a year now; I’ve got some super photographs that can stand up to anything – it’s like I want Competition Season 2026 to start tomorrow.

Well, in effect … it really has, hasn’t it? 😀