I promised more about the competition I was judging yesterday.  It was the final of the Rose Bowl competition for the Welsh WI Federations, each of whom had held a “county round” earlier in the year – or so I thought.  Chatting to competitors later, I discovered that there had been only one entry in Clwyd-Denbigh, so they came straight through without the benefit of first round advice.  Very impressive!

The theme was “Space” and the schedule went as follows:

“A free standing display on a SQUARE base measuring a maximum of 30” x 30” when covered, placed on a table and to be viewed from the front only.  The combined exhibit shall consist of 5 items to depict the theme, items to include:

• Produce   one item of preserved food/foods and one cooked item (no meat or fish)
• Craft     two items showing a variety of skills
• Floral Art     one exhibit”"

Marks to be awarded as follows: Each item 20 marks, Staging and display 20 marks and Interpretation 20 marks (total 140) “

I was responsible for the judging of the staging and interpretation and found 11 entries awaiting me.  Of course, I have no idea whose is whose at this stage, but here they are, in no particular order.

Great use of colour, don’t you think?

Sorry, my photo doesn’t show the detail in the darkness (there’s a rather lovely felted necklace in there)

A young boy’s dream of space?

A different interpretation of the theme.

This is how the exhibit was when I started my deliberations.

And this is how it was when the steward spotted the sticky fixers had given way and replaced the rocket

This entry attracted a great deal of attention.

Battery-powered lights are very popular with exhibitors these days.

The papier mache base was a great feature!

Clever to use those glass spheres, wasn’t it?

Another interpretation of Space – “My Space”.

And finally, an exhibit featuring a moon and stars.

The results?  The winner was the exhibit scoring the highest total of marks for craft, cookery, flowers, staging and interpretation. 

1st Sir Gâr/Carmarthenshire Federation     (the display with the papier mache base)

2nd Glamorgan Federation  (the one with the glass spheres)

3rd Gwent Federation (the young boy’s dream of space)

What a great competition!  Congratulations to the winners