Residents may want to get their entries ready. The Richmond County Agricultural Fair starts Tuesday, but the items will be judged on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. and Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The fair will be the week of Sept. 21-25 at the fairgrounds in Hamlet.

“They sprung things up early on me, so I had to get started a week in advance,” said Linda McDonald-Hawkins, a Rockingham resident.

Hawkins is known for her ribbon-winning preserves, butters and canned items.

“I usually do grape jelly, blackberry jam, cucumber pickles, tomatoes and apples,” she said.

Rena Shedrick-Marshall, entertainment chairperson for the event, says that the most entries are in the area of food, preserves, plants and flowers.

Hawkins is excited about entering in her pear butter this year.

“I like that better than the preserves,” she said.

Hawkins isn’t the only resident entering the fair with items. Carroll Garner, a Hamlet resident, has been working on his custom wood clocks.

“The time that it takes me to make them varies,” he said. “It depends on the type of design that I am making.”

He and Hawkins both have been entering items for the past few years.

“I have built about 1,400 clocks in my lifetime,” Garner said. “And I have never come in less than second.”

Garner usually displays eight to 10 clocks for judging.

Hawkins says that because she participated in 4-H when she was younger, she wanted to get back into agriculture. She doesn’t enter just to win.

“I have won all the ribbons and no ribbons,” she said.

Wednesday is Senior Citizens Day. Seniors 60 years and older will have free admission by bringing two canned goods for the Hamlet Soup Kitchen.

Next Saturday from noon - 6 p.m., the 21st Century Vision Van will be on site to screen eyes. Children 6 to 17 years old must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. The eye screening is free.

The entry price for the fair is $4 for people over the age of six years. The gates open at 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Advance armband coupons will be sold through the schools for $12. Armbands will be $15 after the fair opens. You may also purchase the coupons Saturday from 1 - 5 p.m. at the Lions Club ticket booth. Present the coupon on the midway and receive one unlimited ride armband valid good for one day only. They can be used any day of the fair. There are no refunds and no returns.

Marshall says that every child in public and private schools have been given passes to the fair for 50 years and that the fair shows them what they can get from the environment.

“We make sure that our kids are taken care of,” she said. “We want them to learn.”

For information on the fair contact Marshall at (910) 206-0550.

Staff Writer Hollie Nivens can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 19 or by e-mailing at hnivens@yourdailyjournal.com