By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – Julia Wright, Judy Donaldson and Carolyn Friday stood in the Shelby County Master Gardeners booth in the county’s Exhibition Center on Oct. 5, ready to greet hundreds of people flowing in for the 66th annual Shelby County Fair.

The booth, adorned with various plants and produce in keeping with this year’s fair theme, “Grown in Alabama,” was one of nearly 50 booths available for fairgoers to visit throughout the week.

“Master Gardeners always have a booth,” Wright said of the group, a volunteer program offered through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and designed to educate people about gardening. “It’s a really great education resource.”

This year’s Master Gardeners booth won first place in its category for booth design.

The Kiwanis Club of Columbiana, which sponsors the fair, judges the booths and gives prize money to the winners of each category.

“The idea is the more groups you’ve got, the more winners you have,” Kiwanis Club of Columbiana President Sid Wheeler said.

In addition to booths inside, fairgoers can enjoy amusement rides, games and food outside.

This year marks the 66th year the Kiwanis Club of Columbiana has sponsored the fair, according to Wheeler.

“The fair is actually a little over 100 years old,” he said, noting it originally was held in Montevallo before relocating to Columbiana. “It’s an entirely non-profit fair, all volunteer staff. All the money that we generate, we donate back to the community.”

Recipients of fair proceeds include ball clubs, school libraries, Scout troops, Boys State and Girls State.

Wheeler said this year’s staff is comprised of 50-60 people.

“We try to make sure we do a little something for everybody, and that keeps the community interest in the fair up,” Wheeler said. “The bigger the community’s interest is in the fair, the bigger we’re going to do. We’ve got several things in our favor this year, so we’re hoping to have a record-breaking year.”

Wheeler said he and other fair organizers will be pleased if attendance reaches at least 15,000 for the week.

“The object of the county fair is to promote the rural lifestyle and to not forget the rural lifestyles of the past,” Wheeler said. “We’d love to have everybody in Shelby County, and surrounding counties, here.”

The fair will continue through Saturday, Oct. 10. For more information and a full schedule of events, visit Alshelbycountyfair.com.