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The 10 days just before the Stampede are some of the longest.

For those of us who enter our projects in the competition, the days drag on. We wait anxiously until Sneak-a-Peak so we can find out who won in the various categories. Will there be a red ribbon beside our stitching? A blue ribbon beside the socks we knit? We are the ones who are waiting at 6:00 for the doors to open, pacing, impatiently waiting.

The 10 days before Stampede are also very long days for the volunteers on the Creative Arts and Crafts Committee.

It starts the last Wednesday in June when people line up to enter their projects. Invariably there are mix ups with the computer registrations, projects that have been entered in incorrect categories, Artists who didn't read the books and who have to be told that their projects are ineligible for one reason or another.

The space is in such a disarray, it doesn't seem as though it will ever be ready in time.

Before 8:00 that night, all the entries will have been delivered to Hall D. Over the next two days, Judges will arrive, and every item will be examined.

The Volunteers continue. You might get a day off for Canada Day but the displays must be ready and there are no days off for Volunteers.

Finally, on July 2, at 6:00, the doors open.

We race, past the vegi-matics and the sham-wows.


There, in the middle, are my socks.


And there's my shawl.


The Committee works on. They are the people who are walking around the displays constantly cleaning the fingerprints off the glass. They are also the first one's to hear complaints about the displays or disagreements with Judging.

When you go down to check out the display, tip your hat to the ladies with the spray bottles. Once again, they have done an amazing job.

* Thank you SpinKnit for the pictures of the display. I haven't been down to the grounds yet. It's on the calendar for next Sunday!