A jar of dried habanero peppers, a fall-themed quilt and a multicolor baby’s cardigan made from scrap yarn are just three of the items Gaithersburg’s Karen Johnston entered in the 2023 Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. Johnston, 65, was crowned Homemaker of the Year (HOTY) after entering 157 items in 16 divisions and winning at least one blue ribbon in 14 of them—more than any other participant. This year’s fair is scheduled for Aug. 9-17 and will include the home arts competitions, carnival rides, farm animals and more. We caught up with Johnston to find out how she went from participant to royalty.
When did you get involved with the fair? I started entering items around 2014/2015. My husband was a failed beekeeper, so I started taking over the bees. And then as a reason to use the honey, I started looking at recipes that used honey and of course I went to baklava. I made it and it was really good, and then a friend of mine said, ‘Oh, you should enter this in the fair; it’s really good!’ … So I entered baklava, just on a hoot, and I got a first-place ribbon. … And then I decided to add two things in the next fair. And then I started looking through the fair catalog. It became like a game.
What advice would you give people who are interested in entering a few contests? If your friends and family tell you, ‘Oh, this coffee cake is really good,’ or ‘That sweater that you knit is charming,’ then usually people aren’t going to volunteer a nice comment if it wasn’t really good. So, if you have something that you know that people like, then make one. … Look at it like you think a judge would. And enjoy it. You have to enjoy what you do.