Blue-ribbon entry shipped 600 miles to Canfield Fair

By Elise Franco

CANFIELD — Not even 600 miles can stand between Paulette Macabobby and the Canfield Fair.

Macabobby, 56, lived in Poland for 30 years before moving to Hilton Head Island, S.C., about three years ago. She said the one thing she misses most about home is the Canfield Fair, which is why she’s continued mailing entries to the Arts and Crafts Building.

“I just couldn’t give it up. They do have state fairs down here, but I just really miss it,” Macabobby said. “It’s one of those things you cannot replace.”

This year Macabobby said she sent in a flip-flop theme quilt, which won a first-place ribbon and was entered in the Best of Show contest. She said she was surprised to find out she won a blue ribbon because the quilt took only about one month to put together and was meant as a fun project.

“I was just totally surprised because they found that one out of all the others to be a blue-ribbon winner,” she said. “It was just going to be a fun one.”

Nancy Nell, an Arts and Crafts volunteer, said she’s known Macabobby for years and is thrilled each time she receives her entries in the mail.

“She just can’t seem to get the fair out of her system,” Nell said. “She keeps entering things to make the fair enjoyable for other people who come in to look at a variety.”

She said Macabobby has won many other prizes such as a Silver Spoon award and Best of Show last year for a woolen wall hanging that was also sent in from out of town.

“She thinks it’s the best county fair in Ohio,” Nell said. “Paulette said there’s nothing like it in Hilton Head.”

Macabobby said she has a box full of ribbons and awards, and has been entering contests at the fair since she was in her 30s.

“The Silver Spoon was really exciting for me,” she said. “Me and my cousin used to have a little war to see how many entries we could get in. Sometimes it would be as many as 15 or 20 each.”

Though it’s become difficult for Macabobby to send in more than one entry per year, she said it’s something she will keep doing because the fair has been a part of her life since she was a child.

“As children we always went to the fair. It was just one of those rituals, part of growing up,” she said. “My cousin encouraged me to enter some of my stuff, and it just became like a tradition.”

Nell said she and Macabobby talk two to three times per week and she still asks about who has won in each contest.

Macabobby said she likes to keep in touch because it’s the only way she can really know what’s going on during the fair.

“I just miss seeing the local talent, and how much there really is,” she said. “I’m just so inspired when I walk through there that it kind of rejuvenates you to get started for the next year.”

efranco@vindy.com