‘FOUR Seasons’ was the theme of the exhibits in this year’s WI tent, with the seven displays really standing out.

Chris Evans, chairman of Altarnun WI, was glad to see seven WIs enter their displays for this year’s show, portraying the four seasons throughout the year. She said: “The entries get better every year! The Launceston Show is wonderful — we started coming about 18 years ago and it’s nothing like what it is today. This year’s theme for the WI tent has really spurred the ladies’ imagination.”

Sylvia Duke, from St Stephen’s by Launceston WI, added: “It’s a wonderful show — for a one-day show it is fantastic!”

The process for the WI’s displays take place over three days, with preparations starting on the Tuesday, judging taking place on the Wednesday and then the grand reveal on Thursday — show day!

Chris explained the idea behind the theme of this year’s corporate exhibition, ‘Four Seasons’. She said: “The WI meets in about October where they decide on the subject for the next show. This year we thought ‘Four Seasons’ was a bit of a different idea, so members were given the choice to incorporate either one season or all four into their displays.”

The ladies are then required to provide two cookery, two craft and one flower entry on each display, before being judged on the overall look of the stand. Chris said: “It is a lot of work that goes into it and the WIs meet throughout the year to decide on what to do to bring it all together.”

Chris, who is chairman of the Altarnun WI, was pleased that her WI came first place in the corporate entry. She added: “We have won before quite a few times, but it is lovely to win this year. I must say, the Bodmin Gaolbirds are very talented.”

Sharon Parnell of Launceston WI was one such individual who did very well at last week’s show, gaining a first, two seconds, two thirds and a fourth. As modest as ever, Sharon said: “Everyone deserves recognition as they have all done so well.”

Showing the Post the Launceston WI’s corporate entry, of which they came second, Sharon continued: “We’ve been planning since January. We tried to keep the back fairly simple, but the tree is made out of a number of different materials to make it look realistic.”

Sharon gained prizes for items such as her shortbread, photography and soft toy, to name a few. She added: “I got lucky!”

The entry really showed each season in a truthful light, with a dark night’s sky in the background and a 3D autumnal tree taking centre stage, made by member Jane Bullivant. She explained that the tree is made out of plywood with 3x2 wood screwed on with wire stapled on to make the branches. To get the shape of the tree, Jane used scrunched up kitchen foil and kitchen roll using diluted PVA glue. Jane said: “I like making things so I wasn’t really keeping track of how long it took me to make, but it turned out well!”

Helen Naylor of Altarnun WI was once again the winner of the ‘Most overall points in the tent’ in the WI section of the show.

Helen, who is part of Altarnun WI, shared the prize with St Stephen by Launceston’s Sylvia Duke back in 2014 and has since then claimed the title for the past five years.

Out of the 23 classes she earned three wins — all in the flower classes, three seconds (soft toys, song on a plate and miniature flowers), a third and two fourths to give her 25 points, which was six clear of the runner-up, Shirley Trewin from Bodmin Gaolbirds and ten ahead of Sharon Parnell from Launceston.

When asked why she keeps doing it year after year, Helen said: “It’s so much, I really enjoy the competition and it’s nice to support the WI.

“They’re a lovely group of women, you couldn’t enjoy a better group of friends.”

Pauline Crocker from St Stephens by Launceston WI also had a good day at the show. She said: “I’m very pleased with myself! I cam first with my song on a plate, and am part of the WI who came second in corporate. I also won for my soft toy entry.”

Pauline is still a fairly new member to the WI, and with just two years under her belt, her success at the show is proving a thriving future for her. “I’m very excited,” she continued. “It just gets these creative things taking over. It does end up pushing you a bit, but it’s nice to have a challenge and go outside your comfort zone.”

Altarnun WI were the overall winners of the corporate stand, achieving 111 points. They were followed by Launceston and St Stephens by Launceston in joint second place, each with 109 points, and then Bodmin Gaolbirds in third place, with 103 points.

See this week’s Post for the WI results.