By Jordan Studer
jstuder@wbcowqel.com
Walking into the flower show building, it was evident that everything seemed to have been “girlified.” Pink decorations spread across the walls, dresses hung from nails, and sparkly stickers graced the category signs. All of these items made the theme for the flower show on Wednesday afternoon very evident, “Girls, Girls, Girls.”
The Flower Show committee actually mentioned that when choosing a theme for this year back in January or February, they really liked the theme when Ashland County had it, so they adapted the theme to their ideas and rolled with it.
This year, there were two flower shows, one on Sunday and was titled “I Am Woman.” The 
second on Wednesday called “Act Like A Lady.” On each day a judge from Ohio Association of Garden Clubs came in and critiqued the displays.
Although there are three garden clubs in the county (“Earth, Wind, and Flowers Garden Club,” “Petal Pushers Garden Club,” and “North End Garden Club,”) exhibitors did not have to be part of a garden club to participate in the Flower Show.
Many displays were deemed as worthy of winning, but one of the categories in particular stood out as quite different and unique. A category titled “Cowgirl” displayed arrangements that were to be designed using roadside material.
Taking Best of Show Artistic in that category was Flower Show Chairman June Gebhardt. Gebhardt’s display featured burdock and barn-siding. When asking Gebhardt how she came up with the idea to use barn-siding as the accent of her display she was more than happy to explain her passion.
“I collect wood because I love to design. I’ve been doing it since 2002, so I’ve got quite a collection of things,” Gebhardt said while standing by her tall and creative display.
Gebhardt then explained that the whole reason she got started was credited to the superintendent of the building, Mary Lee Minor, who sparked her interest in designing arrangements.
Speaking with Minor about her passion for her hobby, she explains how she pours everything she has into what she designs. She laughed and explained how her husband has never understood how she could stay up until the wee hours of the night putting arrangements together.
She said she has always told him that it’s easy to look up and see that hours have passed when she is working diligently doing what she loves.
Both Minor and Gebhardt encourage anyone who is interested at all in participating in joining a garden club or entering a flower show to check out their Ohio Association of Gardens Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/OhioAssociationofGardenClubs/ or their website at http://oagc.org for more information.
They encourage everyone to remember to check for next year’s show when the fair book comes out next year.