I am delighted to announce that the Sierra County Exhibit won the following awards at the State Fair: Gold Ribbon (we received 93 out of 100 points), the Best of Division for a Community Built Exhibit, and the People’s Choice Award for the “Most Fun” Exhibit. This could not have been accomplished without all of the help and support of our community. The following individuals should be commended for spending many hours building the exhibit: Mike Gyorfi, Jessie Gyorfi, John Bryan, Bryan Davey, Derek Beverly, Sig Ostrom, Gary Grutkowski, Ed Dail, Sandy Blake and Blake George. I am very grateful to these awesome volunteers who spent a day or more in Sacramento staffing the exhibit, which is a very important part of Sierra County’s participation at the fair: Lee Kirby, Tom Hunt, Liz Fisher, Sandi Kendall, Kaaren Smith, Enid Williams, Shirley Shank, Dave Marshall, Carol Marshall, Earl Withycombe, Olivia McCaffrey, Sharon Grenier, Curt Johnson, Donna Johnson, Ann Hutchison, David Hutchison, Mary Jungi, Dale Teubert, Bailey Jungi, Isabelle Acuna, Dianne Bruns, Desert Revels, Joy Lovett, Luna Payton, Lillian Lutes, Trinity Kelley, Teri Pederson, Hannah Pederson, Jan Koettel, Christie Brzyscz, Bruce Palmer, Colicia Palmer, Annie Terrassas-Fassbender, Craig Fassbender, Julie Osburn, Mike Galan, Karen Galan, Mary Davey and Bryan Davey. A huge thank you to these other individuals who donated their expertise or materials for the exhibit: Greg Bostrom, who built the replica of the Ruby Mine and Billy Epps and Sara Berndt who brought the Ruby Mine down to Sacramento; Curt & Donna Johnson for designing and building the county sign, Darby Hayes for the Townsend Big Ear Bats sign, the Sierra County Historical Society for the loan of pictures, Mary Davey for her photos and production of the DVD, Dave Marshall for the design of the gold display, Will Clark for loaning the ore cart, Ed Dail for building the ore cart and the tracking and Paul (Mike Gyorfi’s friend) who made the ore cart move, Paul Roen and Bryan and Mary Davey for loaning building and roofing materials. To Jessie and Mike Gyorfi, Mike and Karen Galan, and Bryan and Mary Davey who were there until the wee hours of the morning breaking down the exhibit after the fair closing, a big thank you. Thank you to Tim Beals and the Board of Supervisors for all of their support of Sierra County’s participation at the fair the past several years. And thank you – Sierra County community members – who were able to make it down to the fair and for voting for Sierra County for the People’s Choice Award. This year’s exhibit would not have happened without the vision of Kathy Breed, who designed the exhibit, and the dedication of Mike and Jessie Gyorfi, who carried the project through, with the assistance of Sandy Blake, until 6 am the morning of judging on July 9th. I have enjoyed working on this project with each and every one of you, and I am forever grateful to all of you who made this year’s exhibit at the fair a huge success. Mary Ervin – Sierra City