Here in Greenbelt, Maryland, my home of 14 years, the celebration of Labor Day is the highlight of the year. (Fitting for a town built during FDR’s administration to house workers.)  Imagine hundreds of activities over 4 days – a real midway, big outdoor shows and wholesome fun for all ages. Corny in a good way!  The festival makes me appreciate where I live – in a soppy, teary-eyed way. Every damn year. Also, while writing this. 

Very much like a small county fair, the festival has traditional competitions, like the ones at Greenbelt Museum’s Retro Town Fair.  It’s “modeled on the fairs early Greenbelters enjoyed starting in 1939. Ribbons awarded for best entries in flowers, vegetables, baked goods, canned goods, and needlework/sewing.” Wonderful traditions, and still popular in 2026.  Retro is the bomb!

Judging Flowers, Vegetables and Canned Goods

It’s become a happy tradition for my neighbor Kathy and me to judge flowers, vegetables and canned goods for the Retro Town Fair.  Here we were in 2024 in the very act of judging.  

Some favorite photos from this year’s Retro Town Fair:

Presentation is the whole ballgame and no wonder this entry won “Best in Show” for vegetables.

We had several entries using these stunning flowers that are blooming right now – especially amaranth and full-size zinnias.

Speaking of presentation, we rewarded this entrant for filling an adorable frog vase with blowsy roses and something else my app can’t identify. (Hydrangea?)

I love this Three Sisters display, grown in a small garden in our housing co-op – “GHI garden” on the label.

Sheila Maffay-Tuthill, center, is Education and Volunteer Coordinator for the Greenbelt Museum, with volunteers Kathy Labukas and me during the 2024 Labor Day Retro Town Fair.

I went to the Museum’s Facebook page in search of a photo of the building decorated for this holiday and was shocked, I tell you, to find some 2024 photos of Kathy and me at work. This one shows the front door of the museum, which is one of the original 1937 townhouses built in what’s called the International Style. (Like my own home.) The style is known for flat roofs and minimal ornamentation, and it took a while but I’m now an admirer.   

Looking for Flowers and Gardens in the Community Art and Photo Show 

Here’s another festival event I never miss – viewing works submitted by local artists of every age.  Here again there are lots of ribbons awarded, with resulting bragging rights. 

Some of my plant-related favorites:

This oil painting is by my friend Connie Roy-Fisher, a retired landscape architect.  She named it “Working to feed us all.” 

Angela Shearer named this digital photo “Schifferstadt.” She told me it’s located in Frederick, Maryland, about an hour away, so I’ll check it out.Here’s a dreamy watercolor by Sarah Lawler that she committed to naming “Noncommittal.” 

Finally, this submission in the Travel category is a cell phone photo by Christine Doran that she named “Il Girifalco, Cortona.” (That’s in Italy.)  An intriguing garden and distant landscape seen through a window.