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2016 LOGAN COUNTY FAIR
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS July 29 - August 6, 2016
Remembering a lovely lady with a
passion for flowers, Patricia LaForge
By Angela Reiners
This year’s Logan County Fair’s Floriculture
competition was a bittersweet one for the Patricia
LaForge family, since she passed away November
2, 2015. For the past 35 years, LaForge had entered
many flowers arrangements.
Over the years, Patricia LaForge won more than 700
ribbons and won her first trophy in 1994. At their
home, her husband, Wayne, made a memorial display
for all her awards from oldest to newest.
Wayne LaForge had always helped his wife out with
transporting all her entries, and this year he entered
his own cut flowers.
LaForge said they had grown nearly every type of
flower imaginable, but zinnias are his favorite.
Patricia LaForge’s sister, Sherill Blaum, also entered an arrangement this year
that combined many features LaForge liked. Blaum said she did not care if
she won an award; it was just a nice way to honor her sister.
Dawn Beavan, LaForge’s
daughter, brought in a floral
arrangement to just honor
her mom with a picture of
her parents placed in front
of it.
Wayne LaForge said for
several years his wife entered
a Sacred Lily of India, which
looked like an umbrella. She won grand champion one year, first place the next, then second and third place the
next few years, and finally stopped entering that arrangement.
One cherished memory Wayne LaForge has of the fair is when the LaForges’ were chosen to be the Illinois Farm
Family of the Year in 2004. LaForge said his wife sat on a straw bale in the loader of their New Holland tractor as
he drove it in a parade and he strapped her in so she would not fall out.
To honor Patricia LaForge’s memory, her family has created the Patricia LaForge Memorial Award. It has a
religious emphasis because LaForge had always entered an arrangement with a religious theme.
Though Patricia LaForge is gone, she is fondly remembered for her many years of participation in the
floriculture
competition.
Patricia LaForge (L),
2015 Grand Champion Cut Flower