Putnam Wins Champion Of Champions At Tennessee Fair Association

The Tennessee Fair Association has named the Putnam County Fair the 2022 “Champion of Champions.”

Fair Board President John Allen said that the title was some eight years in the making. He said that creating the fair of his memories was some of the hardest work he’s ever done.

“The one where you walked into the fairgrounds and it was safe, you could bring the entire family, where there would always be something to see and do,” Allen said. “So that’s where we started in 2013. And each year we expanded the fair, added more and more things to it.”

Allen said that it’s the first time since 1976 that the county fair received this award. He said that Putnam also got first place for its fair poster, first place exhibit for the Grandma’s Barnyard exhibit, and first place for its Fairest of the Fair stage. Fairest of the Fair contest Leanna Marcy won second runner-up.

Allen said as wonderful as the experience was, it was also nerve-wracking. He said that there were several events and presentations held throughout the weekend leading up to the awards ceremony.

“It’s hard to explain,” Allen said. “I was almost afraid to think we might win for fear I might jinx it. I thought we had a good shoot at tit but I wasn’t sure until they started reading about us. And when they did that, I began to recognize things we had done and knew we had won. And at that moment, I thought I would relax a little bit but I didn’t. The trophy is five feet tall and there were 832 there, 62 of them at the Putnam County tables, and there was thunderous applause. We were thrilled.”