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Get discounts on a summer escape
Travel Services
Save on tickets to top-rated Dollywood theme park
Located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Dollywood is recognized as one of the world’s best theme parks. Spanning 150 acres and located near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Dollywood offers more than 40 rides and attractions, including Lightning Rod, the world’s fastest wooden coaster. Dollywood has won more awards than that of any other theme park for its live shows featuring country, bluegrass, Southern gospel and classic rock. Master craftsmen demonstrate the area’s rich artistry, from hand-blown glass to blacksmithing.
Members can now purchase discount tickets to the Dollywood Theme Park. Visit vafb.com/benefits or Dollywood.com.
Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, is America’s largest home. Built by George and Edith Vanderbilt, this 8,000-acre property offers beautiful gardens, biking, carriage rides, horseback riding, kayaking, paddle boarding and more.
Farm Bureau members in Virginia will receive up to $13 off daytime admission to the historic Biltmore Estate. Members also can realize reduced rates at The Inn on Biltmore Estate, The Village Hotel and a variety of local accommodations.
While there, browse through unique estate shops for wine lovers, gardeners, bookworms and everyone in between. Savor complimentary tastings of more than 20 handcrafted wines; view rare treasures from the Biltmore collection; and learn about the estate’s barnyard animals.
Visit Biltmore.com/corporateperk for more information. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
Save on your home-awayfrom-home
Your Farm Bureau membership gives you access to two programs offering significant savings at thousands of hotel properties. Reservations are required, and blackout dates may apply.
Choice Hotels International
The Choice Hotels International program offers a 20% discount off “best available rates” for Farm Bureau members at more than 5,000 locations. To access this discount rate, call 800258-2847 or visit choicehotels.com. Use the Virginia Farm Bureau identification number, available at vafb.com/benefits and from your county Farm Bureau, when making a reservation. Present your membership card when you check in.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Whether you’re looking for an upscale hotel, an all-inclusive resort or something in between, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has the right hotel for you! As a Virginia Farm Bureau member, you will save up to 20% off the “best available rate” at over 8,000 participating hotels worldwide.
To take advantage of this discount rate, call 877-670-7088 or visit wyndhamhotels.com/farm-bureau. Use the Virginia Farm Bureau identification number, available at vafb.com/ benefits and from your county Farm Bureau, when making a reservation. Present your membership card when you check in.
Deals on meals and more with Member Deals Plus®
Virginia Farm Bureau’s exclusive Member Deals Plus® benefit uses the nation’s largest private discount network to save you money on meals, clothing, vehicle care, and other goods and services. It uses “show your phone” mobile deals that can be accessed anywhere and redeemed from a smartphone at the point of sale, or from a home computer.
Members can enjoy Member Deals Plus savings at more than 100,000 locations nationwide.
How to get started
To register as a Member Deals Plus user, visit vafb.com/benefits, and click the Member Deals Plus link near the top of the page. Then, on the Member Deals Plus website,
1Click “Register” in the top right corner, and use your Farm Bureau membership number.
2Once you’re registered, you can start saving immediately.
Then, to save with a mobile device,
1Download the “Member Deals Plus” app from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
2Sign in with your email address and password you created on the website.
For assistance, contact Member Deals Plus customer service at 888-275-9136.
Member Deals Plus and Member Deals plus
are registered trademarks of Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.
State Fair of Virginia competitions o er a wide array of categories in which Virginians of all ages can enter.
State Fair competitions o er blue-ribbon bragging rights
BY KATHY DIXON
Traci Garland sometimes works “I’m a State Fair blue-ribbon winner” into conversations.
“It’s pretty awesome” to say those words, admits Garland, who used to visit the State Fair of Virginia and admire the winning competition entries but never thought she could participate since she lives in Richmond.
“One year, it dawned on me that I could,” shared Garland, who has won 10 ribbons since first competing in 2016. At the time, her daughter was 4 years old and enjoyed helping in their backyard garden and the kitchen. “I thought it might be fun to try canning with her.”
The duo made a green tomato and apple chutney that Garland entered in the open preserved foods category. She won a blue ribbon for it and has been “hooked ever since.” When Garland’s daughter was older, she entered the State Fair youth baking competition and won a red ribbon for her carrot cake.
State Fair arts and crafts, culinary and horticulture competitions are for anyone—artists, bakers, crafters, gardeners, plant experts, row cropfarmers and more. There are categories for both adults and youth.
“The experience is so rewarding,” Garland said. “It’s amazing to go from picking the fruit with my family, to thinking up fun jam flavors, to entering in the competitions, and sometimes even winning.”
Each year, hundreds of Virginians enter the arts and crafts and horticulture competitions, and their entries are displayed during the fair. Adult entry fees are $1, and some categories come with small cash prizes in addition to bragging-right ribbons.
Competition guides will be posted on the fair’s website, StateFairVa.org, soon. Entry deadlines and descriptions of the agriculture, Thomsen said.
“A lot of people aren’t exposed to crops and plants like those displayed in the horticulture tent,” shared Lynwood Broaddus, a Caroline County farmer and frequent horticulture competitor. “But people are really interested in where their food comes from.”
On Broaddus’ Spring Hill Farms, he and his son and brother grow wheat, rye and barley. For the past few years, they have entered samples of those crops in the horticulture competitions. He and his wife, Becky, also enter plants and vegetables from their backyard garden.
Last year, Becky used a butterfly bush in the design for a special cut flower category. Not only did she win the blue ribbon, she won a coveted rosette as well. “She is very proud of it,” Broaddus said.
And he obviously is too, because he hung it in the middle of the fireplace mantle in their living room.
categories are included in those guides.
No pre-requirements for entries
“Some people think you have to win at a county fair before you can compete at the state fair, but that’s a misnomer,” said Sarah Jane Thomsen, the fair’s manager of agriculture education and strategic programming partnerships. “Anyone can enter the arts and crafts, culinary and horticulture competitions if they meet the criteria.”
And participants in the competitions contribute to the fair’s mission of educating the public about agriculture and making connections between where their food is grown.
Horticulture entries help connect
Fair visitors who see shiny apples, giant tobacco leaves, hardy gourds, lush plants and colorful flowers in the horticulture tent are bound to learn more about Virginia
