Kids stacked bales of hay for their livestock; animal pens were filled with fresh straw; jars of vegetables and preserves were lined up on shelves and hand-crafted ceramic bowls were carefully set out for display.

Outside on the Midway, members of the Kiwanis Club propped up the poles on their booth where they sell their signature barbecue sandwiches and hamburgers.

The fairgrounds in Langley is teeming with activity this week as volunteers and exhibitors prepared for the 82nd Island County Fair.

The theme of this year’s show is “Get your Kicks in 2006.” But before the first foot flies and folks flock to the fair when it opens — mark your calendars, it’s 10 a.m. Thursday — getting ready for the fun takes lots of preparation.

Dozens of volunteers were finishing last-minute touches early this week.

Firefighter Jon Gabelein was seen with a black Sharpie outlining the letters on the fair sign so that the words were clearer.

“I don’t know why I’m doing this. My mother is the artist,” Gabelein said.

But for some the fair has already begun. Judges are hard at work this week choosing the plumpest red tomato and the most perfect orchid.

Venture into the exhibition buildings this week and fair-goers can catch a glimpse at what Island County residents have been doing in the past year. The ribbons are already displayed on photography and textiles, for instance.

In the Malone Building, judges were scrutinizing quilts to find the “Best in Show” winner. The public will get a look at all the quilts when the fair opens later this week.

And the Malone Building itself was spruced up in preparation for the fair. The concrete floor was painted and pulleys were installed so the quilts can be hoisted in the air for display.

“The floor just looks great,” said Mary Ann Pintler, superintendent for quilting. “Before the floor was painted there were dirty oils spots here and there.”

She pointed to the rafters.

“We don’t have to stand on ladders to hang up the quilts. The pulleys let us just raise them in to place. It’s a wonderful improvement,” she said.

On Monday, three judges were carefully scrutinizing each of the 54 quilts entered into the fair.

The quilts were stacked up on sheeting to prevent them from getting dirty. Each quilt to be judged was first held up in front of the judges, then spread out on a table.

The three women murmured softly to one another as they carefully studied the colorful creations. One judge, a pen and paper in hand recorded the judges’ remarks.

One judge noted a little “pucker” in one square; another commented on the cleanliness of the quilt.

All the quilts are judged on design, technique, workmanship, the skill level shown by the quilter, creativity and the quilt’s overall effect.

Judges also look at the consistency of the stitches in each hand-stitched item. They inspected the joining of the sections in a pieced item — do the points meet? — and examined the neatness of machine stitching, especially in stops and starts. Quilts were judged in two categories, and points were given for using fair colors; 30 for blue, 25 for red and 20 for white.

Along with “Best in Show,” ribbons are awarded for the best of traditional, art, pieced, applique, mixed technique, youth and “People’s Choice.”

At the barns, the bustle was quite different. Kids and adults were rushing around with bales of hay and posting signs next to pens that will soon hold prize-winning sheep and goats. The animals won’t be moved in until later this week.

Two girls, Hayley Lundstrom, 9, and Emma Leese, 7, took a breather from pen cleaning and rested against bales of hay in the shade.

They will both be showing wool sheep.

“I don’t think it’s too hard getting ready,” Emma said. “I have 12 sheep.”

Gayle Saran can be reached at 221-5300 or gsaran@southwhidbeyrecord.com.