Young Elkridge 'Farmer' Wins Big at Howard County Fair

The Howard County Fair is still going strong, but one young woman from Elkridge is already a big winner.

Brooke McDonnell, a 10-year-old student entering the fifth grade at Elkridge Elementary School, walked away from the Junior Flower Show fair with ten – yes ten – awards.

Horticulture is a family affair for Brooke. “My grandma, she likes planting flowers,” she said. “We had a little square spot [of land] and we decided to use that for a flower garden.”

Then her mother Cindy McDonnell – who also enters horticulture contests – bought Brooke a gardening book. And the rest is history.

At the fair, Brook won a second-place prize for her Zinnia flowers, seven first-place awards for various cut flowers, and Best in Show for her potted cactus arrangement.

Her grandmother, Joyce Perry, who has nurtured her skills, was able to support Brooke at the fair along with other family members, including her mother.

“I’ve been entering the fair for years,” McDonnell said. “It’s kind of my passion that I passed down to her.” It’s important, McDonnell said, to keep the tradition going.

Brooke has taken up the charge with gusto.

Getting dirty, she said, is half the fun. “The other day we started watering plants,” she said, and the water got everywhere, in her gloves and muddying up the dirt.