The 38th Annual Brookhaven Camellia Show was a huge successSaturday with a large number of participants and judges.

“It was our best show in a number of years as far as quantityand quality,” said Lynn Richardson, co-chairman.

Last year’s show brought in around 25 judges and 450 blooms, butbecause the event was changed to February rather then November,those numbers increased significantly because more camellia bloomthis time of year.

“We had twice as many judges and blooms as last year. We counted905 blooms, and we had about 50 judges,” said Homer Richardson,co-chairman.

The number of entries of blooms grown outside was expected to below this year because numerous locally-grown camellia were damagedby recent extreme weather conditions.

“It really surprised me that we had so many outside plants,” hesaid.

The crowd of people who came to admire the beautiful camellia ondisplay was also larger than usual, and many more are expected fromnoon to 4 p.m. today.

“I’m hoping people will stop by after church or after theyfinish eating lunch,” said Homer Richardson.

At one point during the three-hour period that the blooms wereopen for public view Saturday, the State Room was packed withpeople anxious to get a look at the variety and to see who thewinners were this year.

Camellia blooms are judged on several characteristics, includingshape, color and freshness.

Some of the local winners and their respective categorieswere:

* Shirley Estes — Best Lincoln County Bloom and first place insmall grower non-protected small bloom.

* Mike and Geri Jinks — First place in small grower plate ofthree blooms.

* Marilyn Perkins — Small grower court of honor.

* Bill Brown — Small grower court of honor.