LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On March 13 the Bachelor Valley Gourd Club hosted the first training class for the American Gourd Society’s apprentice judges to be held in California.  

Under the new AGS guidelines, these new apprentice judges will now proceed with their certification/training to become a certified judge.

Certified Judge Marilyn Crayton also took her first step in becoming a judge/instructor by participating in the training with a presentation of about what judges look for.

The American Gourd Society developed a standard for all gourd competitions in 2009 with the first training in Arizona of 33 certified judge/instructors from all over the United States.

Judging guidelines are now uniform throughout the United States and judges have used this training to judge gourds in gourd festivals and county fairs, including the Lake County Fair.  

The growing number of certified judges give all gourd competitions, if they choose, the opportunity to have a standardized set of guidelines to judge their gourds.