Stephen: Virginia woman goes viral after dominating cooking, crafting competitions at county fair

If you’ve seen the name Linda Skeens floating around online lately, it’s for good reason. The Virginia native went viral after her domination of the Virginia Kentucky District Fair, winning first, second, and third place in the cookie category. She did the same in the candy and savory bread categories, and first place in the cake, pie, brownie, sweet bread and best overall baked good categories. But Linda didn’t stop there! She won blue ribbons in canned tomatoes, canned corn, pickled peppers, sauerkraut, relish, spaghetti sauce, jelly, and jam. And quilt embroidery. The fair posted the results on their Facebook page and a viral sensation was born.

@masononthemic Linda Skeens where are you!? Internet, we gotta find #lindaskeens ♬ original sound – Mason

There were songs and memes made in her honour, and radio DJ Mason Mousette set out to track her down. The search was noticed by Linda’s granddaughter, who put her celeb nan in touch with the radio dj and, in an interview, revealed that she cooks as a way to help deal with a leukemia diagnosis she received in December. Her treatment is working, but she’s found that cooking for her family is therapeutic. She also revealed that this isn’t the first time she’s dominated a county fair, admitting that she won 40 ribbons at a fair last year.