Brody with his prize-winning ‘Hometown Hero’ tribute to Decker.

Lead Pastor Rob Decker took the blue ribbon and judge’s purple ribbon at the Dixie Classic Fair — as an apple, that is.

For his first entry, Triad Baptist member and second-grader Brody Still made “Pastor Rob” his “Hometown Hero” for the themed apple decorating contest.

With the help of his mom, Heather, Brody began designing and decorating his pastoral fruit.

“When we talked about what a hero was, Brody realized his ‘Hometown Hero’ was Pastor Rob, and that’s what he called his apple project from that point on,” Heather said. “ Wendy Fulp, a fellow homeschool mom, gave us the idea of using a Solo cup as his body.

“From there, Brody starting coming up with ideas of how to dress him. He declared that the Pastor Rob apple at least needed a tie and real hair so we set out to make that happen.”

Brody glued on the pattern made for Decker’s suit coat and tie. Then he collected sticks for arms, and started painting the pastor’s podium with some of the leftover paint from his dad, Scott’s, painting company. He also made a little Bible complete with notes.

Meanwhile, Heather started making glasses for the apple from floral wire and creating a hairdo. She fashioned a real brown hair extension into a small toupee and glued it onto a felt bottom. Then she gave the apple its “preacher boy” cut at her beauty shop.

“I can’t say I’ve ever trimmed a toupee for an apple before,” Heather said, “but there’s a first time for everything!

The apple entry was due Oct. 1. After hot gluing all the parts together, Brody realized his Pastor Rob apple lacked a nose. Not to worry, though. A candy corn piece was soon pressed into service to finish the project.

“We took the apple to the judges and won a first-place blue ribbon and then the Judge’s Choice purple ribbon,” Heather said. “It just goes to show that we are not the only ones who think of a pastor as a hero!”

“We think our pastor is a pretty incredible man, and proudly honored him at our Dixie Classic Fair.”

As for Brody, he didn’t hesitate when asked about his favorite parts of the experience. Sure, he liked all the painting. But the best part?

“Winning!