The Lake County Fair offers many opportunities for 4-H youth. This year the fair will be held on April 5th to April 14th. There are many components to the fair with youth participating in multiple, unique experiences. The following are all ways that 4-H youth can get involved in the fair.
4-H Exhibitor’s Building
The exhibitor’s building houses items that 4-H members own, produced, or made by the exhibitor. All of these items are judged based on the modified Danish System of judging which is used for awards. Cloverbuds, youth ages 5-7, are eligible to enter items into the building but those items are not judged and can only earn a participation ribbon. Items by 4-H members that are allowed into the building are as follows: horticulture exhibits, fruits/vegetables, canned goods, baked goods, sewing/needle crafts, home decorations, woodworking, forging/welding, arts/crafts, animal fever figurines, collections, photography, graphic design, member exhibits, and game boards. Items by the 4-H clubs allowed into the building are the club banner contest, the club scarecrow contest, and the club educational exhibits.
Skill-a-thon
The Skill-a-thon is open to both 4-H youth and FFA members. The skill-a-thon provides youth with an opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge gained from their animal project. Buckles are awarded to the top finisher (showing in that particular animal category) in each age division. Participants who score the most points over the course of the fair will receive trophies at the end of Fair. Skill-a-thon categories include breeding beef, steer, rabbit, poultry, meat goat, dairy goat, and swine with a theme of health care management.
Livestock Shows and Sales
4-H youth are able to participate in the fair animal shows. The animal shows allow youth to demonstrate the finalization of their animal project. 4-H’ers are expected to wear a white button up shirt or a white polo shirt, black jeans & a green tie while exhibiting and selling livestock. Livestock exhibitors must show that they are able to safely control their animals. Market animal exhibitors must market their animal for potential buyers. After the show, market animals go up for auction. Once the animal’s have been auctioned off, the youth must provide a “Thank you” letter to the buyer.
4-H Share-the-Fun
The 4-H Share the Fun Program is designed to help 4-H’ers discover their talents, develop them, and have opportunities to share those gifts with others. The goal of the Share-the-Fun is to increase skills in confidence, appreciation of differences, and leadership. Youth share their talents in the categories of instrumental, vocal, dramatic/novelty, and dance. It takes a lot of guts for 4-H youth to come up and share their talents with people at the local fair.
0
