4H

[Patchouli]

Did any boardies here participate in 4H at any time? Or does anyone go to the local 4H fair every summer or fall?

Where we used to live the fair was the one of the funnest things we'd do all summer. It was free to get in, parking was free, there were just a couple of food stations, but there were so many exhibits and animal barns to walk through and enjoy, and it lasted from Sunday to Saturday!
There was always a barn for the poultry, one for the rabbits, one for the sheep, one for the goats, one for the cattle, one for the pigs, the horse competition ring, which was also where they did the tractor pull with mules and whatever else would pull. There were always draft horses to pet, wagon rides, and in the evening a country music performer.
I really miss that fair.
Plus the building that housed the competitions of rockets, jams, cakes, clothing, knitting, and so forth. There were even adult 4H groups.
Our kids loved the fair too but never wanted to get involved in the 4H groups.

 

[Peanut]

I was in 4H. I enjoyed it, I showed livestock in a contest at one fair. We used to have a day long outing at a county lake. We were taught how to use rods&reels, skeet shooting & gun safety, swimming lessons. A day of fun for a bunch of kids.

 

[Terri9630]

We go every year. My kids grew up with 4-H, this will be our last year showing though. Our youngest is aging out. We have been showing canning, produce, eggs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits, goats and this year she wanted a pig too. My oldest showed my mare back in 07 but they only do yearlings here and I'm not buying a horse every year to show. Our local fair is small but we still have a rodeo, carnival and food booths but they charge $5 to get in.

Oh I forgot, both kids also compete/competed in 22 rifle and archery.

 

[The Innkeeper]

Every fall the community 60 km south of us had a fall fair, rodeo and 4H. It is a blast, just like old times complete with the local craft, cooking, produce exhibits. For the fair judging it costs about 50 cents to enter and the prizes are huge like $4 plus ribbons. It’s really about bragging rights. My wife’s world famous muffins won a ribbon last year.

Learned a lot about sheep last year as the 4H judge 3xplaned what they looked for.

I can hardly wait to go again this fall

 

[Weedygarden]

I was in 4-H for 9 years. It was where I learned to sew. We didn't have a county fair, we had 4-H achievement days. I loved it.

I have noticed that 4-H has many more categories for learning and achievement.

 

[tiffanysgallery]

We don't have 4-H in my area. I'm probably too old for it anyway.

We don't have a county fair either, and if you want to go to the state fair, it's about 2hrs north.

 

[snappy1]

I was in 4-H for years and my folks were the group leaders at one point. We entered the County fair competitions all the time. Such fun! Everything from public speaking to livestock judging, canning, cooking, sewing, and probably more that I have forgotten. Went on trips to other States and to Washington DC! That was a fun part of my childhood!

 

[Terri9630]

4-H is for kids. 19 and under with adult volunteers. Non 4-H members can enter in most of the fair competitions in the open divisions. I've never heard of a county that didn't have a 4-H division. Its run through the county extension office and local universities.

https://4-h.org/about/what-is-4-h/

 

[Weedygarden]

We don't have 4-H in my area. I'm probably too old for it anyway.

We don't have a county fair either, and if you want to go to the state fair, it's about 2hrs north.

Yes, but what a great thought, 4-H for adults! Kind of like the county fair, but with meetings, demonstrations and training.

 

[Terri9630]

Yes, but what a great thought, 4-H for adults! Kind of like the county fair, but with meetings, demonstrations and training.

The extension office does have some adult classes. That's where I learned to can.

 

[Patchouli]

The 4H in our area has adult groups that had their own competitions in sewing, knitting, cooking, gardening and canning.

 

[snappy1]

The 4H in our area has adult groups that had their own competitions in sewing, knitting, cooking, gardening and canning.

I've never heard of that but will check it out!

 

[Patchouli]

(Clearing throat), guess what?
I called the extension office where we used to live and found out that it is indeed a thing----for 55 years and up!! The registration is through the SENIOR CENTER.
Get busy on getting that started in your community!

 

[tiffanysgallery]

I've never heard of a county that didn't have a 4-H division. Its run through the county extension office and local universities.

They have to want it.

Years ago I was a local representative for my county, and spoke to many parents about opportunities for their children. I offered to help bring in girl/boy scouts, but they weren't interested. The parents wanted the public school to teach their children all they needed to know including any extra activities without the parents having to be involved.

Lol, the next person who ran for my position and won later told me how it wore him out trying to get anything done in our county. He said he didn't know how I did it.

Hopefully, now that new families are moving into our area, someone will take more of an interest in 4-H and such.

 

[captain belly]

I was in 4-H when I was a kid. I loved 99% of it. Here's what I didn't like: That darn journal/book thing that we had to put together at the end of the year...AND... having to give presentations of various projects to the whole group. YA.... I know it was "good for me"....but I absolutely hated these 2 things. The other memories were awesome! Getting ribbons in the county fair; getting to see my friends at the meetings........ I can still smell the scent of wintergreen infesting the air from the skoal packed faces of my friends' fathers.
I remember after one meeting, a couple kids (some didn't wear shoes in the summer) would show off how calloused their feet were by walking on broken glass in the road. AH!!!! the memories!!!

 

[Weedygarden]

That darn journal/book thing that we had to put together at the end of the year...

We didn't have to do that! I am grateful. I couldn't keep anything like this as it would have been searched out, read and laughed at in my home. No privacy!

 

[Patchouli]

We didn't have to do that! I am grateful. I couldn't keep anything like this as it would have been searched out, read and laughed at in my home. No privacy!

I'm bummed you had a wretched home life, Weedy.
But look, when you hit 55 you can work on getting it started in your area.

 

[Weedygarden]

I'm bummed you had a wretched home life, Weedy.
But look, when you hit 55 you can work on getting it started in your area.

Thank you.
One of my daily conversations with God is "Why?"
This is one of the reasons I have a huge respect for people's privacy.

 

[Terri9630]

I was in 4-H when I was a kid. I loved 99% of it. Here's what I didn't like: That darn journal/book thing that we had to put together at the end of the year...AND... having to give presentations of various projects to the whole group. YA.... I know it was "good for me"....but I absolutely hated these 2 things. The other memories were awesome! Getting ribbons in the county fair; getting to see my friends at the meetings........ I can still smell the scent of wintergreen infesting the air from the skoal packed faces of my friends' fathers.
I remember after one meeting, a couple kids (some didn't wear shoes in the summer) would show off how calloused their feet were by walking on broken glass in the road. AH!!!! the memories!!!

My kids didn't like the record books either. They liked the demonstrations. We do lots of food preservation and have dairy animals so they usually do something along those lines since not many others do them.