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| Randy in 1967, a 5th grader and his first year in Stafford County 4-H with his first 4-H beef project. |
4-H is "very fun." Just look at any beginning 4-Her's permanent record book.
Randy's record book from his first year as a Stafford County 4-Her in 1967 said:
This year is my first year in
4-H. I have enjoyed it very much. Going to the 4-H things has been very
fun. I really enjoyed the refreshments very much. I am looking forward
very much to next year in 4-H. This year, I have enjoyed 4-H camp and
have got lots of ribbons.
My first 4-H story was also written in 1967, as a fourth grader. (The
photo at the left was the one attached to my 4-H permanent record.) My
story was longer. (There's a big surprise, right?) I used the word "fun"
six times to describe my song leading job, picking out ingredients for
my Snacks and Little Lunches project, 4-H Sunday and assorted other 4-H
events. I also "enjoyed" things twice and "liked" 4-H another time or
two. A glance at Jill's and Brent's record books mirrored our family's
outlook that 4-H is "fun" and very likeable.
4-Hers - and their parents - have been "liking" the youth program for
more than 100 years, long before there was a "like" button on Facebook
pages. On Friday, we went to the Shawnee County Fair in Topeka to see Kinley's and Brooke's 4-H projects. Kinley
and Brooke come from a long line of 4-Hers, including their maternal
great-grandparents and their paternal great-grandmother (Bonnie Ladd).
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| Bob & Janis Moore - Pratt County Fair service award recipients | in 2011
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My
family's involvement with 4-H started with my parents back in the
1940s. Both were members of the Lincoln Bluebirds 4-H Club in Pratt
County, the club that my siblings and I later joined. (That club later
merged with another, and we became the Lincoln Climbers.)
Eric's
family is similarly entrenched in the 4-H program. These days, Eric is
one of the community leaders for the Auburn 4-H Club in Shawnee County. His dad, Alan, worked in both Kansas and Iowa Extension before retirement. Grandma Christy still judges her fair share of hand pet projects at county events.
Participating
in county fairs is second nature to all of us - including Kinley and
Brooke. This year's fair for the girls wrapped up on Sunday.
But
the girls excelled in the foods division. Kinley's Apple Cider Doughnut Cake with caramel frosting was Best of Show, giving her a chance to sell in the premium auction.
Kinley also had the top ribbon for decorated cookies or cupcakes.
This year's entry was a beach theme. The decorating/artistic part of food preparation appeals to Kinley, and she's had a purple ribbon in that category every year of her 4-H career.
Here she was in 2021 and her decorated watermelon cookies at her very first Shawnee County Fair. We all think she could sell the cookies professionally, but she'd have to get faster to make it economically feasible. Bonus: The leftover cookies were delicious!
Brooke also got to sell during the food premium auction. Her braided Everything Bagel bread got the champion ribbon in intermediate foods.
I had to show the full balloon display created as a backdrop for this year's fair.
Brooke had a great first year in photography. Two of her photos got champion and reserve champion in beginning photography for color photos. Until this year, I'd helped Kinley mount her photos for the fair. But this year, Kinley mounted her own and taught her younger sister. That's what 4-H is all about: Learning to do something and then passing it along to another 4-Her.
Brooke also got a champion ribbon for her educational notebook on book genres, which helped complete her 4-H reading project.
Kinley and Summer were back in the dog obedience and agility competitions.
Summer made it through the agility course with no errors, a first for this duo, which qualified for a purple ribbon.
We did plenty of laughing getting Summer to the fairgrounds for the show. Kinley and Eric had to go early to help set up. Eric asked us to bring a wheelbarrow to help move all the paraphernalia after the show, so Summer couldn't sit in her customary spot in the back of the SUV. She invaded Brooke's personal space.
And she probably caused some second glances from other drivers at stop lights as we drove across Topeka to the Expo Center.
The fair ended on Sunday after the style show. Both girls earned purple ribbons in that competition and both qualified to compete at the Kansas State Fair fashion review in September.
The girls definitely had a better outcome at the Shawnee County Fair than I did at the Stafford County Fair the week before. But that's OK. I definitely have had my share of champion or reserve champion photos in open class in the past.
And I did well with the extra photo contests - one sponsored by the Kanza Chapter of the D.A.R. and another contest sponsored by Stafford County Economic Development.
This composite photo was chosen by the D.A.R. as the winner in a contest celebrating America's 250th birthday. I created it several years ago and have used it on notecards, but I thought it was perfect for the sesquicentennial.
This photo taken in a milo field last October got the top award in the commerce category from Stafford Eco/Devo.
That photo is now on a conference room wall at the Staley Leadership Building on the campus of Kansas State University. (Story
HERE.) It will also be used for the South Central Community Foundation Match Day campaign this fall. The photo also got a blue ribbon in the fair's open class agriculture category.
A cropped version of this panoramic sunset shot taken last December at Quivira National Wildlife Refuge was second in the Stafford County Places category.
A story and photo about the Trojan Pop Shop in Stafford operated by three sets of sisters won first place in the business owner/blog category, a new category for the fair. I'll post that story in an upcoming blog.
Other blue ribbon photos in open class were this one, taken on the Durango-Silverton train in Colorado last October ...
... And this photo I took when we were on vacation with the girls earlier this summer in Omaha at the Lauritzen Botanical Gardens.
I had several other photos which were second- or third-place in their open class photography category and some that didn't place at all.
My online scrapbooking entry in arts and crafts got first place in its category. I try to do a book after our trips to collect the photos and the blog posts I write following the trip.
While it wasn't a banner year for me at the Stafford County Fair, that's not why I do it anyway. I've been part of county fairs in one way or another for my entire life. It's a tradition that's worth preserving.
And
while it's great to collect purple ribbons and extra prize money,
I hope what the girls ultimately collect from the 4-H experience is to take
the 4-H pledge and the 4-H experience to heart.
I pledge my head to clearer thinking
My heart to greater loyalty
My hands to larger service
And my health to better living
For my club, my community, my country and my world.
The 4-H Pledge, Written in 1919 by Kansas 4-H Leader Otis Hall
It
would probably be a better world if all of humanity would think about
the principles that 4-Hers vow to uphold: Clearer thinking, greater
loyalty, larger service, better living ... those are all
attributes that would do this old world a whole lot of good.
For 120 years, 4-H has been changing lives. Back in 2006, we
celebrated 100 years of Kansas 4-H. The youth program has been part of
the national landscape since 1902.
The 4-H website says:
The
4-H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the
skills they need to be proactive forces in their communities and
develop ideas for a more innovative economy. That idea was the catalyst
to begin the 4-H movement and those values continue today.
No wonder it's stuck around this long.
