Two days before the Southwest Washington Fair even started Stacy Engel was busy helping all her West Lewis County 4-H Club members get settled on the grounds.
It’s going to be one giant sleepover at the fair for the 45 active members and there’s been a 10-month, or in some cases longer, build-up of excitement for everyone involved. It is here where all their hard work gets to be on display.
Acknowledgement for their efforts will come days later in many forms, whether it be via ribbons from judges or expressed affirmations from their family and friends or simply providing an inquiring fair attendee with a piece of information about their project.
Right now, however, it’s about quizzing each other on their selective projects. In 48 hours the fair will kick off and it’s the 4-H’s version of a last-minute study cram session as each club member wants to be as sharp as possible concerning the knowledge of their project.
“They take a lot of pride in it,” Engel said. “They’ve put in so many hours into their projects and now it’s their turn to shine.”
The project topics range for just about everything you can image and includes beef, swine, rabbit, cavy, poultry, clothing and textiles, foods and nutrition, food preservation, gardening, art and photography.
For a large percentage of the club members, the Southwest Washington Fair, chiefly the Southwest Washington Junior Livestock Sale, is the accumulation of a year’s worth of hard work.
And while cows, pigs, rabbits and a wide variety of other animals appear to be on the forefront, they are actually secondary to what 4-H Club is primarily about.
“This is really all about kids finding their passion and learning life skills” Engel said. “There is a unique opportunity with 4-H for children to follow their passions and explore future career paths and be successful in whatever they put their mind to.”
Placing an emphasis on learning through all means, 4-H programs teach sportsmanship, responsibility and respect for oneself and others – traits that will far exceed the duration of the Fair, a life-long value.
“The Fair offers youth the opportunity to develop skills relating to all aspects of life,” Engel said. “Through the judging process members learn what he or she did well and what he or she can improve upon. Judging occurs by comparing the exhibits against a standard, not against each other. The Fair is also an opportunity to educate the public about the positive value of 4-H that focuses on developing competent, confident, and caring youth.”
According to Engel, a 4-H project can be anything a member wants to raise, make or educate themselves on – providing limitless possibilities – with the Fair providing the perfect platform.
Center stage for those 4-H club members raising livestock will be on August 19 at the Southwest Washington Junior Livestock Sale where they will sell their project animals at auctions.
The educational experience for the members includes selecting, feeding and marketing their animals with the ultimate goal of investing in the future of agriculture through youth.
“The program teaches members valuable character and skill development in the areas of responsibility, hard work, and the basics of running a small business,” Engel said. “They attend regular business meetings and project meetings and invest hundreds of hours selecting, feeding, cleaning and handling their projects to prepare them for Fair.”
Animals will be judged at the Fair by professional livestock evaluators to determine the sale order and provide feedback.
Market animals for sale include beef, sheep, goats, rabbit and poultry.
The Southwest Washington Junior Livestock Sale will take place at 6:00 p.m. on August 19.
“We encourage everyone to come to the sale and make a purchase to help our young people meet their goals and reward them for all their hard work and commitment to become great employees and business leaders of tomorrow in our community,” Engel said.
The West Lewis County 4-H Club will begin accepting new members in October, making this year’s Fair the perfect opportunity for those interested in joining to get an up-close view of what the club and its members are all about.
“We encourage people who are interested to come to the Fair and see what we do and ask a lot of questions,” Engel said.
