Milk Maid
Cotton candy, fried food on sticks, blue ribbons, carnival rides and more are on the horizon as county fair season has kicked off! I’ve kicked off my 4-H judging season this week too. I always enjoy going to other counties and spending time with their youth and seeing their projects.
One of my favorite counties to judge in is Redwood County. The 4-H youth there are talented and very enjoyable to visit with. On Tuesday, I judged the Cloverbuds category with two other ladies. Cloverbuds are the very beginning 4-H youth that are in grades kindergarten through second grade.
They don’t get official placings on their work, they are all just awarded special “cloverbud” ribbons. Basically, cloverbuds are just to help prepare youth for future 4-H competition. When you judge cloverbuds, you need to be prepared because it’s a “catch all” category for the youngsters.
They can bring any project under the sun and you need to be ready to be a “jack of all trades.” One of my favorite 4-Hers that I judged was a young man that was very proud of his wood shop project. He made a nice little step stool with his dad. He told me about the wood cutting process, the sanding and staining and all the steps in between. What made him most memorable was his answer to my question about why he chose to make a stool.
He said, “I’m tired of doing the dishes all by myself. Now my little sister can pull up the stool and help do the dishes!”
There was a little girl that brought a painted canvas and a very cute mermaid fairy garden.
She was a hoot!
Apparently, her older sister also brought a canvas project and a fairy garden. When I asked her why she did those projects, she told me, “I wanted to do a painting and a mermaid fairy garden that is even better than my sister’s projects!”
I couldn’t help but smirk. I judged another youngster that is in his last year of cloverbuds and is ready to move onto the next level. He brought a number of nice projects, but my favorite one he brought was an entomology project.
He said that he had many family members and friends that helped him with his bug collection. One of my college roommates took an entomology class in college and she had to make a bug collection so I was aware of the process that is involved in bug collecting.
I asked him what his favorite part of the project was and he said, “Freaking out my grandma and sister by keeping the bugs in the freezer!” I completely understood and laughed. I have to give props to Redwood County.
This year, they started a new 4-H club called, “Choices Academy.” It’s a special club for at risk youth and children with special needs. Throughout the year and summer, they do a lot of activities and try to give the kids a positive activity to participate in.
I was able to judge a few of the kids in that club and as expected, it took a little more coaxing to get them to talk to me about their projects. I hope they all had a great time judging and I hope they continue on with the program.
I think it’s a great program. So grab your cotton candy, and head off to county fairs this summer and support the excellent local youth and their projects!