Another 4-H parent reflected recently on social media about her family’s involvement in our county fair, which just concluded. Their family has been involved for more than four decades as 4-Hers, parents or family member of one. That’s quite a feat. Her wisdom about 4-H churning out well-prepared youth is no joke.
As my kids finished up competing at their sixth and third years in the Ford County Fair in Dodge City, Kansas, I’ve been looking back on their accomplishments. I’ve seen the changes in both, and that’s more important than those buckles and purple or blue ribbons.
My oldest has gained confidence in his livestock projects and competed in a number of spring shows. I’ve watched him progress in the show ring and do all the right things with his market steer. His market heifer didn’t make a wrong move in the ring at the county fair, and I almost wish we would have taken her more places after seeing how she reacted. We were afraid of her exiting the fairgrounds at a high lope, but she proved us wrong. Now we just hope she’s bred and can become a good mother.
The youngest made his mother cry on the last day of the fair as he was helping pack up the goat stalls. Just moments prior, his aloof attitude in the round robin competition made my blood pressure rise, but when things were all said and done, he’d managed to pull out a fourth-place finish. He looked back at me and gave me the “I told you so” look. Hopefully he can make the round robin competition next year as he moves up in age divisions.
My kids have had the opportunity to start 4-H at a much younger age than I was able to, and I can see how much they’ve accomplished. When my youngest gave his first project talk, he was terrified and even shed a few tears. His last project talk went much better, and he had many fellow 4-Hers asking him questions.
I was surprised by my oldest son during the fair’s livestock skill-a-thon. The various segments of the contest had stations where participants identified livestock breeds, animal health tools, commodities and weed and grass species. We discussed our answers afterward, and I was rather shocked he was correct more often than not. We’d never made a point for him to know some of these subjects, but he’s picked them up along the way. He won the intermediate division. I placed third in the open division.
Looking back at the 2024 fair, there were a lot of challenges and changes exhibitors, parents and attendees had to endure, but we managed to survive, and hope to have a plan to make 2025 even better.
I can only hope my family ends up with a fraction of what the other 4-H families in my county have accomplished.
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
