FaithManor Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Our 4-H exhibit show was today. I am not certain how the fair boards in other states run their shows, but ours uses the Danish scoring system. That means that every entry, after the interview and judging process, will receive an A, B, C, D, or DQ (disqualified). So every child has a chance to earn a good grade but only a select few will get an Honors Ribbon and then there are the coveted Best of Show ribbons that judges may or may not hand out. Just because they have awarded a lot of A's and a few honors ribbons, doesn't mean that they necessarily have seen work that deserves Best of Show. Also, the department must have at least ten entries for an honors or B.O.S. ribbon to be awarded. DD entered Health Education (Cardiology and Paramedic care), Candlemaking, Quilting, Knitting, Poetry, and Model Rocketry. She has two baking projects and a landscaping project that are judged on Monday morning. She earned all A's and honors ribbons in quilting, knitting, and health education. She received Best of Show for Health Education...Whoo hoo!! She also entered open quilting and of 15 quilts received 6th place. Ds13, entered Model Rocketry, Physics, Metal Casting, Electronics, Geology, Pastels picture, lead pencil drawing, cartooning, Short Stories with Illustrations, and Baked Clay. He received A's in everything and an honors ribbon in geology. The Natural Resources judge was disappointed because several kids did not show up with their projects so he didn't get in the minimum of ten. He couldn't issue a Best of Show ribbon but said that ds's work was stellar and would have awarded it to him if he could have. Ds11, entered Model Rocketry, Physics, Metal Casting, Chemistry, Electronics, Birds Project (Natural Resources), Copper Tooling, Veterinary Science, and Short Stories without Illustrations. He received A's for everything and an honors ribbon for Short Stories. He also won Best of Show for his short story and I think I cried! There were easily thirty entries, including his older sister's poetry and his older brother's historical fiction. This is the same kid who burst into tears last year every single time I assigned writing. He hated English, felt like a dunce, etc. He's always struggled with self-esteem as he has two very outgoing, easy learning sibs in the front, and brother behind him who would have been doing algebra1 and high school chemistry in fourth grade if I had let him. So, he's always had a bit of a complex even though he is a really bright, talented kid. He came up with an awesome story line a couple of months ago and I said, "Hey P, what do you think about trying to write that up for 4-H? I'll wave five daily English assignments in place of this work." He agreed and it was a hard five days of constant re-writes and edits...this child just simply does not remember the rules of capitalization, punctuation, and manuscript form. So, when that ribbon went to him, I am pretty certain the judges and surrounding 4-H parents must have thought I was crazy because I needed kleenex! Dh went and hid in the corner, acting like he was cleaning up a little in our department, so no one would see him tearing up. Ds10 entered Copper tooling, Sewing (he made a pillow out of one of his uncle's old army uniforms), Playdoh sculpture, Veterinary science, Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Electronics, Metal Casting, and Model Rocketry. He received A's across the board and an honors ribbon in chemistry. He was narrowly beat out for Best of Show by a young lady who turned in an absolutely AWESOME chemistry project. She was a 9th grader and, you know girls, that attention to detail, her presentation was better though the difficulty of her science was not. Ds caused a little bit of a stir because the judges wanted to award honors ribbons to him for his astronomy, veterinary science, and physics projects as well. There were 84 entries in Youth Sciences and only eight honors ribbons could be awarded. So, for four of them to go to one kid, would not only have caused a stir, but would have shorted the entries in industrial sciences and there were some tremendous woodworking projects that deserved recognition. Therefore, the director of 4-H for our county helped them decide which project to give the honors ribbon to. It made sense to award it to the chemistry because they had felt he was in the running for a Best of Show in that category. I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO IMMENSELY PROUD OF MY KIDS! Oh, and I took first place in the open show for quilt top. So, all of you 4-H moms out there, please post your ups, downs, delights, etc. Non-4-h'ers are encouraged to post oohs and aahs. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judy in AZ Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 We are not 4-Hers, but are envious of others who participate. Congratulations to all of your kids for outstanding projects! Ooooh! Aaaah! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 WOW! (and oooooh, aaaaaah) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 I grew up in an area with a huge county fair. It was the major event of summer aside from the Fourth of July. I would spend days out there, because my parents were in the fire department and would be stationed there during the fair. I loved going through all of those exhibit barns and seeing all the cool stuff that people had made and thought up. I wish that fair experience was something I could pass on to my kids, but we just don't live in that sort of area. So I read them the chapters from Charlotte's Web and Understood Betsy and tear up a little thinking about it. So from a huge fan of the fair. OOOHHHH, AAAAHHH. Well done to all of your kids. (And a pat on the back to mom too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keniki Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Congratulations to you and your children! Our 4-H fair is small in comparison, but our children did really well too. Ds (11) got A's on both is robotics and his small engines projects, and DD (12) got A's on her gardening, cooking, and rabbits. Her cooking project (bread) even gets to go to state fair which is almost the same as Best of Show! We are really excited and already pumped up for next year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrid Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO IMMENSELY PROUD OF MY KIDS! Oh, and I took first place in the open show for quilt top. WOOO HOOOO!! Way to go!!! Congratulations to all of you! You've got every right to be busting your buttons with mama-pride! Our fair isn't until August so we're busy gearing up now, but will hopefully share some good news when we're all home and exhausted! Hugs, astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Congratulations to all!!!!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 We just got home and -- DS earned blues in all four of his project areas - Aerospace (model rocket), Small pets, and Entomology (bug collection and leadership project). He won State Fair Delegate for his Entomology Leadership project and State Fair Alternate for his bug collection; so he won first and second place in that category. We are proud of him but sad for the other exhibitors in Entomology. He won Best of Show for Entomology. He also won Best of Show with his Small Pets project. The Small Pets category isn't State Fair eligible so the BOS was the top award. --- We enjoyed our first shift in the food stand. I ate a pork burger which was absolutely yummy! --- Since we don't show livestock we will not be exhibiting for the rest of the week but we will be working in the food stand a couple of more times. --- My DD is not here to show. She is in Colorado. She has shown every year for the last 9 years so I am sad that she didn't show this year. She was on our 4H Federation board this year but is not going to be on the board next year and I am sad about that, too. All in all, though, it has been a good fair and I am looking forward to hanging out tomorrow. Congrats to your kids Faith! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 There is a 4H ribbon for playdough sculpture? Wow. Ooooo, Ahhhhhhh. lol 4H is pretty non-existent where I live, and I've never heard of competitions here (the very little we have, far away) for anything that didn't have to do with animals. I knew a girl who won a 3rd place ribbon in a dog show where she had to get her dog through tunnels and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 There is a 4H ribbon for playdough sculpture? Wow. Ooooo, Ahhhhhhh. lol 4H is pretty non-existent where I live, and I've never heard of ribbons for anything that didn't have to do with animals. Sweetheart- you need to contact your local extension office. There should be clubs of all kinds. If not, they are extremely easy to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katemary63 Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Great job to your whole family! Our county fair isn't till Sept 13th. DD9 will be showing goats, a hog, a rabbit, ducks and chickens, her dog and horse. She gave a talk on duck breeds and care and sang a vocal solor this spring in the county competition and did very well but recieved only participation ribbons since she was only 8 at the time. Our county does not offer the competitions in projects that you have. Sounds very cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) Sweetheart- you need to contact your local extension office. There should be clubs of all kinds. If not, they are extremely easy to start. Oh, we have! The fair we went to is where we saw our friend win the dog thing. It was cute, but the whole thing was tiny, and there were certainly no playdough sculptures or any writing whatsoever. That's pretty neat. 4H is not big here. Shocking, I know. lol :D No derailing here! Move along. lol Ooooo, ahhhhh. Awesome. :) Edited July 26, 2010 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Your fair has waaaaay more entry categories than ours! I wish we had your opportunities. My son had an open entry for a dry felting project, because they have not added fiber arts to our entry schedule yet. He also had an acrylic painting of a stained glass window; a piece of raku pottery he made; a wooden catapult; and a lapbook he created this year (paper craft). He received blue ribbons in everything and an honors ribbon (which means he can go on to the state fair) for his painting and raku. Last year, he worked very hard on entomology and leaf exhibits. He placed first in both. His entomology exhibit went on to the state fair and won first place there, too. He's going to the state fair to do a cooking demonstration this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Today my daughter and I survived Day 1 of her sewing project without us wanting to kill each other. That included 4 ripouts.:lol: In the works or completed at my house is a year 10 (translation: very expensive :001_huh:) model rocket, car model, some awesome jams and jellies, two clothing projects, photography, caramels, papercraft, and a big nature study project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted July 25, 2010 Author Share Posted July 25, 2010 Dragon Academy, If you are willing to start a 4-H club, you might be able to jump start something that will grow and become exciting. We have a county here in Michigan that does not have a county fair due to the sparseness of the population but they have an active 4-H because some really concerned parents got to brainstorming with the extension office education director. Sometimes the big Ag university/land-grant school will pour some resources into an area that is lagging so long as they have leadership to step up to the plate. This particular county got four groups started...an arts and crafts group, a small livestock group, a science group, and a fine arts groups. Kids could participate in any club so long as they could make a minimum meeting for that club. The extension office then helps them run four shows per year and they are usually held at someone's farm or the state park for livestock, or a high school (which offers its facilities for free) for the arts and crafts, science, and fine arts show. Since there isn't any county fair, the extension office - in conjunction with the 4-H council which is made up of the concerned parents in that county - then choose what categories to add in each division. They usually do two major county-wide fundraisers per year and they've learned to make it work. The only drawback is that because they do not have a county fair, they are by law, ineligible for the state fair. That used to be a problem, but now Michigan doesn't have a state fair because we are the stench of sweat of the armpit of the economic crisis. We are looking at banding together with two other counties, picking one central location for one day, and doing a three county wide "Best of Show" winners extravaganza. It wouldn't cost much, the three county 4-H offices could share the proceeds from the very low ticket price and concession's stand, and this would give the kids one more chance to display their awesome projects and win a Tri-County award. I think that if you wanted to give your kids some measure of a 4-h experience and there were some other students in your local area that were interested, you might be able to get the extension office to help you. You would certainly be eligible to start a club and then host some little events just for you club until this idea caught on with other parents and more clubs opened up. Now some kids from the above county with no fair, do "dual" enroll in a club of a neighboring county. This is allowed for them because of their situation. The gracious 4-h leaders of that county only require the member to attend two club meetings per year but officially list them on their membership rolls which allows them to bring their exhibits to that county fair. But, those parents are obviously able to endure the commuting. I would imagine this happens mostly with those families living near the county line. Anyway, Thanks everybody and I hope everyone will be posting their results as fairs go by....I am anxious to hear what all of the kids have been working on! I shall now go frantically bake with the kids and then send them off to church with their dad while I get a nap and soak my sore feet! Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Dragon Academy, If you are willing to start a 4-H club, you might be able to jump start something that will grow and become exciting. Faith Thanks for the ideas but I think you might want to talk to LibraryLover. ;) My kids are quite active in 4H and our county has one of the largest 4H programs in the state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) Thanks for the ideas but I think you might want to talk to LibraryLover. ;) My kids are quite active in 4H and our county has one of the largest 4H programs in the state. No, please. :DI have enough on my plate (a phrase I don't like,btw) lol. I think 4h is great where it exists. but I have no interest in starting a 4H group in my area-- it's not a big thing here. We have Poultry shows and Grange activies. We're good. Maybe at the Grange Fair this year, I'll do /suggest a Playdough Sculpture event. We have knitting and perfect tomatoes, and oil paints, why not playdough? Or better yet, beeswax! :) . Edited July 25, 2010 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 wow! That's INCREDIBLE!!! You've all been VERY, VERY BUSY!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runmiarun Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 WOW!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations to your family!!!!!!!!! I loved 4H as a kid and wish our program was still active. But alas, it has been cut due to budget constraints. We're working with a neighboring county to get involved in their group when my dc are old enough. Again-YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 Terrific! Congratulations to all of you! That's especially great about the Best of Show for the story. Great job everyone! We are 4-Hers but we didn't enter anything this year. We've worked at the 4-H booth though, at the State Fair a couple of days, greeting people. It's been fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooooom Posted July 25, 2010 Share Posted July 25, 2010 4th place for Fitting and Showmanship (1st, 2nd & 3rd were 3 years older than her) and 2nd for Obedience (off leash) at her dog show. We are so proud of her, she trains him every single day and is an awesome handler. Oh yeah, and 1st place for costume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted August 1, 2010 Author Share Posted August 1, 2010 Fair is over! OHHHHH thank the good Lord for that! I'm exhausted and we still have to go tear down our exhibit area. My parents came and got the camper last night and we slept in our own bed which felt GREAT! DD and DS#1 took Best of Show in two different culinary arts categories. DS #2 got an A on his cookies and DS#3 earned an A and an honors ribbon for his brownies. We are proud but also very ready for life to get back to normal. So all in all, eight A's, four honors ribbons and two best of shows for DD, eleven A's, two honors ribbons and one best of show for Ds#1, ten A's, one honors ribbon, and one best of show for DS#2, and eleven A's and three honors ribbons for DS#3. Awesome first Fair, parents are almost catatonic and running on auto-pilot. Tomorrow we sleep in, lay around, and nap all day...well, there is cleaning to do...UGH! Tuesday morning, beginning of the new school year. But, thankfully, Bible study, English, Math, and spelling only for a couple of weeks. Who knows, maybe I will look them in the face Tuesday morning and decide we just can't possibly start. I hope everyone will keep me posted as to your results. I love hearing what is going on in 4-H in your area and all of the neat things the kids are accomplishing. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted August 1, 2010 Share Posted August 1, 2010 DD and DS#1 took Best of Show in two different culinary arts categories. DS #2 got an A on his cookies and DS#3 earned an A and an honors ribbon for his brownies. We are proud but also very ready for life to get back to normal. So all in all, eight A's, four honors ribbons and two best of shows for DD, eleven A's, two honors ribbons and one best of show for Ds#1, ten A's, one honors ribbon, and one best of show for DS#2, and eleven A's and three honors ribbons for DS#3. Awesome first Fair, parents are almost catatonic and running on auto-pilot. Faith Kudos to your kids! Sending you energy for clean up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 Dd took 1st in western pleasure novice at the state fair!!!! I was soooooo proud!!! She also took a 4th in showmanship and 2nd in horsemanship!!!! It was an exhausting 4 days, but I am very proud of her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galtgrl Posted August 2, 2010 Share Posted August 2, 2010 GREAT JOB!!!!! Ours starts tomorrow.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmrranch Posted August 14, 2010 Share Posted August 14, 2010 Congrats! We have a slightly different Danish system here. The kids get a blue, red or white (white means you really blew it) and a 1st, 2nd etc. judged against the other kids in your age and unit. And then they take all the 1sts and give Grand and Reserve. Grands and Reserves can go to State Fair. We do not have a fair but this is how our county does it. We coordinate our Project Show with the city's fall fest. Ours is in October. Our Livestock Show is in the Spring and my kids did great this year. We cannot go out and buy expensive animals for my kids so they raise their own goats and trade for the rest. (our livestock show is very competitive.) They made the sale with their rabbits (which they did trade for) and 1 pig, which we only paid $100 for! Making the sale with the pig was very exciting because 100 pigs showed and about 40 make the sale. Most of those kids spend at least 250 to 300/pig. However, I'm the most proud of my dd14 and how she showed the one goat that we had to show this year. This was her 3rd year to show one and one of the ag teachers and a mand that raises show goats came up and congratulated her on how the goat looked. The teacher said, "Won't be long and kids will come to you to buy their goats! That's a good looking goat"! Over the last couple of years, dd would go up to him and ask for advice. Anyway, that meant the most to me!:001_smile: I do have some questions for you 4-Hers. I'll start a new post and title it, "How do you balance 4-H with homeschool?" :D I'm serious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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