4-H club members get ready for the 169th county fair
A goat clinic was held in August to help 4-Hers taking a goat project do better during the fair.
Continual learning is one thing that sets 4-H members apart, and they take every opportunity to improve.
Kala Kirtley, a member of the Atwood Lakers 4-H club, is confident she will do well with her rabbit projects this year. “I learned from my mistakes last year,” Kirtley said.
Kirtley is in her third year of taking rabbit projects. She has 31 rabbits and is involved in other rabbit projects such as breeding rabbits and market rabbits.
Kirtley was just one of many 4-H members participating in pre-fair clinics in August, which allowed them to practice their skills in judging. For the clinic she worked with Daisy, a 4-month-old Holland Lop that she considers a therapy rabbit.
“There is not a way to train them to be therapy rabbits. You can handle your rabbits daily, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be a good therapy rabbit. It’s more do they have the personality to do this,” Kirtley said. “She can calm me when I’m feeling anxiety.”
Kirtley has taken rabbits to visit in a nursing home and gotten a good response from the residents.
To prepare Daisy for the fair, Kirtley gives her sunflower seeds and rolled oats and brushes her daily.
Book judging has already taken place, and Kirtley received a gold rating for her work. The rabbits themselves will be judged at the fair. In her other 4-H projects, Kirtley earned a silver in Focus on Photography and a gold in The Writer in You, in which she placed first in the county in the writing project.
Kirtley also received a gold for her project, “You and Your Dog.”
“I went to the state fair in the dog project and got an ‘Outstanding of the Day,’’’ Kirtley said.
Interacting with different people is one of the things Kirtley enjoys most about 4-H. Selecting the projects she wants to be involved in is important to her. “I like being able to do what I want to do, which is breeding rabbits and spending time with them,” she said.
A goat clinic also was held on Aug. 24 to allow those taking a goat project to practice their skills.
Many people only visit the fairgrounds once a year during fair week, but for 4-H members, many activities take place there throughout the year.
Members taking a dog project meet at the fairgrounds weekly beginning in April to train their dogs. The group met on Saturday, Aug. 24 to hold its annual show in the 4-Way Barn. The show was sponsored by Petz Place, We Luv Pets and 4-H advisors in memory of their pets, Hope, Carley, Lacey and Popeye. The 4-H dog advisors are Marcie Dryden, Carri Brandt and Jodie Hay.
The show is held ahead of fair week because of the nature of the dogs being detracted by farm animals. In the 4-H dog program, members teach their dogs to do activities like heel, stop and sit, and come when called. The hardest exercise to teach a dog is to sit for exam when a stranger comes up to touch the dog.
The winners in the 2019 Tuscarawas County Dog Show were Showmanship, Allison Kendle; Beginner Novice A, first, Alison Halsey, second, Ascher Fontana, third, Heather Halsey, and fourth, Isabelle Stahl; Beginner Novice B (age 9-12), first, Lydia Raber, and second, Allison Kendle; and Beginner Novice B (age 13-18), first, Hunter Heslop, and second, Audrey Anderson.
The Junior Fair animal shows will begin on Monday at 9 a.m. with a number of shows including Bred and Fed Steer Show and Standard and Fancy Poultry Show. The Junior Fair market lamb show will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday’s Junior Fair shows feature hogs, horses and goats. Wednesday shows are market and dairy steer, ponies, easy-gaited horses, rabbits and swine. On Thursday the turkey show will begin at 9 a.m. On Friday the Junior Fair dairy show will begin at 9 a.m., along with the western horse and production show. The goat shows will begin at noon.
For a complete list of shows, pick up a one-page sheet of activities at the Junior Fair or Senior Fair offices during fair week.