Month: August 2020

4-H Advisory Committee Applications Due September 1

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The Adams County 4-H Advisory Committee plays an important role in our 4-H Program.  The Advisory Committee is charged with providing advice to the 4-H Professionals, helps assess the needs of the youth in our county and develops programming to meet those needs.  The Committee helps sets policies and procedures for the county program, plans and runs activities and raises funds to make those activities possible.

Our Adams County 4-H Advisory Committee helps make our 4-H Program great!  They coordinate events like Skillathon and Kids College, provide a partial scholarship to every Adams County 4-H Camper and meet on a regular basis to continually evaluate the needs of our 4-Hers.  Volunteers and Youth that currently serve inlcude:  Dave Baker, Kim Baker, Joy Bauman, Carlie Cluxton, Emily Collett, Summer Drummond, Marcheta Ferguson, Judy Hawkins, Sam Kimmerly, Teresa Lewis, Linda Louiso, Bonnie Simpkins, Erin Simpkins, Donnie Swayne, Erica Swearingen and Matthew Swearingen.  I appreciate these members for their dedication and their willingness to provide leadership to our county Program.

We currently have vacancies on the Committee which is made up of fifteen 4-H Volunteers, elected by their peers to a three year term, and four youth 4-H members, appointed by the committee to fill a one year term.  If you are a current, approved 4-H volunteer and interested in becoming more involved in the Program, please consider applying to serve on the Advisory Committee.   Applications can be found on the Adams County Extension website under 4-H polices and forms.  They should be submitted to the Extension Office by September 1st.  We will hold an election virtually in October 2020 to elect five adult members.  All current volunteers will receive a unique link at the email address they have on file with the Extension Office to vote for up to five committee members.

Youth Advisory Committee Membership applications are also available at adams.osu.edu under 4-H policies and forms.  All active 4-H members are eligible to apply for membership and will be appointed at the September Advisory Committee meeting to serve a term from October 1 – September 30.

If you are interested, please reach out to Kristy or a current Committee member.  We would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Beef BBQ: An Adams County Tradition Continues

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The Adams County Beef BBQ committee met last night to finalize plans for the 2020 Beef BBQ to be held Thursday, September 3 from 4:30 – 7 p.m. at the Ohio Valley Career & Technical Center.  This year’s event will be held with drive thru service only.  You will be able to purchase your tickets and receive your meals without ever leaving the comfort of your car. Menu will include roast beef sandwiches, cole slaw, baked beans and potato chips.  Tickets are $9 for adults (two sandwiches) or $7 for kids (one sandwich).

The BBQ has been a long running tradition in Adams County dating back to 1962.  Corbett Phipps, Becky Foster, the BBQ Committee, FFA Chapters from all five county high schools, the OVCTC Restaurant Management class and a hoard of 4-H and community volunteers work together to make the BBQ happen each year.  This year we will be taking extra precautions including the new drive-thru only delivery system.

If you are interested in learning how the process works, be sure to tune in to c103 on Wednesday, September 2nd at 10 a.m. to hear Corbett and Becky talk about the ins and outs of firing the pit, getting the beef ready to cook and serving 1200 hungry supporters.

All proceeds of the Adams County Beef BBQ go to Junior Fair improvements.  We hope to see you there!

Junior Fair Board: Fair and a Whole Lot More

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If you’ve been to the Adams County Fair you’ve probably seen Junior Fair Board members in the barns, around the show ring or working in the office.  They are pretty easy to identify, not only because of their matching shirts and smiling faces, but because they are often the ones doing the work to make things happen fair week.  In Adams County we are fortunate to have a Junior Fair Board that helps run Junior Fair.  They work the make up ring, take over the mic and log weights.  You can find them in the office answering questions, on the computer helping finish show bills or in the barns helping our youth move livestock.  During fair week they log a ton of hours and do a lot of heavy lifting, but Junior Fair Board is a whole lot more.

Our fair year starts at the October meeting.  This is our organizational meeting each year where we welcome new members, fill empty board seats and elect our new officer team.  Over the past three years we have grown as a board to now include 36 members from 4-H, FFA, Scouts, FCCLA and SkillsUSA.  This diversity in groups and members help make us a stronger board, with each member having different experiences and expertise.  Through the fall and winter we work hard to come together as a board, form committees and start planning for fair.  Planning means making lots of decisions.  Each suggestion that is submitted during fair and through early October is reviewed, discussed and voted on by the Junior Fair Board and their recommendations are forwarded to Senior Fair Board.  Our Junior Fair program is truly a youth led organization.

In January we send a delegation of our members to the annual Ohio Fair Manager’s Conference for Junior Fair Day.  This is a terrific opportunity for professional development, gathering new ideas and sharing some of our own strengths with Junior Fair Boards from across the state.  Members who attend are asked to share with the full board something they learned that could help improve and grow our own county fair.  We’ve had some really great ideas, interesting suggestions and a whole lot of laughs come out of this Columbus trip.

As soon as the calendar turns to spring, we start hitting the pavement.  Our Junior Fair Board members are responsible for soliciting donations for all those terrific awards we hand out fair week.  This involves writing letters, making personal contact with many of the donors, and thanking them for their continued support of the youth in our communities.  Spring also brings weigh-ins, tag-ins and clinics.  Everything from unloading trailers, to tattooing livestock to recording weights is handled by our Junior Fair Board members and advisors.  Again, these events couldn’t happen without those who show up and do the work.

And then we get to fair season.  Junior Fair work days have become one of my favorite experiences.  In two days we clean, weed, plant, bed, paint and organize everything we can get our hands on.  With the help of our Ag teachers, 4-H Clubs and Senior Fair Board, we make sure the grounds are ready and waiting when move in day arrives.

It sounds like a ton of work, right?  Well, I’m not going to lie, it is a lot of work.  It’s also a whole lot of fun.  Most members come onto the board early in their high school career and keep coming back until they age out.  During our monthly meetings we work hard, we laugh a lot and we form friendships.  You gain leadership experience, conflict resolution, and communication skills.  Junior Fair Board is some serious on the job training that you can’t get anywhere else.

If you are interested in joining us on the 2021 Adams County Junior Fair Board, download the application here.  Completed applications are due September 1 to the Extension Office or by emailing watters.92@osu.edu.  You must be at least a freshman in high school and active in an Adams County Junior Fair organization to apply.  If you have questions, feel free to reach out to Kristy or a current Junior Fair Board member.  Hope to see you around the board table!

4-H Project Judging Options for 2020

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Members have 2 options to complete their 4-H project(s) for 2020.

Option 1 – Interview with a club advisor.  This is a non-competitive way for you to complete your project(s) for 2020.  Please let your advisor know if you would like to complete in this way and they will schedule a time with you in the next few weeks.  This must be completed before the end of September.

Option 2 – Virtual submission video.  This is a competitive way for you to complete your project(s) for 2020.  For this option we will be using a platform called FlipGrid.  We have provided detailed instructions as well as the links to the project area FlipGrids on our website under Non-Livestock Project Judging.  Videos must be uploaded no later than August 22.  After reading the instructions and looking at the FlipGrid site, if you have questions please contact Kristy at watters.92@osu.edu.  Please do not wait until the deadline to start on this!

For either option please have some kind of display ready for your project.  This does not have to be the traditional poster, but it can be.  It can also be your rocket, tackle box, prepared food, item of clothing, rock collection, etc.  Make sure it represents your project and the work you put into it.

We hope to see many projects completed over the next several weeks!