The countdown to Lawrence County Fair is on, meaning there is lots going on in the next few weeks that require additional updates!
- Reminder, Food & Clothing Judging is scheduled for this Tuesday, June 25th at Mamre Church on Kitts Hill. Please be sure to contact our office if you haven’t scheduled your interview yet.
- Participants will have the opportunity to take Skillathon during their project judging. Clothing Skillathon exhibitors should be able to identify sewing supplies, parts of a sewing machine, hand stitches, and parts of a pattern. Food Skillathon should be able to identify best practices for food shopping using ads, as well as answer questions around food safety, myplaye, and food prep.
- We recognize Saturday of the fair can be very busy & some of you are interested in getting livestock skillathon done early! We have decided to host two pre-fair skillathon opportunities:
- June 27th – 8:30 – 4:00pm, Extension Office
- July 2nd – 3:00 – 6:00pm, Symmes Valley High School Lecture Hall
For Skillathon, participants will want to look over the study guide and bring their completed project book! Youth will also take part in a short interview about their project.
- Specialty Goat Exhibition Update: In 2023 the Specialty Goat Show was cancelled due to low exhibition which resulted in it not being on the schedule for 2024 until registration numbers came in to see if it was possible for this year. Unfortunately, the deadline for entry has passed and we have too few exhibitors to offer for 2024. We hope this project grows and makes a return in the future!
- Horse Show Registration is open! Registration to participate in classes during the horse show will be open until 1hr prior to the start of the show. Please register at this link: 2024 Horse Show Class Registration Patterns will be posted one hour prior to start of the show!
- Morgan Klaiber & Meredith Humphreys have news to share about a Master Exhibitor Opportunity:
“This year we have a new opportunity for livestock exhibitors, with the help of our generous sponsors, we are offering a Livestock Sweepstakes. In years past, we have had beef breeding & market swine sweepstakes. Morgan and I were both fortunate to have received awards during our time as 4-H members. We wanted to offer this to all 4-H & FFA market exhibitors, to allow them to have a small incentive for all their hard work.
Throughout the fair week, market exhibitors will receive points based on their placings in skillathon, quality market show, and showmanship. We have attached the point system below and potential ties will be broken according to skillathon scores and/or asking exhibitors general questions about the species that they are showing.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three exhibitors for each species and are as follows:
•1st Place- $100 and Livestock Sweepstakes champion banner
•2nd Place- $75
•3rd Place- $50
Exhibitors will be awarded on Friday July 12th @5pm at the 4-H Showcase.” - Yesterday evening, countless volunteers from senior fairboard, 4-H & Livestock Committee, Junior Fairboard and amazing 4-H families came out to set up pens in the barns! Trust me, it takes an army and some patience, and I am always grateful for the amount of people who are willing to jump in and help. So, thank you! We plan to have stall cards up on July 3rd so you can begin setting up your pen!
- Club Volunteers Pre-Fair Check In: Don’t forget pass pick up and club packets will be available for pick up on July 27th and receive the latest fair information and news to share with your members!
- A couple things to note in preparation for the fair:
- The posted fair schedule has a club booth set up time listed for 9 – 12:00pm and 2:00 – 8:00pm! Please use the 2:00 – 8:00pm; as the Expo will be closed from 9:00 – 12:00pm for Queens Contest Interviews!
- All events listed in the 4-H Breezeway are going to be held in the old food booth/restaurant building between the grandstand and rabbit/chicken barn.
- Barn Meeting expectation is all livestock exhibitors will attend a 10:30am or at 6:00pm on Saturday, July 6th. One tip we would like everyone to go ahead and start thinking about is animal care during the fair. Pens should be cleaned out regularly, animals should be fed and watered twice a day; with water made available regularly. If you are not planning to be at the fairgrounds for the duration of the fair, be working with your friends and family to set up a shared schedule to make sure animals are continually cared for at all times throughout the week. Barn committee will be doing checks between 7-8 am and 4-6pm each day!
- Rabbit and Chicken exhibitors this includes that at the conclusion of the fair, your pen should be cleaned out prior to you going to the sale ring so that once you return with your animal, your duties are complete!
- A couple things to note in preparation for the fair: