Hard work pays off for 4-H members

The Sanders County Fair is a fun time for most people, but for the 102 4-H kids from across the county it can also be a time of work.

It's like a final exam time, getting their year-long work judged and graded, according Juli Thurston with Montana State University Extension, which runs the 4-H program. The kids started their projects in October and at fair time they not only showed their work, but were questioned by a group of judges about their projects. All seven 4-H clubs - Heron-Noxon Explorers, Trout Creek Mavericks, Whitepine Happy Workers, Thompson Falls Mountaineers, Plains South Side Sparks, Hot Springs Wranglers, and the Little Bitterroot Club – participated in this year's fair. The kids had 680 entries, including 125 animal projects from a tiny hamster to a huge heifer.

The 4-H'ers also displayed 555 non-animal entries ranging from a two-inch long leather project by Andrew Wrobleski of the South Side Sparks to a more than six-foot high woodworking project that could be used as a yard decoration by Trout Creek Maverick Presley Cox, said Karen Dwyer, a volunteer with the extensions office who has been working with the 4-H fair projects for over 20 years. The 17-year-old Cox also designed a wooden bench made with a pickup truck tailgate as the back. Cox, who started as a cloverbud at age 6, routinely has several entries each year, but this year he had 38 projects at the fair, including a dozen animals. He was one of two members to be part of the goat pack competition, which called for his goat, "Scamper," to maneuver through an obstacle course. Natasha Fisher of the Trout Creek Mavericks did the obstacle course in the junior class with "Snowflake." For the second consecutive year, Cox nabbed the grand champion ribbon in both the senior goat and poultry showmanship competitions.

Dwyer said she's constantly amazed in the kids' projects. "They're so imaginative and so creative. Every year it seems they come up with more sophisticated things," she said. There were a myriad of different kinds of projects – posters, robots, photos, drawings, metal and woodwork. Baked goods ranged from simple rolls by Little Bitterroot Club's Laci Lien to a pirate ship cake reserve champion by George Uski of the Hot Springs Wranglers. Whitepine Happy Worker Hattie Neesvig designed a dachshund cupcake creation in the baking class, fetching a purple ribbon.

There were two pocket pets this year. Audrey Fairbanks of the Whitepine Happy Workers entered a lizard and Grayson Stevens of the Trout Creek Mavericks had a hamster. Pigs were the largest livestock class with 46 and the only showmanship competitions with a senior, junior and novice class. There were 27 pigs in the junior competition, prompting judge Travis Stanley of Fairfield to split the competitors into three groups. Stanley also served as judge for goat, sheep, and beef competitions. There were only a dozen senior competitors and seven novice contestants in the swine competition, half the numbers from 2018.

Rabbit and poultry numbers were way down with only one senior rabbit and two senior poultry competitors. There were only three junior poultry contestants and four junior rabbit entries. Sheep had only two seniors and five juniors. And there were two senior and three junior dog competitors, along with one senior and one junior cat competitor.

Nancy Beech's horse barn was more full with 18 horses and 15 different competition classes and judging that took more than four hours, including a horse costume contest, which the superintendent said they've been doing only the last couple of years. "This is more of a fun competition for them," said Beech. There were medieval princesses, a milkmaid, a rodeo cowgirl, a demon, a queen, a firefighter, and an Alice in Wonderland, along with horses dressed as Cleopatra, Cheshire the cat, a skeleton, a cow, and a horse in flames. Judge Missy Miller of Missoula gave all seven contestants purple ribbons.  

Beef numbers were strong this year with a dozen senior competitors and nine juniors. In the senior class, roles were switched this year with Coby Guenzler of the Little Bitterroot Club taking the grand and Sydney Jackson of the Wranglers receiving the reserve. Richard Jackson, father of Sydney and her twin sister Sage and the beef barn superintendent for the last four years, said his twins usually finish at the top in the market and showmanship contests. Sage this year received a purple. The twins' younger sister, Brooke, took the grand in the junior contest, with Nick McAllister of the Hot Springs Wranglers winning reserve champion. Stanley said the beef competition is the toughest to judge because more people have cattle and judging is more scrutinized.

By the end of the week, judges awarded 148 red ribbons, 351 blues and 171 purples. "The members do a great job all year to showcase their accomplishments at the fair," said Thurston. She said the 4-H'ers are done for the year, except for their paperwork, and will start all over in October.