4-H members show off projects at fairgrounds

The Sanders County Fairgrounds may have lacked the aroma of fair food and carnival noise, but there was still excitement in the air from 4-H kids that spent four days showing their projects last week.

Montana State University Sanders County Extension Agent Juli Thurston had to get special permission from the county Board of Health to have the 4-H events, including not having the general public, other than family, on hand to watch the judging. They also canceled the interview portions, although during the showmanship competition, judges questioned the kids about their animal projects, and the 4-H'ers were not on hand during the judging of the non-animal projects.

Seventy-nine 4-H'ers from all seven clubs participated with nearly 200 projects last week, said Thurston. The number of participants is slightly lower, but the project numbers were over 400 fewer than 2019.

It was particularly meaningful to three 4-H'ers because it was their last chance to be involved in 4-H. "This was all we got left, so I'm glad they had it for us," said Presley Cox of the Trout Creek Mavericks, who competed this year in the poultry, rabbit, beef, goat, and with several non-animal exhibits. "I like to win, but it's not really the winning; it's fun," said the 18-year-old Thompson Falls resident. He had the largest item in the non-animal category with a 6-foot-tall cabinet that he made from barn wood from the early 1900s. Cox worked on the cabinet for five months and got a blue ribbon. He also received a purple ribbon for a holster in the leatherwork division. 

He nabbed grand champion ribbons in his cat, chicken and goat projects, along with a reserve ribbon in the rabbit contest. In his first time to participate in the beef competition, he took a red ribbon with his 1.5-year-old heifer "Pearl." Cox started in 4-H as a cloverbud at age 6, but he plans to return to the Sanders County Fair next year to compete in open class. He also plans to start his own ranch in Trout Creek.

It was also the last chance for Sage and Sydney Jackson of the Hot Springs Wranglers. "I wanted to go out with a bang. I got the last couple months of school and softball taken away from me, so I'm glad to get to finish my 4-H career," said 18-year-old Sydney, who captured grand champion ribbons in the market beef and in the senior beef showmanship, while her sister, Sage, was awarded the showmanship reserve champion ribbon. The Jackson twins have been in 4-H for 10 years, spending six years in the steer competition and four years with sheep, competing only with their steers this year. Over the years in market and showmanship, Sage has taken two grands and two reserves. Sydney has had five grands and two reserves.

"They've been competitive from the time they were back in the womb," said their father, Richard Jackson, the beef barn superintendent, whose younger daughter, Brooke, competed in the junior beef class. He said it's always been a "friendly" competition between the twins, but he said it'll be a long ride back to Montana State University, where both attend college.

The beef completion ran around two hours and drew just over 50 spectators, slight less than the swine show. They ran the 16 animals in the market class first this year to accommodate a contestant traveling from outside the local area. Hot Springs Wrangler Kara Christensen won the reserve in market beef while Sydney Jackson took the grand.

There were 10 junior participants and nine seniors in the arena this year, slightly fewer than 2019. Travis Stanley of Fairfield said the juniors were tougher to judge this year because they were all so closely matched. Whitepine Happy Worker Sydnee Wilson was awarded the grand champion ribbon in the junior contest and Nick McAllister of the Hot Springs Wranglers took the reserve. Stanley also judged the goat, sheep and swine competitions.

It was a little like a friendly family feud in the poultry and rabbit competition, where veteran rabbit competitor Claire Wrobleski of the South Side Sparks with her chicken "Plums" in the junior class went head to head with her little sister and first time contestant Katherine, 9, with "Bootie." Claire captured the grand champion ribbon by one point, said first time Sanders County 4-H judge Wendy McDaniel of Missoula. "That was a little too close," said the 14-year-old Claire, who then nearly lost to her brother, Andrew, 12, in the poultry competition. She won the grand championship in the showmanship realm, but the roles were switched when Gordon Cummings of Ronan, a judge of over 10 years, selected Andrew's bird for the grand and Claire's for reserve.

Vanessa Horn, 16, of the Trout Creek Mavericks took grand champ with in the rabbit competition and Cox took the reserve. There were more rabbit entries this year with five junior and two senior rabbit competitors, but fewer poultry entries with two juniors and one senior. The cat competition had only two participants, Cox taking the senior grand championship and Savanah Wilson of the Happy Workers taking the junior grand. There were no dog or llama entries this year.

The numbers were fewer than normal, but the enthusiasm remained as high as ever. "It's whole week of camaraderie. They've been locked up all summer, they're just happy to see another face," said Doug Horner of Noxon, the rabbit and poultry barn superintendent. Horner's daughters, Vanessa and Brianna, competed in the rabbit and poultry competitions. The 16-year-old Vanessa of the Trout Creek Mavericks took the grand championship ribbon in the senior rabbit class with "Bugs," her Holland lop.

It took about two hours to get through the 11 seniors and 23 juniors in the swine competition. Stanley broke the juniors into three groups, bringing back five finalists, who all received purple showmanship ribbons. The junior grand champion went to Happy Worker Solveig Nygaard. Happy Worker Annalise Fairbank took the reserve. In the senior division, Hondo Ryan of the South Side Sparks claimed the grand while his brother, Spur, walked away with the reserve. There were no novice swine competitors this year. The sheep competition had only two seniors and one junior participating. Cody Hansen of the South Side Sparks won grand champion in the senior division and his brother, Austin, took the reserve. In the junior class, Jacob Hutchins was the grand champion. Cox was the only senior in the goat competition, taking grands in showmanship and in the breeding class. Savanah Wilson took the grand honors in the junior showmanship and a grand champion ribbon in the market lamb class.

The 4-H program is more than animals and that was demonstrated with 110 works from baked goods to welding projects and two Future Farmers of America projects. It took the five judges only two hours in the pavilion this year to go through the kids' projects. 

Martin Wrobleski of the South Side Sparks had one of the most unique items in the show, said Karen Dwyer, an extension office volunteer of 28 years who chipped in to help with the judging of several categories this year. The 16-year-old Wrobleski created a buckskin outfit that included moccasins, pants and shirt, which he entered under the Western Heritage Division. It took Wrobleski about 12 hours over the course of two weeks to complete the outfit. "It keeps the weather out pretty good, especially on a windy day. When it's warm out, it doesn't feel hot," said Wrobleski, who's been in 4-H for seven years. Judge Carla Kenzie of Plains awarded Wrobleski blue ribbons for the pants and moccasins and a purple for the shirt. Wrobleski said he might wear it to next year's David Thompson Days in Thompson Falls. Another unique project was a six-foot tall metal flower in the welding class by FFA member Gabby Jarvis of Hot Springs. Dale Neiman of Camas Prairie, who has judged more than 20 years, gave Jarvis a blue ribbon for the lawn art. 

Photography, which is usually a heavy category, had only 23 entries, and still the most of any class. There were only three cloverbud entries and they were all by 6-year-old Jaisynn Etienne of the Heron/Noxon Explorers. Dwyer was impressed with the cake decorating skills of Hattie Neesvig of the Happy Workers and awarded her a purple ribbon for her two-layer cake. She and Georgia Uski of the Wranglers, who made a green frosted monster cake, were the only two cake decorating entries. Uski also received a purple ribbon. There were 16 baking and two cooking entries and as judge, Dwyer got to taste each one. "I knew I was going to do this, so I didn't eat a big breakfast and I didn't eat lunch," said Dwyer, who added that the tasting was good, but the best part was seeing the kids' projects. "Every year there's always something that blows your mind," said Dwyer.

"I think these are awesome this year. There's some really high quality pieces, especially in the woodworking," said Ashley Devol, the extension office administrative assistant. Also judging the non-animal entries were first time judges Wally Gibe of Thompson Falls and Beth Rehbein of Plains. It was also the first time for Casey Chenoweth of Trout Creek, a former 4-H member, who judged the cat competition. 

Thurston was pleased that the county health board allowed the 4-H annual gathering. She said the kids had been working hard all summer to ready for the fair. "It was worthwhile so the kids see some rewards for their project work, get feedback from judges and recoup costs from the project," said Thurston.