4-H kids ready fairgrounds

Putting kids to work isn't always easy, unless they're excited about the next week, when they'll be showing their year long endeavors at the annual fair.

More than 100 4-H members and around 60 parents and club leaders gathered at the Sanders County Fairgrounds Saturday morning for Fair Readiness Day in preparation for this week's 4-H competitions. The group spent three hours cleaning the six barns and the pavilion.

"The parents and kids did a great job. The fairgrounds look amazing," said Juli Thurston, the Montana State University Extension agent, which heads the 4-H program in Sanders County. "Fair Readiness Day is always a highlight for the kids getting to see their friends and in anticipation for the fair," she said.

Much of their time was spent filling the animal stalls with sawdust, which was again donated by Thompson River Lumber. They cleaned the inside and outside of the buildings, pulled weeds, hauled away trash, and sifted through the dirt of the horse arena, removing rocks and other foreign objects. Thurston said they had already done some touch up painting on the barns. Hand sanitizers were also installed outside each barn.