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Cloverbuds present a bright future
for Logan County 4-H
[July 29, 2025]
On Monday, July 28th, the
University of Illinois Extension Office held the annual 4-H
Cloverbuds projects. This event took place in the brown door barn of
the Logan County Fairgrounds. The Cloverbuds started a little before
4:00 p.m., which followed a full day of 4-H projects being presented
and displayed by many 4-H kids.
For those not in the know, Cloverbuds is a pre-4-H program that kids
between the ages of five and eight can participate in. This
particular Cloverbuds event was hosted to allow the kids in
Cloverbuds to present projects that they have been working on. These
projects ranged from things built from Lego and handmade items to
art and animals.
There were a very wide range of
projects that were being presented. One girl raised chicks and made
a tri-fold poster board about it. Another girl showed off her 50
State Commemorative Quarter Collection. One boy brought in an art
piece made of several tree branches and beads hanging from it.
As the kids and their parents arrived, they would go to the check-in
table at the front. There they would check in with Rachel Skelton
and have a seat to wait to be called. When a judge was ready, Reagan
Tibbs would call out the child’s name and direct them to the judge
they would be presenting to.
They did not have to wait long this
year, however, as there were a significantly larger number of
judges. In previous years there were usually about four or five
judges. This year there were eight judges total. The judges were
Ellie Wrage, Charlotte Judd, Grace Nutter, Kristina Morrow, Arianna
Morris, Alex Steffens, Kindell Helton, and Myah Bowman. Each of the
judges talked to the kids about their projects, asking questions and
allowing the child to teach them about what they made.
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After each child finished
presenting their creation, they would go and put it on display with
the other Cloverbud projects. Tibbs shared that there were about
forty entrants this year. Tibbs also talked about Cloverbuds and the
role it plays in helping kids collaborate and learn new skills.
“Cloverbuds are for kids who are just a little bit too young to join
4-H… It’s just a group, it’s a class for kids to learn different
things.” Tibbs went on to say “there’s a whole bunch of different
things kids can do. They can do Lego projects, they can do
woodworking, metalworking. A whole bunch of different ways to learn
those skills, interact with kids their age, and learn those
important life skills.”
The 4-H Cloverbuds projects will be on display in the brown door
barn at the Logan County Fairgrounds for the duration of the Fair.
[Matt Boutcher]
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