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On Monday, July 28th, a 4-H Home
and Family show was held in the brown door barn at the Logan County
Fairgrounds. This show was a part of a larger general projects show
being hosted by the University of Illinois Extension Office at the
Logan County Fair. The 4-H projects were submitted by kids between
the ages of eight and eighteen in several different categories.
The brown door barn was filled to capacity with kids and parents.
Some were checking in their projects to be judged by one of several
judges, while others were presenting their projects to the judges.
Proud parents were standing nearby their children, watching closely
as they presented. Many parents had phones out and were snapping
their own pictures and video.
The categories for the Home and Family show were interior design and
babysitting, woodworking, creative writing, photography, and
clothing. Unfortunately, there were no submissions for interior
design and babysitting this year.
Roni Shelton was the judge for the
photography submissions. She called kids who submitted photos over
to her table one at a time to talk to them about their photographs.
She would ask the kids questions about their photos and have
conversations with them. This gave the kids the chance to present
the photo they had taken. Shelton then judged the photos based on
criteria she was given.
Shelton has a lot of experience
with photography, as she has been a photographer for thirteen years.
Shelton stated that she was “really impressed” with the photographs
that were submitted, sharing that every child received a blue
ribbon.
Over on the other side of the barn
was Rick Kidd, who was judging the Woodworking submissions. Where
Shelton would sit across from the kids whose photos she was judging,
Kidd had the kids sit on the same side of the table as him while
they looked at their woodworking creations together.
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Kidd also asked questions about the projects, having
conversations with those who submitted the work. Kidd stated
that he has been interested in and participating in woodworking
for most of his life, since he was the age of many of the kids
who submitted projects. In addition to the Logan County Fair,
Kidd shared that he also judges woodworking projects in both
Sangamon and Menard counties 4-H shows.
Kidd shared that he was impressed with many of the projects that
were submitted, stating that “the kids have got a lot of
talent.”. Kidd did say, however, that many of the kids’ work
could use some improvement. “Some of them could use a little bit
of improvement,” Kidd said, “but they recognize that.” Kidd went
on to say that the kids usually point out things that they would
do differently in the future when presenting their projects.
“The ability to self-criticize is important.”
As the morning moved along, many of
the kids and their parents began to leave once their projects were
judged. Their projects, however, stayed behind and can be viewed in
the brown door barn for the rest of the fair.
[Matt Boutcher]
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