County shares 4-H coordinator with Van Buren

Kaye Gilbert has worked part-time for two years as Van Buren County?s 4-H youth coordinator and since Feb. 15, has expanded her responsibilities, filling the same position in Jefferson County.

?The previous Jefferson County 4-H youth coordinator resigned and rather than hire a new person and expect them to get up to speed less than four months to fair time, I was hired for six months to get 4-H through fair time,? said Gilbert. ?In August, the position will be re-evaluated and a decision about Jefferson County?s coordinator will be made.?

Even for someone with Gilbert?s experience, coordinating Jefferson County?s 212 4-H youth to show at the annual fair, June 25-July 2, then turning around in 13 days for Van Buren?s fair, July 15-23 and its 150 4-H participants, is a tall order.

?In Van Buren County, the younger kids, those in kindergarten to grade 3, don?t show at the county fair,? said Gilbert. ?Those younger kids, known as Clovers, are considered 4-H participants in training. Van Buren has 25 Clovers. So that still leaves 125 4-H kids eligible to show at the Van Buren County Fair.?

Jefferson County has 49 Clovers, and they have traditionally had the option to show at the annual fair.

As 4-H youth coordinator, Gilbert?s immediate responsibility is attending and recording livestock weigh-ins. Livestock that will be shown for contests and sold for market at the county fairs have required weigh-ins now and again at the fair.

?The beef weigh-ins were in December and January,? said Gilbert. ?Now, in March and April, are swine weigh-ins. Jefferson County has a 4-H swine weigh-in Saturday. In April and May, it?s sheep and goats.?

Gilbert publishes a monthly newsletter to keep 4-H families informed.

?I tell them about deadlines and activities as well as opportunities outside their own counties,? she said.

In addition to livestock raised for market, 4-H offers a wide range of categories for county fair contests. Participants can show/display/demonstrate:

? Breeding livestock.

? Rabbits, chickens, dogs, cats and other non-farm animals, any pet categories. ?I?ve been told to expect any and everything for pets at the Jefferson County Fair,? said Gilbert. ?I was told there?s previously been snakes, rats and even a tarantula.?

? Static exhibits, including clothing, photography, food and nutrition, visual arts, woodworking and more.

? Communication events such as presentations, skits, going through a ?how to? process, extemporaneous speaking and others.

?I encourage participants to bring school projects they?ve worked on; they can use it again in a 4-H display or presentation,? said Gilbert. ?Their school project may not get judged so much on the final product as it was graded in school, but they need to write down their process, add a goal, such as ? what were they trying to learn or discover? They can describe what they learned from the project. How did they attain their goal?

?The finished project doesn?t even have to be perfect. It?s the process and the learning ? the whole package ? that 4-H judges value.?

She said one of her 4-H participants one year entered homemade bread that she?d burned. She hadn?t the time to bake another loaf of bread.

?She told me going in, she wasn?t expecting to win,? said Gilbert. ?But she explained her process and what she had learned, and the judge said she deserved to move on to competition at the state fair.?

All animals not required to weigh-in for the county fair, or non-market animals, do need to be identified, by March 15 in Jefferson County, to show at the fair.

Participants and their projects need to be registered at the fair.

?A lot of recording and book work takes place at the fair,? said Gilbert. ?That?s part of my responsibilities.

?Fair superintendents are often in the barns making sure kids know what time it is, when the next competition takes place and that everyone gets to the right spots at the right times.?

Gilbert wants to help erase a perception that 4-H is only for those living on farms and involved with agriculture.

?There are many activities in 4-H that benefit anyone,? she said.

For more information about 4-H, call Gilbert at 472-4166 in Jefferson County or 319-293-3039 in Van Buren County.