Heather Strupp (University of Idaho Extension, Bingham County) is in charge of the 4-H program for that county and enjoys working with kids preparing their projects for the County Fair. The ones that do well and go on to the State Fair have an exciting time. “One little boy was doing a new project and his goal was to be able to make it to the State Fair.
He accomplished that and was elated. The State Fair gives kids a goal to strive for, especially if they are doing a horse project, because they have to place at a certain level to be able to qualify to go to State Fair,” she says. “In our Fair District, we have 16 counties, so there is a lot of competition.
You are up against the best of the best at the State Fair. There are many kinds of projects that can qualify to go to the State Fair if they do well enough at the County Fairs. In the 4-H building at the State Fair, there are projects from all 16 counties—everything from cooking, and sewing, to art and many crafts.
Any project that earns a blue ribbon at the County Fair is eligible to take to the State Fair.” This is a wonderful experience for kids because the friends they make at the Fair from other countries are often lasting friendships. “They may only see those friends once a year at the State Fair, but they look forward to it.
They make friends in 4-H and FFA with mutual interests and wait for that once-a-year opportunity to hang out with those special friends,” she says. At this age, some of these frien.