Early judging event is rewarding for all
- Laurie Sidle, OSU Extension Wayne Co.
- July 21, 2023
- 435
You’ve heard the famous line, “The dog ate my homework.”
I’ve got a better one. A 4-H member who attended our recent early judging event reported his dog ate his ribbon. Well, maybe the dog didn’t actually eat it, but it sure gave the gold outstanding ribbon a good gnawing based on the photo he sent to his 4-H club adviser. And this was only about an hour after the 4-Her had earned the top rating on his project.
I smiled and gladly provided a replacement.
4-Hers brought more than 100 projects to our early judging event at the Wayne County Fair Event Center for the chance to earn a ribbon, a possible trip to the state fair and other awards. Their creations included decorated cakes, quilts, scrapbooks, mini gardens and art, photography, woodworking, and welding projects. Among the sewn garments were a Harry Potter costume, pajamas, and a coat and the elastic-waisted skirts and pants first-year members made with the help of volunteers at Wayne County 4-H Sewing Camp.
Many 4-Hers designed poster displays to describe what they learned in projects such as Exploring Polar Science, Ohio Birds, First Aid, Finding Your Voice: Public Speaking Made Easy, and You and Your Dog. A few members created their own projects through the Self-Determined category. A 4-Her converted an old T-shirt to a jacket by sewing together strips of material. Another made stop motion animation with Lego figures.
Nineteen volunteer judges sat at tables with the 4-Hers to interview them and evaluate their projects. Most were veterans, but a few were new to the 4-H project judging experience. All offered expertise to the areas they chose to judge.
Tim Frye is one of the veterans. He’s been judging projects about rockets, small engines, radio-controlled vehicles and bicycles off and on since the early 1980s. A retired educator, Frye said he enjoys seeing how excited 4-Hers get about their projects as they share about what they’ve learned.
“You learn more when you teach,” Frye said, “and they teach you about their experience.”
A former 4-Her and adviser, Frye said he also sees his work as a volunteer judge as a way to give back because people gave time for him when he was involved in the 4-H program.
Faith Jagger traveled from Morrow County to lend her expertise to sewing projects. “I just love judging,” she said. “It inspires me to get creative.”
Longtime judge Pearl Gasser likes the miscellaneous category and will judge “anything that doesn’t slither.”
The new judges talked about how interesting it was to talk to the 4-Hers and how knowledgeable they were about their projects.
We strive to make judging a positive experience for all the 4-Hers, regardless of the rating they earn. It’s a chance for them to learn from the experts what they might do better or improve on what they made and gain valuable interview experience.
We will hold a second project judging on Aug. 8 at the event center.
You can check out 4-H projects on display in Building 10 at the Wayne County Fair Sept. 9-14.
Laurie Sidle is an OSU Extension family and consumer sciences program assistant and may be called at 330-264-8722.