By Anthony Stoeckert
Yes, of course the Mercer County 4-H Fair will have its share of projects and demonstrations related to agriculture. There’ll be goats, chickens, sheep shearing, horse demonstrations, and farm-related activities.
There also will be traditional staples such as live music, crafts, hay rides, pony rides and lots of food for sale. But Altaira Bejgrowicz, a program associate for the 4-H, says there’s a lot more to the fair than meets the pie-eating contest.
One of the 4-H’s goals, according to Ms. Bejgrowicz, is to spread word that while the organization has its roots in agriculture, youngsters with the 4-H also learn about math and science. Those areas also are big parts of the fair, which will be held at Howell Living History Farm in Titusville, Aug. 1-2.
”This year, you’ll see our robotics club, which is going to be there, we’re going to have rockets that we’re going to be launching — stomp rockets — because we’ve been teaching about the engineering process and we’re using these rockets to do it,” Ms. Bejgrowicz says. “So we’re going to demonstrate some of that at our fair too. We’re trying to showcase some of the other areas that 4-H has moved into over the years.”
That leads to a saying Ms. Bejgrowicz says people at the 4-H like to say: “We’re not just cows and plows.”
But of course, agriculture is a big part of the 4-H, and Ms. Bejgrowicz says the fair gives members of the group the opportunity to show the work they’ve done on their projects throughout the year.
”We’ve had kids who have worked on sheep projects, goat projects, robotics projects, cooking, sewing,” she says. “We have some fiber arts kids. We also have some kids who focus on healthy living. This gives them an opportunity to share with the public what they’ve been working on.”
According to Ms. Bejgrowicz, being part of 4-H not only teaches kids about the areas they work in, it helps develop skills that can be beneficial to many aspects of life.
”The good thing about the 4-H program, and this hasn’t changed over the many years that it’s been in existence, is that 4-H teaches kids about leadership, about citizenship,” she says. “We also teach them how to set goals, and how to track their goals… We’re trying to teach them how to start and complete a task, which is really important.”
The other aspect of the fair is that it allows community members to compete, and showcase their own projects through the fair’s exhibit hall.
”Somebody who made a beautiful painting or a knitting project, or they figured out how to can something really tasty, they can bring it in and share it with the public,” Ms. Bejgrowicz says. “It’s a nice opportunity to come out, see what people are doing, get inspired, and have a nice day.”
And they’ll be lots more do during the two days at Howell Farm. Live entertainment will be offered by musicians such as Ray Owen, the Jugtown Mountain String Band, and the Magnolia Street Band. Other entertainment will include a magic show, a puppet show, a kids open mic and — we kid you not — chicken poop bingo.
For more information, including a full schedule of events, go to mercer.njaes.rutgers.edu/4h/fair.
