4-H News
With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting Ohio in March, schools closed and 4-H club meetings shifting to virtual zoom calls, Feathers and Fleece 4-H Club members knew that the 2020 Great Geauga County Fair was going to be different, too, if it happened at all...
Feathers and Fleece
With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting Ohio in March, schools closed and 4-H club meetings shifting to virtual zoom calls, Feathers and Fleece 4-H Club members knew that the 2020 Great Geauga County Fair was going to be different, too, if it happened at all. Club members raise poultry, rabbits, goats, sheep and beef and are in almost every barn at the fairgrounds. Members also perform various service projects during the year, such as donating used blankets, towels and sheets to Rescue Village this spring.
All spring and summer, members hoped the fair board would figure out a way to make the Labor Day weekend the same amazing experience they have every year. The fair board and many volunteers made it happen. For anyone who has never been in 4-H, the first thing one needs to know about the Great Geauga County Fair is that there are many volunteer adults and older teens who work behind the scenes day and night, so there even is a fair.
The “alternative” fair was certainly different, and it kept the best parts – 4-H and other junior fair members got to show off their hard work raising animals, laughing, having fun with friends and taking their projects to the live auction. Members did have to wear masks in the barns and when close to each other outside, and they had to keep 6 feet apart whenever they could. The fair did not have all the rides, games, food and activities as a “normal” fair, so less visitors came. Members also were told not to take animals out of cages to show visitors like they might have done in other years, so they would not mingle with people they didn’t know.
Poultry showmanship was not held in the auction tent like last year – it was in the small grandstand, which gave everyone a better view, too. The live auction was live-streamed, and the buyer for my chicken pen put in his bid from the comfort of his living room.
By the end of Labor Day weekend, I had some sunburn and was tired, but it was a great fair. I really thank all the fair board and volunteers who sat through a lot of meetings to make it happen for all the junior fair members this year. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but it was definitely a fair I will never forget. (Submitted by Margo Brugger, news reporter)
