When you visit the county fair this week, you’ll quickly notice how much work the 4-Hers put into their projects. What might be harder to notice is how much work the adults behind the scenes put into making this opportunity possible.
Running such a complex program requires time and lots of organization, but to the man who does it, it’s worth it to provide this opportunity to local kids.
This is Andrew Ferrell, who has been serving as the Kosciusko County 4-H youth development educator for four years. Since he started, new youth showcases and projects have been added to the guidebook, but the main purpose and planning process of the event has remained the same.
“With lots of help and organization,” Ferrell says, is how he and his team pull it off.
While the fair is happening, he stays the entire day at the fairgrounds keeping things running.
“I’m there all day, every day,” he explains. “Usually about eight o’clock or so and I’m there until nine o’clock.”
During the days, he spends his time “helping youth and managing volunteers.” His least favorite part, he adds, is “if we get storms or super-hot, humid days.”
The work never really ends for Ferrell, either — the planning and preparation is a year-round process. Just about as soon as the fair this year ends, he’ll start planning for next year’s.
Most of the off-season work is checking the paperwork and ensuring everything is in order, he says. “There are many moving parts with the fair.”
There’s enjoyment in the process, too, though, along with some more lighthearted challenges. The most unique problem Ferrell has run into is deciding what to have for lunch, and his favorite part is helping out the students who participate.
He also has lots of experience with being on the other side of the process, having participated in 4-H as a youth himself. When he was younger, he showed swine, sheep, rabbits and DCFS (Dairy Calf Feeder Steer).
“On the 4-H side, I was a 10-year member,” he said. It’s not hard to see how that experience helped him in his job. “I just have an understanding of how the shows and everything gets judged and understanding of how certain processes work,” he said. “So, now I just get to see that on the back side of it and help figure out what would be best for the kids.”
It’s clear his enthusiasm for helping kids and for 4-H is what brought him to take the job as 4-H youth development educator. Ferrell explained, “It was a passion of mine and something that I enjoyed doing as a kid … and there was always some interest in helping other kids getting to something where they could build a hobby and build a career, and so it was something that I wanted — to help lead kids [to] find a love and passion.”
Ferrell had praise for all the projects. He explained that there aren’t any in particular that stand out because all of them display the kids’ skills in different ways.
“They are all interesting because each kid gets to display their own creativity,” he said. “A lot of them I find attractive just because I know I couldn’t do it and I’m impressed by how the kids can.”
Through the Kosciusko County 4-H program, children and teens can present their projects or animals at the fair. Kids who participate can show anything from dairy and preserved foods to fine arts and zero-turn mower safety. This year, the general project judging has already been completed, and the animals being shown will be brought to the fair.
The Kosciusko County Fair runs July 7-13, and 4-Hers’ projects will be exhibited in the Shrine Building.