Pre-fair activities in full swing

Liam Bee and his dad Randy attend the 4-H tractor Sunday afternoon driving practice at the Putnam County Fairgrounds. Randy had a positive experience as a youth in this contest placing in the top 10 at state, and father and son enjoy the practice together for Liam to develop skills. All of the tractors for the event and practices are provided by Humphreys’ Outdoor Power.

Courtesy photo

While many first thoughts about the Putnam County Fair may include an elephant ear or a grilled cheese and shake at the dairy shack, the first competition associated with the fair for many occurred this past weekend with the pre-fair activities of archery shooting competition.

Dairy cattle at the fairgrounds for a dairy showmanship practice workshop, a llama alpaca workshop with animals and tractor driving practice all occurred this past weekend. Fair Board President Adam Hochstedler and Gene Grable were measuring and marking out locations on Sunday afternoon for tents which will soon be erected.

While the activity was minimal for what is about to come, several boxes on the checklist for the annual event were already being checked. Super volunteers are what make the 4-H program a success and that was certainly on display with the weekend activities.

The 4-H tractor driving contest will be this coming weekend. Did you know that this was a 4-H fair competitive event both locally and at state? While most will not be on a farm driving a tractor with a wagon or trailer, this contest seems hugely important as a life skill and an obvious good prerequisite for driving a car.

There are three division choices where one may choose one or do all three. A zero-turn (ZTR) mower division, a tradition lawn and garden tractor division and an ag tractor division comprise the contest. Contestants compete in a set driving course, take a parts quiz and a knowledge quiz and troubleshoot. The event certainly is a help to learning driving skills, and while most won’t be driving tractors every day as an adult, the skills can be put to use when pulling recreational items like campers, boats, mowing or other items that may be job-related.

Finally, it would be a great time to have a family chat about what your 4-H expectations are. Why do you do 4-H? Adults can fail their children in exhibiting behavior suggesting that the purpose is to win, and if we don’t win, then we either quit that activity or pull out.

Yelling, whining, putting others down or complaining are not good virtues of 4-H, and exhibiting these behaviors seeking to get one’s way or to elevate one’s self is certainly failing our children in teaching them to be their best, be strong and to persevere as they begin adulting. When a parent is more upset than a child about a placing, it begs the question of whose project it was.

Frankly, a judge makes decisions on a certain day as they see a situation. There could be a lot of opinions and some things are very subjective, while others are more objective. Not everyone is going to be in first place, and the Danish recognition systems utilized by many 4-H activities is good for allowing everyone to be assessed for their performance based on criteria.

Remember, ultimately 4-H is a fun method to learn life skills doing hands-on activity. Any time someone makes the 4-H experience to be something different, one is off-task. The beauty of 4-H is that parents can use 4-H to teach their children life skills of how to manage events, including outcomes that we may or may not agree with at times.

Visit www.extension.purdue.edu/putnam or contact the local office at 653-8411 for more information regarding this week’s column topic or to RSVP for upcoming events. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. Evening and lunch appointments are available upon request. It is always best to call first to assure items are ready when you arrive and to RSVP for programs.

Upcoming Events

July 12 – Forest Management and Selling Timber webinar, noon, register at https://women4theland.org/upcoming-events

July 12 – FairEntry.com deadline for all 4-H projects (except rabbits on July 16) entered for county fair

July 16 – Tractor driving 4-H contest, 9 a.m., Putnam County Fairgrounds

July 16 – Shooting sports firearms competition, 8:30 a.m., Cloverdale Conservation Club

July 17 – Dog obedience 4-H show, noon, Putnam County Fairgrounds

July 17 – Putnam County 4-H Fair Parade, 2 p.m.

July 22-29 – Putnam County 4-H Fair

July 25 – Book to Barn, 11 a.m. or 3 p.m., register by July 15 at 653-8411

Aug. 4 – ServSafe food managers one-day course and online exam, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., register by July 28 at www.purdue.edu/servsafe/workshops

Aug. 9 – Food preservation/canning workshop, Johnson County Fairgrounds, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., register at https://cvent.me/kagOyz