July - County Fair Issue

Welcome to our Family Newsletter! The most up-to-date information about events and activities going on in Washington County 4-H! Please pass along to friends and family that might be interested in attending a 4-H event. You will also receive the monthly Clover Update at the beginning of each month highlighting regional and state events.

The 2022 Washington County Fair 4-H Information (Premium) Book has been posted on our website. Many project areas have been updated from previous years as well as exhibit suggestions! Please take time to carefully READ the Information Book as it has everything you need to know to participate in the County Fair! Any projects entered after July 1 are only eligible for blue, red and white ribbon unless a one-time exemption was used.

2022 Fair Information Book

The Food Stand Committee needs your help! They are looking for donations of bottled water for the fair. If you are interested in donating water please bring a case or two with you to Judging Day on Saturday, July 30. Know a company that would be interested in making a donation?

Contact Caitlin Rademacher, crademac@umn.edu.

Let's go, Washington County 4-H Families! We're more eager than ever to have an incredibly lucrative fundraiser. This can only be done if families and 4-H members volunteer! Please sign-up to support our biggest fundraising effort by volunteering for a food stand shift.

You can sign up today at https://z.umn.edu/20224-HFoodStandVolunteers.

Contact Caitlin with any questions at crademac@umn.edu.

See you at the fair!

Youth Leaders Needed - Fill Ambassador Booth at the County Fair

There are still several shifts available to work at the Ambassador Booth at the Washington County Fair! Welcome fair-goers to the 4-H building, hand out prizes, and share your 4-H knowledge. Shifts are two hours each, so bring a friend and share your passion for 4-H! Sign up for shifts on the Google Doc, and fill out the t-shirt form to receive an Ambassador t-shirt! T-shirt forms must be filled out by Thursday, July 21 at midnight.

Our next Ambassador meeting will be September 26th at 6 PM at the Washington County Government Center.

Reach out to Megan at slate187@umn.edu with any questions.

The Livestock PDC has purchased fill and new lights for the Goat Barn. We are asking goat families to come and help spread the fill into the stalls on Saturday, July 23 beginning at 9:00 am. Please bring shovels, wheelbarrows, and rakes. It won't take long if enough help comes!

Rabbit agility training will take place on Sunday’s: July 24 and 31 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm outside the rabbit barn on the county fairgrounds. Did you really mean rabbit agility? Yes, we did! Youth participating in Rabbit Agility Training will be able to participate in the county fair Rabbit Agility Show held on Friday, August 5 at 10:00 am on the fairgrounds. If you have any questions about Rabbit Agility, please contact Kara at; karamt30@gmail.com

Sign up here!

4-H Horse Project members are invited to attend the Horse Schooling Show on Wednesday, July 27 beginning at 6:00 pm at the Main Horse Arena on the fairgrounds! Classes will include; Showmanship, English Equitation, Western Horsemanship, Poles, Jumping Figure 8 and Barrels! Cost is $5, please correct the amount of cash with you, no pre-registration necessary! Any questions, please contact Julia @ 651-387-2902.

Canine Costume Competition scheduled for Saturday, August 6.

The registration deadline for the Canine Costume Competition at the Washington County Fair has been extended. Participants can now register by July 27 AND you do NOT have to be a resident of Washington County! This new and fun event at the county fair will be held on Saturday, August 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Park Pavilion stage.

We have CASH prizes for the winners! Here is the link, which will provide you with more detailed up-to-date information as well as the Registration and Release forms: https://washingtoncountyfair.org/canine-competition/

Being a Judge's Assistant is a great way to get more involved in 4-H, and learn about interesting project areas such as aerospace, clothing, crafts, and photography. Judges assistants are needed on July 30th from 9:45 am-12:30 pm and from 12:45-4:00 pm for general projects and from August 3rd-7th for livestock. Judges Assistants will be in charge of handing out ribbons and helping out the judge however they need. Sign up today!

Every club is required to help with cleaning before, during or after the fair. The more people present, the faster the work goes. We want to have the best quality buildings to match our high quality exhibits!

Pre-Fair Clean Up and Set Up Wednesday, July 27, from 6:00 p.m.-?

We will unpack display items and shelving to start setting up the 4-H building. Each club should bring at least one carload of workers, including people who can lift heavy things. Please bring the following:

• Cordless drills (All the display fixtures assemble with the use of a drill - the more drills the better!)

• Buckets, old rags and sponges

• Big brooms (to sweep the walls and floors)

• Something to drink!

Happy Hornets - Riverside Routers - Soil Savers - Woodbury

Hooley Hall clean up - Food Stand - Thursday, July 28 from 6:00 pm - ?

Lucky Aces

Exhibit Set Up Tuesday, August 2, 5:00 pm until finished ***new

These clubs will arrange 2,000 exhibits in an interesting and attractive manner and give the building a final clean-up. Each club should bring at least one carload of workers. Please bring brooms to give the floor one final sweep.

Forest Lake Rangers - Country Cousins - St. Croix Clovers

Poultry Barn Clean-up - Sunday, August 7, 8:00 pm

Marine on St. Croix

Post Fair Clean Up Monday, August 8, from 6 pm- ?

The fair is not over until everything is cleaned and put away! These clubs are responsible for cleaning Hooley Hall and the 4-H building. Each club should bring at least one carload of workers.

• Cordless drills (All the display fixtures assemble with the use of a drill - the more drills the better!)

• Buckets, old rags and sponges

• Big brooms (to sweep the walls and floors)

• Something to drink!

Town of May - Wranglers - Independents - Sunnyside

Conference judging will take place this Saturday, July 30 starting at 10:00 am. There are no assigned times, it is first come, first served. The typical judging time is 5-7 minutes per project. Parents are asked to step away while their child is being judged. Judging will stop for a judge's lunch break from 12:30-1:00 pm. Judging will resume at 1:00 pm and continue until 4:00 pm. Everyone in line at 4:00 pm will be judged. 4-H members will receive a blue, red or white ribbon on Saturday. Champion ribbons will be on projects for the opening day of the fair on Wednesday, Aug. 3.

Those who have completed grade 6 and above are eligible for a State Fair trip. Trip winners will be posted on Wednesday in the 4-H building on the fairgrounds. It will be up to individual families to confirm state trips and return packets by Friday at 7:00 pm. Animal trips must be completed and returned by noon on Sunday. Please plan accordingly.

If this is your first time attending the State Fair (Livestock and/or General/Static), there is a State Fair meeting on Saturday, Aug. 6 @ 11:00 am in the 4-H building at Washington County Fair.

All youth who have completed 6th grade and are eligible for a State Fair 4-H livestock trip in beef, dairy, sheep, swine, poultry, rabbits, meat goat, dairy goat, and llama must have completed livestock quality assurance training prior to the Washington County Fair.

Any exhibitors who have not yet completed their certification and plan to prior to the fair will need to bring their completed certificate to the fair.

YQCA on-line Training

4-H members have the option of completing the 1-hour online offered via distance learning. This certification is valid for one fair season. The cost of this training is $12/child and is paid at the time of online registration with a credit card. Since training is good for one fair season, it will need to be completed annually. This is a nationally offered program and a registration fee is utilized to upkeep the system and update the training modules. To learn more about the online option, go to; https://docs.google.com/document/d/12lIomSJgkDAoSVfvaw9vp3udvwr_vZ_XhOcBv32d8Qo/edit

Training promotes responsible care of animals, making informed decisions in animal care, and providing safe consumer food products. Youth will receive a certificate of completion.

We are looking forward to acknowledging you at the County Fair!

There are a few tasks we need from you IF you choose to be recognized:

We would appreciate having a poster board of you displaying pics of your 4-H memories/experiences. These posters will be displayed in the 4-H building during the county fair. (See pic attached of previous posters.) Please bring your poster with you to General Judging Day on Saturday, July 30 between 10-4.

Please complete and return your ‘grad application’ to be recognized Sunday night at our Awards night.

Livestock & Horse Exhibitors are encouraged to fill out the attached ‘Livestock Graduation Questioner’ that will be read during your specific specie livestock/horse show. The completed Livestock Questionnaire needs to be emailed back to Ann at; churc109@umn.edu no later than Monday, July 25th. Please do not wait until the last minute.

Camping rules during the fair from the Washington County Ag Society;

• Prefer no tents (for safety reasons). If this is the only option please do not set up in high traffic areas (North side of horse arena or Cattle Judging arena parking lot) -

• All camping units should be at a minimum of 10 feet from the next unit. A vehicle parked in between is permitted.

• No fires or using portable fire pits.

• No hooking up to fairgrounds water supply.

• No plugging into any fairgrounds electricity, campers shall supply their own energy source if needed. Noisy generators will be asked to be turned off if they are disrupting a judging event or other activity.

• There is no option for campers to shower on the grounds during the fair.

• The fairground does not offer a dump station for any campers.

The Washington County Ag Society is still in need of help for the county fair. Do you have some friends, a church or school group looking to earn some money?

There are numerous spots open to sell gate tickets, take gate tickets, front office help, ticket sellers/ticket takers/wrist bands for grandstand events, etc.

Please if you can help or know of family or friends that can work, please contact Dorie at 651-436-6009 or otag@aol.com

We are in need of youth 7th grade and above to fill a few Exec Board positions. This is a county level leadership group that assists with guiding the direction of the program, setting budgets, training new Club Officers, etc. We meet the 4th Monday of the month at 7:00 pm at the Gov’t Center. If you are interested or have a youth you would like to recommend for this leadership position, please let Ann know at; churc109@umn.edu.

4-H’ers exhibiting livestock at the MN State Fair are required to complete an interview process. Typically this has taken place on the U of M campus. Starting in 2021, youth will be required to complete online Interviews for their specific species PRIOR to arriving at the State Fair. Finalists from the online Interview will have an in-person interview with industry experts to determine top placing individuals. Only dairy exhibitors will continue to go through the interview process during the livestock encampment.

Information on the online interview can be found here;

https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/4-h-at-fairs/livestock/interview-process

Thank you to Kara & Linnea Topper for leading the Rabbit Agility Workshops along with presenting a County Fair Workshop! It has been great to see the 4-H’ers enjoying this experience with their rabbits!

A big thank you to the many hands that went into making Arts-In 2022 a valuable experience for all participants! A special shout out to the Arts-In Directors, Elsie Tenpas & Jenny Moran (co-directors), Joe Voth (band), Sam Verdick (vocals), and Becky Tenpas (technical); the Performing Arts PDC, Avis Peters, Becky Richter, and Leslie Kleppe; alumni Jon Inman for filling in the band; Heather Verdick for creating the costumes; Sheree Schuler, Leslie Kleppe, and Becky Tenpas for coordinating the food; and countless parent volunteers for making this year's encampment such a success! Don't forget to stop by and watch the show, Cruisin' to the Key of Sea, at the County Fair!

Due to our County Fair, Minnesota State Fair and year end Showcases, the Family Newsletter will not be sent to families during the month of August and will resume again in September.

Re-enroll right away in the fall to get the most out of 4-H. Enrollment for 2022-2023 starts October 1, 2022. Reminders will be sent once enrollment opens!

Check out this state page for helpful resources!

https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/4-h-volunteer/

Apply to be a 4-H screened volunteer

https://sites.google.com/umn.edu/4-h-volunteer/

NEW, this year. Families who have not paid their enrollment fees this year will have their entries flagged at fair check in. Meaning you will not receive your entry cards until payment is received or a scholarship form is completed by parent/guardian. Save yourself some time and get this completed BEFORE coming to the fair.

As you may have noticed, shortly after you enrolled online you were approved. Monthly email reminders have been sent to families who have not paid their county fees. We continue to accept checks/cash at any time. Please pay your membership fee, county fees are used not only for programming but also towards salaries for county personnel.

Washington County has a yearly enrollment fee of $25.00 per member (youth only) or $100 max per family for 4 or more children. We ask that you please send payment to our office address listed below.

Checks should be made out to Washington County 4-H and sent to the following address:

Washington County 4-H

14949 62nd Street North

Stillwater, MN 55082

**For those using online banking, please be sure to include Washington County 4-H as checks made out to just Washington County go directly to the property tax office**

We don't want anyone to miss out so please just let us know by completing the scholarship form.

For the most comprehensive list of regional and state events and activities along with these 4-H resources.

• Current and past Family Newsletters
• County Animal ID letters
• News articles about our larger ongoing project areas
• Events calendar
• County club map with contacts
• County Fair information as it becomes available
• Much more

Washington County Website