Summertime is a time for kids to enjoy warm weather, no school, and hanging out with friends. But for some people, summertime is when they spend their time getting ready for the 4-H fair. 4-H is a program that helps teach kids responsibility and ownership. Kids who participate in this program prepare projects that will be brought to the county fair. During this week, the students will submit these projects for competition against other kids with similar projects. 4-H is very unique because all different types of people can be involved in it. Because there is such a large variety of projects, there is something for everyone. Projects range from woodworking, to shooting sports, to swine. 4-H members have the option to choose just one project or several. It is all dependent on how hard the person is willing to work and how well they will be able to manage their time.

To be in 4-H, someone does not have to be a “farm kid.” Taming and handling animals isn’t for everyone. Fortunately, there is a wide-ranging number of indoor projects that have nothing to do with a farm or actually dealing with animals themselves. These projects include photography, cake decorating, memory book, child development, and many, many more.

On the other hand, some people enjoy showing animals at the fair. Some animals are shown in the show arena while being handled by the 4-H member that owns them. A few examples of these projects include beef, swine, sheep, and dairy. Kids must spend all summer with their animals, training them, feeding them, and just overall spending time with them. They have to put a lot of effort into their animals to ensure that they will be tame enough to be led around a show ring in front of a large audience. At the Cass County 4-H Fair, each of these animals stay in a barn for their specific species during the week. While the large animals are shown in a show arena, other animals are put on display while in their cage. Some of these animals include chickens, rabbits, and ducks. All of these animals share a barn.

During the week of the fair, there are many people that filter through the fairgrounds. People from all around the community are welcome to visit the barns and check out the animals that are there. During the show days, visitors are also welcome to sit in the show barn and spectate the shows that are going on in which the animals are presented to the judges. This is a great opportunity to expose people that may live in a city, to experiences that they may never see on a regular basis. Visitors also can enjoy eating at all of the food stands as well as riding on the rides. All of these components of the fair are sure to guarantee that anyone that goes will have a good time. The 4-Hers are there to help all of the visitors if they have any questions about the animals or the 4-H experience itself. This can help develop good people skills. Overall, 4-H is a great opportunity for kids to learn responsibility and develop important skills that will help them later in life.