A record was broken by 4-H members at the Washington County Fair this year. This year was a record high number of participants in the Working Exhibits with make and take sessions. There were 10 groups of 4-H’ers with presentations during the Working Exhibits. Washington County 4-H and Youth Coordinator Amy Green said a large crowd flocked to the hands-on presentations that ranged from seed germination to breakfast foods. The category falls under the communication division, which emphasizes how to demonstrate, give directions, and interact with an audience. The Judge’s Choice trophy went to Prairie Pride members Halle Cuddeback, Eden Levetzow, and Isabella Lujan for their DIY Bubble Blowers project.

Green wishes all of the area 4-H and FFA members going to the state fair good luck, “Congratulations! We are proud of you and excited. And we love that this is a place where you can excel. And we’re excited that you can represent us in Des Moines. We hope lots of people will be able to go and look for those projects. We do have a lot of livestock exhibitors, they get to openly enroll to participate there; so it’s always such a reward to see how many kids want to continue working, and continuing to grow, and continuing to learn, and that’s what they do when they are there, too. So, that will be exciting to see all of the faces of Washington and, you know, we are a really big 4-H family so it is fun to be able to go somewhere else and root for each other, too.”

Washington County will be represented with Working Exhibits by Ally Rees and Bailey Rees with Sock Bunnies; Anna Flynn and Grace Conger with Breakfast Splits; Hannah Rodgers, Ellie Callahan, and Paige Malichky with Butterfly Seed Bombs; and Jenna Messer with Great Grape Snacks. The Iowa State Fair runs from August 8th to the 18th in Des Moines.