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 4-H Members Have a Great Showing at State Fair
by Cindy Gauthier, 4-H Program Coordinator
WSU Extension, San Juan County
San Juan County residents have reason to be proud of the 4-H members that participated at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, which ran from September 8th through September 24th. Twenty-five members ranging from ages 9-17 participated this year with some of the most outstanding awards achieved.
For the first time ever, a San Juan County dog member is a champion! Kelsey Guyer (right) did her personal best while showing her dog, Looker, in Showmanship and Obedience classes. She received Grand Champion Intermediate Showmanship, which qualified her to compete in the overall championship round the following day. She placed 10 out of 24! She also received Reserve Champion in the Pre-Novice Obedience class. Throughout the year, Kelsey has been competing with Looker in open class and 4-H qualifying shows off island. She has enjoyed taking her project to the next level of competition. Her hard work and training has paid off. She also participated in the Timed Table Decorating event. Her colorful and creative Hawaiian Luau theme was a hit as she received a blue and Award of Merit ribbon from the judge.
Marina Steinbrueck, Sam Fowler, Sara Stanley, Katie Ogston and Coral Black all qualified and sent their photography entries to be included in the judging at State. Although the competition is tough at State Fair in photography, most received red and blue ribbons.
 A blue and Award of Merit ribbon was won by Coral (left) with her photo of a very friendly island fox. Her photo scrapbook also won a blue. She also competed in the Timed Table Decorating event and received a blue ribbon. Coral had one hour to unpack, set up and display her Halloween party table setting to the judge. The table décor competition is becoming a very popular entry at County Fair with the food club members and was enjoyed by many visitors to the Marie Boe 4-H building.
 Maxwell Haenel (right) just completed his first year in 4-H and qualified for State at County Fair by winning Junior Grand Champion in the public presentation department. At State Fair, he received a blue ribbon for his demonstration on hedgehogs.
Max did a great job of adapting his demonstration last minute because State Fair does not allow live animal presentations.
 Gretchen Scherzinger (right) participated in the 4-H Fashion Revue with her very colorful prom halter dress, receiving a blue ribbon. This was her first year in Fashion Revue and she also received a red ribbon on her very pretty green prom dress. She was a real trooper traveling down to Puyallup to compete on a Sunday after a full day of volleyball on Saturday.
 MacKenzie Brown sent her two-piece pajama set (left), colorful quilt topped pillow and bright blue and yellow kitchen apron. She received two red ribbons and one blue, a big accomplishment for a first year sewing member. She is looking forward to being involved with the new sewing and knitting club starting up this fall.
 Educational posters are a popular item to send down to State Fair. It is always fun and very educational for the public to read and learn from these posters.
All the local 4-H posters received blue ribbons, which is a great achievement considering hundreds of posters are judged. 4-H educational display participants included Brittany Wachter, Miles McCloskey, Ziah Guidotti, Katie Gauthier, Grace Thompson, Rhys Thompson and Kelsey Guyer. Clinton Gauthier (right) received a blue award on his “Teen Leadership Opportunities” booth display.
Every year there is an exciting week of competition at County Fair for the minimal State Fair slots in the horse project area. 4-H horse members rotate in and out throughout the State Fair’s three weeks. As one group is leaving the fair grounds, the next group of competitors is just arriving from the islands. The “change out” occurs over several hours of which stalls are cleaned, bags are packed and tack and horses are loaded. Stall decorations are passed onto the next group coming in. It is a very well organized process and requires communication and cooperation by all. Island vs. Island no longer exists, and all the youth and families support one another as a San Juan County horse team.
 Alex and Jennifer MacDonald (left) participated in Intermediate Performance classes during the first four days of State Fair. They both got blue ribbons in Stock Seat Equitation and Alex won a call back ribbon to continue to the Championship round. Jennifer is a first year member and felt really good about being able to compete at State.
Next to arrive are Megan Brown, Blake Guard and Jenna Schmidt which all participated in the Senior Performance horse classes. Blue ribbons were received in many classes with each member receiving at least one call back for eligibility to compete in the championship round.
The Intermediate Western Games competitors Kelsey Jennings and Kaylee Kramer returned to the islands with smiles and success for all their hard work. It was a very exciting and fun time for both of these members. They enjoyed getting to know each other better, as Kelsey is from San Juan and Kaylee is from Lopez.
To wrap up the horse competitions we have Anna and Beth Ware along with Renae Harvey competing in Senior Western Games during the last few days of Fair. All three had a fun time enjoying their first time participating. Renae almost got a call back for Showmanship, but was pleased with her high blue placing. The girls had fun getting to know each other better and would love to come back next year.
All of the horse members exhibited blue ribbon effort in Herdsmanship, which requires hours of time and energy to keep up with strict State standards for animal care, stall maintenance and public education. They exhibit and compete with their educational posters as a part of their stall decorations. Many blue ribbons were brought back home!
Congratulations to everyone who entered State Fair this year. What dedication and enthusiasm towards the 4-H program from our families.
Thank you to the 4-H volunteer leaders who give so much of their time to help, teach and encourage the youth in our community. If you’re interested in being a volunteer leader or have a child interested in joining 4-H please contact Cindy or Alice at the WSU Extension Office at 378-4414. You can also support 4-H by donating to our local 4-H Endowment.
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