4-H 'like a family' for youth at Cecil County Fair

FAIR HILL — 4-H is much more than just agriculture focused, members are also involved in community service, mentorship, public speaking, leadership, arts and crafts, engineering, and countless other learning opportunities.

Many people think you need to have an animal to join 4-H, but 4-H offers so many outlets for growth outside of livestock.

“It was an agricultural focus when it was started, but it’s not just agricultural focused now, everything from photography to computers to robots to, you know, showing a llama, all of that is part of 4-H,” said Mark Barczewski, 4-H Barn Stompers club leader.

Kaitlyn Chaplin, a fourth generation 4-H member, showed rabbits, dairy cows, and chickens, but she didn’t stop at livestock. Chaplin entered a handmade terrarium animal garden in the Farm and Garden show, which won a third place ribbon.

She also entered a whopping 70 items in the Home and Arts competition, ranging from baked goods to handmade clothing to photography. She repurposed an old homecoming dress and a tablecloth into a beautiful corset-styled dress. 4-H offers sewing classes for anyone interested in learning how to make something, like Chaplin.

“Everyone helps each other, we’re all like a family,” said Chaplin

Chaplin just got back from a 4-H exchange trip in Kansas where she got to experience a different community of 4-H’ers. She even came back with a simple but delicious peanut butter cookie recipe, which she entered in baked goods.

“I find the categories nobody shows in and I do them so people will be like ‘Oh I can do that,’” said Chaplin.

Chaplin also did a science project about whether or not music affects horses, finding that it does. Her informative and creative poster is on display in the Home and Arts barn.

“Horses can sense emotion and music is full of emotion,” said Chaplin.

Both Farm and Garden and Home and Arts have open classes for anyone and 4-H classes for members. The Farm and Garden shows consist of anything agriculture or nature based ranging from fruits and vegetables to hay and flowers. The Home and Arts competition offers anything you can make ranging from food to clothing.

In addition to creative competitions, 4-H also offers equipment based competitions. Mason Gentry from Rising Sun 4-H club has been a member for four years and in addition to showing his cow, he also entered in tractors, lawn tractors, and ATV contests. He emphasized the importance of ensuring young people know what they are doing with farm equipment. You demonstrate the vehicle and knowledge of all parts of it, which is important to know for when something breaks so you can identify what went wrong and know how to fix it.

From tractors to peanut butter cookies, 4-H offers something for everyone while also providing an inclusive toolkit to grow the future generations of independent, hard working leaders. To get involved or learn more, check out their website.