'It's pretty much a year long process'

SPRINGFEILD, Neb. (KMTV) – Sarpy County 4Hers put in months of work to get their projects and livestock ready for the fair and with the fair starting this week, the kids hard work is finally being seen

• Mallory Beethe, a Sapry County 4Her started working on her fair projects months ago
• Beethe's projects range anywhere from baked goods, woodwork, to making her own chess board
• She is just one of 400 4Hers in Sarpy County who put months of work into their projects

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Take a look at this tray made of old bathroom tiles. Would you believe it took hours of work to put this together and the 4her that did it is only 13 years old.

In Sarpy County, at the fair showing projects that 4hers have spent months or longer working on.

"it’s pretty much a year long process," Mallory Beethe, Sarpy County 4Her said.

Mallory has been in 4h since she was five and turns in over 50 exhibits to the Sarpy County Fair every year. Her projects range anywhere from baked goods, rockets, woodwork, to chess boards she made by herself. And these projects take a lot of time and dedication for the 13-year-old to complete before the fair.

"I’ll get up at 8 am and it will be all the way until 10. Last night I didn’t go to bed until 1 a.m. because I was working on my baking," Mallory said.

Mallory’s mom, Terra, says not many people realize how much work goes into kids 4H projects.

"it’s a job in itself. It’s pretty impressive most kids think of summer as a time to relax and she goes full blaze into it and she says schools her time to relax," Terra said.

The fair is the biggest event for 4Hers and Mallory is just one example of the 400 kids in Sarpy County 4H who put hours in preparing their projects and livestock for the shows.

Brett Kreifels, head of Sarpy and Douglas Counties 4H, says a lot of kids start their projects for next year’s fair right when this one ends.

"Depending on the project it can be a whole year’s worth of work. 4h at the fair is kind of the culminating event for our 4h program so it’s a big deal, the kids look forward to this every year,” Kreifels said.

After the projects are judged some of kids will move forward to the state fair next month to put their projects against other 4hers projects from counties across Nebraska.

Visitors can see the 4h projects in the 4h building at the fair starting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.