Area clubs enjoy 4-H Fun Fair at Wayne County Fairgrounds
STEVEN F. HUSZAI Staff Writer
WOOSTER -- The Wayne County Fairgrounds were hopping with activity Saturday with the revised Family Fun Fair to support local 4-H clubs.
The event served as equal parts fundraiser for area 4-H clubs, educational activity to showcase what 4-H actually does and just old-fashioned fun for families.
Finally, it served as a brain break for 4-H'ers as they begin on their projects leading into the annual Wayne County Fair.
Doug Foxx, the 4-H Extension educator at The Ohio State University Extension office in Wayne County, said this actually is the second year for the event after it was brought back to life.
"We used to do this a long time ago in the 1970s and 1980s," Foxx said, while perched atop his seat in the dunk tank at the event.
Foxx said a committee of volunteers came together to organize the multiple layers of the family event. Countless businesses contributed to the silent auction and raffle items, the proceeds of which will go to benefit local 4-H clubs. And, of course, volunteers were needed to staff different areas like the bounce house, dunk tank, animals on display and more. Several 4-H groups even had games available for the young ones.
"Our mission is positive youth development in all of the clubs spread around the county," Foxx said in between dunks.
"It's not just for kids who live on farms," said Marie Marty, who grew up in 4-H with the Madisonburg Pioneers and Norwayne FFA. She's been a regular fair-goer for 20 years, including winning Fair Queen in 1998.
Marty was one of more than a dozen volunteers on the committee which organized the event. She said after a participation fee was installed for children to join in a 4-H club, it forced the area's groups to "think outside of the box" and finds ways to make the clubs sustainable. The family fun fair was one idea.
"Four-H is just the backbone of responsibility," Marty said, as the experience teaches children social skills and how to be responsible while they are engaged in their projects.
"It teaches you how to be responsible and to take pride in your work," Marty said.
And that sentiment brushed off on her daughter, Kendra, who is involved in Canaan Country Cousins 4-H.
"I kind of just went with (my mom) and did what she told me to do," Kendra joked, about how she got her start in 4-H. But now as she shows animals (market hogs, goats, lambs, and chickens), Kendra enjoys the experience.
"It's probably one of my favorite things," she said.
"The fair is huge," Marie Marty said. "It's a big to-do and a culmination of the year."
Reporter Steven F. Huszai can be reached at 330-287-1645 or shuszai@the-daily-record.com. He is @GeneralSmithie on Twitter.