Robeson County 4-H

You can't help but be aware of the flu epidemic and how everyone is lining up for H1N1 vaccines and doing all sorts of things to try to stay healthy. The first grade students at Rowland Norment Elementary School in Lumberton are no different. Today the EC and first grade youth took charge by learning how to properly wash their hands. Hand washing you might think is a little preventative. However as the students learned today it is probably one of the best ways to fight illnesses and stay healthy. Shea Ann DeJarnette and Aggie Rogers, with Robeson County 4-H Youth Development were invited to do their Glo-Germ program with the students. Glo-Germ is a neat science type program that allows youth to see the germs on their hands and then, using the proper hand washing techniques, kill the germs. You might ask what are proper hand washing techniques? We're glad you asked. As the youth learned today using warm water and soap are the best tools in the war on germs. The studen...

It is sad, no more cotton candy, funnel cakes, or collard sandwiches. As we finish winding down the fair, cleaning up at the fairgrounds, cleaning out our vehicles from hauling everything around for 10 days, it is time to reflect, smile, and say thank you. First we need to say thank you to the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair , Coble D. Wilson, Jr. the Fair Board President, and all the members of the fair board, and friends of the fair. The fair board members not only allowed us to celebrate our centennial but really backed us and supported us in our efforts this year. It started before the fair ever opened. This year the 4-H educational booths were placed in a special area in the commercial exhibits building and we had more than 3 times the booths that we normally have. Then the fair kicked up a few notches with our opening ceremonies and Dr. Thearon McKinney, from our state 4-H office, helping kick off this year's fair. Our Junior Fair Board members handed out centennial pins ...

Saturday at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair is time for our 4-H Lamb and Heifer Shows , and did we ever have a show. The day starts early, around 7 a.m. with the first lambs making their way in around 7:30. We have weigh in and by 10:30 everyone is ready and waiting to go. After a quick calculation of weight classes we were ready to get into the ring. We started with showmanship. The cloverbuds, our 5-8 years olds took the center stage. This division is non competitive so the youth have the opportunity to show their lambs in the ring and receive trophies for the work they have done. April Baldwin, Hannah Naylor and Tate Naylor kicked things off for us in this division and did a spectacular job showing their lambs. Next up is the 9-10 year old junior division . Once again their were only three competitors in this division but unlike the cloverbuds these were placed on their showing ability. After a bit of time in the ring our judge placed Ashley Wilson first, Amber Fout second ...

Friday at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair is a day of rest for our animals as they prepare for our last big show on Saturday, the 4-H Lamb and Heifer show. This show will involve youth from all over North Carolina and is second biggest to the goat show each year. As we prepare for that show we are just kicking back and enjoying the sights and sounds of the fair this night . One of the neat things we were able to do today with a little down time was say thank you to some folks. We presented Star Family Circus and J&J Amusements with official 4-H Certificates of Appreciation for their support of our 4-H Centennial Activities at the fair. Star Family Circus allowed us to put an answer for our 4-H Scavenger Hunt on their fence in front of the stage and J&J amusements let us put two answers up, one on the ferris wheel and fun slide. They were particularly supportive of our efforts and happy to help out in our celebration and we really appreciate their efforts. The 4-H Scave...

What would a county fair be without animals? I don't mean pony or camel rides but cows, goats and the ever popular chicken. Although the chickens may not be the cutest or cuddliest chicken in the building it is a big draw especially on Thursday nights at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair when we have our annual 4-H poultry shows . This year we had youth showing both laying hens and broilers. Three cloverbuds, Adelmo Wyrtko, Regina Koch and Caleb Jacobs learned how to hold their laying hens as the entered the show ring and got ready for our judge to check out their birds. When they left they all had trophies in hand and big smiles on their faces. Up next was the Junior division. Long time competitor Benjamin Herndon took first in this division with his hen while Mikayla Hecker took first place in the senior division. The broiler competition was a little more competitive this year. Although we did not have any cloverbuds we had two Benjamin's registered for our Junior divisi...

What would make teens from across the county flock to the Robeson County Fair ? Deep fried goodies? Rides that turn you and churn you? Youth social events? How about the ever popular 4-H Poultry Judging Competition ? These FFA and 4-H members flew to the fairgrounds Wednesday afternoon for an incredible competition that included eggs in and out of the shell, live and dead chickens, and chicken parts. More than 65 youth took part in this years competition. It was a humdinger as they had to judge live past production hens and place them, provide oral reasons on why they placed the chickens in the order they did, name the various parts of a chicken from a grocery store hen that had been cut up, grade eggs that had been broken out of the shell, grade grocery store chickens that had been tied up so they could properly examine them, and judge eggs by their interior qualities by candling them. Each youth travelled with 9 others from station to station and had 10 minutes at each station. The y...

They were a lot cuter six months ago when they went home with our 4-H members however now these hogs that have tripled in size are becoming contenders for the ring. In case you missed the squeal Tuesday night is traditionally the 4-H pig show at the Robeson County Fair and we unveiled our new adult hog show too. This year three 4-H members took on the challenge of raising and showing a pig. Kashawn Cooper with Voices in Praise, Triton and Sebastian Bullard of Footprints 4-H Club all took center stage in the ring as they showed off their hard work. Kashawn Cooper placed first in the Junior Showmanship division while Triton Bullard placed first in the Senior division and his brother Sebastian placed second. In the weight division the hogs ranged from 108-190 pounds. Triton Bullard placed first while his brother Sebastian placed second and Kashawn rounded out the weight division in third. This year instead of having two youth divisions we had one 4-H show and an adult hog show. This year ...

Mother Nature might not have been kind as an all day rain dampened the spirits of possible fair goers. With puddles and mud the fair decided close shortly after opening however the rain, mud, and muck did not dampen the spirit of our 4-Her's as they competed in our annual rabbit show. About 15 youth were registered for this fun and fuzzy show and we had a crowd of more than 50 people cheering them on. As always our cloverbuds (5-8 year olds) took the ring first. Some got a little help getting their rabbits to the table under the watchful eye of our judge. They held their rabbits and answered as many questions as they could about their rabbit projects. When it was all said and done they walked away with trophies and $10 for their efforts. The incredible cloverbud participants included: Jaheim Purdie, Christian Smith, Tierra Locklear, Dakota Strickland and Brionna Locklear. Next our 9-10 year old Juniors took the ring. After checking the rabbits, talking with the youth and getting ...

One of the neat things about the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair are the educational booths. With no youth shows on Sunday it is the perfect time to check out all the booths. This year to help celebrate the 4-H Centennial the booths got a special location in the Commercial Exhibits building. If you stop by you just can’t help but be amazed. Our theme this year was the 4-H Centennial and it brought out some really neat ideas. Voices in Praise 4-H club took first place with their booth on sewing. It is full of different items created as part of 4-H projects and looks nice and warm and cozy as these nights start to get chilly. This is a fun booth that just makes people smile. Young leaders took second place with a timeline of our 4-H history. Some of the old county scrapbooks on display and the clover is everywhere. They highlighted some of our past programs and current programs with their work on their very colorfully green booth. For some of our 4-H Alumni and long time volunteers t...

This first Saturday of the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair is traditionally the day the animals move in and the goats take over. We started early in the morning with lots of birds, poultry, horses and cows moving into the livestock building. As they got comfortable in their home away from home for a week we started setting up for our biggest show of the season, the goat show. More than 180 goats came to the fair for this spectacular show. We started with the 4-H shows. The cloverbuds were the first in the ring and they had a ball as they walked with, dragged, and sometimes were dragged by their goats. When they were done, each received a special trophy and cash prize. The brave cloverbuds who showed their goats were: Madison McInnis Delani Reep Will Meacham Abby Hamilton Taylor Chappell Savannah Chappell Eli Maske Following that were the 9-10 year old juniors in the 4-H showmanship category. In this category the youth are judged on their showing ability. We had so many juniors we h...

It was a typical Friday for fair goers as they ran across the midway to enjoy rides and games . I also noticed a few people checking out funnel cakes, deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and lemonade. For those of us behind the scenes we spent tonight in the livestock building getting ready for the stampede of animals tomorrow. We already have the baby ducks and chicks snuggled in their shavings, and tomorrow it will be time for the adult chickens, pigeons, and ducks to fly in. Let's not forget the excitement of the horses, cows, and lambs that we are expecting also. However the first Saturday of the fair is traditionally reserved for our goats. Not only will some be coming to stay with us but they will be coming just for our shows. We have more than 60 4-H youth registered for the 4-H shows that start at 3 p.m. After that we will have the Adult/Youth Breeding Meat Goat Show which is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. You can see some of the finest goats and showman in the sta...

It is our favorite season. Not Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter but Fair. That's right Thursday is the opening day for the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair. This year is was doubly as spectacular as the fair helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of North Carolina 4-H. On hand for the official opening ceremony were a list of dignitaries (as well as the fair mascot, Fair Weather) with wonderful messages. North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler spoke about all the work it takes to get a fair together and kick it off and what a wonderful fair we have. Cherie Berry, our state Labor Commissioner, spoke about the tough standards we have for rides and other fair events and our organizations work together to have the safest fair possible for everyone. Representative Garland Pearce, County Commissioner Noah Woods, Sheriff Kenny Sealey and Mayor Pro-Temp Eric Hackney also spoke and brought greetings to all. Of course for 4-H the special guest was Dr. Thearon McKinney. He spo...