Rain Can't Dampen our Spirit!

A little rain (okay about six inches) may have muddied up the fair grounds but it did not dampen the 4-H spirit at the fair. 11 4-H clubs from Bladen and Robeson Counties set up booths representing the theme of "4-H Is...". This year two new clubs set up first time booths, United We Stand 4-H club set up a booth about living healthy and the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports club set up a booth talking about gun safety and responsibility. Then long time fair booth participants such as Young Leaders 4-H Club, Voices in Praise 4-H Club, Horsin' Around 4-H Club, and the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club set up booths expressing their thoughts of what 4-H is to their club members. For the second year in a row the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club and Inspirational Youth Leaders set up wonderful booths representing the activities that their club members participate in. Two booths from Bladen County were also set up as part of the competition. The "Roots and Shoots" 4-H club set up a booth about food preservation while the overall Bladen County 4-H program set up a booth with photos of tons of 4-H activities that their youth participate in. Although this is great marketing and a lot of fun for our youth to show off their creative sides it is also a competition amongst the clubs. This year the Bladen County 4-H booth took second place, the Dirty Rascal Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club took first place and the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club took Best Overall Booth. Congratulations to these and all of our fair booth participants. They will all receive a check, from the fair, to support their club efforts.

This competition was just one of many that took place. Judges from around the state swarmed the fairgrounds as we worked hard to make sure everything got judged, and had a ribbon, before the fair opened at 4 p.m. It was hard work but before we sat down to lunch everything had been judged and it was up to the fair volunteers to make sure everything was recorded.

By the time four rolled around the fair gates opened but the weather dampened being able to open the rides and forced the fair board to cancel the official ribbon cutting. The displays, food vendors, and games were open and we were ready for a "4-H Hungry to Help" event. The fair allowed each person who brought 5 or more nonperishable food items to the fair to enter free. Also due to the carnival rides not being ready to roll they offered half price admission to folks coming to the fair. During the course of the fair almost 700 cans of food were collected and donated to the Robeson County Church and Community Center. Their food pantry shelves were empty until this donation came through.

The fair offers a variety of youth events, many are 4-H events. Please stay tuned as we give you the highlights and photos from each day. Feel free to also follow us on our Twitter site as we announce different events and excitement from the Robeson County Fair.