Going from County Blue to State....?

Sunday was bitter sweet as we had to take down our 4-H fair booths. However, packing up the Extension trailer to head to Raleigh was the start of a whole new adventure for us. Each year a different county 4-H program has the honor of designing the state fair booth for the district. This year it was Robeson County's 4-H's turn.

After a great deal of planning we decided to use a fair booth that our volunteers and previous staff had designed when we did this more than a decade ago. However, when we went to find all the pieces, some were not in good shape, others were just m.i.a. So Aggie and Shea Ann stuck their heads together and asked our blue ribbon winners from this year, the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H club, if they could possibly borrow their booth. The answer from club leader Missy McLean was a resounding yes!. So with help and item donations from Larry Russ of the Dirty Dozen Shooting Sports club the booth got loaded up and Aggie, Shea Ann, and Mr. Bobby headed to Raleigh on Monday morning.

After several hours of unloading, constructing, and reorganizing the booth expanded from an 8x8 space to a 10x20 space. It was stapled, taped, fluffed and tucked in time for judging the next day. The judges looked at 6 booths and gave our effort of "Growing Great Kids" an honorable mention. That ribbon came with a check for $450 for our county program. $100 of the prize money will be given to the Dirty Rascals JMG 4-H Club to thank them for donating their blue ribbon booth for our county and district efforts.

The North Carolina State Fair is from October 14-24th, at the state fair grounds in Raleigh. If you have a chance to go don't forget to stop by and check out our South Central District booth as well as the other incredible booths that 4-H members and volunteers from across the state put together.