July 26, 1999
Catch 'Summer Days' at the county fair
By Sara Eaton
Staff Writer
The heat didn't stop 4-H members from setting up their booths Sunday.
The Junior Fair theme for this year is "Summer Days." Scenes ranging from Pooh picnicking to beaches with sandcastles to ice cream cones decorated individual booths.
Members of the Buckeye Clover Bunch decided on a theme from the movie Grease, "Summer days drifting away with 4-H."
"We almost did a Grease theme, but we thought we we're getting away from the idea," member Stephanie Hunker said.
While she said the 19 members of her organization had fun making decorations for the booth, the set-up was hard.
"It's stressful putting it all together in the heat," she said.
Another 4-H group, the Seneca Sensations, agreed.
"It's hot," mother Linda Messersmith said, laughing.
After working on the booth for four hours, Messersmith said they were almost ready.
Lynette Clifton, Seneca Sensations adviser, said the kids decided on a outdoors/camping theme to go with summer days.
"Summer days is an open theme, there's a lot you can do with it," Messersmith said, explaining the kids in Seneca Sensations had a lot of fun with it.
A forest green wall covered with trees and ponds made up the booth.
With 19 members, Clifton said there was a wide variety of projects for the kids this year.
Photography, archery and cooking were just a few examples, she said.
Buckeye Clover Bunch member Danielle Podach plans to enter a dairy feeder calf for competition, as well as a seed to flower project.
Kimberly Podach, another member, did a photography project for the fair.
Both the Seneca Sensations and the Buckeye Clover Bunch felt the outdoors cooking project went well.
Each group had a cookout together, then were judged together, Hunker explained.
"They kept cooking and cooking," Seneca Sensations Adviser Terry Weaver said.
Although setting up in the heat was difficult, everyone is looking forward to the fair.
"It's always fun," Danielle Podach said, smiling.
Messersmith said she believes her daughter Jenna most enjoys when the judging is over and she knows what grade she received.