Six Koochiching 4-Hers boarded a charter bus early on Aug. 28 and traveled with other 4-Hers from Beltrami and Itasca counties to the Minnesota State Fair so they could present their projects or perform for judges in St. Paul.
The kids spent Thursday afternoon through Saturday afternoon at the fair. One other Koochiching 4-Her joined the group on Friday night bringing the total number to seven.
Rachel Fahey, Brittany Fisher, Kyle Fisher, Lane Lindner, Zach Manka, Caleb Schneider, and Jaime Sjoblom represented the county at this year’s fair.
Fahey was the first of the group to perform. She played a piano solo in the performance arts category on Thursday evening, earning a blue ribbon.
Manka was the next to be judged. His exhibit was in photography and garnered a blue ribbon for his photograph.
Friday morning, Kyle Fisher presented his raspberry jam. Following the conference judging for food preservation, he earned a blue ribbon.
Friday afternoon, both Lindner and Schneider were judged on their projects. Lindner made a spearing decoy for the fishing sports project area and he left his conference judging with the fourth blue ribbon for the county.
Schneider was the next of the group to be judged. He had built his own pontoon/raft as a self-determined project and earned the area’s fourth blue ribbon for his project.
Friday evening, both Brittany Fisher and Sjoblom presented in the area of crafts and fine arts. Fisher displayed her self decorated ceramic bowl while Sjoblom’s project was a computer modified photograph of herself while skating. Both were awarded blue ribbons for their efforts.
The Littlefork Lumberjacks 4-H Club earned a red ribbon for its club banner which was displayed at the fair.
The kids were able to then relax and enjoy the fair for the rest of the day. That night the 4-Hers had a dance in the 4-H Building. Saturday was the last day of the encampment. The bus departed back for the Borderland following the Saturday parade.
