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4-Hers returning to fair ‘doing what they love’



Colleen Wallace

Colleen Wallace

After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, the Sanilac County 4-H Fair is slated to return next week.

The fair, which has been at the heart of Sanilac County since 1942, is scheduled to begin on Aug. 8th and run through the 14th.

“It was absolutely devastating last year, to not have the fair,” said Colleen Wallace, 4-H Program Coordinator. “We did do a virtual fair, but that had nowhere near the impact and did not resonate with the same enthusiasm that a face-to-face fair has. We’re absolutely ecstatic to be back and having our fair this year. It gives our kids a chance to showcase what they are doing, and more importantly, it brings back those relationships. The relationships with our friends, and our relationships with our mentors and leaders. For some of these kids, it’s the only time all year that they see their very best friends.”

“4-H, I can say from personal experience, I have friends to this day from 4-H,” Wallace added. “I don’t have many friends from high school, or from anything, and a significant number of friends from my childhood came from 4-H. One of the most important mentors of my life is my 4-H leader. So, it’s awesome for us to be back and to be able to experience that again. It’s been a really tough 14 months for them, so for us to be able to bring back that sense of normality and sense of fun and excitement, it’s great. You won’t talk to many 4-H kids who don’t look forward to the fair more than they do even Christmas. For us to be able to bring that back for them is amazing.”

BACK TO WORK

While it was announced in May that the fair would return to face-to-face, restrictions for the 4-H portion of the fair were not lifted until July 1.

Once the fair board got the go-ahead to resume the in-person 4-H shows, Wallace and her large group of volunteers got to work.

“We finally had all restrictions removed from us on July 1,” Wallace explained. “That meant that we had a lot of stuff to get done in a very short period of time. We’ve been working diligently since May on fair books, getting prizes, getting with all of the superintendents and getting everything moved forward. We have been working on getting everybody on board, making sure they’re enrolled, making sure they are in their classes and just making sure everything is taken care of.

“Unfortunately, with that, our numbers are going to be down, simply because there are kids that didn’t go out and commit to an animal project. With the uncertainty, because there was a lot of kids that had animals last year, when we shut everything down, they had a barn full of stuff, and they had to figure out how to market that, and sell that themselves. Processing houses were full. So, we had some kids that played it cautious this year. But the kids that we do have coming are super excited and they’re bringing some amazing things.”

Wallace noted that Sanilac County features some of the top animals in the state, as evidenced by the results of the Michigan Livestock Expo, which was held two weeks ago.

“We just had MLE last week and of the top eight steers in the state that were chosen to go in the sale, three of them were from Sanilac County,” Wallace said. “That just speaks to the caliber of the projects that Sanilac County kids do. They’re just hardworking kids who really put the time and dedication into it, so we’re happy that they’re going to be able to come in and showcase all of that right here at home.”

“We’ve been busting our butts to make sure everything is done and everything has been covered,” she added. “I think we’re on a really good track and I feel like we’re right on schedule if not ahead of schedule. It seems like we have everything in place and it should be a highly successful year.”

IT TAKES A VILLAGE

In order to get the week-long fair back going again, Wallace relies on an impressive number of volunteers, who put in many hours, not just during the week of the fair, but all year long.

“Sanilac County, historically, has had about 300 volunteers within 4-H that make this program work,” she said. “With that, we run right around 700 to 800 kids within the county that are registered in 4-H. Those numbers in both categories are down a little bit this year. I have about 225 volunteers and about 550, close to 600 kids.”

So, what motivates nearly 300 people to dedicate so much of their lives to the 4-H Fair?

“Honestly, what motivates us, I’ll just share this,” Wallace said. “When we finally got approval, and we still had to follow a lot of cautionary things, but my PEP (Proud Equestrians Program) was finally able to reconvene. The PEP program is kids who are differently-abled, riding horses. We have a big group of volunteers that bring in horses that are broken and trained to deal with anything and everything that comes at them.

“A great group of volunteers that have been anxiously awaiting to get back to working with the kids. I was at the first meeting, and we have a young lady that is non-communicative and she got to that meeting, and it took everything her mom had to hold her back, because she was screaming and running because she was just so excited to be back and able to do this again. It’s just one of those things that fill your heart when you know that it’s this important to someone and you’re making that much of a difference. You just see the volunteers smile and tear up, because they are providing that.”

“As I’m doing camp counselor training and doing these things again, seeing my kids face-to-face for the first time in months, it’s amazing how many want to come up and give me a hug and tell me how much they missed me,” she added. “They’re seeing their 4-H leaders for the first time. They’re seeing their superintendents for the first time. We do become a family and we play significant roles in each other’s lives and it’s just amazing to get that back. That’s what motivates us.”

A SENSE OF COMMUNITY

During the week of the fair, the fairgrounds become a bustling community, as hundreds of 4-Hers and their families bring travel trailers and spend the week, so the kids can tend to their animals.

“Our community is extremely tied to the 4-H fair and this goes generations deep,” Wallace said. “If you talk to any of my senior volunteers, or you see any people that are hanging around all week, it would be awesome to ask them their stories because they can tell you about when they used to sleep in bunks and how there used to be cots in the horse bars. So, this is extremely tied to our community. With that, our businesses are so incredibly committed to our fair. This is one of the biggest events that happen in our county all year and the number of people that come in for this event is astonishing. I think this year, we’re going to see, if we hold true to what every other county is experiencing with their fair, we’ll probably see over 50 percent increase at the gate. So, we can expect a lot of visitors into our town and a lot of people coming to experience what Sandusky and Sanilac County 4-H is all about. I don’t think we turn anyone away disappointed. We’re just a really nice, country fair and we do a really nice job of having pretty much every animal on display.”

The fair, perhaps the largest event in Sanilac County all year, brings thousands of people to the city of Sandusky.

“We bring a lot of people to town, and with that, that increases business and sales in a lot of different areas,” Wallace said. “When we go out and look for sponsorships, we don’t struggle to find people who want to support what we’re doing and help us make sure it happens. As a matter of fact, they called us this year asking how they can help and how they can sponsor. It’s been an incredible year from that standpoint.”

“Overall, I’m just looking forward to seeing my kids,” she added. “It’s been a rough year not being able to see them. I’m just really excited to see them back doing what they love to do and experiencing all of it. I’m also looking forward to seeing my volunteers. They’re amazing at what they do and how they make fair week work. It’s going to be great seeing my 4-H family.”