The Maddock Family from rural Marengo is counting down the days until the McHenry County Fair this summer. Julia, John, Joseph, and Justin are all members of the Legendary Pioneers 4-H Club. Cynthia Maddock homeschools the kids and the 4-H projects tie in with their curriculum but, most of the production animals arrive once they wrap up the school year. The Maddocks are very busy during fair week but, they love it. Each day they get up by six in the morning to feed the animals at home and then head to the fair to take care of the animals there. Fair days they are busy showing their projects and every once in a while they get a break at their camper that they bring to the fairgrounds. On average they get to head home at ten but, on occasion, they can be working until midnight.
Julia is 15 years old and is in her seventh year of 4-H. Her 4-H projects include swine, poultry, rabbits, sheep, dogs, public presentation, photography, vet science, computer science, robotics, leadership, visual arts, and sewing. One of her favorite projects is her first 4-H project; rabbits. At age seven she got her first rabbit. Julia raises Dutch rabbits and now has 40 rabbits to care for, and she even has a website that helps her sell rabbits. To prepare for the fair, she starts breeding rabbits in February so the rabbits are at a prime age for the fair. Throughout the year she works with her rabbits to condition their coats. This is very important because the rabbits are partially judged on the condition of their coat along with their markings at the fair. Swine is her other favorite project. To prepare for this year's fair, Julia started by looking at the problems she had at last year's fair so she could determine how to improve. One of the issues she had last year was the pigs not weighing enough. This year she got older pigs and started weighing them often to get her pigs at the optimal weight for the fair. When asked what her favorite time of year is Julia responded, "Fair time!" The highlight of the fair for Julia is getting to compete and show off all her hard work for the year.
Twins John and Joseph are 13 years old and are seven year 4-H members. John's projects include swine, poultry, rabbits, sheep, dogs, public presentation, forestry, walk in my shoes, cake decorating, robotics, leadership, visual arts, and sewing. John's favorite project is swine. He got his crossbred pigs, which were born in January, after they were weaned. He has a market pair, which is a barrow (castrated male) and a gilt (female). His favorite part of the swine project is showing them at the fair. In a typical show day at the fair he gets up at five in the morning and arrives at the fair at 6:30. First, he waters and feeds the pigs before washing them and cleaning out the pens. Then John waits for his time to show which is determined by the pig's weight. Before they go in the show ring, the pig is taken back to the wash rack so the pig is clean as it goes into the show ring. When John enters the show ring he says, "The key is to not get between the judge and the pig so the judge always has a good view of the pig." Then the pigs are ranked on their build and muscle expression. John's first 4-H project was poultry. John started by raising turkeys in their home's basement. The goal of raising turkeys is getting them to grow for production. To prepare a turkey for the fair you have to wash it, which takes about 30 minutes. John sets up five tubs with different solutions in each tub. The order is plain water, soapy water, vinegar water which helps remove the soap, bluing water which helps makes the bird white, and finally plain water. Then he has to wrap the turkey in a towel to dry it because a turkey can get hypothermia. It actually takes two days for all the feathers to dry completely. John's highlight of the fair is showing his projects and the tasty food.
Joseph also has a variety of projects including swine, poultry, rabbits, sheep, dogs, public presentation, wildlife, leadership, cake decorating, robotics, entrepreneurship, visual arts, and sewing. Joseph is particularly interested in robotics. 4-H has SPIN clubs or special interest clubs for projects such as robotics. In the fall their SPIN club meets twice a month to learn more about robotics. In February, clubs receive a challenge from the state. These are the rules on what their robot will have to do for competition. Once they have their challenge the SPIN club meets multiple times a week to work on their robot. This year 45 teams across the state will be competing at the robotics competition May 3rd at the University of Illinois. To showcase this project at the fair, Joseph can either do a written project or build a component of a robot. Joseph is excited for his first year of exhibiting sheep. He got his lamb at the beginning of April, but had been in contact with the breeder since December and researching sheep far before that. He is busy working to train his sheep on a halter. This is a very challenging task because many sheep do not like being on the halter. His goal is to have his sheep comfortable on a halter by weigh-in that will take place in a few weeks. They weigh the sheep because the sheep have to gain a certain amount of weight by fair time. In May, he will sheer the sheep so they don't get so hot, to help with flies, and to promote growth. Joseph's favorite part of the fair is also showing all his animals and other projects.
Eleven year-old, Justin, is in his sixth year of 4-H. His projects include swine, poultry, rabbits, sheep, dogs, public presentation, geology, visual art, cake decorating, robotics, Legos and citizenship. One of Justin's favorite projects is dogs. He is about to get started going to weekly 4-H training sessions with his Golden Retriever, Bella. At a training session 4-Hers work on obedience and showmanship. Showmanship is judged on how you handle your dog and how knowledgeable you are about your dog. Justin works with Bella every day for 20 minutes and brushes her once a week. He also goes to a grooming clinic where a professional teaches 4-H members how to groom dogs at multiple stations. The 4-H dog show is held prior to the fair at a dog training facility in Cary. In the obedience classes Justin has to get Bella to sit for two minutes, lie down for three minutes, heal around a figure eight, and recall where the dog has to stay and then come when called. If the dog doesn't do what it's supposed to do they lose points. Justin is also excited about his first year project of geology. He has to collect 8 to 19 rocks, identify them with a label including where they were found, and display them in a shadow box. Justin already has eight rocks from home, Mississippi, Arkansas, California, and even Japan! Justin always looks forward to the food at the county fair.
At the end of the fair the auction takes place for 4-H members to sell their winning animals. To help spread the word the Maddocks and other 4-H members send out buyer letters to invite them to the auction. Julia says, "It's always sad to see the animals go when you work with them so much." Some of the money earned from the auction goes to help pay their parents back for the investment in the animals and feed.
Parents, John and Cynthia, were never in 4-H as kids, but they were interested in getting the kids involved because it allows the kids to do things together. 4-H allows kids to get involved with one organization, but it has a wide variety of projects to learn about. In fact, there are over 175 different project areas to choose from. The kids also learn important skills by keeping records on all their projects. Cynthia said, "What they learn is priceless. You get out of it what you put into it." She says the kids start with one small project and then can get very involved as the years go on.
If you are interested in learning more about 4-H or joining one of the Special Interest Clubs (SPIN), contact your local Extension office. In McHenry County, there are over 30 traditional 4-H Clubs that meet around the county for their monthly meetings. They also have 12 SPIN clubs with topics ranging from floral design, robotics, archery, and conservation that meet 6 times during the year and participate in the county fair. It is a myth that "you have to live on a farm or have livestock to be in 4-H" - the program has evolved over the generations to include more project areas to interest the youth of the "modern society" - projects including filmmaking, cake decorating, and several environmental science topics. Janine Heidtke from Extension says, "It is so encouraging to me, as a program coordinator, to see how the youth can start with a project at a young age and grow in their knowledge as they follow their interest to find out more and more - plus, they teach me something new every day!" Call the Extension office 815-338-3737, visit their website http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lm/mchenry4h/ or follow them on facebook www.facebook.com/4HMcHenry.
