It wasn’t traditional by any means, but this year’s Riley County Fair had a more relaxed feel for 4-H participants.
The theme of this year’s fair was ‘Fairadise’ and saw many changes Livestock were moved in and out the same day of their showing. Static projects were judged similarly and not on public display. County Extension Director Gary Fike says for those who missed out on their fair traditions, some of that information is being shared on the Extension’s Facebook page.
“We’ve got all of the livestock shows, streamed on Facebook Live. We’ve got some highlights of style review and some of the others and we’re trying to catch up,” he said.
Fike says the livestock sale, which is a fundraising effort was another big success.
“We don’t have those figures totaled yet. The money this year was really good. We haven’t compared yet to last year, but they’re going to be very very good. The number of buyers was fantastic, so we still have a lot of support,” he said.
Fike remains hopeful for a return to a more traditional fair next year, but says the feedback he has received from parents and participants has all been positive.
“We had several compliments saying they were just appreciative to have a fair to exhibit in,” he said.
Most of the fair was off limits to the general public, with 4-H members checking in online in 10 minute intervals with immediate feedback given by judges. Fike says it did create some efficiencies that may be utilized next year, assuming a more traditional fair occurs.
“That’s one of those things we’re talking about as a result of how we had to do it this year. There will probably be some slight modifications over how things are done next year,” he said.
Results from the various 4-H events were published in Tuesday’s edition of the Manhattan Mercury.
