What to expect...and not expect... for 4-H at the Fair

CUSTER COUNTY - There are hundreds of reasons that the Custer County Fair is being held this year. Four hundred fifty-five of those reasons are the Custer County youth registered with 4-H.

“It’s going to be a great county fair,” Troy Walz with Nebraska Extension for Custer County said. “Just be prepared for it to look different.”

Walz and Colleen Peterson, Custer County 4-H, agree that the goal is to keep as much of the Fair as normal as possible, despite the restrictions put into place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“People are going to have to be flexible with the modifications,” Peterson said. “These are the rules we have to live by.”

One of the differences this year is that staff, volunteers and judges are asked to adhere to social distancing.

“Nebraska 4-H requires staff, volunteers and judges to wear masks and/or social distance six feet,” Walz said. He acknowledges that late July weather is usually hot in Custer County. If someone opts to not wear a mask, he recommends to “Stay six feet away and talk a little louder.”

Despite the requirements, Peterson had no problem getting commitments from the judges. “I asked the judges, ‘Do you feel comfortable’ (with what we have to do)?” she said. “I have not had anyone tell me no.”

Competitors will be encouraged to social distance as well. Masks can be worn while showing but are not mandatory.

To help adhere to social distancing requirements, the livestock office will not be open to walk-in traffic. A sliding window will be placed in the current window location. Only staff will be inside the office.

While much of the schedule for 4-H events will stay the same, one difference will be in the scheduling of (static) exhibits.

“We will have a time schedule set-up, so everybody isn’t there at 9 a.m.,” Peterson said. “The room setup will be different, too. Judges will be able to be social distanced.”

Interviews with the judges will be scheduled 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., rather than 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 4-H members will be assigned a time. One door of the building will be used for entry, another for exit. There will be someone monitoring the room to control the number of people allowed in. Competitors will be called into the room when a judge is available.

The Loup Basin Public Health District Department, which includes Custer County, requires safety plans for any venue with a rated occupancy of more than 500. At the time of the interview, Walz had submitted plans for livestock shows and had not yet heard back. Safety plans submitted for 4-H events include education and signage, agreeing to the requirement of staff, volunteers and judges wearing facial masks and/or social distancing, having hand sanitizer available and where it will be located; and how Custer County 4-H will adhere to applicable Directed Health Measures (DHMs). Custer County 4-H has ordered and received 100 gallons of hand sanitizer from the University of Nebraska’s Innovation Campus.

The 4-H and FFA Dog Show is a go for July 24 as well as the 4-H and FFA Livestock Auction July 30.

KCNI/KBBN is arranging for live-streaming of the Livestock Shows, Monday-Wednesday, to provide people another option to watch the competition.

4-H clubs could not meet in person until June 15. Some clubs did meet online before then. However, for many 4-H members, the time frame to finish projects for Fair has been drastically shortened,

Walz, Peterson and the staff of the Extension Office for Custer County have been working hard to keep up with all the changes and requirements for the fair to be a success for 4-H members this year. Peterson acknowledges there are a lot of rules to follow. “These are the rules we have to live by now,” she said. Nonetheless, she and Walz will continue to fine tune the details.

“Our goal is to provide a good experience for the youth who have worked so hard to showcase their work,” Peterson said.

4-H events not at this year’s Fair

Public fashion show. Normally held the Thursday evening before the fair begins, this year there will be no public fashion show. On July 16, 4-H members will style in front of judges during the day and judging is not open to the public and there will be no public show in the evening. Peterson said Nebraska Extension is looking into ways to create a virtual style show and make it available for viewing later.

4-H Awards presentation. Usually scheduled for Wednesday evening, the presentation of awards will be absent this year. 4-H’ers will be notified of their awards and details will be provided on how to pick up awards however, “The awards presentation won’t happen at the fair,” Peterson said.

Youth Livestock Judging Contest. This is usually held Thursday morning and won’t happen this year.

4-H CWF concessions. There will be no 4-H concessions at the Chuck Wagon, horse barn or under the Grandstands.

“We could not do that and meet safety guidelines,” Peterson said. “There are too many common touch surfaces. We felt we couldn’t keep the youth and volunteers safe.”

The Custer County Ag Society may have food vendors on the Fairgrounds.

Any 4-H competition that requires a group, other than family. This includes 4-H club decorated booths. “Decorating a booth would mean a group of people have to get together to do it,” Peterson said.

There also will be no beef fitting and showing and no club groups of five or more. Family groups can still show.

Open horse show. Normally held on Tuesday, there will be no open horse show this year.

Shooting sports. “There was no way to do shooting sports and social distance at the same time,” Peterson said.

Safety is the overriding concern. Shared club guns would have to be sanitized, which requires more than a spray and wipe.

“Kids have to wear eye and ear protection. Add face masks and it becomes a safety issue.”

In addition, shooting clubs haven’t been able to meet and beginning shooters haven’t received the necessary training.

Later in the year there will be a postal match for shooting sports. This type of competition is called postal because historically the sending of targets relies on the postal service.

Club leaders will pick up the targets from the Extension office then go back to their clubs to conduct a shooting match by rules. The targets will then be returned to Nebraska Extension for judging.