Welcome to the Ripley County 4-H Fair

Wanda English Burnett
Editor

 Every child attending the Ripley County 4-H Fair this year will have the opportunity to interact with animals up close. “These are animals they can pet,” noted Louann Menchhofer, Extension Educator 4-H/Youth CFS.

The Ripley County 4-H Corporation and the Youth Advisory Board is partnering with the F.A.R.M. Club to bring this educational exhibit that will allow children who may not have an animal to show at the fair the opportunity to still see, touch and learn about animals.

According to Menchhofer, there will be animals of all sorts at the exhibit that will be located across from the main exhibit hall on the fairgrounds. They will learn not only about animals, but plants as well. The exhibit will be open nightly from 5-9 p.m.

This year another first at the fair will be the Greased Pig Contest. This will take place on Tuesday evening at the grandstands at 7:30 p.m. and promises to be a slippery show.
The Junior Leaders will be collecting non-perishable food that will be given to local food pantries. They are in a competition to see which 4-H club can collect the most food. So find the junior leader’s stand and take your canned goods there. They are hoping to collect 10 pounds of food for every 4-H member, meaning they could have a mountain of over 10,000 pounds donated.

The Ripley County Health Department will be at the fair and offering free vaccines on Monday, July 19 and Wednesday, July 21 in the commercial building from 5-6 p.m. each evening. The free vaccines offered will be H1N1, Tdap, and the Meningitis vaccine, which is required for students in grades 6-12 for the upcoming school year. You can call the health department at 689-0506 for more information.

The Hoxworth Bloodmobile will set up for the second year. Last year they were pleased with the turnout and collected more blood than they had imagined. “They even had to turn people away,” noted Menchhofer. You can make an appointment by going online to www.hoxworth.org/groups/Ripley, or you can just stop by the bloodmobile.

The Ripley County Fairgrounds Park in Osgood has been upgraded over the years to be the perfect setting for the 4-H fair, which will begin Sunday, July 18 and continue through Saturday, July 24.

Much activity will take place as 565 4-H members bring their exhibits to show. There will be more than 2000 various exhibits ranging from small to large animals, to cake decorating and photography - and everything in between.

The Midway will be abuzz with excitement as children take to the rides that will only cost $15.00 per bracelet for Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

The popular baby show will be held Monday, July 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the free stage. Again, the cost will be $5.00 for a baby and presenting parent. The show will include a variety of categories from infant through 24 months.

The fair will have an official opening on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. at the free stage by shelter two. There the 4-H King and Queen will be crowned, 4-H’ers will have a banner parade and the fashion revue will take place.

Grandstand events include an antique tractor pull Sunday evening, car flat drags on Monday evening, greased pig contest on Tuesday, demolition derby on Wednesday, quad and cycle flat drags on Thursday, truck drags on Friday and truck pull on Saturday.

A popular event is the National Pedal Pullers and Racers. This includes a wide age range from three years old through adult, having a women and men’s division as well. This will be held by the free stage at shelter two. The 4-H livestock auction will be held Friday beginning at 3 p.m. at the show arena (building five).

Miss Ripley County 2010 Julie Hoffrogge and her court will reign throughout the fair. The court includes: Miss Congeniality and second runner up, Victoria Woulms, fourth runner up, Ashley Vestal, third runner up, Olivia Woolum, and first runner up, Sarah Webster. The pageant was held July 11 at the Damm Theatre in Osgood.

The Ripley County 4-H Fair is presented by the Ripley County 4-H Corporation, Ripley County Purdue University Cooperative Extension and the Ripley County Department of Parks and Recreation. It takes a collaborative effort on the part of many to make the fair the success it is today.

From the exhibitors to the spectators, the midway action to the grandstands and everything in between, the entire week is a time for family fun. Organizers encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the fair.

(For a complete fair schedule of events see insert inside today’s paper.)