Abby Brown will show two goats, Shrek and Fiona, along with a lamb and cattle.
A wedding cake. Legos. Goats. Wooden salt and pepper shakers.
4-H is hard at work preparing projects beyond just livestock for the Douglas County Fair next week.
Members will showcase the variety of talents the club has to offer in categories such as baking, clothing, welding and photography.
About 30 students with the local 4-H club are involved with the fair this year, said community leader Mary Fisher. She said the Eudora club has many young members, some as young as 7.
The fair will mark the last for three club members: seniors Lizzie Fisher, Abby Brown and Hanna Keltner.
Club President Lizzie Fisher is looking forward to her last county fair. She is excited to be the role model she once looked up to in 4-H, she said.
“People always treated me so kindly, and I always looked up to them,” she said. “Now I get to help other kids do the cool stuff I do.”
Fisher will compete in photography and arts and crafts. Participating in 4-H will benefit her long after her time with the club ends, she said.
“Those life skills will stick with me,” she said. “Cooking, artwork, photography. I know that part of me won’t fade.”
Brown spent 12 years involved in 4-H. She plans to show goats, cows and lambs, and enter a wedding cake in the baking category.
“Winning is nice, but it’s also nice to show an animal you’ve raised from day one,” she said. “We’ll see what happens. Every show is different.”
Brown plans to become a veterinary technician. Being a member in 4-H helped fuel her love for animals, she said.
“I’ve always been an animal person,” she said. “I’ll be able to transfer a lot of my skills in that job. 4-H has helped me have to take care of something outside of myself, and have responsibilities and a hard work ethic.”
Aidan Jones, 14, who has been involved in 4-H for six years, is entering market lambs and a breeding heifer. He spends roughly eight hours per week taking care of and preparing the animals for showing and auctioning.
“I just think it’s fun to work with animals, working with all the livestock and raising them,” he said.
Raising livestock comes with many responsibilities beyond just feeding them, he said.
“Responsibility is huge in the barn,” he said. “If I don’t take care of them, they don’t live. And there’s special products for their hair and wool, or feeding them more to fatten them up.”
Jones is bringing welding, woodworking, photography and Lego submissions alongside his livestock entries. He feels confident about his work, he said.
Kate Keltner, 14, is entering clothing in buymanship and flowers in gardening. She has been involved in 4-H for nine years. Her backyard garden includes sunflowers, zinnias and lantanas.
“I think the flowers are really unique,” she said. “People think the animals are the biggest thing, but there’s also flowers and clothes, too. It’s a small thing you only spend a few days on.”
Keltner hopes in her next four years in 4-H she can help get more people involved in the club, she said.
“It’s a really good thing to be involved in,” she said. “I’ve learned to be more interactive with people, communicate more and work with people better.”
The Eudora club will work the concessions stand 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the fairgrounds. All proceeds will go back to the club, Mary Fisher said.
Last year, the club won grand champion in every animal category they entered. Fisher hopes to have another successful county fair, she said.
“We have a lot of projects across the spectrum, static and livestock,” she said. “We have a lot represented in our club.”
Here is the full schedule of events for the fair.
Reach reporter Maya Smith at [email protected].