The Sunshine Snippers 4-H Club of Big Sandy has 19 youth members this year. Club members have been putting in many hours and working hard on preparing for the Chouteau County Fair. The Chouteau County Fair will be held this year, August 15th-18th. The Sunshine Snipper's current club members are Owen Allderdice, Tosha Allderdice, Ruthie Boyce, Wyatt Boyce, Brookelyn Cline, Chaz Danreuther, Cove Danreuther, Wren Danreuther, Antonio Fabrizio, Makenna Han, Elise Hartley, Eryn Hartley, Oakley Jacobi, Bailey LeFurgey, Garrett LeFurgey, Jayton Ophus, Macee Ophus, Parker Yirsa and Paxton Yirsa.
Members will be arriving in Fort Benton Wednesday August 14th to complete interviews on each of their projects they were enrolled in this year. Besides animal projects club members are involved in an extensive list of hands on projects each year. All non-animal projects are called "static" projects in the 4-H world. Static projects can be viewed inside the back room of the 4-H Chuckwagon building. Our two cloverbud members, Oakley and Cove both will be displaying posters and projects they have completed this year. Parker and Paxton were busy learning about gardening and have a project for the community to view. Antonio, Chaz, Owen and Jayton will all have woodworking projects on display. Both Garrett and Jayton will be bringing a few of their welding projects in to be judged as well. Tosha, Bailey and Brookelyn are excited to display their sewing items. Don't forget to peek inside the glass case to see what delicious baking projects Elise has entered into the fair. Livestock members will also be arriving at the barns with their animal projects, getting a final weight on them, and setting up there stalls and making sure their animals are comfortable.
Swine members will start the fair off early, Thursday morning with the swine show beginning at 7:00 am. The club has 6 members enrolled in the swine project; they are Owen, Ruthie, Bailey, Garrett, Jayton and Macee. Garrett is also enrolled in the swine breeding project and will have a sow and gilt that he will be showing as well. The sheep and goat show will follow the swine show starting at 11:00 am. This year club members will be representing in the show ring with five goats and one lamb. Wren will be showing a market lamb for her first time. Jayton and Ruthie both will be showing market goats. Oakley will have a breeding doe in the open class for her first show ring experience. Another breeding doe along with her two kids will be shown by Jayton in the senior class division.
The rabbit show starts at 3:00 pm sharp on Thursday in the back room of the 4-H Chuckwagon followed by the poultry show at 4:00 pm. Makenna will be showing her senior doe, Mini Lop named Violet. Bailey will be presenting two Holland Lops named Clover and Mohawk and also two Mini Lops, Patience and Rascal. Macee will be bringing her Silver Laced Wyandotte hen named Oreo for her second year in the poultry project. Brookelyn will be showing her Golden Laced Wyandotte pullet named Jenny in the novice division during the poultry show.
The beef show will start a 9:00 am Saturday morning, trying to beat the heat of the day for less stress on the livestock. This year the club has four beef market project members. Tosha is our clubs graduating senior member and she will be showing and selling her final market steer this year at the fair. Bailey, Garrett and Wyatt will all be showing their steers in the junior class division. Also on Saturday you can watch dog obedience at 2:00 pm followed by the new working stock dog show. Club members enrolled in dog projects are Elise, Eryn, Ruthie and Wyatt.
Our Club will be in charge of the 4-H Chuckwagon food booth this year on Saturday between 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Please come on down and enjoy the many fair events and let our club members, leaders, and family members serve you and your family at the Chuckwagon. Come inside to enjoy one of the many delicious meal options on the menu and to relax in the air conditioning! Also on Saturday you can stop
by the Montana Farmers Union booth at the fair and learn about farmers and ranchers share prices. You will then receive a ticket for a $0.75 cheeseburger redeemable only at the 4-H Chuckwagon on Saturday.
On Saturday the Youth Livestock judging contest sponsored by our club starts at 3:30 pm, inside the beef barn. All youth are welcome to join the event. This is a great learning opportunity to gain knowledge and experience on livestock judging. No prior experience is required to join.
Sunday is a busy day for livestock members. You will find them in the barns early in the morning cleaning stalls and pens, bathing their animals, doing last minute clipping, trimming and prepping on their market animals before the sale. New to the fair this year is the Creative Trades Live Auction. It will happen at 1: 00 pm. This auction will feature items handmade by 4-H or FFA members. The livestock sale will follow starting at 2:00 pm. Sale order of animals this year will be bred heifers, sheep, goats, beef and swine. Livestock buyers can bid in person or online at the Frontier Live Sale website located at frontierlivesale.com. If you decide to bid online please register a few days before the sale.
As always the Sunshine Snippers 4-H Club members and leaders truly appreciate the support that we receive in the Big Sandy community and throughout Chouteau County! We hope to see you at the fair!
