Gogebic County 4-H regroups after fair, looks to new year

By P.J. Glisson

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IRONWOOD-Sept. 1 is the start of a new year for Gogebic County 4-H, which makes the end of August an apt time to review success and lessons gained from the previous year.

The Gogebic County Fair, which ran this year from Aug. 11-14, is the culmination of each year's activity, providing an opportunity for children and young people to display their talent, compete for honors, sell their livestock, and enjoy each other's company while having a lot of fun.

At the end of the season, two 4-H members spoke with the Globe about their own experience at the fair.

"It was good," said Isaak Fyle, 16, of Bessemer.

"At the beginning of the fair, we had the unknowns with the buildings," he said, referring to an engineering report that resulted in the closure of the exposition building and last-minute grandstand repairs.

Ultimately, said Fyle, "Everything came together."

"It was very smooth this year," said Lori Maki of Bessemer, who has been in 4-H for 11 years and has raised more than 20 animals.

"Next year is my last year doing this," said Maki, who plans to study welding after high school, but also hopes to own a farm one day.

Both Fyle and Maki were among youth who sold their steer in the fair's livestock auction. Although it looks like a challenging task to lead an animal that weighs well over 1,000 pounds, Maki said, "It's pretty easy when you get used to it."

In terms of financial gains, Ashley Dennis - 4-H coordinator for the Michigan State University Gogebic County Extension Office in Bessemer - said that numbers are still being crunched in terms of earnings from the 4-H ice cream booth and chair auction at this year's fair.

"I don't know the tallies," she said this week. "Usually, it's a couple thousand for the ice cream booth and about $500 for the chairs."

Dennis said that, while the ice cream booth has been a fair fixture for decades, the silent chair auction just finished its fifth year.

She said that 4-H kids are given an old chair to "repurpose," and after it is painted, it is placed for sale at the fair.

"It's amazing what we get back," said Dennis of the ingenuity in design. "It's kind of cool."

Dennis said that profits from both the ice-cream booth and the chair auction go to fund 4-H supplies such as craft materials, learning lab kits, etc.

The funds also help to pay for 4-H activities, including a special activity that the kids choose to celebrate each year. "They had a skating party last year," said Dennis. In addition, she said the kids also will go on a field trip to visit farm animals at the end of this year.

Beyond that, Dennis said that the 4-H Council distributes the funds to the various clubs, based on their submitted requests.

In relation to the market auction, she said the related advisory board assures that kids are reimbursed for their expenses in raising livestock. In addition, she said some of the funds also go to the respective 4-H clubs.

Unlike the Iron County Fair, the Gogebic County pie auction is not affiliated with 4-H. Instead, pie auction funds go to cover general fair expenses.

Other fair activities in which 4-H kids participated included the youth challenge, which is a series of games; horse shows; and exhibitions of produce, homemaking and art projects.

"We had every stall reserved for horses, so it was awesome," said Dennis about equine participation at the fair.

"Our horse club is developing," she claimed, adding that regional horse shows will continue into the fall, so kids are still practicing for those.

4-H members looking to raise livestock again are preparing now for next year's fair.

"Some of them are looking at animals already," said Dennis. "A lot of them will start buying by October." She said the deadline to enter livestock in next summer's fair auction is Jan. 1, 2023.

Dennis commended the spirit of volunteerism among 4-H members.

Adrianne Balchick, 14, of Ironwood was named the fair's Youth Volunteer of the Year.

"There's quite a few youth that have volunteered," said Dennis. "She stood out this year as going above and beyond."

Dennis said kids volunteer by pulling hale bales, getting the horse arena ready, working on the cattle barn, and engaging in other miscellaneous tasks.

Moreover, she said that 4-H members also help each other within their given areas, as well as outside of them.

"They're just outstanding about helping each other, even if they're competing against each other," noted Dennis.

The final morning of the fair left Dennis with one more tangible memory of this year's event: Her Limousin cow, "Daisy Dukes," gave birth to a calf between 7 and 7:30 a.m.

"She needed a little bit of help," said Dennis, who explained that the mom is three years old and was experiencing her second calving.

Dennis said her son, David, 5, named the calf "Chocolate Funnel Cake."

She said the animals did well but rested in the fairgrounds barn until the middle of the next day before being transported back home.

In looking to the new 4-H year, Dennis said that 4-H officials - which now run five 4-H clubs - are always looking for new members, volunteers and ideas. Interested persons may contact her at 906-663-4045 or [email protected].