AMBOY,Ill.-This summer was unlike any our 4-H’ers have ever seen. Well, unlike any of us have ever seen! But, our kids persevered and adapted to the changes we had to make for them to show off the hard work they put in learning about the topics that spark them. With just about a month to make changes in their projects, 4-H’ers in Lee County prepped to show their projects on our virtual platform, fairentry.com. Youth uploaded pictures or videos of their projects and wrote a short report about what they created or showed.

“The youth that participated in this unconventional fair did phenomenal,” says Kathy Book, Lee County 4-H Program Coordinator. “It was heartwarming to see so many kids pull their projects together to show the county what they are learning even though we couldn’t get together at the fairgrounds.”

Since the conventional fair didn’t take place, the traditional 4-H Awards Ceremony each night of the fair wasn’t able to happen. Our Lee County 4-H Ambassadors, Ava Prior, Kayla McCormick, and Catherine Bloemker, came together to help Kathy plan a Drive Thru 4-H Fair Awards Ceremony at the Lee County 4-H Center.

All 4-H’ers who participated in the virtual fair were invited to drive through the fairgrounds to pick up their ribbons and trophies. They then were able to take pictures of themselves and their ribbons in our 4-H Fair Winners Circle. 4-H’ers and parents alike were grateful for the opportunity to be on the fairgrounds for this event. As one of our 4-H Ambassadors, Catherine says, “It really gave us a taste of normalcy in this strange summer.”

The University of Illinois Extension 4-H program gives a huge congratulations to everyone who participated in this summer’s Virtual 4-H Fair!

Results from the 2020 4-H Fair are available to see at this link: https://fairentry.com/Fair/Results/13994

For more information, contact Kathy Book at 815-857-3525.