Showcasing all the work that 4-H members complete throughout the year is the goal of the Chester County 4-H Fair, held annually at the Romano 4-H Center in Honey Brook. During this year's event, which ran from Aug. 5 to 10, 4-H members demonstrated their skill in the handling and care of farm animals, including beef cattle, dairy cows, breeding sheep, market lambs, swine, goats and horses.

In addition to the live animal shows, 4-H youths displayed projects in various categories, such as sewing and crocheting, woodworking, plants and vegetables, cut flowers, expressive arts, photography, painting and arts and crafts. This year's show featured 289 tabletop projects.

The Chester County 4-H Dairy Show was held as part of the 4-H Fair Week on Aug. 9. This year, the show was divided by dairy breeds and was judged by Mark Welk of Kirkwood.

"We have a different judge every year because judging is so subjective," explained Toni Stuetz, Penn State Extension educator. "It's good for the kids to see and experience somebody different and get different feedback as well."

Stuetz explained that the dairy show competition is judged in two categories - Showmanship and Fitting. Showmanship scores are based on how well the 4-H members show the best qualities of their animals, while also displaying their skill in handling their animals. Fitting is how well the animals are prepared for the show and how well they hold up under pressure during judging.

"When they're doing showmanship, which is how well the child shows the animal, is the place where he gives feedback (about what they could do better)," Stuetz explained. "When he does fitting, which is how well the animals are ready to show, he gives feedback about (the animal's appearance)."

For example, she said, the judge may suggest using special whitening shampoo for predominantly white cows. "Non-concentrated Dawn dish soap is one of the best things for washing the cows," said Stuetz, adding, "(Preparing to show an animal) is a lot of hard work."

She noted that 50 dairy animals were featured this year by 35 participants, who all wore traditional white clothing for the event. "We have 35 different 4-H kids from all over the county (representing) four dairy clubs," reported Stuetz. "We have eight seniors that are aging out, so this will be their last show."

4-H is the youth development program of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, Cooperative Extension. The four H's stand for head, heart, hands and health.  4-H membership is open to all boys and girls ages 8 to 18.

More than 5,000 young people are involved in 4-H in Chester County. Clubs meet in local homes, schools, churches or community centers. Current clubs include Dairy, Dairy Goat, Livestock, Small Animal and Robotics/Engineering. 4-H Community Clubs in Chester County include the West Chester Sewing Club; the Chesco Outdoor Club, which meets monthly at various locations in Chester County; the Shooting Sports Air Pistol Club, which meets at the Romano Center; and the 4-H Archery Club, which meets in Oxford. A Cloverbuds Club for children ages 5 to 8 meets at the Romano Center.

Also offered is the Northern Chester County 4-H Horse and Pony Club, which meets at the Line It Up Farm in Coatesville. Because of the rain-soaked arena at the Romano Center, the 4-H Fair's horse show was moved to the Line It Up Farm on Aug. 10.

The Penn State Extension 4-H office is located at 601 Westtown Road, Suite 370, West Chester. For more information about 4-H, call 610-696-3500 or visit https://extension.psu.edu/programs/4-h/counties/chester. More information and photos from the recent 4-H Fair are available at www.facebook.com/chestercounty4H and www.facebook.com/TheRomano4HCenterofChesterCounty.