Summer has always been a time synonymous with county fairs and outdoor festivals in Minnesota. That was until summer of 2020. The COVID pandemic has wreaked havoc with almost every aspect of daily living since the end of March, 2020.

July and August are usually county fair times. Local 4-H’ers have decided not to let COVID shatter their plans. Many local youth have been working on projects during the winter months, including working with their cattle in preparation for showing them at the county fair.

The goal of 4-H is to develop citizenship, leadership, responsibility and life skills of youth through experiential learning programs and a positive youth development approach. I was an active 4-H member for over 10 years and I learned a great deal from being a 4-H member.

Clear Lake 4-H’er Raelee Lyon will be a 7th grader in the fall. She is showing dairy (Holstein, Guernsey, Brown Swiss, and some crossbred), as well as swine, photography, and wood shop this summer. Instead of sitting face to face with judges as in the past, all projects must be showed virtually this summer.

Raelee has been involved with 4-H for 9 years. She started with pre 4-H at age 3. Raelee and her family live north of Becker (near Clear Lake). They are members of Mayhew Laker’s 4-H club (which her mom, grandpa, and great grandma were involved with also). Raelee’s great grandma was an original founder of the Mayhew Laker’s 4-H club, making Raelee a 4th generation member of the club. Raelee’s younger siblings are 4-H Cloverbuds and are excited to be full members in the future (Abrielle, age 8 and Jacob, age 4). They are also active in 4-H.

Raelee’s parents, Corrine and Tony Lyon, were both involved with 4-H growing up. They were members of different clubs, but met in the cattle barns when they both showed beef in the year 2000. The Lyon family has always been active in 4-H.

Raelee shared her thoughts about 4-H: “The fair is by far my favorite part of 4-H. It gives me a goal to work towards all year and it’s the biggest event we participate in.”

Raelee also chimed in with these comments about how COVID has changed things this summer: “Everything was very different this year. We had to get all of our projects done much earlier than the actual fair would have been so we had less time to work. It was very difficult taking videos and pictures of my projects rather than showing them in person.”

Raelee was disappointed with this year’s turn of events and well aware of the the extra effort required, Raelee was excited to be able to show her animals and projects in any capacity.

Becker resident Ann Olson serves as 4-H Program Coordinator in Benton County. Ann shared these thoughts: “I am so proud of all the youth and their ability to adapt in all situations and keep a positive attitude.” The 4-H program  teaches youth a great deal and is a staple of our county fairs.

I think it’s safe to say we are all praying next summer will be business as usual and county fairs and outdoor festivals will be back in full swing!