4-Hers keep busy over summer

Tori Kirian will tell you that 4-Hers don't spend their summers just lying around. As a matter of fact, the new OSU Extension 4-H youth development educator for Hancock County — and a former 4-H member herself — said this is the time of year when youth in 4-H are the most active. "Between finishing up club meetings, having camp, finishing up projects and going into judging," summer is a busy time, she said. Judging for the Hancock County 4-Hers who took still projects like cooking, sewing, cake decorating, woodworking and STEM was held in July. "Currently, we do have a few from last week throughout this week at the state-level judging. So we've had a few kids go down there and actually earn awards," Kirian said. Some of the members who take livestock projects are also showing at the state fair, said Kirian. The local livestock project evaluations start Monday. Once judging is complete, clubs will begin preparing their booths for the Hancock County Fair. This year, those booths will be in the new youth pavilion, Kirian said. The new building, which replaces the old youth and education buildings, accommodates activities and programs of all area youth and is located south of the Grange and merchants buildings, across from the north grandstand. Kirian said the clubs will be in the building working on their fair booths beginning Aug. 28. This summer has also been a busy one for Kirian, who started her new role with the local Extension office in June. "I started three weeks before camp, actually the week of Cloverbud Day Camp, so we were jumping right in," she said. She also attended the endowment/benefit silent auction the day before she started her new job so she could start meeting people. And while Kirian may be new to Hancock County, she's not new to OSU Extension or to 4-H, as she was a member of the 4-H program in Crawford County for 11 years. "I had all sorts of projects, between the cooking and sewing and rope and cattle," she said. "I grew up with the program because my brother is eight years older than I am. He started in Seneca County. So by the time he was getting out, I was just getting into it." Kirian earned a bachelor's degree in animal sciences from the University of Findlay, with a science focus. For the past two years, she has worked as the Extension program assistant for 4-H in Hardin County. Prior to that, she was a summer 4-H program assistant in Seneca County. Hancock County has about 700 4-H members this year, according to Kirian. That includes those enrolled in the traditional program, which is open to youth who are age 8 and in third grade, up to age 18; as well as those who are in the Cloverbud program, which is for children age 5 and in kindergarten. Kirian said she hopes to meet many of the 4-H youth during this year's county fair, scheduled for Sept. 1-6. "I spent, obviously with camp, a decent amount of time with the camp counselors and I met some of the junior fair kids," she said. "But I'm really looking forward to seeing the kids in action." Wolf: 419-427-8419