It was the summer of 2015 and our daughter’s first 4-H fair. Our household’s 4-H newbie signed up for – drumroll, please (or rather, cue a tune of doom) – 10 projects in her first year of 4-H. I talked her down from a list in the teens.
The script was written for a like-mother, like-daughter story. We share similar interests, similar projects and, certainly, my influence in the pig category played a role in her selecting that project. My husband had no interest in pigs beyond bacon and Bob Evans Original pork sausage.
Anyway, one of the barrows, or boy pigs, in her 4-H litter resembled a pig from my own early 4-H years. Big Red was my absolute favorite childhood chewing gum and the name I bestowed upon my first-ever barrow in 4-H. The name seemed fitting for a crossbred pig that sported a red body with a white band around his middle. The judge deemed him as good as his striking looks.
Big Red earned a blue ribbon and first in his class as a pig that originated from the market stock at the farm. To this day, I remember the class placement vividly because Granny shrieked loudly from the front row of the bleachers.
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Fast forward 30 years. My brother, the family pig connoisseur, announced the newest litter’s arrival in the barn that winter with a text message: “Maybe Big Red reborn??” Now, it seems this story turns a bit “Doublemint” (a bit of humor for those who lived the ’80s and ’90s).
Beyond all the ripped-out stitches in sewing, pans of misshapen cookies or our son’s rocketry project that twice landed on a nearby roof at the 4-H launch experience, we generally look back and ahead fondly at fair time.
The kids showed pigs only a couple years and gravitated to chickens as a livestock project. Both have won rosettes and banners with their birds. For general projects, our daughter thrives with flower and nature projects. Our son loves tractors, a project that won him Best of Show at the 4-H Fair last year.
These 4-H memories and experiences shape our lives. Done right, 4-H membership structuralizes and builds greater knowledge in areas the kids enjoy and where they express talent. This educational aspect complements the organization’s influences on citizenship, leadership, responsibility and public speaking skills.
My late aunt and longtime 4-H club leader always smiled as she retold the story of my first 4-H presentation. I demonstrated pig care with the visual aids of small-scale farm toys and Barbie boots. Our daughter has one more year of 4-H to re-create that nostalgic moment.
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About the Author: Joanie Stiers farms with her family in west-central Illinois, where they grow corn, soybeans, hay and cover crops and raise beef cattle and farm kids.
