Cow Patty Fun!!!!

Hi everyone!!! I say this every two weeks but, I can't believe it is time for another blog post!!! The past two weeks have been very exciting and busy here in Adair County. On the Monday of my last blog I traveled to Marion County to help judge photography in the Floral Hall, and I must say there were some great entries. This was my first time on the judging side of Floral Hall so I was glad to gain some experience. On Tuesday I taught the youth who signed up for my special project (4-H Land Judging) how to determine the slope of the land and what affect it can have on the amount of erosion. We traveled to Adair County High School where there were three different slope sites set up. The slopes to be judged were measured out to 100ft. and everyone caught on quickly!!! I was thrilled to see that I had gotten kids excited about a new program and by the end of the day they were already ready to move on to the next topic. On Wednesday I spent the morning with some children who would be competing at State Communications Day in Lexington. I listened to their speeches and demonstrations and tried to give helpful feedback that would better prepare them for the contest. After lunch, I worked on a 1,000 square grid that I numbered from 1-1,000 for our ever famous Cow Patty Bingo game. The rest of the week was spent celebrating Fourth of July and getting prepared for the Beef and Dairy Shows that would kick off the Adair County Fair.

Bright and early on the next Monday, we packed up and headed to the fair grounds for the Dairy Show. We had a great turnout of around 60 head of cattle. My jobs included: registration, awards, and clean up!! Afterwards we set up the 4-H Cow Patty Bingo booth at the fair.
COW PATTY BINGO involves:
1,000 square grid
Volunteers
Six long nights spent at the county fair
Ticket buyers
Gates
A Heifer
Patience
Cow poop
Basically, we sell numbers (2 for $5.00) all week long to people attending the fair, and believe me people LINE UP for this!!! On the last night of the fair we place a heifer in a gated area that matches our 1,000 square grid and wait.................................................................................. until she finally poops (in this years case it was 4 hours). After careful measurement, we determine the number the poop has landed on and that person wins $500.00!!! Who knew cow patties were so lucky!!!
On Tuesday of fair week we cleaned good ole' country hams (YUM), then a ham specialist came in and briefly judged some of the hams so that the kids could have an idea of what their hams will be judged on at State Fair. On Wednesday we conquered Floral Hall. It began at 9:30 and my face and writing hand never left the Clover buds entry book until 12:30!!! There were a ton of great entries and a lot of blue ribbons awarded. At around 1:00 that day the tornado sirens blared and three funnel clouds were spotted right outside the doors of the Floral Hall. This got us a little off track but eventually everything calmed down and we began recording Floral Hall results and figuring check amounts for the entries. This process took the entire day on Thursday and on Friday I made information packets for all the youth who will be attending State Fair with their entries. Needless to say fair week was hectic, thrilling, and fun but, on Saturday night, while waiting for the heifer to do her business, we were all ready for the fair to be finished until 2014!!!

I will be spending my next two weeks preparing my 4-H Land Judging group for the State Fair contest, meeting up with my fellow interns at our intern round-up, and bracing myself for the final weeks of my job :(
As always, I am so glad to have this wonderful opportunity and I hope all of you are enjoying your summer as much as I am mine!!!