Today is a busy day at the Seifert family home in Carlock.
Claire, Evelyn and Charley will load up live chickens, a curated assortment of vegetables, completed Lego kits, canned goods, photography displays, and a calf named Bailey. They’re all headed to the McLean County 4-H Show, where the three Seifert kids are competing this week.
“It’s very exciting, especially that first day when everything’s being judged and you can’t wait to see what you got,” said Evelyn, 14.
The McLean County 4-H Show will feature 4,500 projects from 650 young participants – in categories, or project areas, ranging from rabbits and dairy to aerospace, esports and babysitting. It’s the kids’ opportunity to demonstrate mastery of a skill, with judges doling out ribbons – including the coveted “Best in Show.” The public is invited to see their work too.
4-H is a year-round program, and kids (ages 5 to 19) often spend months working on their projects and picking up leadership, citizenship, personal development skills along the way.
And today?
“Everyone’s up early, and I don’t think they’ve had the best night’s sleep because they’re nervous from the night before,” said Sara Seifert, mom to Claire, Evelyn and Charley. “But it’s a good nervous, because they care so much.”
Chickens, calves, dogs, and more
![Evelyn scratching Bailey, a yearling [young] heifer calf who lives at the Ropp family farm in Normal.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/a852191/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5018x3091+0+336/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F69%2F34%2F377722e24c7eb7a0d2a199cdee7c%2F4h-family-bollinger11.jpg)
![Bailey, a yearling [young] heifer calf who lives at the Ropp family farm in Normal. She is standing in mud.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/eed137a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4614x2842+0+227/resize/880x542!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F38%2Ff7%2F5a8a378a417ebaf7365a2867b252%2F4h-family-bollinger07.jpg)
Evelyn has a lot to care for. That includes Bailey, a yearling [young] heifer calf who lives at the Ropp family farm in Normal. She’s been caring for Bailey since soon after she was born last year.
Bailey’s likes include chin scratches, alfalfa treats, and mooing at other calves.
“She’s super friendly. She’s a lot less skittish than the other cows,” Evelyn said. “When I get here, I just have to call her name and she’ll come running from the pasture. I feel like we have a bond since I’ve been working with her for a long time. She’s a good calf.”
But being friendly isn’t enough to win Best in Show. Evelyn has to get her ready by washing and clipping her. Once she’s in the judging ring, Evelyn must dial up the showmanship.
“My rule is to always keep a smile on my face. If everyone goes bad, make the best of it. Show the judge it’s OK and you’re still in control,” Evelyn said.
Evelyn also competes with the family dog, Daisy, in dog agility. She’s been training Daisy for years to quickly run an obstacle course on command – as long as Daisy is well-rested. Daisy won Best in Show last weekend for agility in a 4-H dog show.
Evelyn and her brother, Charley, are also showing chickens at the 4-H Show. Charley’s favorite is a friendly, mustard-colored chicken named (for reasons unknown) Donald Bufforfington.
Getting those chickens ready for showtime ain’t easy.
“We clean them, and the ones with feathers on the bottom of their feet, we brush those out and put coconut oil on their feet to make them shiny. And then we brush them with a cloth. It takes a while, but they look really nice,” Evelyn said.
Just outside the Seiferts’ chicken coop is the garden, where Claire, 17, and Evelyn grow their entries for Horticulture. Claire’s gotten good at it, taking “Best in Show” for her rhubarb at a previous show. She also uses what’s harvested to cook – including the tomatoes and onions she used to make a salsa that she might enter in the Food Preservation, or canning, area.
This year they’ve struggled with pests – but they’re learning about solutions. They’re picking off tomato worms by hand, squashing squash bugs, and setting traps for Japanese beetles (who will then be frozen and fed to the chickens next door).
“You’re growing stuff you eat, so it’s pretty rewarding in that sense. You’re not just showing it,” Claire said.
Growing more than vegetables
They’re also growing their leadership skills. Claire is the president of the Linden Lead’Em 4-H Club. Evelyn is the treasurer. Charley, at 10, is already on the club’s recreation committee.
“It brings together a lot of different people from a lot of different schools, even from home-schooling,” Claire said. “You build relationships within your club.”
Their mom, Sara Seifert, said 4-H “checks all the boxes” for helping develop time management skills, learn responsibility, and become young leaders. At the 4-H Show, she’s especially impressed by the judging process, which gives kids the opportunity – and challenge – of holding conversation with and getting feedback from adult judges.
Sometimes they take the top prize. Sometimes they don’t. Perseverance is a skill too.
“Maybe they were hoping for a different color ribbon. And the disappointment comes. But that’s life,” Seifert said. “[They learn] how to work through that, and how to pick yourself up and dust yourself off, sometimes literally. … You’re disappointed, but you dust yourself off. What do you need to do next time? It’s not the end of the world. It’s OK. It’s here to make you better."
There are lots of opportunities for the public to see all the projects at the 4-H Show, which happens during the McLean County Fair each year at the Interstate Center in Bloomington. Cloverleaf Hall is the hub of activity. Judging happens throughout the week, starting Wednesday. The show ends Sunday.
“Wednesday is a very full day. There are tons of people in and out of the building. It’s loud, it’s chaotic, it’s exciting,” Myla Munro, a 4-H youth development educator who serves McLean County.
There’s a fashion revue (starts 1 p.m. Saturday), rocket launch (1 p.m. Saturday), and bicycle safety rodeo (9 a.m. Saturday), to name a few.
“4-H is more than cows, sows and plows. We have an opportunity to create youth that are beyond ready to enter the workforce and head to college prepared as young adults,” Munro said.
