Advance judging is done "Face-to-Face" so the youth have a chance to tell the judge about their project and also tell them how they accomplished producing their item. It is a great chance for a judge to critique the articles and for the 4-H members to ask questions of the judge that will help them improve and advance their skills in the future. This is a day that also helps organizers beat the rush of exhibits, 4-H members bring the majority of their projects in that don't include animals, foods, or plants. Exhibits include cultural arts, photography, woodworking, clothing, knitting, arts and crafts as well as small animals such as cats, dogs, guinea pigs that are not typically displayed at the fair. After judging is complete organizer and superintendents have time to properly display the items before the fair actually starts.

There are sixteen 4-H Clubs that represent Calumet County which host 386 members strong and 168 certified leaders. Of the 386 members in the counties 4-H program, 130 live on farms, 230 live in rural/non farm,18 live in cities of 10,000 to 50,000 population, and 8 live in cities over 50,000 in population.

Entries are up by 401 for the 2010 fair. This is a great for both the exhibitor and the fair in general. As many stereotypes about 4-H tend to think that it is for farm families, this is not so "anymore" or at least for the past couple of decades hasn't been the case. As the farms go larger in the area, and the so called family farms become more unique, the hobby farms increase, this does take away from the dairy numbers, but increases the number in the areas of horses, goats, sheep, pigs, beef, poultry and rabbits, plus the number of non-animal exhibits. Don't misinterpret that Calumet County is decreasing the number of dairy exhibits either, because dairy is holding very steady and strong, which points to the fact that our dairy exhibitors are very strong and the quality of the dairy within the county is strong as well. The biggest increase this year is seen in the horse numbers and that is due to an effort by the 4-H Horse and Pony project leaders to increase the interest in the project, plus a huge commitment by those leaders to restructure project meetings.

Advance judging is the "first trip" to the annual fair which can be considered the Super Bowl or Tournament of the 4-H year. It's a chance for the 4-H members to compete whether it be against themselves, trying to get a better placing or rating than last year or against "Sally" who always gets that blue first place ribbon. Whatever the case all 4-H members can be proud of the fact they are a huge part of making the Calumet County Fair a success and making it "The Biggest Little Fair in Wisconsin"!

If you or your family is interested in getting involved in 4-H, stop by the 4-H promotion booth (located in the Brantmeier Youth Building) or contact the Calumet County UW-Extension Office at 920-849-1450.

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