By Morgan Kjornes
PEORIA, Ill. – (25 News) – Peoria County 4-H participants gathered at Cedar Hills Baptist Church on Wednesday to have their projects judged, with the public invited to view the exhibits July 15 through July 17.
Entries ranged from cakes to bug dioramas, with livestock showings scheduled to follow Thursday and Friday morning. Participants range in age from 5 to 18.
Kristi Smith, 4-H extension program coordinator, said the event marks the end of a yearlong effort for participants.
“This is a culminating event for all of the kids. So, they have worked really hard on all of these projects all year long, so this is where they’re exhibiting their projects so they’ve all brought them in, and you can just take a look and see what all they’ve made,” Smith said.
Judging provides participants with professional feedback on projects they have worked on for the past several months.
Caitlin Murphy, junior superintendent of the 4-H program, said the organization offers participants a path for growth over multiple years.
“Being able to work in 4-H for 10 years, or two, there are so many different stories of people getting into 4-H. Whether they’re in clover buds, and they’re not even old enough to technically show yet, or all the way through high school, and the beginning parts of college, just being able to grow that entire time and each year being better than the year before,” Murphy said.
The general public is invited to view participant exhibits starting July 15 at Cedar Hills Baptist Church through July 17 at Stark County Fairgrounds in Peoria County.
