Late summer is the time of year that 4-H Club children here in Maine get to show everyone what they have been working for all year. Nicole Jewett, 12, Soairca Bogard, 10 and Caitlyn Spear, 14 have logged over 600 hours this project-year.

From watching the project's animal being born to being there when it is dehorned, stressful situations are encountered and learned from along with the fun of doing things like walking baby animals in the 4th of July parade. 4-H Club projects that involve large livestock aren't learned or accomplished in a few weeks before the fairs begin. It takes months.

At Alan-Dee Dairy, the 4-H Club members learned the importance of the everyday work, which allowed them to get their project from day one to the fair.

We started the calf and goat club last fall with 14 kids. Throughout the months they slowly dropped out. Kids and parents alike are so busy with school and work. Sometimes it’s hard to make the commitment needed for an animal project.

Jewett, Bogard and Spear started the show season at the Topsham Fair. The Youth Dairy Show was small but gave them the experience they needed to go to the Union Fair.

Union Fair is the home fair for Lincoln and Knox counties. The girls took four Holstein heifers and three Nubian doe kids to show. The barns at the fair became home, with them discovering that all the work is the same and needs to be done. 4-H Club shows required the 4-H'ers (members) do all of the work without adult involvement.

In the dairy goat show, Spear won Supreme Jr. Champion with Lexy and each of the girls won a showmanship class. In the dairy show, Jewett won Jr. Champion Holstein of the 4-H Club show and the Open Show with Rosie. Bogard placed third with her heifer Ravyn, and third in showmanship.

The girls and their leaders Candee Rogers and Deirdre Jewett stayed at the fair for seven days.

Next was the Windsor Fair with a larger dairy show and a lot more competition. This fair is home to the Maine State Holstein show that draws the best Holsteins in the state. This show was held earlier in the week.

The girls showed in the 4-H Club show taking two third and two fourth place wins. We are extremely proud of each one of them. They all did great.

And not to be forgotten are the parents. First, thanks to the moms who kept us all fed at the Union Fair and to all the moms and dads for all the support they gave and all the time they invested during the entire year. We couldn't have done everything we did without them.

We also want to thank the numerous people and organizations that donated to our fundraiser so the girls could buy all the supplies needed for their show projects.

Now they need to finish all the paperwork for the year. 4-H Club required reports on all projects be turned in to the main office to be graded. In October there will be an end-of-year banquet with awards. Then the whole thing starts over again.

The girls are anxious for the new calves to be born this winter.