Contestants participating during the Sumner County Fair in year’s past. 

by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — A marriage that has been going since the early 1980s appears to be in trouble. 

The Sumner County 4-H Program Development Committee and executive council recently informed the Sumner County Fair board that they intend to pull out of the county fair this August and move all non-livestock judging and exhibits to the Kansas Wheat Festival. 

The 4-H executive council has also expressed its desire to move all 4-H livestock judging activities elsewhere. 

Call it: 4-Hexit.

The decision came as a surprise to many on the fair board, and it’s a move that would be a serious blow to the event that usually runs on the first week of August. 

At the root of the issue is the location of the fair. 4-Hers, particularly those on the northeast corner of the county, have found the location of the fair in Caldwell to be inconvenient – especially those who are showing livestock. 

A trip from the northeast corner of Sumner County to Caldwell is roughly 50 miles one-way. If a Belle Plaine 4-Her is showing livestock at the fair and plans to sell the animal at the fair’s auction, the family is looking at putting 300 miles on their vehicle for the three-day event. 

Sumner County Extension Agent Randy Heim said it is also about exposure. He said the hope is a move to Wellington for many of these 4-H exhibits will promote the organization in the future. 

The decision 

4-H at its rural roots is a youth organization that focuses on the educational program outside a school setting. It tends to be agriculturally driven where young people from 6 to 18 can take projects such as livestock, electricity, cooking, photography, etc. 

At the end of the 4-H year, kids take their wares and/or livestock to the county fair to be judged. Winners are then eligible to submit their entries at the Kansas State Fair. 

But much like many summer programs, 4-H participation has dwindled – even for those living on a farm. Part of the problem and this is agreed upon by almost everyone working with 4-H, is the advent of summer athletics. 

Parents have decided to enroll their children with summer teams – some that travel to faraway places every weekend. 

Plus, 4-H is labor-intensive. In order to create a project such as a rocket ship or a photo album or show an animal, it involves the participation of parents. 4-H is a tough sell in an age of instant gratification. It harkens back to the age of teaching children how to make things and putting in the time to develop a skill. 

As a result, 4-H participation has dwindled not only in Sumner County but around the world. 

Heim said the problem compounds itself even more in Sumner because the 4-H lacks exposure. Not only is 4-H a tough sell to start with, but many children do not even know it exists – especially in the Wellington, Oxford, and Belle Plaine area. 

It has gotten so bad that the Belle Plaine 4-H club is down to six members. 

On the other hand, according to one fair board member, Caldwell and South Haven have the two biggest 4-H Clubs in the county. 

Heim said he wants to increase 4-H’s visibility. 

“From what I understand there are 7,000 to 10,000 visitors at the Kansas Wheat Festival every year,” Heim said. “If you put it at the Raymond Frye Complex next to the carnival then you increase the likelihood more kids will see what 4-H has to offer.” 

Heim continues. 

“I’d like to have one of those kids walk around the Raymond Frye Complex and see a rocket and go, ‘hey, I want to build one of those.” 

4-H is also more than agriculture, Heim said. He said there is an untapped market of town kids who can participate in 4-H and be involved in woodworking, photography, sewing, etc. 

“4-H is such a great activity for young people because it isn’t just about showing a cow or a sheep or building a rocket,” Heim said. “It is one of the best places for young people to learn how to public speak. It has so many layers to it.” 

But the problem is, Heim said, Caldwell is a problematic location. It is not only hard to bring in people from Wellington and Belle Plaine but there are not as many people who attend the fair as the Wheat Festival. Thus he feels 4-H is underexposed. 

So the 4-H council decided in February to make a change. 

“I know this is not a popular decision with people in Caldwell,” Heim said. “And we didn’t do it to make anyone mad. We did it for what we felt was best for the kids and for the 4-H organization.” 

The fair board responds

Sumner Newscow sat down with three board members and diligent organizers at the county fair: Toni Wolff, Kathy Schmidt, and Wanda Whaley last week. They described the decision as regrettable and a surprise. 

And it could kill the fair. 

4-H has always been an integral part of any county fair. Yes, there is the events such as the parade, and the Friday night entertainment. But the 4-H are a part of the exhibit hall for which people come to view things during the downtime. 

4-H also brings people to the fair who wouldn’t come otherwise. Losing 4-H would be a huge blow to attendance. There are two different exhibitors: 4-H and open class. While the fair would sustain the loss as far as photography and arts and crafts items, it would have little to no electricity, woodworking, or sewing exhibits that tend to be more labor-intensive and 4-H driven.

But the big issue involves the livestock show and the auction that follows. 

Each year about 50 percent of those showing either a cow, sheep, pig, or goat are 4-Hers and the other half are FFA members. The junior livestock show for those in middle school or younger is almost all 4-Hers. 

You take out the 4-H element and the livestock show is cut more than half. 

But here’s another issue, it could hurt the kids themselves, the group says. 

In order to participate in the Sumner County Livestock Auction which traditionally wraps up the fair, participants have to show their livestock at the fair. 

If 4-H is no longer participating in a livestock show, then the 4-Her can’t sell the animal at that auction. That is where 4-Hers make their revenue. 

So thus it is not advantageous for them not to participate. 

While 4-H participation is down, showing livestock is not. Fair officials say participation is up particularly with sheep and goats. Beef showings are way down but that is more about economics than any other issue. 

The fair group board also said that Caldwell has the primary livestock barn in the county. 

And that is a problem, Heim even admits is an issue pulling out of Caldwell. Wellington does not have a livestock building. There is one in South Haven. Heim used that last year during the coronavirus summer for livestock judging. 

He said he is looking down there to show livestock this year but has not secured the location yet. 

“It’s 11 miles difference,” chided one board member. “Are you seriously thinking that is going to solve the central location issue by moving it to South Haven?” 

The history

At one point the 4-H Fair and the Sumner County Fair were separate. The 4-H Fair was in Wellington. They held the exhibit hall at the Knights of Columbus and there was a sale barn to that open lot to the north. 

Heim said the problem then, as he was told since he didn’t live in Sumner County at the time, was the barn was dilapidated. Also, the city fathers were not especially keen of having livestock within the city limits. 

So the 4-H went looking elsewhere and decided to move all 4-H events to the county fairgrounds. 

“It used to be kids could show their livestock in Wellington, then South Haven and then Caldwell,” Heim said. “I think they had their fair in the first week of September but moved it up so that people could show their 4-H projects and get them to the state fair.” 

Wolff said this isn’t exactly true. The fair was held during the first week of September but was moved up because the state fair was moved up a week. Also, the date of the county fair was made to accommodate getting a carnival to Caldwell, which has, unfortunately, became a thing of the past. 

Nevertheless, the 4-H and Sumner Fair has been a marriage for around 40 years. And like any marriage, there has been some conflict along the way. 

The fair board group said they were blindsided by the 4-H council’s decision and only heard about it from a Heim e-mail in early February. 

“I’m not sure how many of the 4-Hers really know about it,” said one board member. “I know we were surprised and caught completely off-guard.” 

There is some bitterness. 

The 4-H council and its sub-committees like the 4-H Program Development Committee is devoid of any representation from Caldwell, which isn’t by accident, the group says. Heim lives north of Belle Plaine. 

And it wasn’t the case about money. 4-H ran a concession stand during these livestock show and kept the profits. The fair board does not make any money off of the fair itself as there is no admission or money-generating events. They make all of their money on the Figure-8 race two weeks later. 

What’s next? 

What happens next is anyone’s guess. 

Heim said he’s hoping to have the exhibits at the Raymond Frye Complex will not only increase the exposure of the show but bring in more 4-Hers. He also hopes to move the 4-H fashion revue to the Regent Theater in the future. 

He also said because the Wheat Festival is on the second week of July, that gives the extension office more time to submit projects to the state fair. 

Eventually, he speculates, that perhaps a fair building, a livestock barn, and even a grandstand can be built in Wellington. But that’s way down the road. 

But the fair board isn’t sharing Heim’s vision. One of the issues is the timing of the Wheat Festival. The fact that the extension office is asking local 4-Hers to complete their project in the second week of July especially when some have just completed or still harvesting is a monumental task. 

“People will not be happy,” said one board member. 

The fair board is also discussing, perhaps, making livestock open class, thus giving 4-Hers an opportunity to participate in the fair auction. 

In the meantime, the Sumner County Fair will go on as scheduled 

In an e-mail statement to Sumner Newscow through Wanda Whaley it states: 

“Dear Sumner County,

The Sumner County Fair Board would like to take this opportunity to invite all residents of Sumner County to join us at the Sumner County Fair, Aug 5-8.  Although the 4-H PDC Extension Council  has made the decision to remove the 4-H Fair from the Sumner County Fair, we want everyone to know this decision was not the choice of the Fair Board. 

But, the show will go on and we are working hard to come up with new ideas and activities to make Sumner County – 150 Years from the Prairie to Prosperity, the place to be the first weekend in August.

We invite young and old to pull out those recipes Grandma used to make and bring your giant watermelons and join us for an old fashioned good time with some modern twists.   Check the papers and our Facebook page for the latest updates and activities.  We are always looking for new ideas and people that want to contribute to the community.

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