New projects marked Monroe County 4-H centennial year

Monroe County 4-H students had a new project category for this year's fair.

In honor of 4-H's 100th anniversary, a Centennial Project category was added. Students were invited to create old-fashioned projects, like dipped candles, sewn sock monkeys, aprons, hard tack candy, handmade dolls, wooden trucks and cornstarch jewelry, which is made from a heated concoction of cornstarch and baking soda.

More than 100 Centennial Projects were entered and were displayed at last week's Monroe County Fair.

Brenda Chandonnet, general superintendent for crafts and culinary and a member of the Fair Advisory Board, came up with the idea for the projects and researched 4-H offerings from 100 years ago. Although Centennial Projects did not receive a monetary prize like other projects, they did earn a ribbon created especially for the category.

“We honestly didn't know what to expect. We tried to give the 4-Hers a wide variety to choose from, hoping to appeal to all ages and interests. To have over 100 projects entered was wonderful,” Chandonnet said.

Four categories seemed especially popular with the 4-Hers.

“The most popular projects were homemade hard tack candy and flower bouquets in a tin can. These two were followed closely by cornstarch jewelry and can goods,” Chandonnet said. “We were very pleased with the quality of many of the projects. Some of the 4-Hers took the time to look into the history of how these projects were made and looked 100 years ago.”

Some of the project categories may even return in future fairs.

"The 4-hers enjoyed this project area so much, it gives us ideas to add some of these projects for next year," Chandonnet said. "We try to add new projects every year and eliminate those that are no longer popular."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: New projects marked Monroe County 4-H centennial year