Wednesday What-Nots 8/19

Back by Popular Demand! 4-H static exhibitor families are able to order discount passes directly from the Nebraska State Fair! Orders can be placed now until 11:59pm CT on August 27, 2026, and can be placed using the following link and password:

https://go.unl.edu/2026nsfstaticexhibitorpasses

Password: 20264h

Please DO NOT SHARE this link with others. The State 4-H Office will ensure that submitted discount tickets match a registered participant.

We are incredibly grateful for the businesses, organizations, families, and individuals who invest in our youth and our community. Your support truly makes a difference!

Thank you for believing in our 4-H members and for helping make our County Fair a success. We appreciate you more than words can say!

Now that school is in full swing, let’s take a moment to look back at our amazing 4-H’ers and all the hard work they put in leading up to and during the County Fair!

From early mornings and long days to countless hours of practice, preparation, and dedication, our 4-H members showed what it means to work hard, learn new skills, overcome challenges, and proudly showcase their projects.

We are so proud of each and every one of our 4-H’ers! Their dedication, determination, and enthusiasm made this year’s County Fair one to remember.

A huge thank you to our 4-H families, volunteers, leaders, and sponsors for supporting our youth every step of the way. It truly takes a community to make 4-H great!

Here’s to celebrating the hard work, growth, and accomplishments of our incredible 4-H’ers!

We had a fantastic turnout for the 4-H Fun Night! Thank you who all attended this event to kick off an amazing Otoe County Fair Week.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Static Award Winners!

What an incredible showcase of creativity, talent, dedication, and hard work!

Our Swine Show was a great success! Congratulations to all of our winners, and a very special congratulations to Aliyah Beach, our Supreme 4-H Hog winner!

Whether they took home a purple or blue ribbon or simply walked into the ring with pride, every 4-H’er deserves to be celebrated for the time, effort, and dedication they put into their project.

Beef: 1st- Hayden Wellensiek 2nd- Grant Wellensiek 3rd- Grant Wellensiek

Sheep: 1st- Kelsey Steinhoff 2nd- Braellen Wieckhorst 3rd- Kole Brooks

Goat: 1st- Henry Stubbendick 2nd- Caleb Stubbendick T-3rd- Jaxon Reese T-3rd- Braellen Wieckhorst

We would like to give a big thank you to Bales & Tales and Better Ba'Cs 4-H Club for all your hard work in raising money for the horse rack.

Our Horse Show didn’t go quite as planned! Rain and muddy conditions made the arena unusable, so our exhibitors moved to the grassy area next to the arena to keep the show going.

Even with the challenging conditions, our 4-H’ers showed incredible determination, patience, and sportsmanship. When Mother Nature had other plans, they adapted and made the best of it!

Ultimately, the show had to be finished on a different day, but that didn’t stop our 4-H’ers from coming back ready to give it their all.

We are so proud of everyone for their hard work, flexibility, and positive attitudes throughout the entire experience! Congratulations to all who participated.

High Point Exhibitor 14 & Over Winner: Calla Masters

High Point Exhibitor 11-13 Winner: Anistyn Cary

High Point Exhibitor 10-under Winner: Briar Forke

From feeding and caring for their animals every day to grooming, fitting, halter breaking, and practicing showmanship, these young exhibitors worked hard to prepare themselves and their cattle for the fair. Early mornings, late nights, hot days, and plenty of hard work all came together when they stepped into the ring. Way to work hard, show with pride, and represent 4-H! A special congratulations to Annalynn Beach for winning Supreme Market Beef.

Beef: Will Janssen

Sheep/Goat: Hailey Dowding

Poultry: Andrew Lovelace

Swine: Seth Paulsen

What a GREAT day at the Rabbit Show!

A huge SHOUT OUT to Hazel Bakan for taking home the title of Supreme Overall Rabbit! What an incredible accomplishment!

Way to go Hadley Bakan on winning Champion Companion Animal and to Justin Starling on your accomplishment of Reserve Champion.

Senior Champion: Kirsten Knake

Intermediate Champion: Michael Wood

Junior Champion: Elsie Wood

Clover Kid: Meribeth Wood

A Heartfelt Congratulations

Congratulations to our very own summer intern, Emily Van Meter, on winning Supreme Market Sheep! We are incredibly proud of you and all that you have accomplished. It was such a joy working alongside you and watching all your hard work, dedication, and passion leading up to the fair pay off. You truly earned this moment!

We also want to congratulate all of the 4-H’ers who participated in this year’s sheep show. Your countless hours of hard work, dedication, and love for your animals did not go unnoticed. We are so proud of each and every one of you!

Congratulations, Emily, and congratulations to all the 4-H’ers on a wonderful sheep show!

What a great 2026 Goat Show. A well deserved congrats to Braellen Wiekhorst on winning Supreme Overall Meat Goat.

Beef: Osages

Swine: Better Beef Producers

Sheep: Little Nemaha

Goats: Better Ba-C's

Horse: Bales and Tales

Cheers to Kristlee Schebaum on your Supreme Poultry Win. We also want to congratulate all of the 4-H’ers who participated in this year’s poultry show. Your countless hours of hard work, dedication, and love for your animals did not go unnoticed. We are so proud of each and every one of you!

Kudos to Maeva Royal, Shawnee Ensor, and Rylee Steinhoff for baking it out for the Pie Baking Contest. Congratulations to Maeva Royal on your victory.

Entries are open for Nebraska State Fair Livestock and Contest entries. See https://www.statefair.org/livestock-exhibitors/4-h-ffa-exhibitors/ for details and a link to the entry page.

Nebraska 4-H wants to celebrate your everyday scientific achievements!

Science is a process of discovering the world around you through experiments and observations. By definition this makes you a scientist. In fact, you probably use the scientific method every day without even knowing it. For example, it is Saturday morning, and your family is making pancakes but with too many people in the kitchen one of the ingredients gets added twice! Not only have the cooked pancakes puffed up twice their normal size, but they also taste funny (observation). You decide that someone added the baking soda twice (hypothesis). A family member suggests if you make the pancakes again without the extra baking soda breakfast will not be a total flop (prediction). You agree and make them again (experiment). The pancakes were delicious the second time around and it was decided that too much baking soda was the problem (conclusion).

Could this scenario be altered to an experience you had while working on a 4-H project? Maybe you experimented with different types of fabric for clothing projects, explored new ways of preserving fruit, tried three different paints to see what will work best for your glass lamp you designed or practiced using different photography techniques.

If you believe you used the scientific method or the engineering design process in one of your 4-H static projects, consider applying for the Premier 4-H Science Award. All static exhibits which qualify for the Nebraska State Fair can apply for Premier 4-H Science Award. All applicants will be recognized for their use of science within their project area and will be eligible for a Premier 4-H Science Top exhibitor awards which includes a cash award sponsored by the Nebraska 4-H Foundation.

How can you apply? Identify which exhibit you will enter in the Premier 4-H Science Award. Then, complete the Premier 4-H Science Award Application, found online at https://go.unl.edu/nsfpremierscienceapp. Deadline is Friday, August 21 at 12:00PM CT.

For more information about the Premier 4-H Science Award visit https://4h.unl.edu/4-h-fairbook-nebraska-state-fair/contests/premier-science-award/ or contact Sarah Polacek at spolacek2@unl.edu.

Orders can be placed online at https://go.unl.edu/2026nsf4htshirts and are due August 10, 2026

The Otoe County Achievement Application will go digital for Fall 2026!

We will utilize the state's achievement application as our base application. https://4h.unl.edu/statewide-events-opportunities/awards-recognition/achievement-application/ And then we'll use our own digital form to collect the applications for county judging.

In addition, there have been a few changes to our county-level categories and awards. Highlights include:

i. Clover Dollar awards have been discontinued. To attend camps related to their project area of interest, 4-H members are encouraged to utilize the 4-H Foundation's camp scholarship awards program. https://otoe4hfoundation.org/camp-scholarships/

ii. Community Service Awards will now award a first ($75) and second ($50) place entry in each age division.

iii. All other awards will increase their amounts given to winners, for a total of $50 per award, with the exception of Outstanding 4-H Member Awards ($50, $75, and $100).

Check out all changes via the NEW digital Achievement Application submission form: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/UFwFv4NaUS

i. We're still working on a detailed list of the awards and their criteria. We appreciate your patience as we work to get these details out as soon as we can. Please reach out with questions.

Tracy Ensor, 4-H Youth Development Associate Extension Educator, tensor2@unl.edu

Ben Jewell, Rural Prosperity Nebraska Associate Extension Educator, bmcshane-jewell2@unl.edu

Nathan Roth, 4-H Extension Assistant, nroth14@unl.edu

Megan Anderson, Office Manager, manderson230@unl.edu

Website: www.otoe.unl.edu

Location: 620 1st Street, Syracuse, NE, USA
Phone: (402) 269-2301
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nebraska-Extension-in-Otoe-County