Atlantic County 4 H Fair - Thursday, Friday & Saturday

DONNA WEAVER, Staff Writer
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP — Tradition has kept the Atlantic County 4-H Fair alive since the 1940s, and crews will pull the event off again this weekend.

Deborah L. Cole, 4-H agent with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County, said every year the work crew gets a little smaller, but the organization has a great maintenance committee to organize the fair setup.

“We were just having a conversation about why it’s so popular. Is it the animals, the chicken barbecue, antique tractors and engines, the rides? I think it’s a little bit of everything because it’s about tradition,” Cole said.

Cole said the firefighting competition featuring local volunteer companies also draws a large crowd.

The barns at the David C. Wood 4-H Fairgrounds are open for crowds to visit the animals, including horses, livestock, poultry, rabbits, guinea pigs, snakes and reptiles. Inside the grounds’ main building, visitors can check out photography exhibits, a model railroad, robotics, fine arts and other displays.

The newly launched robotics program is bringing in a whole new crowd. Categories include underwater robotics and the first Lego league robotics, Cole said.

Judging in the main building takes place Thursday morning, and horse and livestock shows are held daily. Special horse and livestock events are also held each evening.

Cole said last year the fair saw more than 8,000 cars over three days.

“But we could see upwards of 10,000 people come every year,” she said.

Within the Atlantic County 4-H, horses remain the most popular animal, as 72 members have horses, Cole said.

The children who are 4-H members and have animals in the program learn empathy and responsibility by taking care of them, Cole said.

The horse program used to be the 4-H’s largest, but the economy has caused it to decline because of the costs associated with maintaining a horse.

“We, like any organization, have our ups and downs, and right now we’re in a little bit of a lull. We used to have 500 members, but now we have about 300 members,” Cole said.

Contact: 609-513-6686

DWeaver@pressofac.com

Twitter @ACPressWeaver

ATLANTIC COUNTY 4-H FAIR

When: 12:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: David C. Wood 4-H Fairgrounds, Route 50, Hamilton Township
More info: 609-965-1677, 609-625-0056 or rutgers-atlantic.org/4-H/fair.asp

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