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| Pell Lake family jumps headlong into fair projects |
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| Written by Letha Kuecker and Lynn Greene |
| Wednesday, 31 August 2011 14:25 |
 The Babiak family prepares for the Walworth County Fair. From the left, are Kaila with a recycled project; Jared, a Cloverbud member this year; Sara with a crocheted hat; Kendra (front, center) with her home environment project; Rachel with an International Foods project; and Michael with a carved bird woodworking project. Terry Mayer/staff. (Read the story in the e-edition of the 2011 Walworth County Fair special section HERE.) PELL LAKE — The Walworth County 4-H program is a year round program but summer brings on an increased amount of busy days and evenings for parents, members, and volunteer leaders. Softball games, camp at Upham Woods, out-of-state travel, sate and national conferences, are among the opportunities offered to youth. However, the culmination of each 4-H year is the Walworth County Fair when 4-H and FFA members present their project work to be judged in the hopes of being awarded a ribbon. Many 4-H families were at the fairgrounds for pre-fair judging earlier this month and most will be at the fairgrounds daily during the fair. The Babiak family from Pell Lake is no exception. With seven out of their 10 children currently active in 4-H, the Babiaks are masters of multi-tasking. For this family, selecting projects, completing entries and getting exhibits to the fair for judging is quite a challenge. The 4-Hers in this family vary in age from 7 to 16. All are members of the Lakeland 4-H Club. The Babiak family of Pell Lake includes seven children, ages 7-16, who are members of the Lakeland 4-H Club. Originally, members of the Bloomfield 4-H Club, the Babiaks migrated to Lakeland after that club stopped meeting. “We found Diane Cooper (the club’s general leader), to be very well organized,”‘ said Hanna Babiak, the mother of this 4-H brood, which includes several adopted children. Between the seven Babiak children, about 140 projects need to be completed, including those in the arts and crafts, child development, sewing, foods, knitting and crocheting, natural science, photography and gardening departments. It takes committment and organization to make it all work. Babiak points to a schedule posted on the refrigerator, with designated times for each of the girls to work on their sewing projects. When the family only has one working sewing machine, organization is the key to success. Kaila, 16, Rachel, 11, and Kendra, 10, made and modeled dresses during the 4-H Style Revue, on June 29. Sara, 16, their adopted sister from Liberia, modeled a historic costume made for her by Kaila, during the Style Revue. Each girl is making another garment for the fair. Kendra had completed a crocheting project but she gave it away as a gift so she will need to make another item. Kaila, who is in her third year of 4-H, said she is taking a lot of different projects this year. “I’m doing a lot of art, foods and nutrition, crocheting and home environment,” she said. Art is Kaila’s favorite project. She works in a variety of media: acrylic paint, graphite pencil. “It depends what I’m working on. For flowers, I like to paint.” Michael enjoys carving and painting wooden birds. He attends a class in Spring Grove, Ill. that has helped him create a lifelike image. Like his sister, Michael is in his third year of 4-H and is taking a variety of projects to the Walworth County Fair. “I’ll be taking the woodworking for sure, making a generator — well hopefully — but I have a backup plan if that doesn’t work.” Backup plans are important. Michael is hoping to complete a wood carving of a hummingbird for this year’s Walworth County Fair. The hand carving is his favorite project. For the most part, the birds are carved using hand tools and show a great deal of detail. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s definitely hard,” he admits. As most 4-H families know, the scope of projects that can be entered in the fair has changed over the years. With less people actually living and working on farms, projects have moved into other areas of interest that, at first glance, might not be be considered county fair material. Michael is taking photography this year and has learned how to shoot film, so he’s working on a short film. Kaila, Rachel and Kendra all believe that they have learned leadership and speaking skills through their 4-H work. Being organized and setting priorities is also part of their 4-H skill set. The Babiak children are homeschooled and utilize 4-H project work to fill the electives portion of their curriculum. They also incorporate their studies in science with aspects of their projects and strengthen their writing and speaking skills through Communication Arts. Their mom said, “we all love 4-H, especially since we’re a homeschool family and this is a good place to meet other people with similar interests.” Hanna knows t’s important to give each child the opportunity to pursue their own interests and 4-H does that well. “Plus it helps with social skills,” she added. As the time for fair gets close, the rush is on to complete everything. Although each year their mom says, “We’re not doing this again next year,” the kids laugh, and say they will continue to stay involved in 4-H.
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 31 August 2011 14:32 |
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