Love Of Fair Leads To New Opportunities

A lifelong love of the Richland County Fair has allowed a local young lady to continue the 4-H tradition from a new perspective. Katelyn Dynneson, a ten year veteran of 4-H, has stepped in to fill a void left by Juli-Ann Snedigar, the former Richland County extension agent whose responsibilities included 4-H activities and the organization of these activities for the Richland County fair. Dynneson spent the month of July organizing and preparing for the 4-H portion of the fair, which ensures that all 4-H members can showcase their livestock and personal projects at our county fair.

Dynneson has a lot of work ahead of her. “I will start on July 2 and I will have a lot of work to do,” she says. “We need to get the 4-H building ready, find judges, make sure the barns are ready, get people lined up so they know what to do, contact everyone, plus complete any other task that has to do with 4-H events at the fair.”

Dynneson assisted Snedigar with last year’s organizational fair time responsibilities, so she knows what to expect this year. “I helped Juli-Ann last year, and I was amazed at the amount of work involved with this,” she comments. “There are a lot of little things that need done, but I loved helping out and I really look forward to these responsibilities again this year.”

Dynneson has always loved fair time, and she enjoyed preparing for the fair as a 4-H member. She loved her ten years as a 4-H member so this opportunity to organize 4-H events for the fair has allowed her to see another, equally interesting aspect of the fair. “I love the fair,” she says. “I showed a market steer at the fair every year for ten years, and I competed in other exhibits as well. I loved it, and really missed showing a steer so this is my way of staying involved with the fair. It was so much fun to show, and it also is a lot of fun to prepare and organize for this event.”

Dynneson praises the Richland County extension office for the incredible amount of time the staff spends on the 4-H program. She especially notes the hard work of extension agent Tim Fine and administrative assistant Patti Fjelstad. “The people in the extension office do a lot for us,” she concludes. “Tim is really good, and Patti is just great. I couldn’t begin to do this job without her help.”

Kayleen Searer will help Dynneson organize and prepare the 4-H portion of the Richland County Fair.