Club Fair 2022-2023 Success Story

 In the last two years, several Franklin County 4-H clubs that were traditionally well-attended have come to a halt due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and low attendance. The only clubs that have remained are the Country Ham Project, Teen Leadership, Clover Buds, Shooting Sports, and Cooking Club. Franklin County 4-H agents Austin Brewer and MacKenzie Preece made a goal to revive programs such as Livestock, Sewing, Horse, and Dog Club. The 2022 Franklin County 4-H Club Fair was developed in collaboration between Austin and MacKenzie, and other community partners, with the purpose to engage with the Franklin County community and promote new clubs that will be starting this upcoming (2022-2023) programming year. 

The Club Fair met the needs of the Franklin County community and current 4-H members by introducing programs to a brand-new audience and by re-engaging those who may have become disconnected. This is beneficial because the more community members that are participating in a program, the more justifiable it is to spend those funds and continue those clubs. It is also important that volunteers are secured so that certain programs can continue, and this was a great way to identify those individuals. Two students had expressed interest in Horse Club before the Club Fair, but this is a club that requires a certain skillset from the volunteer leading the club. Through the Club Fair, Austin spoke with an individual who specializes in working with horses and children and was willing to lead Horse Club. That interaction would not have occurred without the Club Fair and that club may have never been able to continue. There are currently 10 youth enrolled in the 4-H Horse Club, with the first meeting scheduled for October 2022. 

The Club Fair was promoted through flyers that were sent home with students from Franklin County Schools, Frankfort Independent Schools, and Private School Systems as well as through Social Media. There were also emails sent out to community members, former volunteers, etc.  There were two target audiences: those that would be participating in programming and clubs and those that would serve as volunteers. The main target audience was students who would be interested in participating in 4-H programming and clubs. The hope was that students and their families would come to the Club Fair that was held at Lake View Park and explore all the club booths that had been set up and that they would sign up for clubs that interested them. In addition, it was the hope that parents may also become interested in 4-H and would want to volunteer for clubs, camps, and other programming. As detailed above, it was also a major goal to secure club volunteers either through parents, former participants, community members, etc. 

Partners are essential for the success of any community project, fair, club, camp, or program. For the 2022 Franklin County 4-H Club Fair, Franklin County 4-H worked with the following partners: Frankfort Kroger East provided refreshments; Franklin County Parks and Recreation helped secure a venue; Pawsibilities Unleashed promoted Dog Club; Elkhorn Middle School helped promote the event; Franklin County Career and Technical Center helped with Livestock materials; Capital City Beekeepers Association promoted Bee Club; the Quilt Guild promoted Sewing Club, and the Franklin County Family Consumer Science agent assisted with sign-ups. 

The outcome of the 2022 Franklin County 4-H Club Fair has been very positive. During the Club Fair, approximately 70 students between the target ages of 5-18 were reached resulting in a rise in club memberships. Over half of the attendees were new to the 4-H program. An example of growth that has been observed since the Club Fair is the increase in new members in the Junior Cooking Club. Originally, there were not enough members for there to be a Junior and Senior cooking club, but now that membership has increased there are enough in each age group to have two separate clubs. There are now 15 members of the Junior cooking club, eight of which resulted from the Club Fair.  

To conclude, the 2022 Franklin County Club Fair met the goal of engaging with the Franklin County community and promoting new clubs and increasing memberships. This is an event that will be held for years to come.