A celebration of the area’s heritage, Lake County Fair remains rooted in 4-H

GRAYSLAKE – The Lake County Fair might only come once a year, but it’s a year-round effort for many involved – and a memorable one.

Wrapping up its 94th year, the fair represents so much more than food and fun to those who do their part to carry on the historic fest.

From a pig wedding (yes, that happened) to the livestock competitions to the grandstand events to the crowning of queens, it’s all about highlighting the county’s heritage.

And at the heart of all that is 4-H.

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Ryann Ray, 22, of Mundelein shows her pig named, Mabel, in the Livestock Auction during the Lake County Fair at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Saturday, July 29th in Grayslake. Photo by Candace H. Johnson for Shaw Local News Network (Candace H.Johnson)

“Animals are the fair,” said Chey Pribel, the fair’s director of marketing and events manager.

Steadily rising in numbers since the pandemic, 4-H competitions remain central to the festivities. Yet many might not be aware just how much the national youth development organization has evolved since its origins in 1902.

“It’s a lot more than just livestock,” said Ofelia Delgado, 4-H Extension program coordinator at the University of Illinois System. “We’re about so much more than that. We have over 75 different projects kids can pick from. … You name it, we have the project.”

In Lake County, 115 competitors took part in more than 700 exhibits at the fair. At least a dozen of those qualified to show their exhibits at the state level. All competitors, ranging in age from 5 to 21, are allowed to take on as many exhibits as they’d like, Delgado said.

Partnering with the Lake County Fair Association, 4-H hosts competitions in livestock, as well as everything from crafts, gardening and flowers to culinary, textiles and visual arts. The categories focus on citizenship, healthy living, science, engineering and technology programs.

The 4-H organization has more than 6.5 million members in the country in about 90,000 clubs. Dating to 1902, the national youth development organization is rooted in agriculture, but today’s 4-H members are challenged to “learn by doing” pretty much whatever interests them.

“I ask the kids, ‘Tell me what you’re into,’ " Delgado said. “You name it, we have that project.”

Through a hands-on approach, 4-H members are given guidance, tools and encouragement to complete their projects and exhibit them at the fair. They also can take on leadership roles within the organization, Delgado said.

“The club members are the ones running the show,” she said. “We have officer training every year for the younger ones. I’ve had a president be as young as 10 years old.”

Parents attend the meetings, often hanging out in the back, she said.

For many, it becomes a family affair.

Three of Rebecca Lamps’ children competed in 4-H competitions at the Lake County Fair the past two years and her youngest took part in the Open Show competition this year, showing a friend of the family’s goat. The Gurnee family is part of the Milburn Clovers 4-H Club.

The children have taken on projects in electricity, veterinary science, cake decorating, cooking and animal science. The family also has started to raise chickens and hopes to show chickens next year.

“My kids are obsessed with animals; maybe every child is this way,” Lamps said. “I wanted to find service opportunities for my kids that involved animals and I knew 4-H had that animal tie to it … but I didn’t realize all the project categories that had involved with that as well until I came to a meeting.”

She encourages her children to work on their projects year-round with a goal of finishing them by the start of summer.

The fair is a culmination of their hard work, she said.

“It’s always a lot of work up until fair time getting your project done. … It’s really a good learning experience because you learn how they work. They learn how their hard work pays off,” she said. “Then they’re always happy when their hard work pays off.”

Even those who aren’t involved in 4-H enjoy coming to the fair to see the 4-H exhibits, Pribel said.

When the livestock show went virtual during the pandemic, it was definitely missed, she said, based on the number of calls and emails they received.

“It’s a big draw for both kids and adults,” she said. “People want to experience agriculture and livestock in Lake County.”

Even as other fair attractions expand, organizers haven’t lost sight of the fair’s roots.

That was evident this year when organizers promoted the fair as “the piggest event of the year.” They even hosted a wedding ceremony for Porkchop, the fair’s pig mascot and chief “colla-boar-ator” since at least the early 1990s.

“He was getting kind of lonely,” Pribel said.

With the help of fair staff, he put himself on the dating site, “Seeking Swine,” and met Penny. Porkchop was off the market. Documenting their love story on the fair’s social media, the two became engaged at the demo derby last year and married during the fair this year.

“It’s just a matter of the staff here wanting to celebrate Porkchop,” Pribel said.