"Judging 4-H Genealogy Fair Exhibit Notebooks"

I got a letter from the State 4-H Office at Purdue yesterday appointing me a State Fair 4-H Genealogy Judge which reminded me that 2008 was a good year since I judged for the first time for the State Fair! Despite having my appendix removed, 2008 was not so bad... I went to a y-DNA West family reunion in Nashville meeting a lot of my DNA-proven cousins. But, I guess the highlight was judging at the Stat Fair. 4-H has been a big part of my life since I was 9 years old and that was over 50 years ago. I served for 25 years as the Vanderburgh 4-H Genealogy Project Superintendent and have judged the project in area County Fairs for over 20 years. So, getting to judge at the State Fair is a "big deal." The project requires the 4-H member to properly document their work and follow standard genealogical procedures. In the top left photo I am judging at the Indiana State Fair; and, yes, all those notebooks for Division 3 in the shelves behind me were for 2 judges (over 50 county champion exhibits). The next photo down (centered) was taken at the Vanderburgh County 4-H Fair. When I was the Project Superintendent, I did not normally judge any of the projects, this year was also my first year to judge in my home county. In the background you see Connie Conrad, TSGS Treasurer judging notebooks, too. The notebook I am judging went to the State Fair and was in the top 5 exhibits to be the State Fair Champion of all the Genealogy Notebook Exhibits. The last photo to the right is of me at home judging surrounding county fair exhibits. I have been judging county exhibits beginning with Warrick County about 24 years ago. - Submitted by JGWest