BERLIN CENTER — Hundreds of 4-H youth across the tri-county area are busy preparing their projects for the 2020 Canfield Fair, putting in long hours despite COVID-19 uncertainties.

This is very evident with the members of the Jackson Milton Livestock club, one of Mahoning County 4-H’s largest clubs.

The club’s reporter is Maggie Byers, 14, daughter of Joy and Jeremy Byers.

“The coronavirus pandemic has managed to affect everyone on countless different levels, but the 4-H community has fought to stay strong,” Maggie said.

“Members of the organization have continued to put in long, exhausting hours, often starting their days before the sun has risen and ending them long after it has set. These kids have spent their quarantines cleaning pens, training animals, and washing equipment as the world revolves into chaos around them.”

The club boasts 97 members consisting of 10 Cloverbuds (the youngest 4-Hers) and 87 members who are working on projects for this year’s fair. Among the animal projects they’ve taken on are 37 steer, 46 feeder calves, 63 hogs, 31 lambs, nine goats, 38 pens of chickens (a pen can have two or three in it), 23 turkeys, five rabbits, five ducks, one public speaking, and one beef breeding project.

“We have had regular meetings at the beginning of the year, but since the quarantine we have only missed one meeting in April and the meeting in May was a virtual meeting,” said club advisor Gary Hemphill. “We also communicate through e-mail and our club’s Facebook page. We are planning another virtual meeting in June and hope to have a face to face meeting in July.”

Hemphill said all of the members’ animals are on track to be ready for the fair, which is still a go.

The members with hogs, lambs and goats recently picked up there ear tags at the fairgrounds and are in the processing of taking mandatory pictures of their animals with their ear tags.

Maggie has her animals tagged. The Western Reserve High School freshman has been showing hogs at the Canfield Fair since 2015 and this year she added two steer to her list.

Being the club’s reporter for the past three years, Maggie handles her own projects and keeps up withwhat other club members are up to. Though club members are going all out with their projects many don’t know what the 2020 Junior Fair is going to look like.

“They are looking towards other state and county fairs for an example of the livestock shows they could be competing in at the end of the summer,” Maggie said. “These could be held in countless different fashions including virtually and in person.”

An important part of that junior fair is the auction where 4-Hers sell their project animals. It is the reward and the lesson of raising an animal for food, teaching much-needed skills when it comes to farming. The 4-H members need to have bidders for their animals to complete that cycle. Those bidders could be from stores or could be local residents who participate in the junior fair auction during the Canfield Fair.

Maggie said a lot of those animals will be coming from the Jackson Milton Livestock Club because its members are keeping the drive alive to this year’s fair.

“Even the mandatory six feet between them cannot stop this club’s membership and advisors from offering a helping hand to anyone who needs it,” Maggie said. “They enjoy taking the time to expand their knowledge and skill set by being a part of the club. Members of their club have not only found a home in it, but a family as well.”

jtwhitehouse@tribtoday.com