Submitting fair projects is new experience for Sikkink girls

By TRACY KIEL
Mille Lacs County Times
Posted 7/31/03

Many 4-H members have been submitting projects in the Mille Lacs County Fair for years. For Jessica and Malayna Sikkink, however, these projects are relatively new.

Jessica and Malayna, daughters of Jay and Gay, are both embarking on significant first events in 4-H as members of the Tibbets Brook Flyers club. This will be Malaynaıs first year in Cloverbuds, a group for younger children who are not yet old enough to join 4-H. As a Cloverbud, she can submit projects, but if she wanted to bring pets, she couldnıt leave them at the fair overnight. She also is not able to show animals.

Jessica had been a Cloverbud member for two years. This is her first year as a full 4-H member. Thus far, she said that submitting projects as a full member feels the same as it did when she was a Cloverbud.

Jessica, nine, will be going into fourth-grade. She plans to submit three projects this year. Her first project is writing down a list of animal facts. She borrowed a book from the library and has compiled a list of facts concerning any animals she chooses. For example, a whaleıs heart beats nine times per minute, a humanıs heart beats 75 times, and a sparrowıs heart beats 1,000 times, she said. Jessica hopes to present her project in a poster form with pop-up windows that display questions and answers. Although she knows many facts, she still needs more for her project.

³I still need to read some more,² she said. Although the girls have put a great deal of thought into their projects, they havenıt worked too extensively on them.

³Weıll wait until we have a week left, and, then, weıll get everything going,² Gay, the girlsı mother, said with a smile.

Jessicaıs second project will be based on the trip she and her family took to the Black Hills. She will make a collage of pictures and descriptions of the things she saw. The project will primarily focus on animals, she said. Her favorite part of the trip was watching the baby bears climb trees.

For her third project, Jessica will be drawing a picture, but she hasnıt come up with an idea yet. She likes to draw, she said, and has been doing it since kindergarten.

Jessica is a little nervous about her projects this year. Last year she only did two of them. She made a poster about her dog Smokey, and she and other club members had sewn hats and mittens both to keep for themselves and to donate to good causes. However, she said her projects this year are much more difficult.

Malayna, six, will be starting first-grade this fall and will also be bringing three projects to the fair. Like her sister she will be making a collage about the trip to the Black Hills. She also enjoyed seeing all of the animals: wolves, buffalo, antelope, and bear.

For her second project, she will be sewing a baby-doll blanket by hand. Gay and Jessica will assist her in some aspects of the project. She is still learning how to tie the knot at the end of the thread. Although she has chosen the fabric, she hasnıt started sewing the blanket yet. She had originally estimated that the blanket would only take a couple of minutes to complete, but Gay informed her that the project would probably take a couple of days.

Malaynaıs final project is a poster about her dogs. The Sikkinks have four Newfoundlands and a mixed lab. Malayna will be using pictures on the poster as well as descriptions of the dogsı activities.

They like to play and swim, she said. They also eat a lot and drink a lot. Malaynaıs favorite chore is feeding them.

She has mixed feelings about bringing projects to the fair for the first time.

³Iım excited and nervous,² she said. She is nervous about talking to the judges as well as about displaying her projects for people to see.

Jessica, on the other hand, is excited to show her projects off to everyone.

³They get a lot of pride walking around showing them off,² Gay said. She also thinks the 4-H projects have additional benefits.

³It gives them a goal,² she said. ³It challenges them to see what they can do on stuff that maybe they wouldnıt normally think about doing.²

In spite of these benefits, Jessica isnıt sure if she wants to submit projects next year. Two years is enough, she said. However, she also said she might do it another year if her mom convinces her to do so. Malayna isnıt sure if she likes doing projects since she hasnıt started on them yet, she said.

Although Jessica is uncertain about submitting future projects, she does think that the projects are rewarding.

³It gives me a chance to see what I can do,² she said.