This Saturday the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Agency in Haralson County will host the first ever Haralson County 4-H Fun Day at the Callaway Livestock Pavilion in Buchanan.

The event will feature a pancake breakfast, a tractor ride, a cake walk, a chicken swap, a chicken project show, a chicken auction, a record book contest and concessions throughout the day to benefit the approximately 200 active members of 4-H in Haralson County.

The fun begins as early as 6:30 a.m. with the pancake breakfast, which is a fundraiser for 4-H. In fact, there will be several fundraisers taking place that day, and each will help a different program sponsored by 4-H, a completely non-profit organization.

The pancake breakfast will sponsor the five judging events held each year by 4-H. These events require students to learn in-depth content based on the animal or subject they will be judging, including poultry, horses, dairy cows, livestock and Cotton Boll and Consumer Science. Each judging requires 4-H members to absorb comprehensive information and then use analysis and critical thinking skills as they complete their tasks and judging.

“In all the judging events, the kids have to take a content test, identify the best product and then give their reasoning for why they placed it where they did in their judging,” Haralson County Extension Agent Keena Hardin said. “These kids put a lot of effort into these judging activities. That’s why we’re doing this fundraiser: they work so hard, and we want to be able to send them to these events without the parents having to worry about paying.”

Hardin says the Fun Day pancake breakfast will also help support the 4-H Project Achievement, Junior Project Achievement and Senior 4-H member’s trip to Rock Eagle. Project Achievement is a competition between fifth and sixth grade Cloverleaf members who pick a topic to give a 5-minute, illustrated presentation to a panel of judges.

“They do anything from public speaking, performing arts and animals to sports and history and everything in between,” Hardin said.

However, these events aren’t the only ones that will benefit from Fun Day activities. The 4-H Club’s Project S.A.F.E. BB Team will host and benefit from a tractor ride, which was the brainchild of 4-H volunteer Rhonda Prather.

Hardin says the BB Team, under the direction of Lee Cox and Danny Prather, competes in area events, which can allow them to qualify for state competitions.

The tractor ride will take a circuitous 20-mile route through the county. Line up is at 11 a.m. The route will then begin at the livestock barn at 1 p.m., head down some back roads to Highway 78 towards Tallapoosa, hop onto Highway 100 and then turn onto Highway 120 to head back to the barn in Buchanan. After the tractors arrive back at their starting places, prizes will be given out at 3 p.m. for the cleanest tractor, the dirtiest tractor and the people’s choice.

Most of the rest of the day will be devoted to chickens, chickens and more chickens as the Chicken Project Show gets under way at 10 a.m. During the project show, 4-H students who ordered chickens from the Extension Agency will bring their hens and record books before the judges to compete for first, second and third place ribbons and a cash prize.

“In April, 4-H students were given the opportunity to purchase 10 chickens each through the Extension Office,” Hardin said. “They then choose their three best chickens to bring to the show.”

The students bring their chickens to compete in egg laying, and the students themselves compete in a Record Book Contest for who has kept the most detailed and organized records about their chickens since they began caring for them back in April.

In addition to this, there will be a chicken swap at 7 a.m. and a chicken auction at 4 p.m., both of which are open to the public. And to top things off, the Chicken Whisperer, also known as Andy Schneider, will be broadcasting his radio show from the Pavillion from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. His promises to be an interesting show on all things chicken as Schneider owns his own chicken farm and is a promoter of chicken education.

However, despite all this fun to be had on Fun Day, Hardin says it truly is a learning experience for 4-H members.

“It teaches them responsibility, manners and how to work with others.”

For more information on the tractor ride, chicken swap or any of the other Fun Day events, call Hardin at the Extension Office, 770-646-2026.