By Rylee Wright
On April 2, the Highland 4-H Club, along with many other Interior clubs, travelled to the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds to participate in the Williams Lake Judging Rally. Lots of familiar faces were seen, as it was the first 4-H activity since the Show and Sale in 2022 where all the clubs came together.
Judging rallies are one of the mandatory activities members have to participate in throughout the year, and they are a great activity to practice. Judging teaches members lots of valuable skills that can be used later in life, such as knowing what to look for when buying livestock, or what feed to pick out for your animals.
So how does judging work?
Members must judge a total of four projects, including whatever project(s) they are working on. The projects to be judged can range anywhere from livestock and small engines to fibre arts and photography; the list is endless.
When clubs arrive, members are given four judging cards, consisting of their project(s) and enough randomized projects to fill out the card. After that everyone goes to their classes, and the judging begins.
Members have to rank four things from the project class while listing why they put them in the order they did. This teaches members to be able to back up their reasoning while gaining confidence in their decision-making.
Members can pick up and feel the items in the class, or ask for the animals to move around. Doing this helps ensure that the item isn’t hiding anything, like a sore foot in an animal or a wrong piece in a craft.
Sometimes items from foreign classes are sneaked in. For example, a steer could be sneaked into a class of replacement heifers. This challenges members to make sure they are paying attention. After that, the judges mark the scorecard and announce to everyone how they placed in the class.
Clubs are just getting back into the groove of live judging. Through COVID-19, judging was done online, which made it difficult, as the items couldn’t be held or moved around. Other than a few in-person events last year, this was one of the first live rallies since the pandemic.
After the day was done, all the clubs helped in a community give back, by cleaning up the Stampede Grounds.
Thank you to the Williams Lake Stampede Grounds, and to all the clubs that attended the first judging rally of 2023!
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