Community Corner

Mercer County 4-H Fair Celebrates 100th Anniversary

The celebration is July 28-29. The kickoff event is set for June 14.

Mercer County 4-H Fair is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. The 100th fair will take place from July 28-29 at Howell Living History Farm.

The kickoff for 100th anniversary celebration takes place on Thursday, June 14, 7 p.m. at the Fish Barn at Howell Living History Farm. During the event, Hopewell Valley Historical Society President Larry Kidder will take participants back to the early activities that led to the creation of the Mercer County 4-H Fair. Kidder, a historian and author, will highlight the changing nature of agriculture that drove extensive innovations in rural life in the 20th century.

In the shadow of unprecedented growth in towns and cities during the industrial revolution, a renewed focus was placed on celebrating and maintaining farming as a viable lifestyle. Today’s 4-H programs grew out of this movement, resulting in educational opportunities for all ages, particularly the young.

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One of the earliest and most successful programs for young people in Mercer County developed into the Pleasant Valley Calf Club, in Pleasant Valley. The Club’s community-wide agricultural fair in the summer was held at the rural school house in the center of the Valley, at the present location of the Howell Living History Farm.

The Calf Club and other youth clubs devoted to aspects of rural life became part of the program, which grew into the Mercer County 4-H Fair, which is held in central Pleasant Valley, near where those early Calf Club Fairs took place.

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The event is free of charge. No reservations are needed. There is ample parking on the grounds of the Howell Living History Farm, located at 70 Woodens Lane, Lambertville. The Valley Road Bridge is currently under construction. Access to the Farm is only via Valley Road from Route 29.

For more information, visit mercer.njaes.rutgers.edu/4h/fair/ or contact Altaira Bejgrowicz at the Mercer County 4-H at 609-989-6833 or bejgrowicz@njaes.rutgers.edu).

Patch file photo


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