DATE:     9/26/00
CONTACT:  Toni Pipkins, 803-256-4262; S.C.4-H Program Coordinator
WRITER:   Giles Singleton, (864)656-3876

Feel 'The Power of 4-H'
at the S.C. State Fair

     COLUMBIA -- With 6,000 square feet of exhibit space, 
S.C. State Fair visitors will feel 'The Power of 4-H' starting 
Oct. 5 in the Ruff Building.
     Interactive exhibits will give fair visitors a chance to 
make a keychain flashlight, visit a virtual reality hunting 
area, and learn how much food the earth can grow.
     A banner 20 feet by 8 feet proclaims 'The Power of 4-H,' 
the theme of the exhibits, with side banners featuring the 
'Head, Heart, Hands, Health' motto of 4-H.
     "It looks like the words are going to jump off that banner," 
said Toni Pipkins, 4-H program coordinator for South Carolina 
and Clemson Extension associate. Pipkins said exhibits represent 
the six program emphasis areas of S.C. 4-H: leadership and 
citizenship; food and nutrition; science, safety and technology;
natural resources; family and consumer sciences; and agriculture.
     Four-H'ers will compete in contests onstage and demonstrate 
skills every day. Also, 'Your Day,' a live, call-in noon show 
produced by Clemson University Radio Productions and broadcast
statewide on the South Carolina Educational Radio Network will 
be onstage in the center of the exhibit Oct. 9-12.
     "We hope to recruit kids who are not in 4-H or who do not 
yet have a program in their area," Pipkins said.
     The Clemson University Alumni Association will also have 
an exhibit. Gary Goodman, manager of the State Fair, has long 
wanted a large space for 4-H. He and Glen Krohn, former head 
of Clemson University's Department of Family and Youth 
Development, spoke about having interactive exhibits years
ago.
     "My staff travels the country, to see what's going on 
around the nation, and interactive exhibits are very popular," 
Goodman said. "I was a 4-H'er in Charleston County, and it's 
been one of my goals to make this happen."
     For Science, Safety and Technology's exhibit, Fran Wolak 
has 1,000 4-H photon-emitting microlight keychains for kids 
to make. Wolak is an Extension specialist in Clemson's 
Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department.
     The 4-H fabric made by Springs Industries, brokered by 
Clemson University for national and state 4-H organizations, 
and sold globally is featured in a 4-H house in the Family 
and Consumer Sciences exhibit. A demonstration plot of 
agricultural commodities grown in South Carolina created
by John Oxner, a Clemson Extension agent in Richland County, 
will also be on exhibit, as well as many livestock shows for 
youth during the 11 day event.
     Four-H is the largest youth organization in the world 
for young people 5 to 19. In South Carolina, 4-H is the youth 
program of the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service 
in cooperation with local, state, and federal governments. 
Learning by doing is the central theme of 4-H education. Find 
out more about 4-H by visiting the website at:
http://fyd.clemson.edu/4H/home.htm.
     The mission of 4-H is to equip young people to reach 
their fullest potential through developing and delivering
research-based programs that include the family, respect 
the community, and meet the changing circumstances of today's 
youth, according to Diane Smathers, head of Clemson's 
department of Family and Youth development and state leader 
of 4-H.
                        END