During Fair week hard work pays off

Before she goes, though, she’ll have one last Miami County Fair to enjoy.

Snyder, 19, has reached the age of required exit from the 4-H program that she has participated in for more than half of her life.

When the fair opens Aug. 12, Snyder will be displaying her three projects for this year, all which were selected for Ohio State Fair competition. She’ll also be busy as a member of the food and fashion board.

Snyder is a 12-year member of the Leprechauns 4-H Club in Troy.

“I only do miscellaneous projects. I live in town, so I can’t do animal projects,” she said. Over the years, she’s taken on a variety of projects such as sewing, photography, cooking and skateboarding.

This year’s projects were in photography — she specializes in landscapes — along with sewing outerwear (a hoodie) and a party planner guide focused on quantity cooking coupled with good nutrition.

A prom dress she made last year was her favorite project, she said, noting she and a friend both made prom dresses for projects and wore them to their proms.

Joining 4-H was a natural for Snyder after witnessing the 4-H activities of her older sister, Kaity.

She said she is glad she took that step.

“It is very fun. It is a lot about leadership and citizenship,” Snyder said. “Doing judging for my projects and volunteering for citizenship activities helped me come out of my shell. Last year, I modeled a prom dress I made. I had modeled before but wasn’t as confident.”

A 2015 Troy High School graduate, Snyder is the daughter of Dale and Kelly Snyder.

She will be a sophomore at Edison State Community College in Piqua, where she is studying entrepreneurial business.

Although it is a lot of work, Snyder said fair week is worth it. “I love the fair. It is just so much fun, and there are so many activities to do,” she said.

Snyder encourages other young people to explore 4-H.

“You learn a lot of life skills through the projects. You take a project for sewing and think you are going to learn to sew, but you learn so much more,” she said. “You learn cost analysis, budgeting and other life skills that you don’t expect. You don’t realize it, but then you think, ‘Hey, I learned this from 4-H.’ ”