EXPERIENCE PAYS OFF FOR 4-H JUDGES AT THE FAIR

Peggy Whaley may have the tastiest job at the SEMO District Fair. She has judged food entered in the fair's 4-H competition for more than 30 years.

Monday morning and into the afternoon, Whaley sampled pinches of cookies, muffins, pancakes, beef jerky and an assortment of other delicacies prepared by youngsters involved in 4-H clubs from St. Louis through the Bootheel.

Whaley and her judging partner Erna Phillips considered each edible's aroma, flavor and eye appeal.

The team also judged canned vegetables, jellies and jams. Whaley shook the green beans, dill pickles and okra. She inspected the jellies through the glass Ball jars.

Edna Thompson, superintendent of foods, explained that years ago 4-Hers could enter just a few specific items, "but today, with microwaves and other new inventions, it's open to your imagination."

Like Whaley, many of the judges evaluating 4-H entries in many different classes have decades of experience. They trade their time for a chance to help youngsters learn skills that might otherwise pass away.

Every child who enters gets a ribbon, and entries are judged against a standard, not each other. Blue ribbons are awarded to the best examples.

Clothing arts judge Viola Dannemueller inspected the seams of a dress and checked the zipper to see if it lay flat. "That's a blue ribbon," she said. Dannemueller has been involved with 4-H for 50 years.

Dannemueller was a 4-H leader before she started judging. "I taught lots of girls to sew," she said. Today, she fears, sewing could become a lost art if not for 4-H.

But a beautiful dress hanging behind her proved sewing is still being taught. "See how the buttonholes are -- exactly straight. Look at the underdress. This is almost perfect," Dannemueller said. The dress was made by a 12-year-old seamstress.

Rudy Nussbaum, who, too, has been involved in 4-H for several decades, judged field crops Monday. Nussbaum said much of his decision stems from the amount of effort a youngster put into the exhibit. For example, he looked at selections of ears of corn.

"We like to see them all the same length. Filled out well at the tip. Filled out well at the butts," Nussbaum said, inspecting a blue ribbon example.

He held up a jar of red clover seed. Shaking the jar gently, he pointed out tiny seeds scattered through the mixture that obviously weren't red clover seeds. "Foreign seeds," he said. "Probably fescue."

Bob Langraf inspected the miter corners and stroked the sanded edges of woodworking projects Monday, just like he has done for more than 20 years.

"I look at the age of the child and the number of years they have working in and of course the workmanship," Langraf said.

"I want to give them all blue ribbons," he confided, but some projects show considerably more effort than others. They have earned blue ribbons. Others get a red or white.

Often, Langraf said, parents help their youngsters perfect the projects. That's OK by him.

"The main thing these projects encourage is doing something with their parents, something as a family. I think that's more important than just making something," Langraf said.