A giant pumpkin contest has been added to Saturday’s 4-H Fall Cloverfest at Monte and Pat Roberts’ Flag is Up Farm in Buellton to help support the Santa Barbara County 4-H Club Council.
“We thought it would be a great way to generate some money for the council as well as add to Cloverfest,” said 4-H leader Mary Jackson of the Four Leaf Clover Foundation.
“I can’t wait to see all the different pumpkins, and I have heard rumors of people bringing in ones that weigh more than 700 pounds,” she added.
Anyone who has raised a giant pumpkin this summer can register it as late as Saturday morning in either the youth or open division. For entry forms and official contest rules, log onto www.4LCF.org.
The county’s individual 4-H clubs will be represented at Cloverfest with booths, and games, activities and a barbecue are also planned, Jackson said.
The weigh-off for the pumpkins will begin at noon Saturday, Oct. 9.
The public is also welcome to come and watch or enjoy the entertainment until 4 p.m.
The Four Leaf Clover Foundation was started to help raise money for the many 4-H clubs throughout Santa Barbara County. Within the Santa Ynez Valley alone, there are Buellton, Lucky Clover, Santa Ynez and Valley 4-H clubs.
Even after the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors agreed to save the local 4-H Program by approving additional funding for the UC Cooperative Extension in August, the 4-H Club Council still needed to raise money to help support the program’s staff, Jackson said.
The foundation raised the $12,500 it needed by a Sept. 30 deadline, which was then matched by the Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation. Meeting that goal also qualified the 4-H Foundation to take advantage of similar grants from the Newhall Foundation and the Edwin and Jeanne Woods Foundation.
The 4-H program is one of many services that Extension provides, such as support for growers through research into specialty crops and pest eradication, food stamp and general nutrition programs to fight diabetes and obesity, and advice and education for local gardeners and the public.
4 H Club Gift is a good luck gift ideafor anyone that is involve in the 4 H Club of America,
