Infrequently Asked Fair Questions: Where do the 4-H kids sleep?

Most people associate 4-H kids at the Minnesota State Fair with animals. It’s true — for many of the kids in 4-H, exhibiting an animal at the fair is a reward for months, even years, of hard work. When you go to the fair, you see these hard-working farm kids prodding pigs, shearing sheep and cozying up with cows — all in hopes of impressing judges and earning a ribbon.

The animals stay in the barns. But where do the kids that brought them go at night? In this edition of Infrequently Asked Questions, MPR’s new Arts Reporter Jacob Aloi debunks a myth about the 4-H kids and finds the real answer to the question: Where do the 4-H kids sleep?

First off, the 4-H kids do a lot of things at the State Fair? Give us a rundown.

What don’t they do? In the 4-H Building, you’ll find an exhibition of projects that 4-H’ers from around the state have researched and presented, which according to the University of Minnesota Extension’s website has taken them months to complete. To make it to the State Fair, they had to advance from their local county fair competitions.

Also, in the 4-H Building there are daily performances by the 4-H’ers who did the Minnesota 4-H State Arts-In, which develops their skills in the theatrical, technical and performing arts.

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That’s an impressive range. It's not all animal competitions.

No, it isn’t, but of course 4-H also has livestock exhibitors who go through a similar process so they can advance and compete in the fair with their animals. The judging varies depending on what animal and class they are in. The animals range from cattle to llamas, so it runs the gamut.

You mention llamas. Tell us about the llama costume contest.

Yes, the annual llama and alpaca costume contest happened this week. They not only have to dress their animals creatively, but also train them to be comfortable in their outfits.

Now, let’s get to the question at hand: We've all seen kids napping in the barns, with their animals, especially in the evening, and wondered do they stay with them all night? Do they sleep with the animals?

I spoke with Jack Frank, who has been in 4-H for 13 years, starting when he was in kindergarten. Frank is a 4-H State Ambassador.

“All the 4-H members actually have their own bunks up in the 4-H Building, up on the third level that we all stay in, so it’s kind of a party up there all the time.”

Another State Ambassador, Vivian Mayers, who’s 17 and also has been in 4-H for 13 years, tells me the setup is more like a summer camp cabin than a college dorm: “It’s, like, 208 is the girl's dorm and 204 is the boy's dorm. And it’s just one giant room with a whole bunch of bunks.”

Vivian told me about the about one issue that happened last week: “A couple of days ago, we went to shower and people said, you can't shower — the shower is leaking.” And that is quite common because this building is so old.

Like camp or a college dorm, there is some supervision in the bunkhouse.

Each county sends chaperones in addition to a dedicated staff for the dorms, and advisors the kids connect with throughout the day.