The 4H children’s cooking and craft exhibition show is on at the Pierce County Fair.

Minus the children.

“It’s been very different this year,” said Sarah Hilkeman, a volunteer for the 4H Extension.

“We missed the sounds of the kids at the building and being able to see how excited they are about their projects.”

Instead of in-person judging, the kids drop off their projects and head out. Instead of presentations and live coaching, judges and participants keep the proceedings at a distance.

“I missed that interaction with the children, and I miss looking them in the eye and saying, ‘you know, maybe next time we can do this to improve it,’” said Debra Schroeder, a retired 4H Extension Educator working as a judge for the cooking competition.

“You can’t communicate that through written comments on a page.”

Instead of interviewing participants, the send in recordings of how they prepared the food and then fill out a questionnaire for the judge. Judgement is made a little faster, even with fewer volunteers for this outing

For the staff, the absence of the little contestants is certainly a downer. But safety is paramount for everyone involved.

“With the constraints we have with the coronavirus and the pandemic, we’re still giving them the opportunity to compete and learn and perfect their skills,” Schroeder said.

Participation is just a little lower than it was in previous years, but the week is still young. The animal shows are right around the corner.

“We really expect that a lot of people will come through our building, and we expect a lot of people will come to our shows,” said Ann Fenten, a 4H Extension Educator.

"We think we’re going to have a big turnout. We’re pretty excited for this fair. We have lots of great things to show off.”