by John Dowd
For 31 years, under the stewardship of the Meyer Family, fourth graders have had the opportunity to learn about where their food comes from. The Fourth Grade Farm Fair now reaches county-wide, to all the schools in the Ravalli County. This year, over 500 kids and their chaperones came out to the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Hamilton and visited 16 stations. Each station needed two set-ups in order to serve two groups of 12 to 16 kids at a time, for 15 minutes each. This meant the event needed over 150 volunteers, many of whom have been with the event for many years.
Each station taught the students about a particular aspect of agriculture, from beef production to where milk comes from. Each station included a fun interactive way to teach the lessons. Some of these lessons included ice cream making, rope walking (making), puzzles and much more.
One of the presenters who has been participating with the fair for over 20 years was Michael ‘Bosco’ Cembalski. He sets up a Johnny Appleseed themed station, complete with a small apple orchard. There, he talks about the history and importance of the apple in agriculture. From the Silk Road to America, apples, according to Cembalski, are a founding part of the history of the county. He spoke a little on the apple plots that even brought settlers to the Bitterroot area. He also spoke on the grafting process and farming in general. “You should know where your food comes from,” he explained, telling participating youth the importance of learning about agriculture.
Another to be involved with the event for many years was Scott Hackett, who helps organize the hay ride station. The station is put on by the county Mule and Draft Horse Club. The hay rides included 12 wagons with narrators and drivers. Each wagon carried a group around the fairgrounds and spoke to them about horses, breeds and their uses in agriculture. The wagoners also spoke on branding.
A relatively new station was the watershed station. This employed an interesting trailer that simulated the flow of water through an environment. The trailer allowed participating youth to place riparian vegetation and learn about its effects on the aquatic environment, as well as how water helps shape a landscape. Brienne Kuchel, a teacher of one of Stevensville’s fourth grade classes that participated in the watershed station, said she loves the farm fair. “It’s such a cool field trip. It’s my favorite every year.”
All the food for lunch for everybody at the event came from products that could be traced back to agriculture. “Agriculture is the number one industry in Montana, and a lot of kids don’t have that in their background,” said Colleen Meyer, who helps organize the event every year. Her husband started the fair in his fourth grade classes in the early eighties. It started with a program called Agriculture in Montana Schools, that worked to introduce youth to the industry. Jay Meyer, Colleen’s husband, then took that program a step further, as he was also a rancher. He started with class projects, then moved to field trips. Eventually, the event moved to the Meyer family ranch and other schools wanted to get involved. Over the course of the 31 years, the event now involves all the fourth graders in the valley, coming out to learn about agriculture. The event has now been held at the fairgrounds, in the center of the county, for several years.
“It has been well received in the county,” said Jay. He explained that the lunch has become a large part because every part of the food can be traced back to agriculture. Colleen said, “We hope they take this knowledge beyond that this is just the field trip for the day.”