4 H Members

After the last ribbons are handed out at the Carroll County 4-H/FFA Fair, some serious money starts changing hands when county bigwigs open their checkbooks to bid two to four times the market value on steers, lambs, hogs and other animals that fetch about $179,000 a year.Some of the money raised in the livestock auctions that are the culmination of the fair is donated to the fair or scholarship funds, but most 4-H members keep at least enough to cover feed costs, which can easily reach $1,000, and to build their savings for college.

Sarah Ballew's 4-H project is called Cookie Dough, but she isn't baking it.Cookie Dough is a llama.Sarah, 10, of Finksburg is training him to walk through an obstacle course, jump low barricades and tolerate a little whimsy, such as being dressed in a hat and costume for the entertainment part of the "Llama-rama," the first statewide 4-H llama show Saturday.The show will bring young llama trainers such as Sarah from Carroll, Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Kent counties to the Carroll County Agricultural Center from 11: 30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The show is open to the public.

Hours before the midway at the 117th Maryland State Fair in Timonium opened, several dozen 4-H girls and boys primped the hair and manes of horses preparing to compete yesterday in the 4-H horse and pony show.Riders such as Laura Miller, 12, of Manchester train, groom and feed their horses six or seven days a week and compete at county fairs in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.The 4-H horse project for junior and senior riders, ages 8 to 18, is operated by clubs in Baltimore and 23 Maryland counties and affords its members a first-hand chance to learn commitment.

MEMBERS OF the Happy Hounds 4-H Club are excited about the start of the 53rd Annual Howard County Fair on Aug. 15.The young people, who range in age from 8 to 18, have been working with their canine companions to prepare for the dog match at the fair.Since January, the club has almost doubled its membership. Recently, the club has welcomed new members Jenny Fox, Holly Fox and Kathy Rockstroh.Jennifer Melichar, who will be a ninth-grader at Glenelg High School this year, is club president.

All night the flies swarm. The 4-foot-tall fans hum. Cars roar down nearby Interstate 70. The stench of manure lingers in the humidity. And throughout the dark hours after midnight, cows moo, lambs baa, pigs snort and squeal and roosters crow.Yet Brooke Hartner, 8, waited all year, and begged her parents with dozens of pleases and pretty pleases, to spend a night like this alongside her calf, Mystery, in Barn 6 at the Howard County Fair in West Friendship."It's like a big sleepover but with cows," Brooke said, after rising before dawn yesterday from the blue-and-white lawn chair on which she slept, a few feet from the white-and-light-brown calf.

Laura Fischer was a shy, self-conscious 7-year-old when she attended her first 4-H meeting in Pleasant Valley. Her mother wanted Laura to find something that would keep her occupied, and the opportunities that 4-H offered seemed practical for a farmer's daughter.Older 4-H members welcomed Laura and encouraged her to get involved with the 4-H public speaking program. From their example, Laura has become a leader.Laura is just one of more than 1,400 4-H'ers involved in 52 Carroll County clubs with interests ranging from hippology (the study of horses)

GLENELG HIGH School continues to produce fine scholars.This year, the school is proud to announce the names of four National Merit Scholarship semifinalists in the 1997 Merit Competition. Gordon Finnigan, Christopher Selmer and Noah Smith, all seniors, are semifinalists. Rachel Yellin, a junior at Glenelg last year who attends Howard Community College, also is a semifinalist.Students become semifinalists by achieving elite scores in the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Exam.Maryland's Higher Education Commission announced that Gordon Finnigan, Luke Reinke, Chris Selmer and Noah Smith are finalists in academic achievement in the Maryland Distinguished Scholar Program.

HASN'T THIS been a great summer? The weather cooperated with most recreational plans, the gardens were made gorgeous by the rain and cool weather, and the kids happily shook off the constraints of school.The Patapsco Valley 4-H Club in Ellicott City has produced some gifted public speakers who won awards this summer.In a recent competition, Kathryn Lessels won a first place at the county level, Cara Lessels was named a county champion, regional champion and reserve state champion. Courtney Conklin was named a county champion and reserve regional champion.

By 6 a.m. Rebecca Warfield, 14, feeds and waters nine head of cattle, seven pigs and three sheep. At 9 a.m., she blow dries her 1200-pound steer's brown hide for an afternoon show. And before lunchtime, she and sister Kristen, 12, clip a sheep's fleece, checking for any brown spots on its white coat.With the time they spent baking 10 cakes, pies and muffins for the baked goods contest and the two dresses Rebecca sewed, the girls estimate they spent more than 200 hours in the past few weeks getting their 4-H projects ready for the 51st Howard County Fair in West Friendship this week.

THE HOWARD County Fair starts Saturday. It's much more than carnival rides. For families involved in the fair, socializing, helping each other with livestock and other projects, learning nTC and sharing is enjoyment they look forward to all year.This week, 4-H members are putting the final touches on projects. Some projects, such as those that involve breeding sheep and cattle , started last September. Others are making candy, baking, digging out sewing projects done earlier this year, picking the best vegetables from the garden, and getting their favorite hermit crabs ready to show.