The annual BC Ag Expo will not be taking place at the North Thompson Agriplex in Barriere in mid-September of this year. However, the hard working BC Agricultural Expo 2020 Committee say they are still “full steam ahead” as they revamp this year’s fair to ensure that 4-H members and Open Youth will still “have the chance to compete with their 2020 projects”.
“While the on-going COVID-19 restrictions have made trying to offer a traditional in-person event impossible, we are excited to still be offering an event for all the hard working and dedicated 4-H members and Open Youth to showcase their 2020 projects,” says Evelyn Pilatzke, president of the BC Agricultural Expo. “We feel very strongly they deserve recognition for all the time and effort they have put into their 4-H year.”
Pilatzke said the committee tried exceptionally hard to put a plan together for a “modified in-person fair. But in the end we felt that a virtual fair and auction was the only way forward.”
She explained that the 2020 virtual event will be restricted to just 4-H and Open Youth (nine-years-old and under) this year.
“We have had fabulous support from the Open Division in all our past fairs and they have added immensely to the quality of competition in our show,” said Pilatzke, “Hopefully they will understand that due to extenuating circumstances, this year we are just focusing the virtual fair and auction on our youth participants.”
The president tells that an Online Auction is also being organized for the sale of market projects [such as beef and sheep] as the committee realizes that many youth count on the sale of their project to fund next year’s project, or the money earned goes towards funding their post-secondary education.
Pilatzke is encouraging “all those members of the public that annually count on a 4-H animal to fill their freezer in the fall, to check for details about the new online auction which will be forthcoming shortly on the BC Agricultural Expo website: bcagexpo.ca, their Facebook page: BC Agricultural Expo , or you can contact your local 4-H club for more information on purchasing a project animal.”
“This is an extraordinary time, and the BC Ag Expo Committee will do their best to make sure our youth are well supported through it,” concluded Pilatzke.
