HELENA — Painting hay bales may seem easy, but when you’re dealing with about 10,000 pounds of it, and the fun of snow, things can get a little tricky for the Big Sky 4-H Club. They are participating in the annual 4-H Hay Bale Competition for the first time. They wanted to participate this year after the leader of the project felt confident to compete.
“I kind of have, my brain gets going pretty easily and when they said something about building a big thing that everybody would be able to see, that kind of got my gears turning in my brain I start thinking, 'Hey, I can do this,'" says Charlie Snellman, the Big Sky 4-H Club Secretary.
Charlie and the club got their hay together to build two John Deere tractors, a Johnny Poppers, and a large 9620R Four Wheel Drive tractor.
“My thinking always is go 'big or go home' to anybody that knows me,” laughs Snellman. “So, I was thinking of the biggest tractor that I could possibly build with hay and make it look as great as I could and then I thought, why not make it even better and do a second one, but not quite so big."
The club is aiming for victory, but this competition also serves as a gateway for the members to come together.
“So, we don't do much outside of the monthly meeting,” says Natalya Routzahn, a 4-H club member. “So, I think it's cool to have everyone come together to build something and end up with such a cool product that we all helped put together."
“The kids are doing it,” says James Schneider, the 4-H Council President. “That's what 4-H is all about, we're teaching our youth to be leaders, to be doers, and to be better parts of our community."
The judges are expected to view the hay bales October 23rd, 2020.
