Ohio State Fair Junior Fair Board announces representative | News, Sports, Jobs

The Ohio State Fair recently announced Melina Matics of Marietta will be representing Ohio 4-H on this year’s Ohio State Fair Junior Fair Board.

The 17-member board is composed of youth ages 16 to 19 from 4-H, FFA, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Farm Bureau, Grange and Tech Ed. Washington County will two representatives serving on the 2022 board, Melina Matics representing 4-H and Josie Burke representing FFA. The youth board comes together for two weeks of hard work during the Ohio State Fair held in Columbus.

Their roles include building enduring friendships and professional relationships along the way. Their personalities and experiences provide a youthful and fun perspective as they fill the roles of welcoming officials at livestock shows, performances, the daily parade and other exhibits.

Melina Matics, a 10-year member of the Washington County 4-H Program, will be representing Ohio 4-H. She is a member of the Oak Grove Explorers 4-H Club where she has served as safety officer, health officer, news reporter, community service officer, vice president, and president.

The focus of her projects in 4-H have been exploring the outdoors, sewing, quilting, food and nutrition, veterinary science, cavy, healthy living, cats, cake decorating, and most recently market chickens.

Her projects have led her to teach a county cake decorating class, participate in many public speaking contests, be a monthly Carteens volunteer, serve as a camp counselor, volunteer as a Washington County and Barlow Independent Fair Junior Fairboard member, teen representative to the county 4-H Advisory Committee and 2021 Washington County Jr Fair Queen.

She has competed at the Ohio State Fair with 23 of her projects and eight times for public speaking and in 2021 she won four Ohio State Fair awards, including: Clock Trophy Winner in Senior Cake Decorating, Clock Trophy Winner with her Cat 2 project, Outstanding of the Day in project- Makeover My Space, and Clock Trophy Winner as Senior Individual in the Demonstration Contest.

At the state 4-H level she has served as an Ohio State Fair Event Youth Assistant and currently serves on the State 4-H Teen Leadership Council and youth representative to the Ohio 4-H Foundation Board. Matics is a senior at Wood County Christian School and resides with her parents Sloane and Jeff Matics from Marietta.

Ohio State Fair General Manager Virgil Strickler said, “The Ohio State Fair Junior Fair Board members are honored for their previous accomplishments and demonstration of leadership skills by being selected to serve on the Junior Fair Board. Through this experience, they will expand their leadership development and give back to the state of Ohio.”

The Ohio Expo Center will host the Ohio State Fair. With big-name entertainment, educational activities, hundreds of exhibits and one of the largest junior livestock shows in the nation, the 2022 Ohio State Fair will run July 27 to August 7, 2022.