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HARTINGTON — At just 11 years old, Heidi Lewon filled the fairgrounds with her creativity, submitting more entries than any other competitor at the Cedar County Fair.
From photography to fashion, the daughter of Brooke and Mitch Lewon, Newcastle, entered 44 projects and said she loves the creative freedom of 4-H projects.
“I have always liked doing crafts … and when I first started, I thought, this is really fun,” said Lewon. “My favorite projects that I did this year would be a photo of two baby raccoons and my first quilt I made out of jelly roll fabric.”
Heidi said her mom and grandmother had made their own quilts and helped with that undertaking and she often had support from her mother.
“Some of the reasons she got into a lot of crafts and such is that we bake a lot at home and do a lot of projects,” said Lewon. “Also, the Cedar County 4-H offers a lot of camps.”
Heidi said these camps help get crafts completed and offer project ideas.
“At project camp, I made a portable flagpole, etched glass, a photo frame, a book, pillows and many other projects,” said Heidi.
The soon-to-be sixth grader has been in 4-H for four years, and as Heidi gets older, she said she plans to continue to work on more advanced projects.
Many of Heidi’s projects qualified for state, and she said she is excited to go down to the Nebraska State Fair this year.
“I will get to model, and my baby raccoon photos and my jean jacket are going to state,” said Heidi.
Even though Heidi submitted the most entries at the 2025 county fair, she said she would like to nearly double her numbers.
“I would like to have a bit more projects, like maybe get to 80 or something,” said Heidi.
Her mother said this wouldn’t be the first time she had more projects.
“It has been close to 70. In past years, she has done a lot,” said Lewon. “Since she started showing horses and cattle, it has made it a bit harder to do everything.”
To complete all her projects, Heidi said she likes to stagger her time throughout the entire year.
"A lot of times I start in the win - ter or when we don't have school or have a free weekend," said Heidi.
Because of dedicating so much time and care to her crafts and projects, Heidi said receiving the awards and ribbons makes their completion worth it.
"It feels like I put a lot of hard work into them, and I feel proud of myself," said Heidi.
4-H projects typically cover a wide
range of categories and encourage reason-ability and creativity for their members.
"It takes a lot of hard work to get to what you want to do," said Heidi. "This is what we say: if you want to do something, you have to love it to learn it."
Heidi and her mom both agreed, 4-H is for everyone - it really doesn't matter if they are farm kids or city crafters.
"I feel like some people think 4-H is all livestock, but our static building at the Cedar County Fair is full of stu," said Lewon. "It has kids' art projects, woodworking and welding projects." Whether it's quilting or photogra - phy, Heidi is just getting started in her 4-H journey. With her eyes set on 80 entries and a heart full of enthusiasm, she wanted to thank all of the 4-H sponsors who make the fair and competitions possible.
