Kaylee Kake

Little Kaylee is a good sport. She's 9 years old, and when the goofy old-lady judge across the table at yesterday's 4-H interview contest started asking how people teased her about her name, she went along with the odd questions in fine style.

"So, do they call you, 'Birthday Cake?'" the judge asked.

"Well, no," Kaylee said, obviously pondering a good answer for how she might've been teased in th past.

"How about 'Chocolate Cake?'" the ever-persistent interviewer continued.

"No," Kaylee said, beginning to squirm in her chair.

"Maybe that's not her name," the other judge across from Kaylee suggested.

"Well, isn't your name Kaylee Cake?" the inquisitor continued. "That's what it says here on this sheet." Sure enough, at the top of the judging sheet in black felt marker letters, written by an obviously young hand were the words "Kaylee Cake."

All who'd been listening to this strange conversation initiated by the nosy judge chuckled aloud as little Miss Kaylee revealed that she did, indeed, have a different last name from what the judge had assumed from reading her score sheet.

Turns out her 4-H project about which we were supposed to interview Kaylee was "cake." Turns out things have changed a lot in 4-H since that crazy ol' judge baked cakes as part of the Cooking I project back in 1958-59. We baked cookies too along with purple cows and wienie boats.

I vividly remember the vanilla pudding assignment. Mother left the house for the afternoon barn chores just as I'd started following the 4-H recipe for cooking up totally homemade pudding. She came back to the house and found dessert bowls filled with milk and big yellow lumps placed around the table, waiting for unsuspecting family members who would be dining that night.

Seems I didn't quite understand the concept of a "full boil" back in those days. Fortunate for me, yesterday, young Miss Kaylee totally understood the concept that a few nutty women populate this world and that occasionally little nine-year-olds might run into them at 4-H judging events. After learning of my stupidity with Kaylee's name, I was disciplined enough yesterday NOT to immediately break into my classic 4-H cake demonstration story where 40 giggling ladies laughed out loud as my batter refused to stay in the mixing bowl where it belonged. I'd already made enough of a fool of myself for one day.

Anyway, Kaylee maintained her poise and proceeded to tell us the trials and tribulations of her experience with the 4-H cake project, which involves baking one layer cakes and decorating them. We looked at lots of pictures of Kaylee-decorated cakes and learned that she liked the one with the tree on it the best. She also thinks that next year she'll try once again to take a dog project along with cake decorating, if only more dog meetings will be held. Seems they only had one meeting this year so she couldn't complete her canine project, but we were quite pleased with her accomplishments with all those cakes.

"We" were Janice McNall Riley and me "Goofus Mariannus" who occasionally asks dumb questions only to look dumber than "Dumb and Dumber" later. Janice, whose family and their shorthorns have suffered at the hands of Goofus Mariannus' pen, put up with me for more than four hours as 4-H'ers ranging from 9-19 sat across the table from us and told us about their projects for 2006.

Most of them were youth leadership projects, and we learned that there are a lot of potential politicians around the county. They've met the politicians at their government leadership conference in Boise, they've drafted legislative bills and some have even been elected to state offices in for mock legislatures. Others are going to extend their experience and even work as pages for the State Legislature.

We met kids who've shared their knowledge with younger members about sheep, beef, dogs, rabbits and chickens. Learning about the chicken project was my favorite segment of the day. Phillip Johnson from over Priest River way was quite willing to tell us anything we wanted to know about chickens. He even demonstrated how to show them: you put their legs between your fingers and grab hold on top and eventually they'll even sit there and let you pound nails into a wall, he told us. He also told us chickens can learn and that they will come out of their cage if you call them.

I don't know if I'll develop an intimate enough relationship with a chicken to pound nails while walking around with a clucking hand ornament, but I do know there are a lot of kids in Bonner County who are learning by doing. I don't know from yesterday's interviews if every single one of them is "making the best better" as the 4-H motto suggests, but maybe next week's county fair will reveal some insights along those lines.

I do know for sure that I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with the 4-H'ers yesterday, especially Kaylee, the aspiring cake decorator.