Give away a free fridge magnet and people will come to your booth at the fair.
That has been the experience of the team of prairie 4-H members working this summer at fairs as large as the Calgary Stampede and as small as Big River, Sask.
As part of a federal summer job program, more than 165 4-H members staffed government information booths at 80 rural fairs across Canada.
The team of Aleisha Curtis of Heisler, Alta., Leanne Nickel of Solsgirth, Man., and Amy Keese of Weyburn, Sask., has logged 6,630 kilometres since May.
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Curtis said the magnets were popular: “We gave away thousands of them.”
They are imprinted with the federal inquiry number, 1-800-667-3355, which is answered by a live operator. People loved that idea, she said, that it’s not voice mail and they don’t have to make a dozen long distance calls to find the information they want.
Nickel said a country quiz computer game was another favored item.
“The kids absolutely love it. It’s like a cartoon.”
Nickel said part of the 4-Hers’ job to the end of July was handing out the government’s Rural Dialogue Workbooks. Rural people were asked to write their comments about different services they receive in preparation for a report and a national conference this fall. They were also invited to ask the 4-Hers about federal programs.
“Most questions are the same because peoples’ concerns are the same,” said Nickel. However she heard more comments in Alberta about environmental and other regulations for people wanting to start feedlots. Other concerns they heard were about the falling value of the Canadian dollar and inquiries about funding programs to start businesses.
Some express opposition
Most people made jokes when commenting about government but the rare person would get angry and not want to take any brochures or the magnet, Curtis said. And people in smaller towns tended to be less positive, saying “the government doesn’t do anything for me.”
Nickel, who would like to work in human resources or public relations, said the job has made her aware of the learning that goes on whenever people talk. She said she made some good connections for potential jobs when she finishes her course at the University of Manitoba in two years.
For Curtis, who has seen more fairs in the last two months than in her life before that, said the job has enabled her to “see the big picture more.”
