Celebrating Youth, Agriculture & Community: NRI 4-H Fair
History
The Northern Rhode Island (NRI) 4-H Fair is a Foster tradition that highlights youth agriculture, project work, and showmanship through 4-H participation. Since 4‑H began more than 100 years ago, it has become the nation’s largest youth development organization. The 4‑H mission is to help young people and their families develop the skills needed to build stronger communities and a more innovative economy.
The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 established the Cooperative Extension System at the USDA, bringing 4‑H to the national stage. By 1924, 4‑H clubs were forming, and the iconic 4-H clover emblem was adopted. In Rhode Island, 4-H programs have been active since the early 1920s, teaching life skills and shaping future leaders.
Who Does What
The Northern Rhode Island (NRI) 4-H Fair has been part of Foster’s rich tradition since 1904, when it began as a community dinner fundraiser for the Town House (town hall) as part of the town’s Old Home Days celebration.
Over the years, this gathering evolved into what is now a full-fledged fair, still renowned for serving its original clam chowder and clam cake recipe on Friday nights—a beloved tradition that has remained unchanged for over a century.
The fair is guided by two dedicated groups: the Old Home Days Committee, which oversees the event as a whole, and the NRI 4-H Committee, which independently organizes and manages the 4-H fair programming, schedules, departments, and official updates published on this website.
While the exact date of the collaboration between Old Home Days and 4-H is not documented, the partnership has continued to support local agriculture, education, and community involvement—making the fair a living celebration of Foster’s past, present, and future.
About 4-H
Rhode Island 4-H has many programs, projects, and opportunities for children and teens ages 5 to 18. There are also opportunities for adults to volunteer. The URI 4-H Program offers kids hands-on education to develop life skills that will serve them well as individuals and citizens. Children and teens can join community clubs, participate in after-school programs, or become individual members.
A leader in youth development, 4-H began as a grassroots response to evolving needs for new educational experiences for youth. It uses the Cooperative Extension System network to offer youth programs and activities to diverse groups of young people in all 3,150 counties across the nation.