For the 4-H program and the South Park gazebo, this meeting was a long time coming.

Both are celebrating their 100th anniversaries this year, and their histories intersected Tuesday night for the annual 4-H fashion project and show. It was the first time the show had been staged in the park.

“We wanted to have it down here,” organizer Trudy Rice said. “We wanted to tie in to that recognition.”

The 4-H members displayed outfits they either made or bought, and the project culminated in the “Magical Garden of 4-H Fashion,” a fashion show that wound up and down a South Park walkway.

The fashion show is part of a weeklong series of events that kick off the Douglas County Free Fair, which begins this weekend at the fairgrounds.

The outfits ranged from the ultra-formal to the downright comfy. Four Leaf Clover 4-H Club member Kevin Flanders donned a three-button black suit on the runway, while fellow club member Henry Mitchell followed him in a pajama set.

Flanders purchased his outfit as part of the 4-H Club’s buyership philosophy of being frugal with funds and searching for good deals on purchases.

“I’m not very good at sewing my stuff,” the 15-year-old Flanders explained. “I have huge hands.”

Flanders said that buying the suit was a good deal for him because it will give him something to wear for football functions this fall while playing for West Junior High School.

Becca Hinshaw, a 17-year-old member of the Lone Star 4-H Club, said that the idea of spending money wisely has been a great lesson, as she loves to shop but doesn’t want to throw her money away.

“It’s taught me a lot,” she said.