As the 2015 4-H week approaches, the Sunshine Snippers Club members were each asked to share with the community about, "What 4-H means to me." Members and leaders had a variety of answers. Here is a unique look into Big Sandy's 4-H club, the Sunshine Snippers' thoughts.
President ~ Andrea Rutledge ~ "4-H means to me; the ability to gain knowledge through hands-on activities that requires leadership, responsibility and cooperation. The many years I have been in 4-H have offered me many opportunities to gain life-long skills, friends and experiences."
Vice President ~ Georgia Wortman ~ "In 4-H, I get to meet new friends from all over the state. It gives me the opportunity to try and learn new things and take pride in something I've made or raised."
Treasurer ~ Stacey Allderdice ~ "4-H is about learning life skills in a fun way. I really like hanging out with the other kids and their animals."
Secretary ~ Hope Gasvoda ~ "To me, 4-H means working together, respecting each other and being responsible. 4-H means doing what you love and 4-H means doing your best to reach your goals."
Reporters ~ Tavie Wortman ~ "4-H means being responsible and it gives me the chance to compete in contests to do my best. Plus, I get to earn money for raising a market animal."
Tosha Allderdice ~ "4-H means working with animals. We get to do fun projects. It's fun to decorate for the Christmas parade!"
Members
Hunter Jappe ~ "Through 4-H, I have learned responsibility and work ethic. I think 4-H is also about helping our community. 4-H means seeing friends at the fair and earning and saving money for my future.
Faith Gasvoda ~ "To me, 4-H means having responsibilities that I think are fun."
Lance Rutledge ~ "4-H means to me; learning about agriculture through awesome activities!"
Owen Allderdice ~ "You get to do animals and when you make pudding you get to eat the leftovers."
Brooke DiSalvo ~ "4-H is fun because you get to take care of animals and meet new friends."
Faith Cator loves all the animals and she hopes to be able to have them in the fair someday. Her favorite thing this year was the highway clean up. "I loved that!"
Leaders
Kristie Rutledge ~ "4-H is about empowering kids to be independent, life-long learners while growing, learning and experiencing many interests and being productively involved in their community. It makes for great family time and adventures!"
Marie Jappe ~ "4-H means kids. I really enjoy watching them grow and learn about their projects. 4-H means family, friends and fun!"
Kelly Rutledge ~ "4-H means fun education, long-term friends and life-long memories; and the Chouteau County Fair."
Amy Wortman ~ "As a former member and now a leader, I believe 4-H encourages our youth to be assets to the community, country and world. It teaches them leadership roles and provides great learning
See Page 5: 4-H opportunities some kids would never get to experience otherwise. While a lot of time and effort goes into a year with projects and record keeping, these life skills are beneficial in their future endeavors."
Nicole Allderdice ~ "4-H is about teaching kids about the farming and ranching way of life and being together as a family."
Russ Allderdice ~ "Time with family and community."
Grandparent ~ "4-H means LOTS of hard work for many, many years (my 4-H, my kids' 4-H and now my grandkids' 4-H years!)"
Please help us celebrate the many accomplishments of the Big Sandy 4-H Club, the Sunshine Snippers. Check out their display at the Big Sandy Senior Center from October 4-10 to celebrate National 4-H Week!
According to the National 4-H, there are many facets to ensuring the youth of our country are educated well in many aspects of life. The mission statement is "4-H empowers youth to reach their full potential, working and learning in partnership with caring adults."
The 4 H's in 4-H are Head (managing & thinking), Heart (relating & caring), Hands (giving & working) and Health (being & living) and are the four core values that members work on through fun and engaging programs and projects.
4-H asks members and leaders to better themselves, while looking into their communities to see and address needs to make it a better place for others. It encourages giving of yourself to the community, country and world as seen in the "4-H Pledge." It is recited at the beginning of meetings in addition to the "Pledge of Allegiance."
THE 4-H PLEDGE
I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
My heart to greater loyalty,
My hands to larger service,
and my health to better living,
for my club, my community, my country, and my world.
4-H is not only about agriculture. It encourages life-long learning and experiences that can include; sewing, leatherwork, circuits, child-care, swine, archery, plant science, beef, cake decorating, quilting, dog, sport fishing, wind energy, lamb, electricity, poultry, foods, and cowboy poetry to name only a select few. There are many, many options for members of all ages, experience levels, and interests.
Cloverbuds are young members that are able to explore all about 4-H. Those members are from 5-7 years of age. Once a member reaches 8 years old within the 4-H year, they are considered "full members."
Members meet once a month beginning in October and the 4-H year culminates with the Chouteau County Fair in August. It is a great time when members meet with judges to talk about and share their projects. The projects are then displayed for the community to see. For members with livestock, there are livestock and market shows where the members and/or animals are judged. For market animals, there is a livestock sale on Sunday of the fair. We are very blessed to have wonderful support from the community in the form of leaders, judges, buyers and other helpers.
The Chouteau County 4-H Council and Chouteau County Extension Office are integral parts of the 4-H experience. The Council meets every other month and has a board and committees with opportunities for participation from all of the 4-H clubs in the county. Tyler Lane is currently the lone extension agent, though the search for a second agent is in the works, following the retirement of Linda Williams. He works hard to educate the members and leaders and is involved on every level of Chouteau County 4-H. Corrine Protsman and Sam Stefani are Administrative Support and work hard to keep all the clubs up to date on paperwork and in the show ring.
Keep an eye out for members selling Martinson's Chocolates to raise money for continued community service efforts, livestock judgings, leadership trainings and more.
The Sunshine Snippers are active in Big Sandy and surrounding areas. They have been involved with the highway clean-up, Medical Guild clean-up, Christmas parades, raising money for the library, donating chairs and a community meal at the Big Sandy Senior Citizens Center and painting at the Chouteau County Fair, to name a few.
The organizational meeting is Sunday, October 11, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. at the Big Sandy Senior Citizens Center to sign up for the new 4-H year.
Excerpt taken from National 4-H
4-H'ers across the nation are responding to challenges every day in their communities and their world.
As the youth development program of the Cooperative Extension System of land-grant universities, 4-H is the nation's largest youth development organization, empowering six million young people throughout the United States. Cooperative Extension of 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities provide the leadership to engage young people in 4-H in all 3,007 counties of the United States. The impact of the Cooperative Extension partnership is profound, bringing together National Institute of Food and Agriculture of USDA, land grant universities and county government to resource learning opportunities for youth.
Through America's 110 land-grant universities and its Cooperative Extension System, 4-H reaches every corner of our nation-from urban neighborhoods to suburban schoolyards to rural farming communities. With a network of more than 6 million youth, 611,800 volunteers, 3,500 professionals, and more than 25 million alumni, 4-H helps shape youth to move our country and the world forward in ways that no other youth organization can.
