Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

4H Good For Youth

4-H Clubs do more than teach young people how to raise and tend animals.

In fact, the care of livestock is but a small part of what 4-H is, according to Vicky Lynn, sponsor of the Hilltop 4-H Club in Gurdon.

She told members of the Gurdon Rotary Club, during its regular meeting Thursday, April 2, how educational the organization is and what a variety of opportunities the club offers.

Members, she said, learn how to conduct business meetings, and this can have an impact on the rest of their lives. 4-H, Lynn continued, gives the members an opportunity to make friends all over the state and more.

However, she warned, the members must be selective in what they choose to participate in. This is because the organization offers such a wide selection it would be impossible for them to try everything.

The 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) do compliment each other, she told the Rotarians. Both offer the opportunity for members to develop lifelong skills.

According to Lynn, 4-H offers a course in puppetry. The puppets, she said, are used to teach younger children and give important messages. Members of the club also learn how to make puppets as well as how to perform with them.

"It's a lot of fun," she said of 4-H. "The members develop lifelong friendships."

The 4-H offers a ROPES course, where those involved learn the value of teamwork, leadership and trust. This course is physically and mentally challenging for those involved.

Lynn said a large group of Hilltop and Clark County 4-H members go on a canoe trip. But, they must first raise the necessary money and be CPR certified before they are allowed to participate.

Each month a workshop is held where members make seasonally appropriate ornaments and other items. These are used in various celebrations.

However, she said, the club also does well with its agrarian ventures. She said the members tend to grow large vegetables and watermelons and do well in the annual fair contests.

4-H members also compete in the Beef Ambassador Contest, where they have to prepare a beef recipe, including the calorie and fat content, and give a talk to the judges about the dish.

There are lots of contests open to members of the 4-H Club, she said. Including the 4-H O-Rama, where the different districts compete against one another.

Current members of the club also spoke to the Rotary members, telling them of their experiences in the organizations.

Cassie Lynn talked about competing in the forestry contest. The forestry group, she said, normally fares well in contests.

Those competing in the forestry contests must be able to identify trees, know about pulpwood, land elevation, insect identification and saw logs. Lynn is also on the Gurdon High School FFA forestry team.

Trey Burchfield talked about the 4-H High Adventure program. He said this is a physical challenge as those involved have to climb mountains, hike 15 miles a day and the climax of the adventure is a seven-day, six-night outdoor experience in New Mexico.

During the outdoor experience, he said, they pan for gold, trapped fur bearing animals, learned about black powder rifles and living off the land.

Robin LeMay displayed her bug collection. She said a record book is kept identifying the bugs, with the scientific information about each one. She is also involved in the environmental stewardship program.

Leah Lynn talked about a 4-H exchange trip to Louisiana, where the members stayed on Grand Terry Island.

The one phone on the island was for emergency use only, she said, which meant little contact with the outside world.

While there, she learned about sale water sea life and how to tell the age of a fish by its bones.

Those on the island replanted seaweed to help shore up the seawall and keep the water from further eroding the island.

In order to eat daily, the 4-H'ers had to seine for fish.