Late last year, the Creston district 4-H clubs got together to have their annual awards banquet at Lister Hall.
Among the awards presented were 24 certificates for overall horse and dairy achievement, junior proficiency and senior skills in judging, public speaking and equitation. In addition, there were more than 24 junior badges awarded for program and project skills, including educational display, horse showmanship, dairy showmanship and husbandry. High point horse record book ribbons and book awards were also presented. Kylan Maki received the junior record book award and Alexandra Hayes received the senior record book award.
The awards banquet was a celebration of a year of hard work in the beef, dairy and horse clubs. The beef and horse clubs had held their annual achievement days earlier in the year, in June. The dairy club held its achievement day at the Creston Valley Fall Fair in September. Senior calf and grand champion calf this year went to Leigh Riehl from Riehl’s Farm. Junior calf went to Ruqaya Peters. Junior showman and grand champion showman went to Moriah Edge-Partington with her calf Cranberry, and senior showman went to Alexandra Hayes, who showed the Guernsey calf, Fern, from Mountain Valley Dairy.
The horse club is already up and running for the new year, with president Teandra Ostendorf, vice-president Ethan Huscroft, secretary Moriah Edge-Partington and treasurer Carola Storcks (a German exchange student in Creston for the year).
New to the Creston district this year is the 4-H Cloverbud crew. Cloverbuds are children from six-eight years old. They do not have a specific project in 4-H but are exposed to many different project areas such as horses, dairy, sewing, swine, bicycle safety, photography, crafts and goats. The Cloverbuds meet every Friday evening with junior leader Alexandra Hayes, and they are likely to become regular 4-H members in the future. So far they’ve completed a dairy and horse unit. The dairy unit was wrapped up by a trip to the Kootenay Alpine Cheese factory in Lister owned by the Harris family. The Cloverbuds also participated in the 4-H bring a friend Halloween celebration, which was an outdoor fun filled event.
Members in all 4-H clubs look forward to the district events, such as the family skate, speeches and rally days. Individual clubs, of course, are kept busy with their own project events.
All clubs really appreciate the support that comes from local sponsors and the Creston community, as well as grant monies received from the Columbia Basin Trust, Safeway, Farm Credit Canada and Westgen Genetics.
The 4-H programs could never happen, though, without the many adults who volunteer their time to lead, assist, instruct, organize, and encourage members in all of their project areas. We therefore extend our thanks to Doug Riehl, Hans Bissig, Tom Tarzwell, Peggy Hawes, Patricia Hayes and Meagan Leslie.
If you’ve ever wanted to become involved in 4-H, there’s no better time than now. And if you’ve ever wondered what the four H’s stand for, well, it’s not horses, hogs, heifers, and hay — although at times it may seem like it. No, it’s head (to clearer thinking), heart (to greater loyalty), hands (to larger service) and health (to better living) for our club, our community and our country; 4-H is a good thing to do!
For information, go to bc.4-H.ca. or ask any 4-H member or leader; they’d be happy to help!