Though the Cremona 4-H Club is getting close to winding down its season, it’s definitely not losing interest from local youth.
According to its website, 4-H Canada empowers young Canadians to become skilled, engaged, and responsible leaders who are passionate about making meaningful contributions to the world around them. The club is made up of more than 25,000 members and 7,700 volunteers across the country.
The Cremona 4-H club currently has 35 youth members and runs from the fall through to the Summer. The organization itself offers many different sections to choose from, but the Cremona 4-H Club chose to encompass four sections based on their members’ interests: market lamb, light horse, small engines, and beef.
“Our four projects make it a little chaotic at times but it’s great because we have such a diverse group of families and members that we’re all able to learn something from one another. And the kids are also exposed to lots of different opportunities that if we were just a one project club they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to,” explained Tanya Shand, the Club Leader.
Shand said often the club members take on multiple projects within the different sections of the club. This not only keeps the youth busy but allows them to pursue multiple interests without having to choose just one.
“It depends what people can take on as a family and what everybody can fit into their life. Livestock projects for sure are a lot more commitment than the lifestyle projects,” Shand said.
The club is very popular within the community as the number of members increased from 21 the previous year. Though the club can only take members from ages nine to 21, they also offer a separate program called Cleavers, which allows younger members to gain some experience.
“They don’t get to do everything that the other kids do in 4-H but it has peewee projects, sort of like an introduction into 4-H,” Shand explained.
Aside from participating in projects, members of the club also have to put in a certain number of hours volunteering within the community as well as gaining public speaking experience.
“To get credit for your 4-H year, you have to fill a communications commitment and a community service commitment as well as your project commitment – which is all recordkeeping and showing at Achievement Day. So to get all those, it definitely makes for a busy year,” Shand said.
Shand said since the organization operates locally, provincially, and nationally, members have the chance to advance outside of their local clubs and participate in larger events. Some of these events are by invitation-only while others are open to all members.
“We were quite successful this year with communications past club level – we had two members advance to regionals … one won first place in his division and we had another place fourth,” Shand said.
Shand’s children also participate in the club and she values all that 4-H has to offer them and the other members. She explained the youth are essentially the leaders of the club while the parents usually just help facilitate the events and projects they plan.
“The 4-H motto is ‘Learn to do by doing’ so that’s what we strive for as parents and as leaders. The kids are the ones who run the meetings, they’re the ones making the decisions,” Shand explained.
Shand said they often see mentoring relationships form between younger and older youth members in the club. The club also provides the opportunity for families within the area to become friends as the members spend so much time together.
“It’s a way to get to know new families with similar interests, which is really cool,” Shand said.
For Meaghan Heppner, the club’s vice-president who is currently in Grade 8, the experience she gained through the club is invaluable.
“I decided to join the club because my dad was in 4-H when he was younger, and I also had some school friends thinking of joining … so that provided some interest for me. I’ve always loved hanging around my neighbour’s cattle, and I love horses,” Heppner explained.
Heppner is currently in her fourth year of membership with the club and participates in the market beef and light horse sections. She believes the club helped push her out of her comfort zone.
“I was previously a very shy person. But once I was in 4-H I was able to put aside that nervousness and now I love public speaking,” Heppner said.
“It’s a learning experience – you learn so many different things. It opens up opportunities for you in the future. With public speaking, it teaches you to speak in front of a crowd later in life. With running a meeting, you get to learn how everything works ... And we also get to give back to our community a lot,” Heppner said.
