We have had successful start to our 2014 4-H year.
The Yellowhead 4H Beef, Sheep and Photography club now has 41 members and we have elected the club committee.
Our president is Lauren Tremblay, and the vice-president is Kathleen Pilatzke. Madison Kerslake is secretary, and the treasurer is Hannah Feller.
We held our club speech day at the Lions Hall on February 16, and had a great turnout from the community, and some wonderful judges who volunteered to help.
For juniors (ages 9-12), first place went to Jonathan Fennell, second to Grace Kempter ,and third to Payton Irving. The seniors (ages 13-21) did their impromptu on ‘If you had to eat at one place for the rest of your life where would it be?”.
An impromptu is where 4H members are given one minute to prepare a speech for the judges, that has to be between one to two minutes in length. In addition to their impromptus, seniors also had to give a pre-prepared 5-7 minute speech on a topic of their own choosing.
There were some great speeches and lots of chuckles, and in the end Leanna Mitchell came first, Quinn Brackman came second and Christine Kempter came third in the club competition.
Club Demonstrations on February 26 were just as exciting, and seniors Madi Kerslake and Lauren Tremblay came first, while Sara Kate and Halle Smith came second, and Dustin Pawloff and Sheldon Vansickle came third. Kids have under 10 minutes to give an informative and instructional presentation on how to make or do something.
In the junior demo division Cameron Kerslake and Aaron Vansickle came first, and Sami Jones and Emma Hamblin came second.
The top members from both the club speech and demo days, moved onto the District Competition where Leanna Mitchell came second for speeches, and Madi Kerslake and Lauren Tremblay came third for their demo.
The beef club have started their weigh-ins every month to mark the growth of their projects.
Sheep Husbandry Day was held at the Smiths on March 9, where the sheep members learned how to dock, vaccinate, feed, judge, castrate and tie rope halters.
April 12-13, was the first ever 2014 Judging Jamboree. It was an incredible event put on by Meghan McGillivray (Kamloops) as her Jr. Leader Project. The Jamboree was held at Aberdeen Elementary School, and the livestock judging took place at the beautiful Circle Creek Ranch.
There were so many hard working volunteers that helped make this event possible for almost 50 kids from our region.
We judged dairy heifers, Irish terriers, market hogs, and laying hens for our livestock classes, and we also judged gift wrapping, fabric selection, baking and hunting survival kits.
Each member also had to present two sets of oral reasons, one livestock and one non-livestock, where the members have to present their chosen placings with good reasons and good public speaking skills to the judge.
After judging we went swimming, then had a dance and slept overnight at the school.
The next morning we went back to Circle Creek Ranch to begin the team judging event and some presentations.
For the team judging, we judged angus heifers with a partner and had to run it like a professional show. It was such an amazing experience.
We then had awards, and all the clubs were represented by their members very well.
For the judging aggregate awards, Lauren Tremblay came 9th, Sara Kate Smith came 3rd and Madi Kerslake received top aggregate. For team judging Sara Kate Smith came first as judge, with Shuswap member Colin Geezas as ring man.
On the afternoon of April 13, we had our club “Hands on Judging”. All junior and senior Yellowhead 4H members learned how to judge sheep, beef and photography.
After that the photography club had a hot dog roast and went out in the dark to photograph highway traffic and bonfires.
Now we are ready and looking forward to our next two big events, the ”Kamloops and District Rally”, and our clubs annual flower basket fundraiser.
We will be bringing in premium hanging baskets and planters, strawberry baskets, tomato plants, herbs, and flats of geraniums, marigolds and petunia’s for pick up at the Barriere curling rink on the afternoon of Thursday May 8, but you have to order by Monday, April 28. If you need a great gift for Mothers Day, or want to dress up your yard this spring, this is for you! Ask a 4-H member, or order online at http://yellowhead4hclub.plants4nonprofit.com before April 28.