Remembering the Old while Ringing in the New

Needless to say we are always excited about the year ahead so ringing in 2010 is very exciting for those of us here at 4-H. Of course we can't ring in the new without remembering some of the highlights of our year as it passes by.

To start with we celebrated North Carolina 4-H's Centennial. There were special activities each month, a balloon release of 100 balloons at the fair, and lots of cake. Dr. Marshall Stewart, our state 4-H leader, joined us to help us honor our volunteers. Dr. Theron McKinney came all the way from Raleigh to help us open the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair, as they helped us celebrate the centennial in a big way. Clinton McRae, our new district director, also honored us with a visit to say thank you to our volunteers for their service. Our newest State Senator Michael Walters came by to honor our youth, as did Rod Jenkins, our assistant County Manager. It was a start studded year for Robeson County 4-H and that was just the icing on the top of the cake.

We worked with almost 4,000 youth this year in 4-H. More than 200 are in one of our ten clubs. Others took part in our summer programs including summer fun and summer camp. Second grade embryology brought in 1500 more youth. Our youth took part in county, district, and state competitions. We brought home gold from every competition as well as a new sense of pride among all of our competitors.

Thanks to our supporters we announced two endowments this year. The Dr. Eddie and Mrs. Brenda Locklear Endowment will support a Robeson County 4-H Volunteer Hall of Fame. Each year a deserving volunteer will receive this honor for their work with our county program and will be announced at the volunteer leaders banquet. The second endowment we were able to announce was the Robert Wilkes 4-H Entrepreneurial Endowment. This will be awarded to deserving 4-H members and clubs to support continued entrepreneurial activities and support their leadership opportunities.

To check out all the sweet things we did in Robeson County 4-H this year you can check out our 2009 photo book. It is like a year in review. If you would like one you can also order your own.

We hope you and your family and have festive and safe time ringing in the new year. As you reflect back 2009 was a year full of treats for our 4-H program so we can't wait to see what happens in 2010.