Robeson County 4-H

It was an early and chilly morning as Robeson County 4-H Volunteers, Rosie Jones, Sonny Sampson, and Veronica Powell climbed into the state van with 4-H Agent Shea Ann DeJarnette to head to Anson County. This wasn't a scenic tour, more of a day of hands on learning and training at the annual South Central District Fall Day . Anson County hosted the event this year at the Extension Office in Wadesboro. The day started with a welcome, workshops, district meeting and ended with an incredible home cooked lunch by the Anson County volunteers. The workshops this year included a Hungry to Help Workshop, ACE trainings, a health and fitness opportunity and a bow making workshop. Dr. Mitzi Stumpf-Downing with the state 4-H office conducted the training on the 4-H Hungry to Help initiative. This is a state wide community service project in which youth and adults in 4-H will help address the hunger issue within our state. Dr. Stumpf-Downing educated the volunteers on the issue of h...

Thank you seems like so little to say to our incredible Robeson County 4-H volunteers. That is why we hold our annual Robeson County 4-H Adult Volunteer Appreciation Banquet for the more than 100 volunteers that we have. This year our harvest theme was a hit with our adults who had the opportunity to enjoy dinner and entertainment from Hailey Ivey, a winner of the talent competition at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair and our featured speaker was Charles Graham, candidate for the House of Representatives. Mr. Graham talked about the importance of opportunities like 4-H and commended our volunteers on their efforts. Of course the highlight of the evening was when we honored our volunteers, without whom we would not have a successful program. Our first year volunteers include; Melanie Allen, Candi Blackmon, Amanda Dial, Brian Dial, Anna Hatcher, Gary Henderson, Marie Henderson, Felicia Hill, Willie Johnson, Rosie, Jones, Atha McArthur, Fredrick McKinnon, Vanessa Moore, Veronica P...

Sunday was bitter sweet as we had to take down our 4-H fair booths. However, packing up the Extension trailer to head to Raleigh was the start of a whole new adventure for us. Each year a different county 4-H program has the honor of designing the state fair booth for the district . This year it was Robeson County's 4-H's turn. After a great deal of planning we decided to use a fair booth that our volunteers and previous staff had designed when we did this more than a decade ago. However, when we went to find all the pieces, some were not in good shape, others were just m.i.a. So Aggie and Shea Ann stuck their heads together and asked our blue ribbon winners from this year, the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H club, if they could possibly borrow their booth. The answer from club leader Missy McLean was a resounding yes!. So with help and item donations from Larry Russ of the Dirty Dozen Shooting Sports club the booth got loaded up and Aggie, Shea Ann, and Mr. Bobby head...

Excuse the pun because in all honesty there was no bull about this show. Okay maybe a couple of bulls in the market steer show but the heifers were mooving to new heights. In case you hadn't guessed following the 4-H lamb show at the Robeson Regional Fair was the 4-H heifer and steer show . Our youth came from all around with, yes, cows to put it simply and allowed them to take center ring. We started with the 4-H showmanship division where youth the youth were judged on their knowledge and skills in this area. The age divisions were equally matched with three competitors in each. In the Junior I division (ages 9-10 years old) Mary Vorder Bruegge took home first, Maddy Adams placed second, and Wyatt Kendall took home the white ribbon. IN the Junior II age division (11-13 years old) Austin Cameron placed first, Eugenie Vorder Bruegge took home the red, and Anthony Bullard placed third. In the Senior division (14-19 years old) Sable Scott took home first place, David McInnis took hom...

Things were a little woolly at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair Saturday as the lambs came from miles away to show their stuff in the ring. We had 4-H members from Sampson, Cumberland, Stanly, and other counties lined up for the show ring. The first show was the 4-H Showmanship competition where the show person is judged. This is broken into four divisions; cloverbuds (5-8 year olds), Junior I (9-10 year olds), Junior II (11-13 year olds), and Seniors (14-19 year olds). In the Cloverbud division Shane Kendall, Hunter Mercer, Tate Naylor and Hanna Naylor all took to the ring. The cloverbud division is noncompetitive. This gives our youth a chance to learn the ropes of showing in a safe and nurturing environment. The youth all receive trophies for their efforts. In the Junior I division we only had one competitor this year Wyatt Kendal who took home the blue ribbon. Things were a little more difficult in the Junior II division where there were seven competitors. Samantha Naylor to...

Most of us are used to being in school and receiving a grade for our hard work. Well did you know chickens also get a grade for the hard work of growing? Maybe not just growing, it's that and a little more. More than 80 youth from three counties travelled to the Robeson Regional Agricultural fair on Thursday to see what it takes to judge poultry as they competed in our annual 4-H Poultry judging competition . Contestants compete as individuals and on teams for this contest. They must do their best to judge, live laying hens, give oral reasons as to why they placed the hens in the order they did, name various cut up chicken parts, grade eggs that are out of the shell, egg candling, and grade the overall chicken carcass. We split the youth into two age divisions, junior (ages 9-13) and Senior (ages 14-19). After all the scores were tabulated the winners list looked something like this. Junior Individual competition Alex Evans took home the first place trophy and Benjamin Herndon too...

Wednesday at the Robeson Regional Agriculture Fair should make you think of chicken. Not original or extra crispy rather the kind that flap their wings, cluck and peck at you if you get too close. That's right Wednesday night was our annual 4-H Poultry Shows . We have two categories; Laying hens which are chickens that lay eggs, and broilers which are considered meat chickens. This is a combination showmanship and market show for our competitors. Judges are not only asking the youth about raising their hens but also looking at the legs, breast development and eye clarity when judging the birds. First off were our cloverbuds. These are our 5-8 year olds and the division is non competitive. Each youth receives a trophy and $10 for their hard work. Our two cloverbuds this year were 5 year old Stephen Smith and his older brother 7 year old Andrew Smith. Both were allowed to enter the ring and sit with their laying hens while the judge asked them questions about their birds. In the jun...

There were moments where the squeals of delight among the hogs, youth, and adults could not be distinguished because everyone was having such a good time. Our first ever adult/youth hog show took place in center ring (OK it is the only ring we have) and was a tail twister for many. The first two rounds were showmanship divisions. The first 18 years old and under. The second 18 and over. In the 18 and under division we had Dakota Locklear, Chase Lowry, Andrew Oxendine, Lavin Lowry, Lyavans Lowry, Makayla Oxendine, and Mickey Locklear, II competing. In the end Lyavans Lowry took home the blue ribbon, Lavin Lowry the red, and Andrew Oxendine the white. In the over 18 division Candy Lowry, Dwan Locklear, Ruby Oxendine, Mickey Locklear, James Lee Hunt, Regina Hunt, Sara Locklear, Lycurous Lowry, Carroll Dial and Lyvans Lowry participated. The judge declared this competition one of the closest and most interesting he had ever judged. When he asked one competitor what kind of hog he had she ...

Things were hopping on Monday at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair . As rides were spinning and flying the hippity hop could only be found in the Livestock Building. Our Robeson County youth got their rabbits out and brought them to the ring for our annual 4-H Youth Rabbit Show. The Rabbit show competition is based on a combination of youth showmanship and rabbit quality. In years past competitions have been decided on little things such as which rabbit has the cleanest feet, letting the judge know that the rabbit owner cleaned the rabbit cage more than the runner up. This year the competition was anything but cut and fuzzy and some won by the wiggle of a nose. Our cloverbud division, which is for 5-8 year olds, is noncompetitive. Each participant receives $10 and a trophy. In this year's competition we had Hunter Tarte, Summerlyn Anderson, Tierra Locklear, Dakota Strickland, and Christian Tice. In our Junior Division for 9-10 year olds the competition was tough. When the ju...

The first Saturday at the Robeson County Fair starts even before the gates open. People from around the region, and 4-H members working on animal science projects start arriving around 7:30 in the morning. That is check-in time for animals competing in shows and the open exhibits. Now if you are wondering what the difference is, the open exhibits are animals that are caged at the fair for a week but do not take part in actual shows. Judges compare similar animals to determine first, second, third and participant status. The top three places when cash awards. Those who are competing in shows come at a predetermined time to actually get their animal out of the cage and show it in the ring as part of an organized show. As animals were coming in from around our region other prep work was going on; the rides were warming up, the smell of sausages began wafting from vendor stations, and other contests were getting ready to happen. However in the livestock building we were preparing for our ...

Day two at the fair saw all but six rides running (better safe then sorry) and a bunch of fun activities. It was buy one get one free gate admission thanks to the Robesonian . On the midway stage Aggie Rogers organizes an annual youth praise dance. 4-H was represented well with groups from Spiritual Generations 4-H club and Inspirational Leaders 4-H club. Also Megan Hurst with the Horsin' Around 4-H club and Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club preformed as part of this compeitition. Aggie said she was quite impressed with the quality of talent that was displayed as part of this event. This also gave fair goers another chance to see the crafts, plants, crops and other items that 4-H youth submitted to the fair. As well as check out the Master Gardener area and see the great fair entertainment like the Puppetone Rockers, the Starr Family Circus and the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack show. Aland Sands and Magic Mike also are coming back for repeat performances this year. To see the ...