Cooking Up and Speaking Up=Blue Ribbon Affair

In case you missed it, Robeson County 4-H's County Activity Day was a flurry of success. We dodged storms (and later found out tornadoes) to give our 4-H members the opportunity to compete for a chance to go to 4-H District Activity Day. Our 4-H members brought out some of the best speeches and informative as well as tasty presentations ever, making the day a big success.

In Public Speaking we had nine competitors who gave original speeches ranging from diabetes to how to play the piano. In our cloverbud division, which is non competitive and made up of 5 to 8 year olds. Patrick McBryde of the United We Stand 4-H Club spoke on the Seven Wonders of the World. He received a participation ribbon and a five dollar gift card for his hard work. In our 9-10 year old Junior Division D'Myaia Stribling of the Young Leaders 4-H Club took first place and Elizah Leach of the Voices in Praise 4-H Club took second place. In the 11-13 year old Junior Division judges had some difficult decisions to make with four competitors vying to go to District Activity Day. In the end Antenecia Hill of the Young Leaders 4-H Club took home a participation ribbon, Brianna Hayes of the Voices in Praise 4-H club came in third and Michiko Hill of the Inspirational Leaders 4-H club took second, while Camry Ocean of the Voices in Praise 4-H Club took home the blue. In the senior division there was a one point difference between first and second place and judges had to fight back tears as our speakers tugged their heart strings and gave some of the best speeches we have ever heard. When it was said and done, Zaire Baker of the Voices in Praise 4-H Club took home the red ribbon while Alexus Jones of the Inspirational Youth Leaders 4-H club took home first.

The judges in Presentations had tasty and informative decisions to make as well. the difference between a presentation and a speech is that in presentations the youth demonstrate something and have visual aids such as posters or a power point to help illustrate the topic of their presentation. We had 3 cloverbuds who presented in our non competitive division. Kylie Smith of the Spiritual Generations 4-H Club, Paiton Twigg of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club and Nadia Bennett of the Voices in Praise 4-H Club. Each cloverbud received a ribbon and gift card for their bravery and hard work. The 9-10 year old Junior division saw the heaviest competition with four participants. Jamal Bennett of the Voices in Praise 4-H Club took first place in dairy. Christian Tice of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club took first place in fruits with his presentation on how to make a fruit salad. Tyson Alford of the Young Leaders 4-H Club and the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club, took first place in Health and fitness with his speech on basketball, and Jesjiah Moore of the Young Leaders 4-H Club, took first place in the open division by showing us how to design and paint finger nails. In the 11-13 year old Junior Division Jasmine McBryde of the United We stand 4-H club took first place in the fruit category with her presentation on how to make strawberry delight. Tyron Alford of the Young Leaders 4-H Club and the Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club took first place in Health and Fitness for her presentation on Volleyball. The Senior division showed that it is worth the risk of standing up a giving it a shot. Megan Hurst of the Horsin' Around 4-H club took home first place in plant sciences with her presentation on how to make a container garden. Shawndora McNair of the Inspirational Youth Leaders 4-H Club took home first place in Health and Fitness with her presentation on Asthma. Shabrya Vample of the Young Leaders 4-H Club took home a blue ribbon in expressive arts for her presentation on drawing. We also had one outdoor cookery competitor. Jaylyn McNair took home a blue ribbon in beef cookery for his incredible burgers.

We would like to thank our judges for taking the time to give positive and critical feedback to our youth. In Public Speaking Mark Moses, Representative Charles Graham and Reverend Jerome Billups took the time to listen to each of our competitors. Charlene Whitted and Joyce Russ enjoyed the results of all of our competitors in presentations. Charles Russ gave great feedback to our outdoor cookery competitor and even tried to get some extra burgers to take home. We must also give special thanks to volunteers who handled the each room for us. Renee Baker kept things together for Public Speaking. Jane Hurst kept things going for Presentations. Larry Russ was our safety and weather reporter for outdoor cookery.

District Activity Day is June 23rd in Anson County. Those who have the opportunity to represent Robeson County and compete for state are: in Public Speaking, 9-10 D'Myaia Stribling and Elizah Leach, in 11-13 Camry Ocean and Michiko Hill, and in the 14-18 age division Alexus Jones and Zaire Baker. In Presentations Jamal Bennett, Christian Tice, Tyson Alford and Jesiah Moore will move forward in our 9-10 age division. Jasmine McBride and Tyron Alford will move forward to represent us in the 11-13 age division. In the Senior Division Megan Hurst, Shawndora McNair and Shabraya Vample all have the opportunity of competing at the next level.

Let's give a big hand to all of our members, parents, judges and volunteers who made this day such a success.