Robeson County 4-H

It was up to our 4-H County Council and Volunteer Leader officers to come together tonight and plan what will happen in our near future. The officers started by planning the meeting that will take place on Monday, March 7, at 6 pm. Then they started working on new projects. Plans were set in place by Christopher Bullard and Libby Burney to pass out blank scrapbook pages to the clubs to make sure they each have the opportunity to create pages for this year's county scrapbook which will be turned in and judged on the district level at district activity day in June. Last year four clubs created pages and the reporters hope that we have 100% club representation this year. The two have also set two dates for youth to come to the 4-H office and work on the county scrapbook. Those dates will be announced at our meeting Monday night. Then it was time for the youth to work on their special project. Our County Council Officers want to create a Cloverbud retreat for our youngest 5-8 year old...

Every winter our 4-H members look forward to a South Central District tradition, Winter Enrichment . Today was the day our teens had anticipated as we travelled to Sandhills community college to represent Robeson County for district business and take part in educational workshops. What made this year especially great was that we were joined by the Bladen County delegation and an adult volunteer from Columbus County. Dillon McCartney, Santiago Robinson, and T'asha Shelby represented Robeson County. Dillon Dennis, Meranda Dennis, Victoria Evans, Rachel Harbough, Luke Hill, Alan Monk, and Laura Willis represented Bladen County. Alice Cooper from Columbus county was kind enough to travel with our group to this annual event. 15 counties come together at Winter Enrichment for education and to conduct district business. This year more than 60 youth attended the event. The district officers, past and present, lead the four workshops offered to youth. Darren Leffler, District President cond...

In case you have not figured it out, Robeson County 4-H loves our dedicated and helpful group of adult volunteers. When we call they jump up and take the challenge for us and we are always in debt to them. Yesterday was not different as six of our volunteers stepped forward to help us judge project records for another county. In January 4-H volunteers from Cumberland County as well as their new County Extension Director came down to Robeson County to judge our records. In return we offered to judge theirs. So a call went out at the end of last week for anyone interested to come and judge. We were thrilled to have Tanya Underwood, Veronica Powell, Libby Burney, Sonny Sampson, Kenneth Bethea and Marilyn Merritt join us for grading. Kenneth and Marilyn are experienced project record graders. Libby has experience from Florida and it did not take her long to catch on to the North Carolina way of project record grading. Sonny, Veronica and Tanya were first timers and willing to jump in and t...

The Dirty Rascals Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club meeting yesterday for their first meeting of 2011 (the January meeting was snowed out!). After going through the schedule for the rest of the year the group got started on their big fund raiser of the year, the Master Gardener Plant Sale. Now if you are looking at your calendar thinking this is a little early to prep for a plant sale that doesn't happen until the end of April you might be right. The difference here is that the youth are using the AeroGarden that they purchased with the help of the Master Gardeners to start their herbs for the sale. The AeroGarden comes with special trays and sponges that allow for seed starting. All three machines are being used to start wonderful herbs that should be just the right size for sale at the end of April. The JMG members planted; Cinnamon Bail, Italian Basil, Cilantro, Italian Parsley, Chives, Thyme, Oregano, Summer Savory, Sweet Marjoram, Dill, Lemon Basil, Rosemary, Catnip and Lavende...

Two members of the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club made headlines this week as they placed in their school science fairs. Christian Tice won second place in the Piney Grove Elementary School science fair, for fourth graders. Let's give him a hand! Brianna Cryer was in the sixth grade Piney Grove Elementary School science fair. She did an awesome job! -Photos and report were submitted by St. Pauls 4-H Pony club leader Libby Burney.

The beginning of February is always a great time in 4-H because it marks our annual 4-H State Volunteer Leaders Conference. As in previous years this one was held at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham . The theme for 2011 was "Click it with 4-H: Play, Work, Reward." This year 12 volunteers and staff members represented Robeson County at the conference. We even had three first time attendees; Veronica Powell, Rhonda Drye, and Jeff Wright. We started Saturday morning very early travelling to Raleigh so we could be ready to start in our workshops at 8:30. There were over 50 workshops offered this year with topics which ranged from developmental cycles of youth to how to properly shake someones hands, livestock judging and yes, getting down and dirty in the garden. Our volunteers attended leadership workshops, electric, livestock judging, gardening, etiquette, and much more. They are so excited to share what they learned and put it all into action here in Robeson County. After att...