This Meeting is Still Looming

Tonight marked the monthly meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club and this meeting took some twists and turns.  After their official opening and a brief business meeting it was time to get down to the business of the club and get crafty.
  This month's project involved learning how to weave.  Club members, under the guidance of their club leader Jessica Drake created looms out of paper plates.  After picking some fun colors the members used yarn to create the frame that they would weave.  After securing the frame it was time to learn to thread a really big needle and work with the over and under motion that would let them weave the yarn.  When they had enough for a "head" it was time to stop and make arms by braiding yarn then weaving it through the frame.  Then back to weaving until the body was done.  Sometimes they would stop and change colors to make it more interesting.
  When they were satisfied with the final product all they had to do was cut the frame in the back, making the top hair and the bottom strings braided into legs.  One, two, or a few eyes later they had made a unique and fun bookmark!  All by learning how to weave.  They club members took home their looms and some extra yarn to make more at home and maybe make some as gifts later in the year.
  The next club meeting for the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club will be April 3, at the County Extension Office.  For more information please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Assistant at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu.

Growing Great Kids

From time to time those of us at the 4-H office get bits and pieces of information that might interest everyone so we like to share them via e-mail or the blog.  Today I was fortunate enough to attend a training on line that involved horticulture resources and thought many of you might be interested.  The training was lead by Liz Driscoll who is our Horticulture/4-H person and she introduced us to a web site that she created that I thought you would find interesting.
  http://www.growforit.org/ is a great site to find resources, learn about upcoming competitions and be able to download curriculum that can be used for all ages in your clubs.  Although we do have a Junior Master Gardener Club these are items that might just be a topic for one meeting for your club to offer a little something different and fun.
  The other thing we talked about was the state 4-H horticulture contest that will be held in Raleigh May 3.  We have had some interest among our older 4-H members and I am told that we can field multiple teams so if you have club members interested in participating please let our office know by April 1 via e-mail or a quick phone call.

Congratulations to One of Our Own!

       

“Mr. Alfred was a true friend of the fair.  You could honestly say this man lived, ate, and slept here at this fair.  Always upholding it, working to making it better, he was an institution.”  That is how Allen Faircloth, President of the Robeson County Fair lead into his announcement of the 2014 Friend of the fair announcement.  For the recipient, she had no idea that this meeting was any different than any other monthly board meeting that she attends in her role as a volunteer.  So as Faircloth explained this prestigious award, and the impact this award winner has had on the members of the fair board who unanimously supported her to receive this honor she looked around the room trying to figure out who this might be.

            “This year’s Alfred C. Smith’s Friend of the Fair Award recipient is Marilyn Merritt.” Merritt’s eye got big and her jaw literally dropped as Faircloth talked about all the activities she helps with and how she always has a positive attitude about the fair.  As the board members stood and applauded, Merritt got up to receive her plaque noting what an honor it was for her to receive this award.  Merritt will keep a plaque noting her accomplishment and her name will be added to another plaque that hangs in the fair office.  That plaque, with a photo of Alfred Smith, notes all the prior winners of this award.  Another honor for Merritt was that she received this award in front of her granddaughter, T’Ashia Shelby who is the chair of the Junior Fair Board.  When asked if she was going to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps, Shelby said with obvious pride, “No that's just my Granny.”