Robeson County 4-H

  After 43 years of service to NC Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center Denese Prevatte is retiring.  You might be asking yourself who is this, or why does this effect 4-H?  Well the influence Denese has had on this program is pretty profound and you might not ever had realized it.   Starting at the age of 19 Denese began as the office receptionist and worked her way up to programing secretary, serving all the program areas at some point (and sometimes all at once), and finally became the Administrative Assistant.   She has been active in her state association winning almost every award they have to offer.  She is an organizational genius who loves efficiency, and streamlining things.  She is good at following, and making others follow the rules.  She's not half bad at creating rules that use common sense.   Way back before your current 4-H team was in place Denese was a 4-H volunteer with her own community club.  She taugh...

  Today was the official opening of the Robeson County Farmers Marke t.  You might ask what this has to do with 4-H?  Actually more than you might think.  Each year, for the last nine years, NC Cooperative Extension has partnered with the farmers at the market for their official opening.  How we do that is by partnering with other agencies such as the hospital, demonstrating what we do best, and offering samples of what you can create with the farmers market.   This year our Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program staff members had the blender bike on hand.  Participants had the opportunity to get on the bike and ride.  So while you were getting exercise you were also powering a blender which was making an icy cold healthy fruit smoothy for you to enjoy when you were done.    In another tent Christy Strickland and Janice Fields were having oodles of fun making zoodles.  Zoodles are noodles made from zucchini or squash....

  Hard work pays off.  Kennedi Lyons, Dirty Rascals Jr. Master Gardener 4-H Club Member, proved that today.  Earlier in the month Kennedi was one of two 4-H members who attended 4-H Citizenship.  On the last day the members of NC SPIN television show brought a mock show to the conference.  Kennedi was one of about 15 youth that got up and asked a question concerning the topics discussed.  Thanks to her participation and well thought out question she was asked to participate in the anual NC SPIN taping.   NC SPIN is a political show that is broadcast on UNC TV weekly.  The panelists offer various views of the same topic to allow viewers to be informed and make up their own mind.  Moderated by Tom Campbell the show is a staple for anything and everything related to NC Politics.   Today Kennedi and four other 4-H members; Anna Beth Harris, Isaiah Lacewell, and Guillermo Estrada, had the opportunity to view the taping of the weekly show ...

  National Dairy month has virtually been one of my favorite months this year.  Thanks to a grant through NC State University we have had the opportunity to educate folks on where their milk comes from and how it gets to their grocery stores through virtual reality.  Virtual Reality (VR) is a real experience that takes place through a simulation which can be similar or completely different from the real world.  In this case the VR model is delivered through googles that transports the person to a 3-D world of the dairy farm, transporting the milk, and even packaging in just two minutes.   Today our staff partnered with Southeastern Community Health Education Center (CHEC) in the mall .  The hospital staff talked about the nutritional benefits of milk while we showed people where milk comes from and help them trust in the process from farm to table with the VR experience.  Everyone who watched loved the experience and really enjoyed being on the farm...

  The 4-H County Council was celebrating today.  Celebrating you ask?  Yes we were celebrating National Dairy Month and what better place to do that but Dairy Queen, on the birthday of this business.   Partnering with a new partner is always fun, and when you can bring technology in to offer a fun and educational experience, well it turns into a win-win for everyone.  Thanks to a grant our 4-H program was able to purchase three sets of VR googles.  Each is loaded with four 3-D videos of the milk process from the nursery on the farm, to milking cows, loading milk trucks, testing, and bottling all before it lands in the grocery store and then your refrigerator.  The videos are an immersive experience and everyone who tried the googles enjoyed them.   The County Council members did a great job of getting customers to try the experience and in the end were rewarded with an DQ cake, made especially for Dairy Queens birthday that we were celebratin...

It was a day of traveling, all the way to Craven Community College.  Although New Bern is a great place to visit we were there to win.  That's right it was 4-H District Activity Day.   The day that 18 counties come together to see who the best of the best is in Public Speaking and Presentations and determine who will represent the district at state. This year Robeson County 4-H had 11 participants.  Our participants represented; Young Leaders, Inspirational Youth Leaders, Explore NC, Dirty Rascals JMG, Horsin' Around Animal Science Club, and Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club.  More than half of these youth it was their first time presenting. We are so proud of them for over coming their personal fears, competing, and keeping their wits about them amongst veteran presenters.  Youth compete under various topics against youth in their age division; 8-10, 11-13, 14-18.  Potentially they could be competing again 32 other youth in that ages division ...

  Napkins gently folded in the lap, adding sugar to tea, and drinking with your pinky in the air.  That is what comes to mind when most folks say etiquette.  When we say etiquette in 4-H that's not the reality of today's world and we want to make sure our youth are prepared for today's world.  Knowing proper etiquette can do more than just make you feel comfortable in any social situation, it can be the difference into getting into college, and even obtaining a job.  This is one of the reasons we conduct our 4-H Etiquette Day Camp.   For our youth we cover a variety of topics from how to dress for different situations, table manners, cell phone manners, and even thank you notes.  Our day started with the 10 most rude manners to avoid.  Then we did a little work on table settings so they would have a sense of what they were looking at when we got to the Carolina Hotel.    Pinehurst resort has been gracious enough to partner with us on...

  Thank you.  Thank you to everyone who came out today for our blood drive in honor of Brooke Canady.  Brooke is a member of Explore NC and Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports clubs.  In March Brooke was in a motor vehicle accident.  As a result of the accident she needed several units of blood and in the five surgeries to help repair broken bones from the accident she needed more blood.  If the blood supply had not been in place Brooke might not have survived.   As a result her 4-H club members and leaders came together to partner with the Red Cross and host a blood drive at the NC Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center office.  Our goal was 25 units, but when it was all said and done the staff of four from the Red Cross worked constantly to obtain 36 units of blood today.   The best part of the entire experience was that Brooke was there and able to thank everyone for taking the time to donate.  There is nothing as encouraging as...

  For those of you who think its a little early to talk about Thanksgiving you are correct.  This is however a great time to start raising turkey's to be shown at the NC State Fair.  That's why there was a trip to Raleigh to pick up polts for our three 4-H members, Jackson and Addie Shooter, and Lee Pate who will be raising these birds to show at the state fair.  Before that there will be a practice run at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair .  So plan now to stop by and see the turkey show and our 4-H members in action.  By the time October comes these little polts will be more than 20 pounds.  Definitely worth coming out to see.

  It is our last day in Raleigh at 4-H Citizenship Focus and we need to put just the right spin on it.  NC SPIN that is.  NC SPIN is a political show that airs on UNC TV.  It allows for an open discussion of the topics that affect all North Carolinians.  Although it may not be on the top ten streaming shows for most of our participants, the mock show, with real life panel members opened their eyes to many different sides to the same topic.  Our 4-H members even had the chance to get up and ask questions of the panelists.  It was an interesting conversation and our youth a unique perspectives to add to the conversations.   At the end it was time to write thank you notes to the Electric Cooperatives that underwrite this opportunity for our youth.  Without their assistance this program would not be possible and this is an opportunity unlike any other, that our 4-H members get so much out of.   After the event was over it was time for a...

  Day two of 4-H Citizenship Focus and our appointment list is full for the day.  After breakfast we headed to the capitol to meet with members of the House and Senate.  Swarming the Legislature in Green shirts there was no denying that 4-H was in the House (and Senate).  Our local lawmakers were gracious to spend a few minutes with us.  Senator Danny Britt had a day of meetings but took time to pose and speak with our County delegates.  His assistant took us for a tour of the floor of the Senate and showed us some unique architectural features to the Senate Chambers.   Next on our list, representative Charles Graham.  He took a moment and invited us to watch the Representatives in session from the gallery of the House Chambers.  While we were there our 4-H members were recognized by the Speaker of the House twice.  After watching two bills become law the session ended and our delegation headed to see Representative Brendon Jones....