Well hello everyone! In case you missed the news in the previous post my name is Trifolium (Latin for Clover) and I am apparently your 4-H County Mascot. Now I am figuring out what that entails (no pun intended)...and I am sure that the 4-H Volunteers and Members will help me figure it out along the way. In the meantime I wanted to share with you what the last day of the North Carolina 4-H Volunteer Leaders Association Conference was like and hope that some of our volunteers might be willing to check it out with me next year because I have been told if you go I can go, and I sure like that idea.
I headed down to breakfast this morning and met Bert. Bert is goat and the mascot for the 4-H State Officer Team. They are a fantastically hard working group of young people that represent 4-H and were at this conference in their official capacity. They were gracious and gave all of us time to hang out. Clover and his twin Bud joined us and we just had a great time meeting new volunteers, asking questions, and sharing Clovers post from yesterday. He is really a good story teller in case you missed that post.
After breakfast we had fun time workshops. There were topics involving crafting, games, grants, etc. It was really informative. Clover and I had the chance to sit with Ms. Marilyn, a fantastic Robeson County Volunteer in one workshop. Ms Jenice, a Wayne County Volunteer, was very kind in another workshop. They didn't give us funny looks at all. Then we checked out more workshops and learned about leather crafting, felting, string art, and more. It's hard to slow us down and we wanted to make the rounds. There is so much to learn and do in 4-H I really don't think one conference can prepare us. However that doesn't mean we won't try to learn it all. At this point I think everyone was used to us and they were being so helpful showing us what to do and treated us like family. I think that is what 4-H is like for many of them, another family. A place where everyone is welcomed, and respected.
In between workshops we met Ms Betty from Anson County. She was so nice to me and we had a great conversation about 4-H and leadership. Did you know that the adults have officers and they practice what they preach for the youth. They call it modeling the way and it looks amazing important and fun. They have to use something called parlimentary procedure when they run meetings and everyone has a job during their meetings. She said it was just like club meetings that they youth have in her county. They work hard so they can have fun and learn while they are having fun. Such wise things to learn about at my very first conference.
After the workshops they went back into their business meeting and announced the winners of the election for state 4-H officers. My new friend Dr. Daniel thanked the outgoing officers, and installed the incoming officers on the state and district levels. I actually got to talk with Ms. Carrie who is the outgoing VP and she let me see what the view looks like from the officer table. It is pretty awesome and I would like to encourage the volunteers to step up and run. Not only is it rewarding, gives you a shot of self confidence, and lets you be a real life role model for the youth! Those are pretty neat things to recieve for a year long commitment. Honestly I don't know why more folks don't do it? I am going to talk with folks in my county and see if we have anyone willing and able to start that journey.
So after Ms Shea Ann and Ms Marilyn packed up the van it was time to head back. They said one day I would be able to navigate them to 4-H Events but until then it was up to Siri to get us home. Not sure who Siri is but I can't wait to meet her and everyone else when we get to my new home in Robeson County. Thank you to the Robeson County Volunteers who embraced me and made me part of my first adventure. You can check out all the photos by
clicking this link. This has been epic and we can't wait to share everything with you.
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