Eston 4-H celebrates its 10 year anniversary

By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com

The Eston 4-H club held their Achievement Day on June 3, when they celebrated their 10th anniversary. The past fifteen months have presented many challenges to the 4-H youth organization; nevertheless, they have managed to forge ahead.

Tarya Hough and Michelle Brummund are two of the founding members of the Eston 4-H Club. Although the past year was very low key, the group celebrated their achievement day and anniversary with a wiener roast combined with a farewell for their graduating members.

“We reminisced about what our club had done over the past ten years. It’s always nice to reflect on what we have done,” Michelle said. The group reminisced about touring the STARS ambulance facility, going to the Agribition, taking a trip to the zoo, going to the horse races at Marquis down, and taking the cooking group to an authentic Mexican restaurant. The members participated in many memorable activities throughout the past ten years.

“We had over a hundred different members go through the program,” Michelle said. “Some stayed for a year, some for two years, and some for ten years. We exposed a lot of kids to 4-H.” She also noted they had approximately twenty-five active leaders during the past ten years.

“We always had people donate their time and talents to the community. I call it giving back,” Michelle said. Like Michelle, many of those leaders had been in 4-H when they were young. “I had wonderful people who taught me a lot of life skills, and I wanted to give back as a leader.”

Michelle’s children have also been involved in 4-H. “We have a good mix of town and rural kids,” she said. Because 4-H encompasses so many different activities, there is something for everyone, from computer projects to animals, horses, and crafts and cross-stitch. One of the rewards of being a 4-H member is having the opportunity to take on a project and learn a new skill. Michelle recalled a quilting project their group did, where each kid made a quilt. “That was a huge undertaking,” she added.

Learning how to conduct a meeting properly is another skill that 4-H kids learn. These skills, including public speaking, give young adults the confidence they need when they pursue higher education.

Of course, every organization has its challenges, and 4-H is no exception. “Keeping our membership up is a challenge,” Michelle said. Finding and keeping leaders is also challenging since everyone is busy. “But most people step up to the plate. We ask kids what they’re interested in, and then we go out in the community looking for people who have that skill set.”

The Eston 4-H group is mandated by Sask. 4-H and other 4H groups in Darcy-Fiske, Marengo and Kindersley, who all offer different activities.

Graduating Eston 4-H members: (L-R) Janna Hewitt, Alison Krenz, Avery Bayda, Kacey Code