By Sara Drake

Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development

A delegation from Rowan County attended the 68^th annual 4-H Electric Congress held July 13-15 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington with 180 4‑H’ers, adult leaders and N.C. Cooperative Extension staff from 54 counties attending the three‑day event.

4-H Electric Congress is an educational event designed to recognize excellence in the electric program throughout the state.  4-H Electric Congress travels from region to region of the state, thus allowing for a variety of programming opportunities for everyone.  4-H members participate in workshops, meet their power company representatives and interact with other electric winners.

Attending from Rowan County were 4-H member Sam Oster and 4-H Volunteer Cheryl Oster.

“Electric congress is a very special experience not only for me, but also for other 4-H members from across North Carolina,” Sam Oster said. “I have qualified to attend for the last three years and have enjoyed every year of electric congress, and am working hard towards attending next year as my fourth year. I have made lots of new 4-H friends from all over our state, and have enjoyed getting to tour and stay at the different college campuses. I have learned so much about electricity at electric congress and how it is essential to our daily lives. It also makes me proud that we always include a community service project in our event.”

Delegates to Electric Congress earn the privilege to attend by completing an electric 4-H project record or portfolio or as a recruiting delegate. Each county can send up to five delegates each year.

Since 1947, Duke Energy and Dominion North Carolina Power have sponsored the annual congress to emphasize energy conservation and safe electricity use. The 4-H electric energy program is one of the most popular activities among Tar Heel 4-H’ers.

The 4-H program is the youth education program of North Carolina Cooperative Extension, based at North Carolina State and North Carolina A&T State universities. More than 232,000 young people between the ages of 5 and 19 participate in North Carolina 4-H activities each year with the help of 20,563 adult and youth volunteers.

For more information concerning 4-H in Rowan County, contact Sara Drake, 4-H extension agent, at 704-216-8970 or sara_drake@ncsu.edu. For more information about 4-H or N.C. Cooperative Extension, call the Rowan Extension Office at 704-216-8970 or visit http://rowan.ces.ncsu.edu.