By Laura Allen

Rowan County 4H

SALISBURY — Summer has been a busy time for Rowan County 4H. Club members have been recognized for their achievements and participation in Citizenship Focus, district-level project record books and presentations, the state 4H horse show and poultry judging.

Now, it’s time to recognize 4H youths for additional achievements during the summer.

In the last week of June, Rowan County 4Her Sam Oster competed in the National 4H Shooting Sports competition held in Grand Island, Nebraska. Sam was part of the North Carolina 4H air pistol team. He shot his best score ever in slow fire and represented Rowan County and North Carolina well.

On July 10-12, 4Hers Sam Oster and Nathan Gobble attended the 71st 4H Electric Congress held at UNC-Wilmington. Since 1947, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy have sponsored the annual congress to emphasize electrical energy concepts, energy conservation and safety working with electricity. Electric Congress is held for county-winning 4Hers who participate in the electric program. 

On July 21, state 4H presentation finals were held at N.C. State University, where district qualifiers competed in state-level 4H presentations. Jaysa Causby received gold in the agricultural science category; Christian Stebe was bronze in bugs and bees; and Holly Wallace participated in the open category.

There are lots of presentation categories that 4Hers can compete in. This is a great way to get youths involved in learning and practicing their public speaking skills. 

4H Congress was also held at N.C. State University on July 21-24. This annual event focuses on leadership, citizenship, personal development and award recognition of 4Hers from across North Carolina. Emily Barlow, Kayleigh Hill and Holly Wallace represented Rowan County and participated in many workshops, listened to guest speakers, participated in the democratic process, explored Raleigh and met new 4H friends from across North Carolina.

These 4Hers also participated in the 4H Candlelighting Ceremony and helped package 50,000 meals to be donated to families both locally and abroad.

The most prestigious honor that a North Carolina 4Her can receive is being inducted into the N.C. 4H Honor Club. Membership  is bestowed on those 4Hers who have exhibited outstanding 4H citizenship and leadership throughout their 4H career.

An honor club member continues to provide leadership and service to the total 4H program throughout life. To be eligible, a 4Her must have completed three or more years of 4H club work and be between 16 and 20 on Jan. 1 of the year of their application. This year, two Rowan County 4Hers were inducted into the honor club during 4H Congress — Hannah Barringer and Sam Oster.

In early August, three Rowan County 4Hers competed in the Southern Regional Horse Show at Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry, Georgia. Nicole Lackey placed second in gaited pleasure; Jaysa Causby placed third in pleasure and second in equitation; Micah Furr placed first in pleasure and equitation and ninth in showmanship. Furr also received grand champion for the non-trotting division. 

On Aug. 11, 4H volunteer Charles Nettles along with 4Her Sam Oster conducted an electric workshop for 10 local youths and their parents. These youths gained an introduction to electricity, learned about house wiring and were able to put together an electric kit. 

Recently, 4Her Kayleigh Hill was recognized for her beautiful photography in the N.C. 4H photo contest. She submitted a photo in the nature’s beauty senior division category and won third place.

Lastly, 82 Rowan County youths participated in 16 Rowan County 4-H Summer Fun events in June, July and August. These youths learned about agriculture, cooking, crime scene investigation, horses, robotics, careers, rockets, making crafts, community service and more. 

As summer comes to an end, the 4H year continues. If your children are not already involved in 4H, this is a great time to get started.

There are currently nine 4H clubs in the county, with two additional clubs this fall. These clubs meet once a month for a business meeting and provide learning opportunities for ages 5 to 18. There are other 4H opportunities available as well, including project record books, presentations, awards and recognition, workshops, winter enrichment, teen retreats and more.

For more information on 4H, contact Laura Allen at 704-216-8970 or laura_allen@ncsu.edu. You can also visit https://rowan.ces.ncsu.edu/ or the Rowan County 4H Program Facebook page, or come by the Rowan County Cooperative Extension office.