Our 4-H club, the High Country Handiworkers, is the largest club in the county by quite some margin. That being said, we should have a lot more member involvement. As this year’s fair rapidly approaches, I am reminded of the 4-H parade last year. I would argue that our float last year was one of the emptiest in the entire parade. That not only reflects badly on the leadership in our club, but it also reflects poorly on us as members of the club. I would estimate that fewer than 20 members attended the parade last year, not including the Cloverbuds. There were some conflicts on that date, but for those families with prior obligations, most still came the Friday night before to help build the float.
As club members, it is your responsibility not to treat 4-H as an afterthought or something that you only do when you have spare time. The key to 4-H is treating it like a sport. I know for a fact that those of you who play sports do not show up to practice on rare occasions, then stride in right before the big game. Then why do you treat 4-H like that? As the member of a sports team, you make it your priority to come to practices, then before the big game you make time to come to the warmup before the start. The parade is the playoff leading to our championship game, the county fair.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand that life happens and you cannot make it to every event. But for the size of our club, it certainly seems like the same few families come to almost every event without fail because they treat 4-H with the respect it deserves. As members, it is your responsibility to make 4-H a priority. It is tiring for our leaders and participating families when so few people step up. The date for this year’s fair parade on July 30 was released in plenty of time for you to mark it on your calendars and make it a priority to attend.
This lack of participation goes further than just the fair parade. Even within the families who attend our meetings, very few members read the minutes from the previous meetings. It only takes a few minutes and needs to be a priority. The minutes are easily found on our club website at hch4h.org. Equally as important is reading the Clover Connection newsletter each month to stay informed about what is happening in Larimer County 4-H, especially workshops, practices, and events. The Clover Connection should come to arrive in your email or it can be found on the club website as a link under the Newsletter tab.
If there has been a miscommunication about what a commitment 4-H is, then we apologize for this. Becoming a member of 4-H is more than a one-year commitment. Once enrolled most members stay involved for the duration of up to 11 years. It truly is a Learn by Doing experience. 4-H has so much to offer: the knowledge gained from projects, the leadership experiences, time management skills, recordkeeping, responsibility, interviews, giving demonstrations, and most importantly the friendships.
What can you as a family and as individual members do?
- Try your best to attend meetings.
- Read the minutes from the prior meeting.
- Participate in the meetings and ask questions (sometimes leaders forget to explain things well, especially for beginners).
- Read the Clover Connection.
- Participate in club activities – community service, carnival, fair parade.
- Attend practices and workshops for your projects and participate in the county contests.
- Most importantly, work on your projects and fulfill the requirements for completion: 4-H community service, demonstration, and showing at the county fair (or presenting to the club if entering the fair is not possible).
Our club should strive to be better about participating for the rest of this year and in the years to come. As a club, we operate as a team. We win as a team, and we lose as a team. When half of the team is not actively involved, they abandon the rest to do double the work with a slimmer chance of winning. If you miss an event, that’s okay. But when it happens repeatedly, something needs to change. Please make 4-H a bigger priority and take advantage of the opportunity this incredible program offers to help your club, your community, and yourself.
Josh Ryan
President
High Country Handiworkers 4-H Club