What is a 4-H meeting like?

By Jake Wiseman

          4-H meetings are always really fun. I am a member of the Ellery Panthers 4-H Club. The club meeting starts off with the pledges, and then the secretary takes roll call. After that the leaders give announcements. Sometimes, the meeting has business items to discuss.  Following the announcements and business, there are talks, demonstrations, and specials. Each year you are required to do at least one talk, demonstration, and special. A talk tells the club about one of your projects. A demonstration shows the club something interesting that relates to one of your projects.  A special can be just about anything: music solos, jokes, poems, and so on. Then the meeting is adjourned and you have refreshments.

Every club meeting, two families are assigned refreshments. Depending on how many people have talks, demonstrations, or specials the meeting can last from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.

Sometimes, we do different things at our meetings. In our club, we have pen pals in Chicago that we write back and forth to every meeting. Every year we also do a canned food drive to the local senior citizens center.

4-H isn’t just for farm kids or younger kids. Anybody can be in 4-H. It is a fun experience and a good learning opportunity for anyone. To check out a meeting near you, call the Extension Office at 618-445-2934.