4-H honors clubs for dedication, service to communities

  • By Dave Mast<I></I>
  • October 15, 2009
  • 743
                        
Each year in Holmes County, 4-H clubs are asked to submit a form sharing their activities and accomplishments over the past year. Each club strives to meet certain goals, and are awarded points for achieving those goals. Each club that accumulates 90 points during the year is enrolled in the 4-H Honors Club, from which they receive a monetary award, courtesy of the Holmes County 4-H Committee. This year’s club recipients were honored at the annual 4-H volunteer recognition banquet at Walnut Creek, and the 2009 award winners included Buckeye 4-H Club, Classy Critters, Doughty Valley, Green Acres, Holmes County 4-H Shooting Sports, Killbuck Handy Helpers and Silver Spurs 4-H Club. In addition, every year the committee honors first and second place clubs for the Head, Hands, Heart, Health and Clover awards, which are chosen by an independent judge. These awards are based on the choice of activities, how the club went about creating them and how much they were involved in the community. “The clubs honored always have great ideas and activities,” said presenter Michelle Chanay, of the OSU Extension. “We appreciate all of the great things the clubs are doing in each of these areas. Please, continue to strive for excellence in 4-H.” The Head Activity honor went to Buckeye 4-H Club, while Killbuck Handy Helpers received second. Based on the idea of creating a learning stimulus, the members of Buckeye created a pair of opportunities to get involved, including a speaker on bluebirds and another on military experience. The club had the privilege of attending the Army Reserve Unit’s farewell on July 7, at Hoover High School in Canton. There, members heard several speakers, including Congressman Zack Space, and witnessed a military ceremony. “Members had a chance to get in a group picture with members of Unit 447,” said Chanay. “They took away an experience of a lifetime and a better appreciation of what military personnel do for our country, and how much they appreciate civilian support.” The Health Activity award went to Holmes County Shooting Sports, with Green Acres finishing second. Diving into a project designed to promote health and safety within the county is a major component of 4-H. For their project, Holmes County Shooting Sports members took the time to make Holmes County’s byways a little more attractive. “The members participated in Adopt a Highway and cleaned up trash on Township Road 310,” said Chanay. “This is a way of helping the environment stay healthy, as well as the residents of our county.” The Heart Activity award was given to Doughty Valley, with Berlin Busy Bees qualifying second. Given to a club that shows great commitment in the area of giving to others, Doughty Valley members created the first annual Clark Community Homecoming. A picnic-style dinner, club and community awards, and even awards for Community Service Resident and Citizen of the Year were part of the festivities. “The club members advertised, organized, decorated and executed the entire event,” said Chanay, of the clubs’ efforts. “There were approximately 130 residents and friends who attended the homecoming and enjoyed food, fellowship and a band, which played most of the evening.” Classy Critters earned the Hands Activity award, with second going to the Nashville Jolly Farmers. The Classy Critters took on the project of cleaning up the swine wash rack at the Holmes County Fairgrounds as their commitment to serving the community in a hands-on way. “The club members worked on several different days to power wash, pull weeds, fix gates and paint the swine wash racks,” said Chanay. “They also put new hoses in each of the racks, and made it easier for all of the members to wash their hogs.” The Clover Activity award was given to the Berlin Busy Bees, with the Silver Spurs finishing second. The Busy Bees were busy indeed. Among the club’s shining moments were a float in the Berlin Harvest Fest parade, with former advisor Paul Boyd as the focal point. Boyd has served in 4-H for the past six decades, and the club wished to honor him for his recent induction into the Ohio 4-H Hall of Fame. “The members wanted him to get some community recognition for his achievement and for his long service to 4-H’ers in the county,” said Chanay. “The Busy Bees demonstrated positive promotion of 4-H and their club.” A new honor this year was bestowed upon Holmes County Shooting Sports, which received the first-ever Holmes County Above & Beyond Award. The honor was given to the club that exhibited a willingness to go above and beyond what was expected of them. Holmes County Shooting Sports members did just that, rallying behind club leader Larry Lang, who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, earlier this year. The club members and their parents organized a local ALS walk to benefit both the ALS Association and the Lang family. The walk, which took place Sept. 12 on the Holmes County Trail, saw 16 participating teams raise nearly $12,000 for their cause. Larry’s wife, Pat, accepted the award amidst a teary-eyed standing ovation, exemplifying the tremendous impact the Langs have made in the community for their years of dedication to both the Holmes County Shooting Sports Club and the American Red Cross Holmes County Chapter.


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