s the county fair season is finished, and school is starting this fall, one would think things would be slow right now. You would think wrong. August has brought a great many activities.
All three school districts held open house the same evening. I had a volunteer at Altoona Midway and I attended Fredonia Elementary. It was a great evening and I made contact with several families that expressed interest in joining 4-H. The new year starts October 1, so now is the time to be getting new kids ready to go.
The State 4-H Livestock Sweepstakes weekend is probably the biggest event in which, we as a district participate. As a district we had 27 kids attend. Keith and I coordinated the group along with some fantastic coaches and volunteers. This event couldn’t happen without all the time the coaches spend getting the kids prepared to compete. Wildcat District placed third overall in sweepstakes. Cord Dodson was third as an individual in sweepstakes. The first team Skillathon won the State Championship with Dexter Small being the state champion individual. Meats teams also did well, the intermediate teams were second and fifth, with Addison Smith being high individual. The Senior team placed fourth. The livestock judging team also placed third overall and Luke Falkenstien placed fifth individually. I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of all the kids that participated over the weekend. A lot of hard work went into it.
The State Horticulture Contest was also the same weekend and both our Intermediate and Senior teams did great. The Senior team will compete at Nationals as they won the State Championship. Ashley Chandler is the state champion individual. A huge “thank you” to Jacob for helping these kids and their great coach Christina Beason.
As a district, the 4-H agents want to see youth doing more activities together, so we planned a fun float trip for members 14 and over and invited Southwind District to join us. We had a great group of 12 youth and six adults go on the trip. We left early on a Saturday morning and went to Noel, Missouri. We rented four rafts and floated the Elk River. It was a great time and everyone wants to make it an annual event. I think that can be arranged. Good food and great friends is the best way to spend a Saturday.
As summer wraps up, we are gearing up for fun fall activities and a new 4-H year. Let the fun begin.
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