|
The Canadian National 4-H & Youth judging Competition (CN4HYJ) was held on November 24-26, 2019 at Canadian Western Agribition in Regina SK. 42 competitors from across Canada participated, with eight of them on the 4-H Saskatchewan team. The following 4-H members made up our team: Kyle Kirzinger (Viscount 4-H Beef Club); Faith Stevens (Catherwood Beef & Sheep 4-H Club); Doug Sroka (Maidstone Gully Multiple 4-H Club); Justin Harcourt (Tisdale 4-H Beef Club); Leah Libke (Prime Cuts 4-H Club); Wyatt Dyck (Wymark Drylanders 4-H Club); Calvin Murphy (Whitewood 4-H Beef Club); Brock McGonigal (Rockglen Multiple 4-H Club). The competition commenced on Sunday November 24 at the Atlas Hotel in Regina. Competitors took part in a welcome, supper and competition orientation. Past 4-H member and CN4HYJ committee member, Catherine Lang, was a guest speaker for the evening. Competitors then judged three classes for the competition: Silage, Meat Cuts and Water Quality. Monday’s events took place at the Chevy GMC arena in the new International Trade Centre on the Agribition grounds. The morning consisted of the remaining judging classes, including: Alpaca, Light Horse, Heavy Horse, Dairy Cows, Charolais Calves, Prospect Steers, Speckle Park Calves, Angus Heifers, and Commercial Bulls. After a photo session and lunch, competitors finished off the competition by giving oral reasons on 8 of the previously judged classes. This year, oral reasons were given in the Queensbury Building, which was a new (and quieter!) location compared to previous years. After the intense competition, competitors then enjoyed supper, swimming and social time back at the hotel. Tuesday morning, the Awards Banquet was held, also in the Queensbury building. Competitors received a tasty breakfast and met the event sponsors, followed by the announcements of the final placings of this prestigious event. The results were as follows: Grand Aggregate ($2,500 Scholarship, CWA belt buckle and banner, & First Lady Classic Judging Position): Adam Smith, University of Guelph 2nd Place ($1,250 John Deere Limited Scholarship & CWA belt buckle & banner): Justin Harcourt, 4-H Saskatchewan 3rd Place ($750 John Deere Limited Scholarship & CWA belt buckle): Brandon Fraser, Summer Synergy 4th Place ($300 Cash Prize): Jayden Calvert, Summer Synergy 5th Place ($150 Cash Prize): Leah Libke, 4-H Saskatchewan Team Award - Top 4 Scores per team (Plaque on display at Provincial 4-H Office): 4-H Saskatchewan High point awards per class were listed as follows. Several recipients for these awards are past or present 4-H members!
Thank you to the team chaperones, Louise Sroka and Brittany Stepp. Event sponsors included TD Canada Trust and Federated Cooperatives. Congratulations to 4-H Saskatchewan’s amazing judging team!
2 Comments
About 40 members and leaders gathered together at the Ramada Hotel in Regina for the 4-H Saskatchewan Leadership Conference on December 7-8. The conference was a two-day version of the one-day Leaderama events, which have been held in alternating regions the past two years. The weekend started off with a welcome by Cera Youngson, who also talked about some of the amazing 4-H opportunities for members and leaders both in the province and nationally, and a quick icebreaker where members and leaders presented their favorite leadership quotes. After lunch, the attendees enjoyed a plenary by John Bailey, CEO of the Regina Food Bank, who talked about food insecurity within Regina and Saskatchewan. Everyone had the chance to learn about how often the food banks are used, and how important these organizations are to the well being of our communities. The members and leaders then went to their first set of work shops. The leaders enjoyed “4-H is for Everyone” by SaskAbilities. This session talked about how to be inclusive and make it possible for people with disabilities to be involved in 4-H. The leaders then enjoyed 4-H 101, with Shelby Longworth and Melodi Hawkesford-Lee, which discussed everything you need to know about 4-H and gave leaders the opportunity to check out the new Club Resource Guide. The leaders then had the choice between “Recruitment & Retention” with Longworth, which introduced new ways to recruit new members or volunteers, as well as best practices for club engagement, or “Managing Your Multi Club” with Hawkesford-Lee, which discussed balancing the needs of several project groups, including best practices from real clubs. At the same time as these sessions, the members had their own exciting sessions to attend. Their first was “Personalities, Leadership & Teamwork” with Rob Chubb. He used the ColourSpectrums™ to look at personality styles and human dynamics. They also discussed the best ways to work with others in teams and leadership positions. After learning how to work together, the members then enjoyed “Self-Awareness & Reflection” with Tami Dovell. This was a session to discuss the importance of mental health and self-awareness, giving the members some tools to take back into every day life to help them deal with stress and negative emotions. The attendees then checked into heir hotel rooms, before loading up on a bus and heading to the Golden Mile Bowling Alley for supper and bowling. There were plenty of fun bowling games, food, and great conversations. The next morning, Youngson gave a quick morning greeting and then everyone headed to their respective workshop session. The leaders chose between “Conflict Management” with Hawkesford-Lee or “Risk Management” with Youngson and Longworth. The members attended a session called “Your Personal Brand” with Leighton Smith from RBC. They learned about how to build their brand and use it effectively throughout their career. Everyone then came back together for “Table Talks: Growing Our Leadership” where they had the opportunity to have short minute-roundtable mentoring sessions with some special guests, including: Kathleen Rae from International Rural Exchange; Ryder Lee, CEO of Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association; Shelley Jones, Manager of the Ag Knowledge Centre; the Honourable David Marit, Minister of Agriculture; Ray Orb, president of SARM; Jessica Gerrits, RBC Vice President of Commercial Financial Services; Leighton Smith, RBC Lumsden Branch Manager; Colleen Hawkesford, Regina Public Library; and Longworth, the North East Regional 4-H Specialist. After lunch, participants enjoyed a key note address from Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel about Positively Representing Agriculture. Following Jolly-Nagel was Share Fair, where members and leaders had the opportunity to discuss topics important to them. Some of the topics this year were: Provincial Programming, Multi-Club advice, How to Implement the Two Leader Rule in your 4-H Club, Recruitment and Engaging Volunteers, the NEW 4-H Record Books, Strategic Planning, and more. The weekend wrapped up with some closing remarks from the 4-H staff before everyone headed home. Thank you to our title sponsor Bayer CropScience for making this event a huge success! Also, thank you to RBC and the South Saskatchewan Community Foundation: G. Murray and Edna Forbes Foundation Fund, who also supported this event. It was an amazing Club Week this year, with 4-H’ers from across the province getting involved. This year, the Sustainability Initiative was to promote food security, where the 4-H office asked 4-H’ers to donate 3,000 pounds across the province collectively. By the time the numbers came in on December 6, the goal was met. “It was amazing to see so many clubs get involved in this giving back initiative,” said Cera Youngson, Executive Director of 4-H Saskatchewan. “We definitely hit the goal, which was about one pound per 4-H member.” Club Week was created in 2017 by 4-H Saskatchewan to give the clubs a week of celebration and community involvement and a way to launch an annual Sustainability Initiative. It was held from November 4-10, 2019 across the entire province. The provincial 4-H office asked 4-H clubs across the province to join together to donate food to their local food banks throughout November. Clubs were encouraged to hold a food drive, set up a donation area in their community or host an event where food donations would be accepted. A huge shout out to the Good Spirit 4-H Club, who donated 900 pounds! See their full story on page 47. In addition to the Sustainability Initiative, 4-H clubs were encouraged to show their 4-H spirit, by putting up displays in their community and dressing up in their 4-H colours for Show Your 4-H Colours Day on November 6. Thank you to the following clubs, districts and individuals, who participated in the 2019 Sustainability Initiative:
|
NEWSTo request an interview with a 4-H member or leader, please contact: Archives
March 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed
