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Saskatoon, Sask.- The Saskatchewan 4-H Foundation has been celebrating 60 years during 2020 and wrapped up celebrations on January 30, with a 4-H takeover of the CJWW Old Tyme Dance Party. The 60th Anniversary year of the Foundation has definitely been something worth celebrating – 2020 has shown the resilience and dedication of 4-H supporters coming together to ensure the long-term sustainability of the 4-H program, helping to empower youth for generations to come, through both good and challenging times. “Things may have not gone as originally planned, but 2020 really exemplified just why the 60th Anniversary truly is something worth celebrating,” Development Officer Shelby Corey said. “We are celebrating the generosity of our supporters over the past 60 years, and the way the 4-H family has stepped up during this anniversary year, during 2020, has been absolutely amazing. We are incredibly thankful for this support, which will allow us to meet the needs of 4-H youth both now and for future generations.” Anniversary celebrations started on March 10, 2020, at the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities Annual Convention, connecting with many alumni and enjoying anniversary cake alongside some 4-H Saskatchewan history and an announcement by MLA Lyle Stewart at the Saskatchewan Legislature. During these initial celebrations, a goal of $60,000 for 60 years was set. This was a large goal, but one which will have a lasting impact on youth for generations to come. Thanks to the many supporters who have stepped up throughout 2020, not only was this goal achieved, but more than quadrupled this goal. Part of the campaign was an online Diamond Discovery campaign, where 4-H members, alumni, and supporters could share their Diamond Discovery Stories to showcase how 4-H has helped them and/or others to discover their inner diamond, because the 60th Anniversary is also known as the Diamond Anniversary. The Saskatchewan 4-H Foundation is thankful to the support of everyone who donated throughout the year, to make the 4-H program continue to be strong for future generation. Although the organization was unable to host many of its usual events during the pandemic, everyone still supported it through new initiatives, such as an online auction and the Going Green campaign, where Saskatchewan 4-H Council Board President Glenn Gress stepped up to raise funds to support the program, by vowing to dye his hair green if enough donations were received. In addition to exciting celebrations, the Foundation also received support from new and existing donors. Long-time 4-H supporter, Bill Cooper, helped deliver two $3,000 scholarships for 4-H members or alumni who had shown leadership during the pandemic. There was also a new major gift donated during 2020, from Brian Hesje, in the amount of $250,000. The funds will be used to help 4-H Saskatchewan modernize service delivery through technology and operational efficiency, allowing more time and resources to go directly to supporting youth. A second portion of the gift will be used to support the development of an alumni strategy and programs for the continued development of 4-H alumni and volunteers. - 30 - Background: 4-H Saskatchewan is made up of the Saskatchewan 4-H Council, a non-profit organization, and the Saskatchewan 4-H Foundation, a charitable organization. The Council was formed in 1917 and the Foundation was created through an act of Legislature in 1960. 2020 was the 60th anniversary of the Saskatchewan 4-H Foundation.
For more information or to set up an interview, please contact: Jodi Schellenberg Program and Communications Specialist 4-H Saskatchewan 306-933-6961 communications@4-h.sk.ca
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The 4-H Saskatchewan Communications Competition was held during the summer and fall months for all ages of 4-H’ers – from Cloverbuds to Adults! In this competition, participants were to create a piece based on the topic, “Head, Heart, Hands and Health in Action.” This competition had three categories: Video: Participants could film a demonstration/presentation or a performance art piece Written: Participants could write either an essay/news article or a fictional short story/poem Visual: Participants could create an art piece using digital technology or hand drawn There were some great submissions sent in by all ages! Here are the first place winners in each category:
Thank you to everyone who submitted their art, writing and videos. Thank you to Bev Graham from Plains Midstream Canada for being our judge!
This year, instead of holding an in-person Leaderama event, a series of webinars was held during the first three weeks of December. The change in the program allowed 4-H’ers to enjoy the webinars in the comfort of their own home. In total, 25 people attended the webinars, with many attending more than one throughout the three weeks. Here is a quick run down of all of the webinars: Ag Awareness Champions - Dec. 1 Guest speaker Clinton Monchuk from Farm & Food Care - SK to the attendees about how to speak positively about agriculture, shared some statistics around what people think about ag, clarified what terms to use when talking to people who may not know much about agriculture, advised how to deal with difficult conversations and had some discussion around what they would do in certain situations. The 4-H’ers had some great conversations about how to speak positively about agriculture and were interested in hearing more from Monchuk in the future. Connecting Communities Through COVID-19 - Dec. 3 This presentation was presented by Shelby Longworth, the North East Regional 4-H Specialist. Shelby spoke about current COVID restrictions, what clubs can do, leading by example, technology in your club, community service, and fun ideas for clubs. There were good conversations and people enjoyed the positive outlook for the 4-H year. Mental Health In Rural Communities - Dec. 8 The Mental Health webinar, led by Kalynne Martin, the North West Regional 4-H Specialist, began with a bit of background in the differences of mental health and mental illness. The leaders learned a bit about the six major points of mental health and how to look for them in themselves and others. Then the session challenged participants with a list of trivia questions around the facts relating to mental health, prevalence of it in society, and the stigma that is still attached to it to this day. Lastly a list of resources was complied with a brief summary of what they offer and how to offer support to those around you. 4-H 101 - Dec. 9 This session was run by Melodi Hawkesford-Lee, the South East Regional 4-H Specialist. Participants learned the basics of running a 4-H club with Melodi Hawkesford-Lee, using 4-H’s Club Resource Guide as a reference tool. Topics in this session included: Motivating 4-H Factors; 4-H Club Personnel & Duties; Running the 4-H Club and Planning your Year; Event Planning; Finances; Club Autonomy; Risk Management; Successful Club Secrets; and Beyond the Club. Peer Mentoring - Dec. 10 This session, led by Kaitlyn Keller, talked about how peer and traditional mentors could be established, how to set guidelines and make sure both parties involved feel heard and understood with their desired goals of the relationship. This is something naturally built into the 4-H program, as older members are usually helping younger members and our leaders are teaching both their peers and the members. We worked through scenarios showing how to help each other in a positive way and teaching members how to return to their goals if the relationship were to get off track in a negative way. Another topic was how to establish boundaries within each relationship and how to have multiple mentors or peer mentoring relationships at the same time. Overall the webinar went smooth with all in attendance. Fundraising - Dec. 14 This session was hosted by Development Officer Shelby Corey. The webinar started off with a brainstorming exercise to help set goals and get clubs thinking about what they could accomplish through increased fundraising capacity. Next the group discussed different kinds of fundraisers and the different role fundraisers play in supporting clubs and communities. Lastly, the webinar talked about safe fundraising through COVID-19 and the different fundraising opportunities offered through the provincial office.
 Saskatoon, Sask.- The 24th annual 4-H Saskatchewan draw was held on December 17 at 1 p.m. at the Provincial 4-H Office in Saskatoon. “We appreciate all of our clubs who participated in selling tickets this year,” Executive Director Cera Youngson said. “There were a number of new challenges that were in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 4-H clubs embraced the changes to make sure they were selling the tickets in a safe manner." The 4-H Lottery is an annual fundraiser for the 4-H program in Saskatchewan, with all the proceeds directly supporting the 4-H movement in our province. This year, there were 4,308 individual tickets sold and 3,329 50/50 add-on tickets sold. The lottery raised $24,869, with $14,221.50 going directly back to the clubs and District 4-H Councils, which participated by selling the lottery tickets, and the remainder supporting the provincial organization. District #36 was the top seller with $4,661 in ticket sales. Our 50/50 winner took home $3,329. “Thank you to everyone who bought lottery tickets this year,” Youngson said. “We appreciate your support of 4-H and the future of the program in the province.” Congratulations to the Grand Prize winner Graeme Mark of Saskatoon, who won the garden shed, built by the woodworking students at A.E. Peacock Collegiate, with building supplies donated by Yara Belle Plaine Inc. Yara has been a proud supporter of 4-H Saskatchewan since the 4-H lottery was first started. Their generous support includes supplying all necessary building materials for the construction of the playhouse, as well as covering other associated lottery costs. Thank you to Yara for continuing to recognize the value and allowing A.E. students to "Learn to Do by Doing" while building the grand prize lottery items, which in the past have included gardening sheds, multiple playhouses and an ice-fishing shack. Thank you to Peavey Mart Moose Jaw for providing display space. Congratulations to all of our prize winners:
The winner of the $3,329 50/50 pot was Cody Somers of Battleford. 4-H Saskatchewan is grateful to have the support of all of our prize donors including: Yara Belle Plaine Inc., A.E. Peacock Collegiate, The Western Producer, Staples, CAA Saskatchewan, Lowe’s, Co-operative Hail Insurance and VIA Rail. Plans are already underway for the 25th Annual 4-H Saskatchewan Lottery. Tickets will be available in 2021. To support 4-H, contact your local 4-H club or the provincial office for tickets. -30- For more information, please contact: Jodi Schellenberg Program and Communications Specialist 4-H Saskatchewan 306-933-6961 communications@4-h.sk.ca Correction: This article was first published with District #10 announced as the top seller - it is actually District #36. Nineteen 4-H members and one leader took part in 4-H’s first-ever virtual Club Executive Training Webinar on November 28, 2020! Participants started with a learning session, led by South East Regional 4-H Specialist Melodi Hawkesford-Lee, about: parliamentary procedure basics; creating an agenda; using proper terminology; exploring motions; addressing meeting problems and an executive position study. We also had several “breakout room sessions” led by 4-H staff Kalynne Martin, Kaitlyn Keller, Shelby Longworth and Jodi Schellenberg, where members were divided into smaller groups and moved into a separate virtual “rooms” with other participants and two 4-H Specialists / Leaders. These “breakout” session topics included:
Our participants enjoyed the afternoon and learned more about how to run their 4-H Clubs! Thank you to Nora Schock for helping supervise a breakout room!
Science Day was held on October 10 through GoToMeeting and YouTube videos. There were a dozen people who attended this event. We had three live sessions, including a Science Scavenger Hunt, which taught members some science terms, Non-Newtonic liquid experiment with cornstarch and water and a paper airplanes session, which taught members about aerodynamics and some physics. There were also seven YouTube videos for the members. These included:
The members who attended all had a great time! They hope to share some of the videos with their 4-H clubs. We look forward to seeing more members attending some of our virtual events in the future! Twenty-four 4-H members took part in 4-H’s first-ever Virtual 4-H Judging Clinic, held on October 3-4, using virtual technologies. In Saturday’s morning session, participants worked through a judging workshop and learned what judging is all about. A highlight of the morning session was when members had to find an impromptu judging class in their own homes! Household items that were judged including blankets, paints, chocolate bars, mugs, magnets and more! In the afternoon, 13 competitive participants attended an information session where they learned how to use the online judging platforms, in order to judge the following online classes: Beef, Light Horse, Swine and Yellow Peas. Viterra representative Jeff Danielson gave a very informative in-person presentation about judging the Yellow Peas class. Other judges viewed the classes online and provided organizers with placings and cuts for their classes, though they did attend the virtual event. Class judges included: Carla Borsa (Beef); Emily Letendre (Light Horse) and Rebecca Longworth (Swine). On Sunday all competitive participants were given a timeslot to present their oral reasons virtually with Oral Reasons Judge Kim McLean, who then provided feedback to each of the members on how to improve their oral reasons presentation skills. OVERALL PLACINGS:
HIGH POINTS PER CLASS:
Thank you to our title sponsor:  Media Release - Save-On-Foods teams up with 4-H to expand youth clubs across Western Canada10/15/2020 October, 2020 – Saskatoon - Western Canada’s largest grocery retailer, Save-On-Foods, is partnering with the 4-H programs in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba to help connect young leaders of tomorrow with 4-H youth clubs in hundreds of communities. 4-H Saskatchewan has 169 clubs across the province with more than 3,000 members. "We are very excited, alongs with our 4-H colleagues across BC, Alberta, and Manitoba, to welcome Save On Foods to our 4-H Family. We look forward to all of the possibilities this partnership brings to help facilitate the engagement and empowerment of youth members," said Cera Youngson, executive director of 4-H Saskatchewan. "Save-On-Foods is committed to supporting local businesses, farmers, and ranchers, and together, we are dedicated to growing the next generation of business and community leaders." Darrell Jones, Save-On-Foods President, couldn’t agree more. "Save-On-Foods is pleased to partner with 4-H Saskatchewan - we feel like this finishes our story! Having invested in rural communities for over 100 years, we certainly recognize the importance of supporting youth development in these communities, and in agriculture," Jones said. "We also recognize the value the 4-H program has for urban youth, and we are proud to be a part of the expansion of the program into urban centres through the support of our stores." Save-On-Foods will support 4-H communities in Saskatchewan through a variety of funding, engagement, and activation opportunities throughout the duration of their partnership. "We look forward to working with Save-on-Foods and investing in the future leaders of tomorrow, while strengthening our communities in the process. 4-H Saskatchewan is very proud of this generous partnership with Save-On-Foods that will give back to communities across Saskatchewan," Youngson added. - 30 - About Save-On-Foods Save-On-Foods is committed to Going the Extra Mile for customers in every community served, every day. Known for its unique approach in customizing each store to best suit the needs of the neighbourhood by carrying more than 2,500 locally-made products from more than 2,000 local growers and producers, the company has been innovating and putting customers first for over 100 years. Save-On-Foods, its supplier partners, team members and generous customers have donated more than $30 million to children’s hospitals and contribute $3 million in donations to food banks across Western Canada each year. About 4-H Saskatchewan 4-H Saskatchewan is a project-based youth organization. Since 1917, 4-H Saskatchewan has been providing programming for our provinces' youth, encouraging them to use their head, heart, hands and health for the betterment of their clubs, communities, country and the world. We are dedicated to the growth and development of our members, leaders, volunteers, and staff through our motto “Learn to Do by Doing.” For more information, contact: Media Relations (604) 888-2079, extension 2200 mediarelations@saveonfoods.com 4-H Saskatchewan (306) 933-7727 communications@4-h.sk.ca  Saskatoon, Sask.- The 2020 Annual General Meeting was held in July through the GoToMeeting platform. The event is typically a two-day conference and business meeting with nearly 200 attendees and guests held the third weekend in March in Saskatoon. This year it needed to be postponed due to COVID and was then transitioned to virtual events throughout July. First, the four administrative regional council meetings were held between July 6-9. During these meetings, the regional delegates from each area elected their regional director nominees and advisory council representatives. They also discussed regional business and selected hosts for 2021 curling and public speaking events. The business from the regional meetings was then brought forward during the Provincial Council Meeting on July 18. The theme of this year's meeting “4-H in Focus.” During this meeting, the 4-H Council planned a few fun digital games, from icebreakers using a drawing feature and trivia questions to break up the business meeting. During the meeting, member and leader voting delegates discussed and voted on a number of decisions. The auditors’ report gave the membership a chance to ask questions to the board of directors and the auditor. Then the delegates voted on six resolutions this year – including three bylaw and three policy resolutions. The bylaw resolutions made housekeeping changes to when balloted votes are required, and extended the board of directors terms of service from two years to three years. The policy resolutions were around how many animals Cloverbud members in the beef project should raise, digital record books being used in record book competitions and where funds from dissolved clubs should be donated. The membership also provided input for the revised strategic plan for 4-H Saskatchewan. Using mentimeter.com, delegates shared their thoughts on “What does the future of 4-H look like?” and “What does 4-H need to thrive in the future?” The 2020-21 Board of Directors were welcomed. They are: Cameron Choquette, Becky Huber, Louise Sroka, Mike Kirzinger, Michell Heidecker, Trena Hoffus-Preston, Alvin Pawlitza, Nora Schock, Stan Figley, Glenn Gress, Brittany Stepp, Jason Frey, Kati Culbertson, Dylan Watt and Leah Clark. Our 2019-20 Advisory Council members are Summer Norman, Rebecca Fitzsimmons, Kennedy MacNeil and Grace Christensen. A heartfelt thanks was also given to our outgoing directors and advisory council members: Tara Malinowski, Clint Panter, Leslie Penner, Annaleigh LeBruno, Tammy Rumpel, Emily Letendre, and Adrianna Simpson.  -30- If you would like more information, please contact:
Jodi Schellenberg Program and Communications Specialist communications@4-h.sk.ca Saskatoon – Each year, 4-H Saskatchewan awards scholarships to outstanding senior 4-H members from across the province, to assist them in their post-secondary education. “Every year, we receive numerous application and we are always impressed with the quality of applications,” Executive Director Cera Youngson said. “The 4-H Saskatchewan Scholarship Selection Committee had difficulties narrowing it down. These 4-H members are both leaders in their communities and excel academically. We are excited to see what the future holds for each of them.” The scholarships provide an incredible opportunity for 4-H members and Youngson is thankful for the support the organization receives. “There are many amazing sponsors and individual supporters, who we are extremely grateful for,” she said. “Through their support, we were able to award close to $30,000 to our deserving members because of our supporters.” Congratulations to the following members, who were awarded a 4-H Saskatchewan Scholarship in 2020: Entrepreneurial Scholarship for 4-H Members ($3,000)
Cervus Equipment Scholarship ($1,500)
AGI Scholarship ($1,000)
Hector Loveridge Memorial Fund Scholarship ($1,000)
Gordon & Eileen Bonnor Scholarship ($1,000)
The Western Producer Scholarship ($1,000)
Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association Award ($1,000)
Future Leader Scholarship ($1,000)
Palliser Insurance 4-H Scholarship ($500)
The McConaghy Award ($500)
Bayer Cropscience 4-H Scholarship ($500)
FBC Scholarship ($500)
In addition to awarding scholarships, the committee also awarded the Elgin Bracken Memorial 4-H Light Horse Award to Austin Wiens of the Carrot River Light Horse 4-H Club. -30- If you are interested in talking to any of the scholarship winners, please contact:
Jodi Schellenberg Program and Communications Specialist 306-933-6961 communications@4-h.sk.ca |
NEWSTo request an interview with a 4-H member or leader, please contact: Archives
February 2021
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