Sherburne County 4-H held their third annual open house at the Government Center in Elk River Thursday evening.
“Different 4-H clubs offer different activities,” said Joseph Rand, who oversees the 4-H program in Sherburne County for the University of Minnesota Extension Office.
Joining 4-H gives young people from kindergarten through one year past high school an opportunity to explore different topics in a club setting with others who share similar interests.
Students in Kindergarten through second grade are in Cloverbuds. There are also independent 4-H members who participate in the program outside of the club setting. It is alo possible for non-members to participate in 4-H Adventures, which are one-time events or projects.
Where once 4-H projects focused more on farm life, agriculture and animal husbandry, horizons have expanded to include a huge variety of topics limited only by the imagination.
Students develop their own programs and activities and select their own projects to work on. Some clubs are more general, while others focus on specific topics, such as animal science, science, engineering, technology and math, healthy living, arts and crafts or writing and performing their own plays and musicals.
As the members create their projects they learn new skills, collaborate with others, set goals and accomplish them. They learn about the topic of their choice as they learn to speak in public and develop an understanding of government and community.
Adult volunteers are provided with training and resources to lead groups or for short-term needs such as judging at the Minnesota State Fair or a county fair, where 4-H plays a central role.
For adult volunteers, Rand offered one piece of advice.
“Start small,” he said. “Or it can be overwhelming. Start small and keep it simple. We don’t want to lose you next year.”
There are also scholarship opportunities available for 4-H members, especially for those interested in agriculture and animal science.
Camping
In Sherburne County there is a 4-H Camp at Ann Lake in the Sand Dunes State forest. Members have the opportunity to stay there. They participate in arts and crafts, nature study, swimming and other activities.
At the open house there were interesting activities for all ages. Twin brothers Kurt and Kyle Haugen demonstrated how clouds form and result in rain, using water, a plastic bag and the natural process of evaporation.
Liam Barnes demonstrated principals of engineering and lift as he created a flying toy made from a straw, some tape and two strips of paper.
Lexi and Xander Merkle discovered how easy it is to build circuits and light up the world with LED lights.
Adult volunteer Steve Vrchota leads a science club. Young people were using tablets and an engineering application to draw and test the strength on the design of a bridge they created. Once the bridge passes the computer model test, a wooden version is created and put to the test.
“Last year I had a nine-year old girl who weighed 50 pounds build a bridge that weighed 1.2 ounces,” he said. “That bridge held 72 pounds before it finally collapsed. It was pretty cool.”
Hayley Balmanno is a 16-year old who has been part of 4-H for the past eight years. Hayley and her friends were working on crafts.
“We do a lot of that too,” she said. “Here we are making model llamas, because llamas are one of our projects too.” Sherburne County 4-H clubs include Busy Bees (Elk River), Happy Hoofbeats (Becker), Home Explorers (Big Lake), Navigators (Elk River), Refuge Rangers (Big Lake), Sherburne Stars (Clear Lake), STEM Project Club (Elk River), Super Fun Seekers (Elk River) and the Zimmerman Adventurers.
“Now is the time to enroll and join a club,” Rand said. “Find us on line and send me an e-mail at joerand@umn.edu or call (763) 765-3077 and we will get you started.”
