PROUD TO HAVE YOU IN OUR 4H CLUB

Nothing makes a Mother and 4-H Leader prouder than when a six year old does the right thing in every aspect!

Shaylee Sharples & Sox

 

Saturday was a trying day for us to get all 5 horses to Logendale for our monthly gymkhana series.  We left extra early, as we always do, but had the bad luck of having two FLAT tires on the way.  We were rescued by one of our 4H Dad's delivering a tire, that barely fit, so that we could limp the rest of the way to the Clark County Fair Grounds.  Upon almost arriving a some-what frantic call is made by one of the parents to inform us that we have 5 minutes or her daughter will miss her class.  We are about 10 minutes away and know that it is going to be close.  As we are approaching the arena we are making plans on how we are going to tag team to get the horses unloaded quickly, get Sox saddled and ready to go.  Yes, of course she is one of the last ones we unload.  In the meantime, Mom is stalling the event as much as possibly when it gets down to the wire.  Shaylee has to make the decision....to run her horse cold or to take McKenna up on her extremely generous offer of lending her Jingle Bells to compete on.  Let's remember..this is a 6 year old lending another 6 year old (her biggest competitor for the season) her horse so that she does not lose her point standing.  Mom steps in and lets Shaylee know that she has a choice to make...ride Jingle Bells or to ride her horse cold out of the trailer.  In the meantime, those of us not knowing what is happening at the arena are unloading horses and getting Sox brushed and saddled in record time.  We meet Shaylee at the gate to find out that she did one of the bravest and smartest things.  She chose to ride a horse in competition that she had never thrown a leg over instead of taking a chance at injuring her horse by riding it COLD.  Her horsemanship and her love for Sox allowed her to make one of the best decisions.  In the end...Shaylee placed in the top three on a horse that she had never rode in two events and then had time to warm up Sox and ride her in the last two events.  A win, win situation for ALL! 

 

We are very proud of you Shaylee for making such a good BIG decision! 

 

Thank you goes to McKenna & her Mom, Becky!  We believe you get the sportsmanship award of the day!  You set a great example for our 4H kids!

McKenna & Jingle Bells

 

Demonstrations at Clark County Fair 2011

Sandy Valley 4H Club set up the Demonstration competition for the Clark County Fair in Logandale.  Many club members participated.  Maddy Wadley competed in the Intermediate Division, demonstrating "How to Feed a Market Show Hog."  She did a fine job, taking second place in her division.

Chasen Young

The Senior Division was well represented by three members: Chasen Wadley, Darby Wadley, and Mary Benner.  Chasen brought home first place in the Senior division with his demonstration on "Veterinary Needs of a Market Show Hog," during which, Chasen showed the judges and crowd how to remove the young hog's tusks and clip its tail.  The toughest part of his demonstration was how to castrate the young hog.  Using a ping pong ball, a balloon, and some saran wrap, as well as a knife, he gave a good portrait of a real castration process.  And he did it as clinically as a good veterinarian!  Great job, Chasen!

Darby Wadley

Darby Wadley brought home second place with his demonstration "How to Show a Market Swine."  Darby's flair for showmanship was well demonstrated to the judges, who enjoyed his style and attention to the details on how to win the game of showing.  He was funny and personable and the judges loved it!  The kicker was when he brought his little sister, OllieAnna, costumed as little pig, to demonstrate his showmanship.  She stole the show!

Mary Benner

Mary Benner demonstrated "Embellishing Felted Wool with Seed Beads."  Mary's demonstration was close-up with the judges, as she showed them with needle and thread, how to embellish the wool.  She took fourth place in the Senior Division.

The Junior Division was represented by Hannah Henry, who demonstrated "How to Make Slime."  Hannah took third place.

Cloverbuds OllieAnna Wadley and Tage Colon received Class Act awards for their demonstration on "How to Make a Chia Pet."

Great participation by all!  Our 4H kids did a great job!  Congratulations!

Letter from our Club President!

Chasen Young - Club President

Sandy Valley 4-H Club

Clark County Fair & Rodeo 2011

What a great Fair! As the president of SV 4-H Club I would like to say, on behalf of us all, Thank You! Our club leader and project leaders deserve all the credit. It is their diligence and commitment that path the way for our success. For most of you, you probably don’t realize what it takes for us, as a club, to achieve at this level and accomplish what we have.

Our club leader, Kelly Wadley, sits on the fair council and helps to plan and organize events and activities. This requires endless meetings and trips into town as she meets with other leaders and cooperative extension council. She also advises us on demonstration preparations, and provides resources for our project books and educational displays, and overseas the operations of our club.

Our livestock leader, Eric Wadley, helps us to secure our animal projects, works as banker to front the required money, works with us daily on showing techniques, helps us figure our feed and weight gain ratios and grooming & clipping our animals for the show ring. He was right there with us for the miles we put on our show hogs both in the desert and our practice pen.

Our Navajo Wool Leaders, Gregg and Sheryl Neff, raise the sheep, that provide the wool for our projects. We assist in sheering and preparations of the wool, but they provide everything else, from the hundreds of felting needles we must have gone through, to the patterns and dyes we used to craft our projects. We met at their home every week for months to get everything finished, often times working through dinner and into the late night hours.

 Our poultry leader, Pam Smith, came to our homes to help us with showing styles and techniques. Having a difficult time getting everyone together at the same time, she decided it would work out better for us all if she did the traveling.

Our parents were present at these meetings and drove us to get every task completed on time (probably the most challenging of all).

Our horsemanship Leader, Gina Timberlake, plans all the equine events and arranges travel for our club members and their horses. It is unfortunate that horsemanship events are not available at the county fair (4-H equine events are not available due to the PRCA Rodeo taking place in the arena). However, that does not stop her from getting involved. With the help of Angie Davidson, She has held fundraisers to support our livestock projects. Gina has been personally responsible for getting buyers to come out to the auction, securing financial investors and project sponsorship (thank you Mr. Giles). Most importantly, she helps to keep our parents sane by keeping us all in line.

The community has also been an unbelievable source of support. The trails End General Store for their relentless contributions (too many to list one by one), The Hitchin Post Pizza Parlor for the club meals and support of our snack shack at arena events, The Post Office for donating business services and gifts for our various events. Mr. and Mrs. Auer for donating our livestock scale, Wanda Van Dyke for her photography, Todd and Becky Goodwin for the use of their arena and for their donations from the proceeds of Diamond L events, The Vetter Ranch, Sandy Valley Ranch, Keystone Community Center and Judge Dawn Havilland. There are many, many more businesses and individuals that have been generous and supportive to our club and its members and we thank you all.

This will be the last year that I participate as a 4-H member. I will be heading off to serve in the National Guard Reserves and then to UNR. But my experiences with this club and its sponsors have impacted my life. I am sure I too will be a sponsor of 4-H in the near future and I look forward to serving with the same eagerness and enthusiasm that all of you have shown to me.

Preparing for Fair!

 Chasen completing community service hours during
Sandy Valley Clean Up!