Approaching its centennial anniversary, 4-H Ontario is ready to celebrate and to continue its long tradition of keeping young people engaged.
“We just have to continue to be relevant to youth and continue to offer something unique,” Debra Brown, executive director of 4-H Ontario, told the Advertiser before the anniversary kick-off on Dec. 3.
“As youth change, 4-H has to change. I do think … we have a role somehow in agriculture workers, so to fill that gap in the labour market, I think we can play a role in training there.”
4-H stands for head, heart, health and hands – the main components of the organization’s motto.
4-H Ontario began in 1915 with a club in Waterloo County, just two years after 4-H Canada was established in Manitoba. Originally the club was purely agricultural, Brown said, but as youth evolved so did 4-H, adding homemaking clubs and moving away from the single focus.
Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White spoke about the importance of having clubs like 4-H in Wellington County.
“You can see if you come into the south end of Rockwood that there’s a lot of urban pressure,” he told the audience at the event.
“So what we’re trying to do is, through the county and these organizations, and especially youth organizations, we maintain that rural character.”
White congratulated 4-H for reaching the hundred-year benchmark and spoke to the necessity of supporting service clubs in the agricultural sector.
Today, there are approximately 50 active 4-H associations throughout Ontario, with over 5,900 members involved and just under 1,800 volunteers.
Each region provides the clubs and programs suited for its volunteers, Brown said. So while there may be a horse club in Wellington County there may be a pizza club closer to Ottawa, she explained.
But the organization is more than just its clubs.
Tamara Hamilton has been involved in 4-H for the last seven years, since she was 11, starting after a suggestion from her father.
“I’d take the calves out of the hutches and just lead them around the barn,” she told the audience at the event. Her father hinted she should become involved. “He said, ‘you know Tamara, instead of just dragging these calves out of the hutches, why don’t you actually lead them.’” After that she said she joined the Russell County dairy club.
Now a 4-H ambassador and in her first year of food, agricultural and resource economics at the University of Guelph, Hamilton said it was 4-H that had her stepping out of her comfort zone and becoming more involved in her community and school.
“My main drive to apply for this position was … I wanted to give back to all that 4-H had given to me and I wanted to inspire future members to join, promote the program and encourage members to also become more involved,” she said.
4-H Ontario is looking to combine the more traditional side and the youth side.
Current president Kim McCaw is in her early 30s, the youngest in the organization’s history, and was a 4-H member in Hastings County for over nine years.
“It has shaped and developed me into who I am today because there were leaders and mentors within the community that took me under their wing to teach me all those transferable skills and every day of my life is 4-H related,” she told the Advertiser.
McCaw says her age puts her in a good position to lead the organization going forward.
“I deal with the baby boomers and sun setters but I also deal with the millennials,” she said. “I know what they want and I have to bridge the gap between them and the ones that are 45-plus to mend those together and bridge that gap so we have the same thing moving forward.”
In light of the 100th anniversary of 4-H Ontario next year, the organization has planned some province-wide celebrations.
On June 20, there will be a first 4-H club celebration in Steckle Homestead in Kitchener. On July 25 there will be a Canada’s Wonderland fun day and on Sept. 26 there will be a gala dinner at the Cornwall Civic Centre.
Regional associations can also apply for a grant to help fund their own celebrations, so no matter where 4-H Ontario members and alumni are living they will be able to participate in an event. The region can apply for a $500 grant and each association can apply for a $250 grant.
The Brantford region has already announced “A Green Tie Affair” at the Brantford Golf and Country Club for New Year’s Eve to kick of the 100th anniversary celebrations.
