Livestock. Baking. Knitting. Crops. Sewing.
You name it and Miriam Bailey can probably take more than just a good stab at doing it.
Wellington County 4-H secretary Barb McAllister informed the Advertiser that Bailey had graduated from 4-H this year after completing an amazing 100 4-H clubs during her career there from age 10 to 21.
“I just squeaked under the wire,” said Bailey, now 22 and a student at Conestoga College, where she is studying to be a paramedic.
Bailey, though, wanted to be a part of 4-H even before she was old enough.
“My older sisters were into it and I couldn’t wait to get started,” she said. I used to tag along before I was old enough.”
She has a younger sister who also has done a few clubs, and a brother, James. “He’s worse that I was,” she said, smiling. “He does everything.”
Bailey was also a volunteer with St. John Ambulance, and that led her to her career choice, but, she said, 4-H helped in other ways.
“4-H is hands on,” she said, citing the motto, Learn to Do by Doing.
“It gave me confidence,” she said. “The hands on stuff really helps out with that.”
She spent a total of 12 years in the organization, and said some years she did more projects than others.
She was home schooled, and said if she had to pick a project over the years that was a favourite, it would be those involved with livestock. She said that was because they project lasted for a season. She worked with beef, dairy, and goats.
“I learned about it,” she said, adding that she showed beef and goats at the Fergus Fall Fair, and dairy and goats at the Erin Fall Fair, an event she said her family never misses.
“I’m on the fair board in Erin,” she said, adding that she was also the Erin Fair Ambassador in 2006-06.
The Erin Fall Fair is one of the largest in Ontario, and she said, “It’s a tiring weekend, but it’s worth it.”
And so was 4-H.
She called the club “awesome. I learned more stuff in 4-H than I can even think of right now: cooking, sewing, knitting; clubs on everything.”
And, she said, the lady who informed the Newspaper of her 100 club feat is “The heart and soul of Wellington 4-H. She’s like Superwoman.”
The club had another effect on Bailey. She said when she graduates, she hopes to be hired somewhere close to home, and she would particularly like to work in a rural area.
“That would be ideal.”
