4-H Fall Events in Douglas County Open to All Ages

Douglas County’s 4-H program has a Fall line-up packed with events, new programs and more to keep children entertained and educated.

Cloverbuds is 4-H’s newest program and offers opportunities for youth as young as five years old to become involved in 4-H programs.

“Our newest program is Cloverbuds and we’re so excited to bring this option to the families of Douglas County,” said Jeremy Cheney, Douglas County 4-H Agent. “Cloverbuds allows us to reach out to students from the age of five to eight. We have a huge home school population and a lot of the younger kids want be active as well as those in our public school system.”

Cloverbuds complements the existing Cloverleaf program which begins at age nine. Each 4-H program has its own curriculum that is age-appropriate, and steers the members towards following and leading, public speaking, understanding natural resources, and many other topics.

The 4-H program begins September 23rd and goes throughout the school year. Monthly meetings are held in Citizen’s Hall of the Douglas County Courthouse on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. 4-H school meetings are held at various times during the month.

One of the outreach programs of 4-H is the Tech Wizards class where high school 4-Hers mentor older adults into the world of technology. “Our next Tech Wizard classes will be start later in the fall from October to December and will be especially for senior citizens. We will have three classes for fall. The topics will be crafting with coupons, using the internet to find healthy receipts and how to use Pinterest,” said Cheney. Some of the 4-Hers will be traveling to Washington, D.C. to further their knowledge on working with the senior adult population. The training is paid for by a grant from AARP and the National 4-H Council.

Douglas County 4-Hers will compete in October at the Georgia National Fair in Perry. Four groups will be competing in a range of categories. The County 4-H Horse Quiz Bowl Team will be traveling to the American Quarter Horse Congress for Nationals in Columbus, Ohio after winning second in the state, and taking 9th place in Regionals. The Southern Regional Teen Leadership Institution in Crossville, Tennessee, will be the next stop for four high school students selected to train on teaching in their community and school.

4-H is the Nation’s largest youth development and empowerment organization, reaching millions of youth each year. The organization is driven by a university-backed curriculum and our nation’s Cooperative Extension System. 4-H’ers engage in hands-on learning activities in the areas of science, healthy living, and food security.

Douglas County 4-H will be at Family Day of the September Saturdays Festival on September 20th with pony rides, a water booth, displays on the Junior Masters Gardeners, Tech Wizard, and Health Rocks.

— Submitted by Douglas County

(Photos: Top- 4-H’ers Building Toy Houses for at risk youth at a Leadership conference; 4-H’ers making cards for Senior Citizens. Bottom- 4-H’ers being trained to teach Stress Reduction Classes; Douglas County 4-H’er Austen Taylor celebrates his 3rd state title.)