Future of Attleboro’s 4-H Wild Things Club in Doubt

Following the passing of Attleboro’s Wild Things 4-H Club’s leader, Derek Belt, in January, the group’s status past this year is up in the air.

 “We’re not sure that the club will be active in the future,” Bristol County 4-H Educator Jay Field said.

However, the group will be active the remainder of the year and will be led by Jan Davis, who previously assisted Belt.

The 4-H program is a national, non-profit youth organization which aims to develop youth leadership skills while also being educational. The four H’s are head, heart, hands and health.

“We try to develop life skills,” Field said of the organization.

The 4-H group is an umbrella organization for a variety of different clubs that serve children from ages 5 to 18. Each of the individual 4-H clubs have different focus areas depending on the interests of the adult leader and the children.

There are clubs in other areas that revolve around gardening, horseback riding and crafts.

Attleboro’s Wild Things club is primarily a science and gardening program and caters to younger children under 10 years old.

The group often, does small science experiments and last year had an engineer come and teach them about electricity.

“With Derek’s passing I don’t know how many more sciency things I can do,” said Davis, who expected that she would focus more on the nature and art aspects of the program.

Community service projects have are also a large focus of the 4-H program and to that end the Wild Things club have held a food drive for the city’s animal shelters each of the past three years. The group also cares for a section of the city’s community garden.

The 4-H club is also planning to participate in the Attleboro Art Museum’s 2011 Flower Show, which runs from March 31 through April 3, and they intend to work on a memorial for Derek Belt.

Anyone who is interested in participating in the 4-H club or becoming an adult leader of the group can contact Jay Field at 508-668-9793. The group meets monthly at the