Hamburg, N.Y. (WBEN) - "My Head to clearer thinking, my Heart to greater loyalty, my Hands to larger service and my Health to better living for my club, my community, my country, and my world."
That is the pledge all kids participating in the 4-H take when they meet over the course of a year. It is a motto that youth in the program live by as they learn and develop skills they're going to carry into their adulthood.
"I like to call 4-H the A-to-Z program," said Tammi Kron, Livestock Educator with the 4-H at the Erie County Fair. "We're going to allow 4-Hers to explore what their interests might be, and from year-to-year, start out with an easy project their first year in the program and then throughout their 4-H career, be able to master and accomplish their goals that they might set for themselves."
LISTEN LIVE TO WBEN:
The 4-H is a youth development program that has widely been prevalent in rural communities across the United States, but has been branching out quite a bit into all communities, even in other parts of the world. It's about teaching kids life skills, no matter the environment.
"It's learning the responsibility of learning how to do things, anything from being able to cook, re-wire a lamp, refurnish a piece of furniture. It's really teaching them that hands-on piece, and also to teach them how to interact with people," said Building Director for the 4-H Youth Development Building at the Erie County Fair, Christine Basile. "We want them to be able to put their best foot forward."
The 4-H program is for children between the ages of five and 18. 5-7-year-olds are considered "Cloverbuds", while children eight years and older are considered a regular 4-H member.
Many kids every year showcase their skill sets through the 4-H program at their local fairs, whether it'd be a county fair or state fair. Whether it'd be the agricultural aspect, arts and crafts, gardening or other life skills learned through the program, it is showcased for people of all ages to admire.
"We have one award that gets awarded every year, it's called the Best Overall 4-Her, and it's usually a kid who crosses over those things. Not only are they learning the responsibility of taking care of the animals, they're also learning those life skills like being able to cook, being able to sew, things like that," Basile said.
But for the members themselves, the program is much more meaningful than showcasing their animals or skills every summer during the fair.
"I have been here for about six years showing goats, and it's really changed my life. It's just such a fun experience. I don't think enough people have an opportunity to either witness or to take part in it," said 17-year-old Marea Palka from Boston, showing her goats at the Erie County Fair.
"I feel like 4-H has really taught me about how hard work breeds a lot of reward. ... Honestly, during my first year, I didn't put a lot of effort into it and it went pretty badly. Now that I know what I'm doing, I've put a lot more effort into it, and I have won a bunch of awards through it, and have just learned so much about both our community and about these amazing animals."
For 16-year-old Bailey Kerins, the Erie County Fair is the one time of year she looks forward to most.
"This is one of my favorite places to be, especially with showing and my meat auction rabbits. Everything is just so exciting for me," said Kerins, who has her rabbit Toasted Marshmallow at this year's Erie County Fair.
"All-year-round, 4-H is more of a blessing. Social networking here is insane. I know pretty much everybody in every barn, I've made so many friends. Being in 4-H has improved my mental health probably by a lot. I got to experience making new friends, learning about more animals I don't even own. I know more about cattle than I do goats, but I know more goat people. Everywhere you go, you find something new. 4-H is a really good experience for younger kids as you grow into it."
Over the past few years, numbers of 4-H kids taking part at the Erie County Fair have been dropping off, and those numbers took quite a hit in the couple years after the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, if there is some good news, numbers in the program locally this year are starting to rebound.
"Right now we're in the middle of kind of rebuilding," Basile said. "We kind of go in these peaks and valleys, and it's because our kids age out after a while. Right now, we've got the young kids in the program. A lot of them are younger, they're under the age of 12, but we have our older kids - like my daughter - who come back and they continue to facilitate the program. But It's back to building back up."
"We had a few years that we were down in numbers, but over the past couple of years, we've had an influx of our Cloverbuds, those 5-7-year-olds. And since COVID, we're trying to rebuild and get more participation," Kron added.
According to Kron, Erie County has the largest number of public presentations that happen with almost 300 kids giving a public presentation in the month of February and March. She feels public presentations are the strongest, and the most beneficial aspect of the program for kids.
While more younger kids have joined the 4-H program, the number of older kids have dipped. Kerins understands the older kids are the ones who help the younger kids better understand, learn and grow in the educational environment that permeates in the program.
Another hold up for the program at this time is the lack of adults that are needed and willing to help enhance the educational environment in place.
"Right now, we have kids that want to join the program, and 4-H is a club-structured program. We need caring adults that want to become 4-H leaders so we can offer more opportunities and areas for kids to come together and work with an adult to learn those skills that they might be passionate about," Kron said.
And it's not just Erie County that is taking a hit with their numbers. This includes the other surrounding counties in Western New York that are struggling with getting adults to step up to become 4-H leaders. Kron believes once they can get appropriate numbers, it will allow for more opportunity for kids to be able to learn different skill sets.
When it comes to the future of the program, leaders like Basile know it's going to be a challenge to recruit not just more kids, but also adults and volunteers to help out.
"Everybody's time is limited, so it's taking that effort and really just getting the information out there about the program," she said. "Having something like this, where we can have the program out and in the forefront, be it media, Facebook, Instagram, things like that. Just getting the word out that we're here, and what kind of things we do with the kids."
How else is the 4-H program looking to rebound, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic?
"In the livestock area, I have lightened up a lot on the requirements for the kids to be able to show here at the Fair," said Kron. "One positive thing I think we have incorporated in is livestock interviews, that allows a 4-Her to come for a scheduled interview time to talk with a person from that species industry. We'll use beef cattle, for example - We had interview people that talked with the kids, the kids were able to talk with them and give them an overview about their project, sharing their knowledge about their expenses, what they had to do to get the animal ready to be show-worthy. It's to help give them a little bit more workforce preparation, because if we can get kids feeling comfortable about talking about any topic to strangers or creating that positive opportunity for them to learn and grow in a setting that's not harmful to them, that's what we strive to do."
So how would members of the 4-H attempt to persuade more kids to join or convince parents to sign their kids up? Kerins believes one key aspect that will help is advertising.
"It strikes the parents, and the parents tell the kids, 'Hey, we're going to this meeting. Get in the car.' Or come to the Fair. You'll learn all about 4-H if you come here," she said.
As for Palka, she, too, urges people to come to the Erie County Fair and learn more details of the 4-H program.
"Talk to the 4-H office. We have an office both in East Aurora at the campus and at the Fair right now. They will hook you up with people that can give you an animal to lease, or they can instruct you on how to buy an animal yourself and to raise it for 4-H," Palka said.
Another way to further help and support the 4-H is through donations.
"Donations to the 4-H community are a really big help. Even if you can't donate, just coming here and seeing the animals and supporting the 4-Hers, because a lot of us put hours of work into our projects, just really helps," Palka added.
And if you're planning on heading to the Erie County Fair this week, you can check out not just the 4-H Youth Development Building near Gate 2, but also see the kids showcasing some of the livestock and other animals they have cared for over the last several months in the Showplex.
"Coming up on Saturday, Aug. 19 at 12, noon, we'll be having our 4-H livestock and FFA auction, along with the Youth Livestock Expo kids from here at the Fair," Kron said. "If we have anybody that's looking to get some top-quality meat to fill their freezers, that's the place to be."
