Wayne County 4-H News

Brettina Jeffers, 4-H member (third from left) and Bruce Crockett, Coach (far left) -- both of Wayne County -- were part of the West Virginia 4-H Air Rifle Team that competed at the National 4-H Shooting Sports Competition this past week in Grand Island, Nebraska. The team placed 14th out of 21 teams. Congratulations to all the members and coaches on a job well done!

The Wayne County 4-H Leaders donated all food leftover from the 4-H Older Camp to the Huntington City Missions. Nine meals worth of food, enough for approximately 70 campers and staff, will benefit the homeless in the tri-state area (this was done as a result of closing camp due to search for an armed suspect near our camp).

The Wayne County 4-H Older Camp was scheduled for June 25 - 29, 2018. On Tuesday June 26, the staff had to make the tough decision and close camp due to a search for an armed suspect in the Barboursville area. This was done for the safety of all involved. Sincere appreciation to the Barboursville police and all law enforcement for their protection while we were at Cabell 4-H Camp.

The tribal leadership at the 2018 Wayne County 4-H Older Camp includes (back row, l-r): Chiefs Tyler Lyons, Kayla Smith, Ethan Cade, and Abby Smith, and in the front row (l-r): SAGs Chase Smith, Shantil Marcum, Ethan Cade, and Zara Harold.

The 2018 Wayne County 4-H Older Camp was led by a group of vetted 4-H volunteers that include (front row, l-r): Dawn Streets, Taylor Stephenson, Zoe Harold and Hannah Smith; (second row l-r): BK Marshall, Karen Stephenson, Tammy Barnett, Ozan Ozbeker, Zach Marshall, and Abby Minihan; and (back row l-r): Kevin Cade, Greg Hensley, Shawn Cade, and Tim Smith. These adult are wonderful role models and we are grateful for their willingness to spend a week at camp leading classes and providing supervision.

Ethan Cade (left) who was inducted into the WV 4-H All Stars at the 2018 Older Members Conference at WVU Jackson's Mill. Ethan stands with his father Shawn Cade, who is a WV 4-H All Star. The WV 4-H All Star organization is a honorary organization and recognizes outstanding leadership and service to the WV 4-H program.

The Wayne County 4-H Younger Camp was held June 19 - 22 at Cabwaylingo State Forest. The camp had nearly 70 campers with 15 adult staff and seven Teen Camp Counselors. Despite two power outages, we had a great week filled with educational classes, assemblies, outdoor recreation and lots of fun!

Sincere appreciation to our Teen Camp Counselors who gave up a week of their summer to help be wonderful role models to nearly 70 youth at 4-H Younger Camp! We also thank our adult staff for giving of their time, talent and energy at this camp - we appreciate all our volunteers and their contributions to making 4-H Younger Camp a success this year!

Teen Camp Counselors include from l-r: Kayleigh Cox, Mona Napier, Brenna Barnett, Sarah Ferry, Kelton Cox, James Cox, and Hunter Donahoe.

The Wayne County Cloverbud Day Camp was held June 12 - 15 at Mays Chapel near Lavalette. Twenty youth registered for camp this year! This year's camp theme was "4-H Through the Decades". Campers made a wide variety of crafts and had lots of outdoor recreation too! For more information about the Wayne County 4-H Camp program, please contact Julie Tritz, 4-H Extension Agent.

The Energy Express program started on June 8, 2018. Wayne County will have five sites located throughout the county. During the month of June, the site teams will be engaged in training and community service projects. Starting July 2, the sites teams will be working directly with elementary-aged children to provide reading enrichment and other activities related to reading. To learn more about this program, please contact the Wayne County office at 304-272-6839.