Wayne County 4-H News

The State 4-H Writing Exhibition aims to encourage 4-H members to express their thoughts, feelings, understanding and impressions through written media. Exhibits compel the observer to feel, think or be inspired by the 4-H member’s interpretation and expression. This year, Wayne County had two entries which both qualified to compete in the State 4-H Writing Exhibition this year. The winners include:

Iggy Ballengee won a Blue Ribbon in the Short Story category for a story titled "Dr. Zizzlezaff's Bomb"

Two Wayne County 4-H members are heading to the National 4-H Shooting Sports Competition in Grand Island, Nebraska this June. They along with two 4-H members from Marshall County will represent the state of West Virginia in air rifle at this national competition. These four individuals placed in the top four out of 20 seniors at the State 4-H Air Rifle Competition held in January.

Those featured in the photo include (l-r): Jon Hammond, WVU Air Rifle Coach; Chase Smith of Wayne County; Coach Bruce Crockett of Wayne County; Brandon Scamehorn of Marshall County; Coach Chris Scamehorn of Marshall County; Justus Kirkland of Marshall County; Andrew Kelley of Wayne County; and Coach Tim Smith of Wayne County.

In the past week, Extension staff have conducted recruitment efforts for Energy Express at Tolsia High School, Wayne High School, Spring Valley High School and at Marshall University (featured below). Apply online if interested in serving as a Mentor or Community Coordinator at one of four Energy Express sites in Wayne County or call our office at 304-272-6839 for more information.

The 2019 West Virginia Beef Expo Stockman’s Contest will be held Friday, April 12, 2019 at 11 a.m., at WVU Jackson's Mill. The contest is open to all 4-H, FFA, and other youth between the ages of 8 and 18 as of January 1, 2019. Contestants must be enrolled in school to compete, and college students are not eligible.

The contest will consist of 10 classes worth 50 points each for a total possible score of 500 points. There will be four (4) live animal evaluation classes—three (3) placing classes (50 points each) of four animals each and one feeder cattle grading class (50 points) with five animals.

The goals of Dance Weekend are to enhance an individual’s awareness of and skills in specific heritage and folk dances. It also involves providing dance learning experiences that will challenge interested 4-H’ers at their skill level and to provide in depth training for 4-H’ers to lead or teach heritage and folk dances.

The 2019 Dance Weekend was held March 8-10 at WVU Jackson's Mill. Several youth participated in this state weekend camp and they include (l-r): Zara Harold, Erin Ferry, Sarah Ferry, Zoe Harold, and Chase Smith. To learn more about 4-H opportunities in Wayne County, please call the Wayne County office at 304-272-6839.

Wayne County 4-H members held their first practice on March 6 for the 2019 WV Beef Stockman’s contest that will be held in Weston on April 12, 2019. Youth will be learning about quality assurance, forage and plant identification, retail cuts of meat, feeder cattle judging and several other beef industry topics in preparation for the state contest. Wayne-Cabell Ag Agent, Evan Wilson is serving as the coach of this team. For more information, please contact the Wayne County office at 304-272-6839. 

Registration is open for our annual County 4-H Round Up event (formerly Wayne Co. 4-H Day). Enrolled 4-H members may register online by April 5, 2019. The online registration link has more information about this annual event. It will take place April 15 at 6 p.m. at the Extension Office. Below are all the contest areas;  If you have any questions, please do  not hesitate to call our office at 304-272-6839.

Congratulations to our 4-H Poster Contest winners! These posters have been selected to represent Wayne County at the State 4-H Poster Contest. A special thank you to Janeen Reynolds and Linda Parsons for spending an afternoon judging our 55 posters! Entries were received from Genoa Elementary, Prichard Elementary, and Buffalo Elementary. 

The winners at the county level are cited below under each poster. Stay tuned as results from the State 4-H Poster Contest will be released later this year.

Wayne County 4-H members interested in participating in the State 4-H Forestry Contest on Saturday, May 4, are encouraged to contact our office at 304-272-6839 as soon as possible to learn about practice dates and times.

A Project WET workshop will be held July 16 and 18 from 5 - 8 p.m. at the Wayne Fire Department (address: 12345 WV-152 Wayne, WV 25570). Project WET’s mission is to reach children, parents, teachers and community members of the world with water education that promotes awareness of water and empowers community action to solve complex water issues. Participants must attend both nights to be certified in this curriculum.

This workshop is designed for school teachers, 4-H volunteers, home school parents and others interested in educating youth about complex water issues. For more information or to register, please call the WVU Extension Service Wayne County Office at 304-272-6839.