Wayne County 4-H News

Five Wayne County 4-H members are participating in Citizenship Washington Focus, which is the premier 4-H Citizenship Event. These five youth, along with approximately ten additional teens from across West Virginia, are in the nation's capitol this week participating in a variety of programs. The teens include (l-r): Ariel Jeffers, Chase Smith, Zara Harold, Landon Dodgion, and Zane Smith. To learn about other national 4-H opportunities, such as this, please contact Julie Tritz, 4-H Extension Agent.

Today, July 2, was the first day with children at our five Energy Express sites in Wayne County. The start day was later than the majority of sites across the state due to the winter weather and work stoppage which pushed the last day of school in Wayne County to late June. Energy Express has sites at Buffalo Elementary, Ceredo-Kenova (C-K) Elementary, Crum Pre K-8, East Lynn Elementary, and Fort Gay Pre K-8. The photo features members of the C-K Energy Express site team! Contact Julie Tritz, 4-H Extension Agent and County Contact, to learn more.

In an effort to support literacy and a love for reading, each youth that attended 4-H Older Camp last week received a copy of Brave Companions: Portraits in American History. Many thanks to the Wayne County Commission for their continued support of this initiative at 4-H Camp.

Brave Companions: Portraits in American History is written by acclaimed author David McCullough.

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!