Wayne County 4-H News

On September 18, Rebecca Christian was inducted into the WV 4-H All Stars. Becky has served as the Extension Office's secretary for the past five years. Yet she so much given her commitment and support to our 4-H clubs, after school programs, camp and Energy Express sites. She goes above and beyond, providing great attention to detail with lots of creativity behind everything she does. She is a valued leader and we are blessed to have her as part of the Wayne County 4-H program.

Ethan Cade of Wayne was nominated and won a spot to serve on this year's WVU Homecoming Court. The 2021 WVU Homecoming Court was announced on September 16. Ethan is a senior majoring in environmental geoscience at WVU. He was active in the Wayne County 4-H program for many years and is a WV 4-H All Star. The Homecoming Royalty will be crowned during a halftime ceremony at the WVU football game against Texas Tech Saturday, Oct. 2, at Milan Puskar Stadium.

4-H Club Leaders in Wayne County will meet on Friday, September 24, at 1 p.m. In-person and virtual options will be available. The training will cover club paperwork as well as time to discuss re-opening plans for this fall. For more information, please contact Julie Tritz, 4-H Extension Agent at 304-272-6839.

The Wayne County 4-H Leaders are excited to be able to offer this fundraiser again after a small hiatus due to the pandemic. A wide variety of Amish cheese are available to order in 3.5-lbs blocks with prices ranging from $19 - $21. Bologna rings, peanuts, and jams are also available. The deadline is Monday, September 27, and pick up is Friday, November 19. These make for wonderful holiday gifts. Order forms are available at the Wayne County Extension Office or email Cathy Smith, Program Assistant for details. This fundraiser helps support scholarships to send youth to state events and camps.

The State Fair of West Virginia concluded on Saturday August 21. Josie Parsley of the Whites Creek Critters 4-H Club was recognized for her hard work on her 4-H Bird Project. Josie constructed a beautiful birdhouse and was one of 11 youth recognized across the state for her hard work out of 772 projects exhibited at the annual State Fair located in Fairlea, WV. She spent countless hours learning about different types of birds as well as constructing this birdhouse. 4-H projects are educational lessons on a wide variety of projects on animals to woodworking and everything in between. Josie's parents are Amanda and Duke Parsley of Lavalette. To learn more about opportunities with 4-H in Wayne County, please contact the WVU Extension Service Wayne County office at 304-272-6839 or email Julie Tritz, 4-H Extension Agent. 

The Wayne County 4-H Ambassadors took the lead on this community service project to make and deliver fun items (bracelets and sun catchers) to those in nursing homes and apartments in our area to help bring them some joy. They made items for 60 residents at the Wayne Nursing Home, 75 residents at the Charter House, 109 residents at Ceredo Manor and 24 residents at Roxanna Booth Manor Apartments.

This year Wayne County had 170 4-H projects on display at the 2021 Wayne County Fair held at Camden Park August 4 - 7. Of the 4-H projects featured, 63 received a score of 90 points out of 100 (or a blue ribbon) which earned them a spot at the State Fair of West Virginia which runs August 12 - 21 in Fairlea. Congratulations to all our 4-H members on a job well done.

Congratulations to two Wayne County 4-H members (l-r): Haylee Christian and Josie Parsley who were named Miss Wayne County and Pre-Teen Miss Wayne County, respectively at the 2021 Wayne County Fair Pageant held on July 30. Congratulations to both on a job well done!

Many thanks to Evan Wilson, Wayne-Cabell Ag Extension Agent and our 4-H parents for a successful 4-H Livestock Show on August 5, 2021. The Livestock Show and Sale occurred during the Wayne County Fair and it was one for the record books. Four roaster rabbits were shown and sold.

These are record shattering prices for the Wayne County Fair. Please support these companies and give them thanks when you see them. We hope this will be a start of a bright future for the Wayne County 4-H livestock program.

Three Wayne County 4-H Scholarship award winners were announced earlier this summer. These include Haylee Christian, Sarah Ferry and Zara Harold. Haylee will attend Clark State Community College this fall to become a judicial court reporter. Zara Harold is at Fairmont State University pursuing a degree in Fine Arts and Sarah Ferry is at West Virginia University pursuing a degree in Civil Engineering. Each received $300 to further their educational pursuits. We are so proud of their accomplishments. For more information about the Wayne County 4-H program, contact our office at 304-272-6839.