Cloverbud Camp was an exhausting hit, with 6 little ones from Prince Edward participating! It was also the first time that I have taken the child of a former 4-H'er to camp. Talk about feeling old!
There were over 140 people from Prince Edward County at Junior 4-H Camp. Together with our friends from Buckingham, we had a successful week. We survived 100 degree temps on Tuesday without a single case of dehydration! Many thanks to the 4-H Center staff who had to pull water cooler duty that day! We recognized 8 graduating senior teen leaders!! That is a huge number of seniors leaving our teen leader program. I am happy for them and hopeful that some will return to camp as summer staff members or adult volunteers. We had a good group of first year teens and some very promising CIT's. They have big shoes to fill! We brought back the spirit stick at camp this year. At the end of camp, the stick was awarded to Amanda McDermott, the senior teen leader from the winning pack. It was a much deserved honor, as Amanda organized an AAP and an evening program all on her own!
This summer marked our third Eat Your Heart Out day camp. We visited the Prince Edward County Cannery, Crumptown Farm, and Lynchburg Grows. Under the direction of volunteer extraordinaire, Josie Fletcher, we even made our own delicious bagels and cream cheese!
Camp Loud and Clear was offered at Holiday Lake 4-H Center. This is a weekend camp for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth. It truly is one of the most meaningful programs with which I had the privilege to work. The 4-H Center staff volunteers to be there that weekend and offering programming so that these campers can experience 4-H. We received some very generous donations to make Camp Loud and Clear possible. A huge thanks to Jennifer Kingsley, our primary fundraiser and head cheerleader.
We wrapped up summer with What's Cooking day camp at Fuqua School. We had a great group participate and hope that many of them will become more involved in our local 4-H programs.
We will soon say goodbye to our summer intern, Amanda Elgin. The rising senior education major from Longwood has been my right arm this summer. Amanda had never been in 4-H before, but she had volunteered with some after-school program. It was sink or swim for her and she swam beautifully! We will sure miss her around here!
I have already started planning for our school year programs. Look for some new offerings this year. I tentatively plan to retire our Fun with Foods program and replace it with a fun, updated Food Challenge. If you liked shows like Chopped, you will enjoy Food Challenge. We also received a grant for our new InnoVAtive Leadership Academy for teens. I am excited about this one, as we look to get our older 4-H members experience in leadership and communication through community involvement.
I am looking forward to an end-of-summer vacation and little time with my actual children before school starts! Soon after, be on the lookout for 4-H program announcements and fall sign-ups.
Enjoy the rest of your summer!!
