BURTON, Ohio — The Breeders and Feeders 4-H Club held a meeting at Munson Town Hall June 26. Advisers gathered members to hold their meetings for different species. In the business meeting, the club discussed important upcoming dates.
Members participated in a recreation activity and helped prepare decorations to represent the club in the Junior Fair Building at the fair. The club collected donations for the Geauga Hunger Task Force and will be delivering 213 non-perishable food items.
• • •
HANOVERTON, Ohio — The Hicks & Hayseeds 4-H Club just returned from its 11th trip to the coast of North Carolina. Every year, right after Christmas, the club starts making plans for their Easter candy fundraiser. The majority of the money raised pays for ocean front accommodations on Topsail Island, North Carolina, for the club.
They go every second or third year, depending on funds and the amount of members wanting to go. The rest of the money is used for regular club activities and crafts, a Christmas party, community service projects and a yearly scholarship for a United Local student.
Learning, mentoring, becoming a leader and having new experiences are all important parts of 4-H. To that end the club members prepared two meals a day for everyone — this year, a total of 43 people. Members ages 5 to 17 worked on their cooking skills, with the older, more experienced youth helping and guiding the youngest members.
There was also a daily house cleaning crew that helped take care of keeping the mess under control.
Most of the club members went on an offshore fishing charter this year. Just about everyone came back with at least one fish. Cannon Casto, 13, caught two 30-inch Amberjacks. The captains took a lot of time with the club members, teaching them about fishing methods and even a little boat navigation. The kids hung around for the fish cleaning and more tips and stories from the boat captains.
Another new experience for the club was at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital in Surf City. The club was given a before hours tour that included talks about the different kinds of sea turtles found on the coast, the anatomy of a sea turtle, how the turtles nest, dangers that the turtle must avoid, like trash, pollution, boats and fishermen, and facts about the life cycle of a sea turtle and what they like to eat. There were a total of 26 sea turtles there when they visited.
Back at the oceanfront, the kids participated in a shark tooth finding competition. Hundreds of teeth were found and prizes were given for the smallest, the largest and the most perfect tooth and the most species of shark teeth found. Sidney Casto was the overall winner.
Another nature related activity that the club participated in was the scavenger hunt. The kids learned about the sea life along the North Carolina coast as they located Sand Fleas, a Coquina Clam, a turkey foot shell and a boat tailed grackle and many other things.
Surf fishing was also a learning experience for the group. The tackle is different, the bait is different, the waves pose a challenge and the fish caught are nothing like those caught in Ohio. They ended up catching spot, mullet and flounder in the surf using shrimp that they used a cast net to catch in shallow water and sand fleas that they caught at the waters edge.
Members also got a chance to use their creativity by painting t-shirts and participating in a dress-a-parent contest. The contest was won by Lenny VonFeldt, whose daughter Emma, dressed him up.
The club now is in traditional 4-H mode, getting ready for project book grading and the county fair where most of them will show some sort of animal.
