Club members make memories at 86th State 4-H Roundup

“Not only was this a time for club members from across the state to come together to celebrate 4-H, it also was a great celebration of Oklahoma’s centennial year,” said Tracy Branch, state 4-H events and activities coordinator. “State 4-H Roundup continues to be a proud tradition for our state.”

Branch said Roundup also featured a number of educational workshops, Fashion Revue, Share-the-Fun, political rallies, public speaking events and other educational activities such as Horse Quiz Bowl, Livestock Quiz Bowl and Clover Quiz Bowl.

“All of these activities provide youth the opportunity to expand on the activities in which they have been participating for the past year,” she said.

Traditionally, the announcement of the State 4-H Hall of Fame inductees is a highlight of each State 4-H Roundup. This year’s winners announced at the Honors Night Assembly were Carrie Highfill, Garfield County, and Jerret Sanders, Caddo County. This is the highest award a 4-H’er can achieve at the state level. In addition, state record book winners and scholarship recipients were announced. Club members took home more than $50,000 in educational scholarships.

Community service has long been a part of the 4-H program, and club members from around the state pulled together during Roundup to reach out to others. Charles Cox, state 4-H program leader, really got into the spirit of things as the state officers were discussing service projects on the first night of Roundup. It was at that point Cox make an offer the state officers could not refuse.

“Many Oklahomans know first hand the devastation that is caused from tornados and other disasters. When we got a note from the Kansas 4-H program sharing about the losses that had been sustained, we wanted to help out in some way,” Cox said. “In reality I had been thinking about shaving my head but needed some good motivation to take that leap. When the state officers were meeting to discuss their other service projects I asked if they were planning to respond to the Greensburg, Kansas tornado relief and they didn’t have a good plan for doing so, which prompted my offer to shave my head if they could collect at least $2,000 in the next 24 hours. Before the deadline they had collected more than $2,300.”

Club members from across the state have been participating in the Dime Drop Program as a service learning project. Karla Knoepfli, assistant Extension specialist, said the group is in its fourth year of working toward a goal of $73,000 to help fund a home for a low-income family through Habitat for Humanity. Ann Felton, Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity, was on hand for a special presentation to accept a check for $1,662.89.

Another service learning project in which Oklahoma 4-H’ers take part is the Ronald McDonald Kids Helping Kids Campaign.

“In February of this year we wrapped up the 20^th year of the Kids Helping Kids Campaign, which raises money for both the 4-H program and the Ronald McDonald House Charity,” Knoepfli said. “This year we raised $31,180, which brings our total to $704,000 over the past 20 years.”

4-H’ers also collected 4,180 pounds of aluminum, mainly in the form of pull tabs from aluminum cans, for the Kids Helping Kids Campaign. The aluminum pull tabs are the purest source of recycling available.

“Thanks to the efforts of club members across the state, approximately 836 families can be housed for one week at a Ronald McDonald House,” Knoepfli said.

In keeping with tradition, Roundup serves as an opportunity not only to recognize and honor current members, but also individuals and organizations who support the Oklahoma 4-H program, as well as the achievements of past club members. The Honorary 4-H Membership was presented to Rep. Jerry Shoemake, Okmulgee County and Sammy Coffman, McCurtain County. The Outstanding 4-H Alumni recipients were Beverly Burns Chapman, Hughes County, and Rodd Moesel, Oklahoma County.

The State Partner Award is given to individuals and organizations who have provided significant support to Oklahoma 4-H through contributions of time and/or financial support. This year the individual awards were presented to families who have helped establish a number of important scholarship endowments. This year’s honorees include Gwen Shaw, Dixie Shaw Thomas and Terry Shaw of the Shaw family, which supports the Harold and Edith Shaw Memorial for the achievement scholarship; Gene and Judy McKown for their sponsorship of the citizenship project; Vernon and Ronda McKown for providing the endowment for the advanced achievement scholarship; the Hesser family, including Jay and Beverly Hesser, Ron Hesser and Darlene Lewis, for their support of the scholarship endowment program; and Jerry and Julie Kiefer, who created the leadership project scholarship endowment.

Organizational State Partner Awards were presented to Southwest Dairy Center, Tulsa, and Pinpoint Monograms in Oklahoma City. Southwest Dairy Center has supported the 4-H dairy project through scholarships, county medals, dairy enhancement grants and a variety of other means. Pinpoint Monograms have donated the green shirts that club members wear for 4-H Day at the Capitol.

The 2006-2007 State 4-H Ambassadors were announced, along with the new state and district officers being introduced during Roundup’s closing assembly.

“State 4-H Roundup is such a great opportunity for club members. Not only do they learn new things and make new friends, but they also get a chance to learn more about OSU as a possible choice for college,” Branch said.

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Trisha Gedon
Communications Specialist
Agricultural Communications Services
136 Agriculture North
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK  74078
405-744-3625 (phone)
405-744-5739 (fax)
trisha.gedon@okstate.edu