The Rural Voice, 1995-11, Page 2080 years old .. .
and still changing
As Ontario's 4-H movement marks
its 80th anniversary, funding cuts
bring more changes
By Keith Roulston
There are more winners in 4-H than the winners' circle can hold, leaders say as
young people grow in confidence through their work.
As Ontario's 4-H movement
marks the 80th anniversary of
the formation of the first 4-H
club in Waterloo County back in
1915, local leaders look with pride at
the accomplishment, but express
concern over its future.
Over and over again, 4-H leaders
tell of the heart-warming
accomplishments of 4-H, of the shy
10 -year-old who is afraid of speaking
out at meetings who, years later,
becomes a leader of the club and
prepares to be a leader of the
community. Many long-term leaders
have seen hundreds of youngsters go
through the program and have seen
people they taught go on to become
community leaders. Some came
through the program themselves.
Bill French, currently president of
the Perth County 4-H Association,
with one of the biggest memberships
in Ontario, recalls the first time he
16 THE RURAL VOICE
went to a 4-H meeting as a youngster
in the 1950s. He was very timid
about standing up to give his reasons
for the judging. "I couldn't have
guessed that day that someday I
would judge 4-H shows and show
cattle for others throughout North
America," he says.
4-H experience goes beyond
building confidence and character in
young people, it can have practical
rewards too. Several leaders
interviewed told of young people
they knew who were regarded highly
in job interviews because of the 4-H
experience on their resume. People
who know about 4-H realize that
having gone through the program
shows a sense of responsibility and
discipline on the part of young
people.
But while leaders enjoy their work
and while they are proud of their
accomplishments, many also worry
about the current state of 4-H and it's
ability to continue to provide to
future generations the kind of
training it has given in the past 80
years.
4-H began in Canada in Rolland,
Manitoba in 1913, says Angela
Friend, Communications and
Development Co-ordinator of the
Canadian 4-H Council. The 4-H
movement began originally in the
U.S. at the turn of the century. In
Canada, the clubs were first called
Boys and Girls Clubs. That name
stuck until in 1952 the 4-H club
name was adopted.
Much of the early 4-H work
was organized around the
Royal Winter Fair. The
railways and Federal Department of
Agriculture helped sponsor
participation in the fair. By 1930 the
need for a national organization
became obvious and in January,
1931, the Canadian Council on Boys
and Girls Clubs was officially
formed. Today there are 44,000
members (18,000 boys, 26,000 girls)
across Canada in agriculture and life
skills clubs, led by 12,000 volunteer
leaders. Across Canada 65,500 4-H
projects are completed annually.
Western Ontario boasts some of
Ontario's largest 4-H memberships
with both Grey and Perth having
more than 800 members.
Originally the agriculture clubs
were under the arm of the extension
branch of the Department of
Agriculture while the homemaking
clubs where under the home
economics branch. The homemaking
clubs were heavily supported by the
Women's Institutes across the
province. While girls have taken part
in agriculture clubs for many years, a
recent radical departure has been the
inclusion of boys in the former
homemaking clubs, now called "life
skills" clubs. There they may learn
everything from how to bake a cake
to how to take pictures. In 1983 the
Agriculture and homemaking clubs
were amalgamated into one
organization under the Rural
Organizations Services (ROS)
branch.
While the clubs started out as a
rural organization designed to help
young boys and girls learn farming
and homemaking skills, the addition
of life skills clubs has greatly