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4-H members ready to show off projects

Whether it’s beef, photography, puppies, or presentations, 4-H members from across the Bonnyville district will have the chance to show off their handiwork.
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4-H is once again hosting a show and sale.

Whether it’s beef, photography, puppies, or presentations, 4-H members from across the Bonnyville district will have the chance to show off their handiwork.

“4-H isn’t just beef or horses, and that’s what a lot of people assume is that’s all they have to offer and if they’re not in a rural situation or aren’t able to have a big animal, there’s no room in 4-H for them. We wanted to show that there’s an absolute huge range of things you can do in 4-H,” explained Sandra Somers, president of the Bonnyville 4-H District and leader of the Ardmore 4-H Beef Club.

The annual 4-H Show and Sale was expanded last year to include all of the 4-H clubs in the area, a move that Somers said promotes inclusivity of all of their members.

“We really wanted to promote that; that everybody can join and everybody has a spot, as well as showcase all of our kids in 4-H, because everyone has to put in effort for the public speaking and they put in a lot of work and displays throughout the year, as well as community service projects. We wanted to make sure we valued everyone,” she continued.

The May 27 show puts the hard work of their members in the spotlight.

For the second year in a row, they will host the show and sale at the Bonnyville Rodeo Grounds, with the free event kicking off at 10 a.m.

According to Crystal Dechaine, the leader of the Bonnyville 4-H Beef Club, beef members will show their heifer, cow/calf, and steer projects to a panel of judges.

She explained how the members compete with their animal by highlighting their showmanship abilities, grooming skills, and feeding skills.

“The 4-H beef members have worked all year, of course all of the members have. This is an opportunity for the members to display their projects and be able to showcase and highlight the skills they’ve developed over the course of the year, with it being feeding those animals to working with them and being able to tame them down and bring them to the show.”

The day finishes off with an auction and awards ceremony at 7 p.m.

The members parade their animals in the sale ring and sell it off to the highest bidder.

“Each individual member is responsible for their project. That’s the purchase of the feeding and all of the maintenance of that animal, so upon the sale of that animal, all of the proceeds go back to the members themselves,” detailed Dechaine.

Somers encourages everyone, even those who aren’t living or working within the agriculture industry, to come out and support the members.

She said, “They put a lot of time and effort into it. These kids take a lot of pride in a lot of the things that they do throughout the year, so just to make sure we’re showing our appreciation and allowing them to show off and be proud of everything that they’ve done.”

“The skills the project institutes in the young people is just being responsible for an animal that relies on them for feeding, watering, and the overall care of that animal,” noted Dechaine. “It’s really an awesome opportunity for members to highlight basically all of those skills that they’ve developed, not only by feeding, nurturing, and caring for that animal, but also the showmanship and grooming piece, where they’ve had to manage the hair coats and learn how to show that animal in the best way that makes that animal look and appear better to the judge in an overall picture.”

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