By Laura Allen
N.C. Cooperative Extension

On Saturday, June 17, 14 Rowan County 4-H’ers competed at the 4-H South Central District Activity Day held at South Rowan High School. All of these youths participated in 4-H presentations, where they had to give a presentation, speech or demonstration to a panel of judges and a classroom full of guests. These youths were divided into age categories by their 4-H age (age they were as of Jan. 1, 2022) and by topic area. Two of these 4-H’ers also participated in 4-H Entertains, a showcase of talent for 4-H’ers.

These youths first competed at our County Activity Day on April 21 in order to qualify for the district level event. Each of these 4-H’ers spent weeks preparing for their presentation or talent act. During this process, 4-H’ers were able to practice and develop their public speaking and presentation skills while building confidence in their abilities. At District Activity Day, these Rowan County 4-H’ers were competing against 4-H’ers from 18 other counties.

The following Rowan County 4-H’ers participated in 4-H Presentations at District Activity Day:

Gold:

• Agriculture Science, 8-10 year-olds: John Tucker

• Beef Char Grill, 11-13 year-olds: Carson Halpin

• Egg Cookery, 14-18 year-olds: Olivia Stirrup

• Open Class, 14-18 year-olds: Mason Gabosch

• Pork Char Grill, 14-18 year-olds: Christian Stebe

• Public Speaking, 11-13 year-olds: Guy Deal

• Wheels & Engines, 14-18-year olds: Lucas Weeder

Silver:

• Arts & Communications, 8-10 year-olds: Luke Allen

• Entomology, 14-18 year-olds: German Jaramillo

• Family & Consumer Sciences, 14-18 year-olds: Nathan Croyle

• Open Class, 11-13 year-olds: David Croyle

Bronze:

• Poultry Production/Preparation, 14-18 year-olds: Samantha Simon

Cloverbud participation:

• Sadie Allen

• Maggie Deal

All gold and silver winners move on to compete at the State Presentation Finals held on July 22 in Raleigh.

For 4-H Entertains, John Tucker performed two songs on his cello and earned a blue ribbon. Nathan Croyle performed a recitation of “Ragged Old Flag” by Johnny Cash and also earned a blue ribbon. Nathan has been invited to perform at the NC 4-H Talent Showcase during NC 4-H Congress in July.

These youths all did a great job representing Rowan County 4-H and gave very thoughtful, technical and thorough presentations. Best wishes to the 4-H’ers who will be representing Rowan County 4-H at the state level in July!

Also, special thanks to South Rowan High School for their willingness to host 4-H District Activity Day at their facility. This was the perfect location and the administration, staff and custodians were wonderful to work with.

Thanks to all the staff at Rowan County Cooperative Extension as well as the 4-H volunteers, Extension Master Gardeners, and the many community members who helped with this event. They spent their time volunteering as hosts/hostesses, judges, food servers, helpers, etc. during this event. We appreciate the time you spent in helping make this event a success.

It takes a village to host such a large 4-H event, and I could not have done it alone. The Rowan County community always comes through by helping in any way possible. Your support of Rowan County 4-H is much appreciated!

4-H is the youth development component of Cooperative Extension. Rowan County Cooperative Extension is located at 2727-A Old Concord Road Salisbury, NC 28146. If you are interested in getting your child involved in 4-H, please contact Laura Allen, 4-H Agent, at laura_allen@ncsu.edu or 704-216-8970.