Lord Baltimore Helping Hands – Cassidy White, Reporter
Lord Baltimore Helping Hands December meeting was on December 1, 2019. The meeting started with the normal business of the pledges and previous and upcoming events. However, every December meeting is also our holiday party so we then had a great dinner where everyone brought something to add to the table. After we ate we did our activity for the meeting. This was a game called Decorating the Tree, where you have two teams and one person on the team is the tree where you have to decorate them in one minute. We then did our first craft by making an X with two popsicle sticks and wrapped yarn around them in a pattern to make an ornament. The next craft was making six different ornaments out of a variety of supplies. The last part of the meeting was giving a family gift that you made to another member’s family by each person picking a piece of paper with a description of a person you have to choose as the person to the right of you or a person with blond hair. This is how the December meeting went for our club.
The first meeting of 2020 for Lord Baltimore Helping Hands was on January 12, 2020. It began a usual with the American and 4H pledge. We then discussed past and future events. We then did our activity for the meeting by making a circle and each person rolling dice with different exercises on it so we could do what it landed on for one minute until everyone rolled. We then did our two crafts. The first one was hot chocolate packets with nice sayings tied onto them with a small scarf. The other was making a beaded keychain made by having a string attached to a key chain and then weaving beads through to make a row. You usually repeated this around 10 times. This was the January meeting for Lord Baltimore Helping Hands.
Hollymount – Gianna Joella, Reporter
To begin our December meeting, we played a few games. We played Ships and Sailors and statues, where we had to stay as still as we could! Our business meeting began soon after. We discussed old business, like the Card Party for Heroes (the largest one yet!); and new business, like the upcoming Spaghetti Dinner. It already sounds like a blast! Thank you to everybody that attended the Card Party for Heroes. Once our meeting concluded, we split into two groups. My group first went to the cookie making station, where we worked together to roll out sugar cookie dough and cut it into fun shapes! We also made chocolate chip cookies and iced a few small cookies to make into little cookie sandwiches. While those baked, our teams switched, and we painted ornaments. Using various paint colors, markers, and tools, we decorated two clear ornaments each. They were all beautiful! Everybody was very creative with their ornament art. When our cookies were finished baking, we all gathered together to enjoy them. They were delicious, and all very beautiful! I highly enjoyed this meeting and could tell our members did as well.
We began our first meeting of 2020 with our usual round of singing and dancing, along with a few games! These energetic sessions are the perfect beginning to our meetings. When our business meeting began, we discussed all of our old and new business, including the upcoming Spaghetti Dinner! It’s coming so soon, and I know we are all very excited. We also talked about the Public Speaking Contest. Good luck to those that are entering! Once our business meeting concluded, we began our photography lesson. We took many different photos at creative stations in categories to prepare us for the State Fair. Just from this meeting, we now have photographs to enter in the photography contest! This was a very fun and interesting meeting; it was so fun to learn photography tricks to help us increase our skills.
Lucky Leaf – Meredith Timmons, Reporter
The Lucky Leaf 4-H club continued to hold their 4-H holiday workshop on December 7th. A total of 15 members joined in on the fun. We did lots of fun activities that included a coloring page, cup ornaments, a gingerbread ornament from a cork, a snowman from a toilet paper roll and a snowman candle. We also made a yummy treat and played fun games. This was a fun day for our club. On December 14th, the club members also rang the bell for the Salvation Army at Boscov’s in the mall. Two members volunteered for half hour shifts to ring the bell. This was the club’s second year ringing the bell.
The Lucky Leaf 4-H club had their meeting on January 2nd. Fourteen members attended the meeting. The pledge of allegiance was led by Lauren Romanowski and Samantha Timmons led the 4-H pledge. Ms. Melody told us to mark our calendars for upcoming events like the Spaghetti dinner and the public speaking contest. We also signed up to help Murphy with her Diamond Clover project. At the meeting, Ms. Melody talked about project books and the details how to complete. The Garde family brought snacks to enjoy at the end of the meeting.
Harbor Lights – Zoe Cunningham, Reporter
On December 9, 2019 we had this months meeting for the Harbor Lights was different and even more exciting than usual. We began with our usual meeting and discussed some events that club members had participated in like Operation Christmas Child box packing, Cards for Heroes party, International Foods and talent show and National 4H congress. We also talked about some upcoming events that we plan to attend as a club like the Holiday Ice Skating Party and Public Speaking.
After the meeting we dove into our final dress rehearsal for our play that was held on December 13. We practiced until it was perfect! The official performance was a success. Every table was full and we sold all of the goodies that were for sale. After our dress rehearsal we did our annual Christmas gift exchange. We had picked our secret santas out of a hat the meeting before. We opened our gifts and then we had snacks! Each family brought a Christmas dessert to share with the club. And that sums up our 2019 Christmas party meeting!
The Harbor Lights also met on January 13 and had a successful and productive meeting. We discussed some things we had done as a club, like the play that we performed last month. It was a huge success and we raised a lot of money for our club. The junior leaders also discussed things we are planning to attend in the future, like the State Teen Conference and the Spaghetti Dinner.
After the meeting, our activity director, Judah Williams, had us do the activity that he planned. Our club is taking this year to make healthier choices by playing a game every meeting that gets us on our feet and has us exercising. We also choose to prepare a healthy snack every month and have water as our beverage opposed to juice or soda. It was an overall successful meeting and we’ll be meeting again on February 10.
Jr. Council – Brynn Hovatter, Reporter
While the holidays were quickly approaching, Sussex County Junior Council was heavily active in the season. Reflecting on the celebrations throughout the month to giving some holiday spirit to some who aren’t as fortunate, Sussex County’s young adults were eager to lend a hand. The annual “state skate” party was also a topic of conversation, in which is an exciting time of year for all 4-H members throughout the state are able to reunite and have some fun! Sussex county junior council has continued to collect and make “Mana Bags” throughout their meetings as well. Because of the busy season, members of junior council and sussex county 4-H have constantly had their hands on community service, celebrations, and events throughout 4H, their community, state, and country.
Reflecting on the busy past months is always an exciting time for Sussex County 4H. Throughout the past weeks, Sussex County 4-H has been active in annual events to ring in the new year. Winter Fun Day, sewing workshops, and much more has kept 4H members heavily busy. The busy spring is quickly approaching, and that comes with another busy season for our members. Endless camps and applications are rolling in for counselors, campers, and much more. Because of the new year and the 4H year restarting, members throughout the county are encouraged to attend the meetings to gain further leadership skills. Meetings are at the Carvel building at 7:00 pm on the first Monday of each month.