Cypress Heart and Hands 4-H Club – Faith Absher, Reporter
Welcome back, 4-H members! Tuesday, September 10th, was the first club meeting for Cypress Heart and Hands. Our members were excited to share their 4-H fun from the summer. These activities included the Delaware State Fair and camp. Many of our members submitted entries for the fair; some even participated in and won contests. Our members shared how much fun they had at the Wonka-themed day camp and the exciting time at Camp Barnes for state camp. We even had a member participate in the statewide cow camp.
The leaders worked hard to create an enjoyable meeting. During our first meeting, we participated in a scavenger hunt. We had a lot of fun searching for the clues to help us learn more about our meetings, routines, and plans for the year. We also enjoyed delicious apple pie in a cup. This year, we have many fun things to do as a club and in the county. Community service and volunteering are important to our club and members, so we have some ideas and projects we want to complete. County events that we are excited about include the pumpkin decorating contest, fall retreat, and window display contest. We look forward to an exciting year and hope the same for the other county clubs.
Cypress Heart and Hands Scavenger Hunt
Bridgeville Mustangs – Cole Carpenter, Reporter
Welcome Back! The Bridgeville Mustangs held their first meeting of the year on September 12th. The new 2024-2025 Officers were announced: Attendance Chairman is Jeremy Messick, Reporter: Cole Carpenter, Treasurer: Cameron Hale, Secretary: Brooke Messick, CO Vice-Presidents: Brooke Taylor & Abby Vanvorst, and President: Juliette Anger. Congratulations to the new officers. Mrs. Susan DeFord led the Cloverbuds meeting and taught the 4-H Pledge and other fun 4-H traditions while Mrs. Gina Anger discussed upcoming events such as the Achievement Banquet and the Pumpkin Contest. President, Juliette Anger led an Ice Breaker and then Miss Cheri led a mindfulness activity and had everyone fill out a “Getting to Know You” worksheet. There was much excitement about all the events coming up in October including our Soda Booth Fundraiser at the Apple Scrapple Festival, and Community Service cleanup event following the festivities.
Hollymount 4-H Club – Frankie Joella, Reporter
Our very first 4-H meeting of the ‘24-‘25 year was held on September 12, 2024. We have many new officers this year, which is extremely exciting. In addition, a huge welcome to all the new families joining 4-H this year and welcome back all previous members! In regards to project books, 67 general books and 128 project books were submitted countywide. Re-enrollment is also now open as well. Go to 4h.online.com to register for this upcoming year. The Achievement Banquet will be held at 4pm on September 29 at Ross Station in Seaford. Tickets cost $10. October is a very exciting month! The Pumpkin Contest is on October 22. Our October meeting will be October 10 at 5:30. Our 4-H year is off to a great start!
Lord Baltimore Helping Hands
We began our 2024-25 club year greeting new members Miranda and Anthony and then played a game of 4-H Mad Libs which was lots of fun. Our Cloverbuds the Pledge of Allegiance and the 4-H pledge. Although new to 4-H, Miranda volunteered to be our club photographer. Thanks, Miranda! Ruby and other members then shared about their DE state Fair and the Sussex County Day camp experiences to our new members. Then it was on to new business – registration, the window display, pumpkin contest, and Links to Leadership and Younger Member fall retreat. Ms. Kathy then shared all the community service projects our club has done in the past, and everyone decided we should continue to do them this year. She is also going to check with the local grocery store to see if we could set up a bake sale/info table during 4-H week. Then we moved to the craft table. Ruby led the craft – “A Walk on the Beach” wreath- to start our exhibits for the Fair. Each wreath was so unique and so much fun to decorate with the shells that came from Florida and Puerto Rico beaches! We’ll get together later in the month to put together our window display. Our next meeting is Sun., Oct 13th.
Sussex 4-H Junior Council
Sussex County Jr. Council started the new year off with their first meeting on September 9th at the Carvel Building with 22 members in attendance. Members new to Junior Council were welcomed and the new 2024-2025 officers were announced. CONGRATULATIONS: President: Ainsley West, CO Vice-Presidents: Abby Vanvorst & Declan West, Secretary: Ruby DiSabatino, Treasurer: Cole Carpenter, Asst. Treasurer: Reid Bradley, Social Media: Juliette Anger, Team Energizer: Lillie Bradley, Reporter: Linda Adams, Photographer: Cameron Hale. A planning committee was formed for the upcoming Haunted Trail during the Pumpkin Contest on October 19th. (Any Junior Leaders who would like to help with this event, please contact Miss Cheri for more information (302)569-2957). Community Service, Fundraising, and Incentive ideas were also discussed. Our first Citizenship activity kicked off with a “Thank-a-First-Responder” greeting card that each member filled out. These cards will accompany an appreciative keychain and be delivered to first responders in our community. All members are encouraged to promote 4-H in their schools, churches, and communities during National 4-H Week – October 6-12th.
Keep an eye out for EXCITING new events led by Junior Council members this year!!
Next Meeting – Monday, October 7th 7PM @ Carvel Building
*ALL Sussex County Jr. Leaders are invited to come join the fun!!*
Wild Clovers 4-H Club
The members of the Wild Clovers are off to a great start this 4-H year. At our meeting, we went over the 7 principles of Leave No trace. While learning about each principle, each member received a booklet and wrote down how they could practice that value. Once the presentation had finished, everyone played “Trash Timeline,” and they guessed how long it took for everyday objects to full breakdown. Members were shocked at some of the items and how many years decomposition took. Members finished off the meeting by enjoying a light snack.
Also, this month the Wild Clovers travelled down to Bethany Beach and participated in Coastal Cleanup. It was a very nice day, and we found so many different items ranging from 153 plastic bottle caps, a disheveled hat, and even two fireworks boxes that had already been fired off. Thankfully, we did not witness any medical waste, but we all wore sneakers just in case. We are very excited that we were able to make such an impact on our local beach.
Seaford Blue Jays – Jayda Riefler, Reporter
The Seaford Blue Jays met at the Seaford Legion on September 11, 2024. It was great to meet again, since we had not seen one another as a group since the State Fair. President Janet led the meeting. We discussed officers for the 2024-2025 club year. They will be inducted at our next meeting. Our President will be Caydance, Vice President will be Ivy, Treasurer will be Olivia, Secretary will be Sophia, Song leader will be Embrey, and Recorder me. We talked about going to the Dover Air Force Base Museum as a club, helping with Coastal Cleanup, making cards for families of fallen soldiers, and other activities we want to participate in as a club. The members that attended the Junior Council meeting updated our club on upcoming events. We are all looking forward to the Pumpkin Contest being held in October. When the meeting concluded we had a healthy snack provided by the Callaway/Shultie families and worked on our window display which will be located at Tractor Supply. Our next meeting will be on October 9th and hosted by the Genshaw/Riefler families. Happy Fall!!!
