Full Evening at the 4H Meeting

We met a little early for our monthly club meeting with a small group to go over our club budget.  We try to always look ahead to make sure we are on track to most benefit our members and the county.  Today was a no different as five of our members came together to ensure we would have enough funds to finish out the year and start next year out right.  I was very proud of the group for sharing their time and love of 4H to come forward and make wise decisions.  We were able to quickly make decisions to allow for the best for our club today and in the future.

I briefly blog about our monthly meetings each month, but have you ever wondered what we do at these meetings?  This month's meeting is an extreme case of overload but I thought I would share from our club president's agenda from last night.

Call to order...meeting begins at 6pm with the prayer, then pledges to country and state, followed by 4H motto.  Caleb (President) reads a motivational reading from Matthew 5.   Then Kevin (3VP) welcomes all guests.

Monthly Program...Katy (VP) introduces our program presented by the county Clothing & Textile members.  Treyton, Brianna, Jazmyn, and Rosalinn showed our group their store front display for the Windows WOW contest they will take to the district next week.  They also showed their entries for the shoe design and their design storyboards.  This was a great leadership opportunity for them and promoted their project as well.  There were many questions from the club throughout their presentation, so they obviously gained some interest from the group (including my boys, of course!).

Nomination for 2012...Then back to business with Caleb explaining the election process for electing new officers.  Tonight we had a call for nomination from the club for all positions for next year.  We had a slow turn out for nominations but the intent to run for an office can take place over the next month as well.  Here is the list of nominations so far:

President-Katy
Vice President-Kevin
2 Vice President- Brianna and Taylor
3 Vice President-Rebecca and Sarah

Council Delegate and Alternate-We need strong seniors for these positions!

Secretary-Joseph
Treasurer-Sean

Reporter-Who will report our events next year?

Parliamentarian-It helps to have someone assist the president in keeping order!
Community Service Chairman-James

Call Committee Chair-You never know when we might need to get in touch with people quickly!

Fundraising Chairman-Caitlin
Historian-Henry

So, as you can see we have a few positions that need to be filled and some that we will need to vote to see who will hold position.  Everything can (and will) probably change over the course of the next few days as others will shyly come forward for nomination.  I will update next month after we have elections.

Officer Reports...This part of the meeting goes by quickly as the reports are emailed to the club members prior to the meeting and only need approval at our meeting.

Project Reports...This takes a little longer as each Youth leader presents the information of events that took place in the last month, as well as any upcoming events.  This is when I told the group about an upcoming quilt workshop for Clothing & Textiles project.  We were told about the upcoming Entomology contest at the district level.  Preparations for the State Food Challenge will begin in May.  Forestry results from their last contest were announced.  Information for the Photography field trip to the zoo to take pictures was addressed.  Share the Fun schedule of events was given.  Wildlife results were announced with flair and many stories that got the whole group laughing.  We announced our desire to go to state WHEP contest and encouraged others to join.

Whew....it makes me tired just thinking about it!  We have a very active group with a diverse set of projects.  This did not even include our animal projects (finished for the year), computer science and shooting sports!

Unfinished business...Caleb reminded the members that our club T-shirts had arrived and were ready for pick up.

New business...We were sad to have official news that our Club Managers would be leaving our club next year.  Myra has done so much to encourage the 4Hers over the years as a project leader and as our manager.  She will be missed.  Sheri has also led our club through tough times for our club and during her personal life.  Sheri will remain with our club but has decided that she needs a break from leadership.  Caleb announced that our club was approved to have Brenda and Jamie take over these management positions.  I am so thankful they have stepped up into these leadership roles.  They will carry on our club goals with pride.

With change of leadership, we also found our club voting on changing our meeting date.  The club discussed and voted on changing our meetings from the third Thursday to the first Thursday.  I think this will be a good change for the club.  We will be able to get information out to the members earlier in the month and we will avoid conflicts with holidays that always seemed to be during the week of our meetings.

Fundraising Report...Justin (Chairman) discussed the possibility to work with Chick-fil-A on a fundraiser.  We would pass out flyers to friends and family to eat at the restaurant on a certain day at a given time and 20% of sales would be donated to our club.  The club approved this event, so be sure to eat at Chick-fil-A on Thursday, April 26th, at the mall location from 5-8pm.  Don't forget to tell them that you want to support 4H!

Budget Committee Report:  Caleb gave the club our proposed budget for the remainder of the year.  The club approved the expenses, so all is set for the year and we are to begin the new year.

Spirit Award Nomination and Vote...Each year we give out a spirit award for each age level to a 4Her who has shown a love for 4H and shared that joy with others.  The two older group nominees are then sent to the county level in the fall.  We voted and I think our 4H members who won this year will be greatly surprised.  We will make this announcement at our awards meeting next month.

Announcements...general 4H events for the county and district were announced.  District 5 Round up...Fashion Show...Leaders Appreciation Banquet...Record book workshop.  Then Caleb announced that we would have a potluck dinner for our awards meeting in May.  We would decorate the room with a 'Night in Paris' theme, so we were asked to dress up for the occasion.  I also announced that we would be serving the veterans sandwiches at the VA clinic tomorrow morning and would love to have volunteers.

Door Prize...Henry (2 VP) provided three door prizes for the meeting.  The first prize went to Naomi who had the birthday closest to our meeting date.  Then Treyton gained a new 4H hat for being in 4H the longest.  The final prize was to the member who joined 4H most recently.  We had a tie as Ashley and Kaitlin joined on the same day!  They flipped a coin to see who would win a cool 4H sling pack and Kaitlin won!

Adjournment...The meeting was adjourned at 8:30pm with Henry announcing refreshments provided by the Foster, Allen, and Castillo families would be served.

The club members enjoyed snacks (dinner!) while parents confirmed events and participation.  We also enjoyed the discovery of a little critter in the parking lot.  All the members left cooed and aahed over the tiniest little thing...not sure if it was a mouse or squirrel because it was so small.

We did not leave the building until after 10pm...it was a long and productive meeting.  Again, showing how our club 'makes the best better!'