One door closes, but another one opens

By CASH CAMPERELLI
Husky 4-H’ers Club Reporter

On June 10, the Husky 4-Her’s had their last meeting of the year. But just because our year has ended doesn’t mean that we should be sad.

In fact, we had a lot to celebrate this year.

We looked at all our memories of the year through our scrapbook, made by Macy Booth, and then went on to celebrate our seniors who were graduating this year. Out of the nine seniors who graduated, three received our club’s $500 scholarships: Addison Mann, Lauren Happel, and Abby Martin. After each told us what school they planned to go to and what their favorite part of 4-H was, we started the meeting out with our usual business.

After the pledges, Colton Hoane gave the Secretary’s report, and Stella Hartwick did the Treasurer’s report. (Be sure to buy our grilled cheese sandwiches at the 4-H Fair this year! You support our club by doing this, and we do lots of charitable things with the money.)

Sophia Camperelli and Matthew Duprey did a Health and Safety Demonstration on how to stay safe around the pool (how convenient), such as not running around the pool.

Bellamy Fouch and Levi Small led us in singing “Happy Birthday” for the last time this year to our members celebrating a birthday.

Then we got to the trivia question. The question was “When was 4-H started?” The correct answer was 1936, and Sophia Camperelli won that.

Demos were next, and they were a couple of good ones. Colton Hoane and Leah Happel did a demonstration on getting your animal ready for the fair. They provided helpful tips such as what criteria to use when selecting animals, along with some of the things you should use when showing/raising animals for show.

After them, Teagan Stroh finished the demonstrations for the night by teaching us about dog obedience and Australian Shepherds. She showed us some of the training leads she uses and told us some facts about Australian Shepherds. Did you know that Australia Shepherds are not from Australia, but North America?

Then we heard from our guest speakers, Battalion Chief Darren Collar and his firefighting crew from the Cicero Fire Department, who came to talk to us about the parts of a fire truck. We learned about RIT packs, which are used to rescue firefighters when they’re in trouble, and how they use extraction tools to move metal so they can get to people.

But for some of us, we didn’t just get to see the equipment: we got to feel it.

I got to put on a jacket that firefighters wear (it’s heavy!), and Lauren Happel got to go up in the fire truck’s extendable ladder. When asked how she felt about this, here is what she said: “Great, Cash, So Great!” Once she came down, we ended the meeting with snacks and drinks.

And with that, I give you the final edition of “The Dirt” for the year. This month, we asked 4-Her’s what their favorite part of the year was, and here’s what they said:

• “Being able to see all of the different people, and what they do, and why they do it.” – Colton Hoane
• “My favorite part of the year was going up in the fire truck 100 feet in the air.” – Lauren Happel
• “My favorite part of the year was getting to tell all the kids about Camp Shakamak with Lisa Hanni and encourage kids to branch out!” – Addison Mann

And so, while one door closes for our club with our seniors leaving, a whole new chapter is opening for them, and for our club with the opportunity for new leadership to rise.