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OPINION: 4-H success/ back to school

MLA Donna Barnett's column praises 4-H success at the recent show and sale and reminds the public of back-to-school safety.
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Cariboo Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett.

This month our local 4-H clubs hosted the 58th annual Williams Lake and District 4-H Show and Sale, a five-day event at the Williams Lake Stockyards grounds, which showcased the best of our next generation of farmers, their livestock and 4-H projects.

The amount of work that the 4-H organizers, parents and club members put into this event is truly impressive. Supported by their families and club leaders, 4-H members dedicate hours and hours of their free time to learning about the essentials of farm and livestock management as well as their particular animals, all while putting in the hard work required to raise them well.

Not only that, but club members, with some help from adult volunteers, basically ran the Show and Sale; they took care of the grounds and facilities while caring for their own animals for the duration of the event.

Organizations like 4-H are a blessing to communities like ours.

They help us reinforce to our children the value of responsibility and the rewards of hard work, while providing a safe and fun environment to gain a solid foundation in the knowledge and skills necessary to take on those progressive levels of responsibility.

We should all be proud of the remarkable young people involved in our 4-H clubs, and grateful to the organizers and volunteers who work hard to ensure we can offer our youth these opportunities for growth.

Now that the summer Show and Sale has been a success, most of our young 4-H club members will be looking ahead to the back-to-school season as well as to the start of their new club projects.

I’d like to remind all of us to do our part in keeping these kids safe as they return to school by respecting school zones and crosswalks while driving and stopping for school buses whenever we see those flashing red lights.

Congratulations to our 4-H clubs on a great Show and Sale; and to everyone gearing up for September, have a safe and fun start to the school year!

 

Donna Barnett is the Liberal MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin.