ESTEVAN - Glenn Gress’ time as the president of 4-H Saskatchewan has come to an end, but he remains a champion for the organization that teaches so much to youths.
Gress spent four years as the president. During that time, 4-H members and leaders accomplished a lot, even during the pandemic.
“We worked through it, with all the provinces and 4-H Canada, and in Saskatchewan we came out, actually, in pretty good shape,” said Gress.
Clubs in the province kept going with a lot of virtual activities, or by following the government regulations in place to have face to face sessions.
In district 1, which includes the southeast, the clubs are doing really well. Some new members have joined, and none of the clubs lost members.
“We all stick together, and there are a lot of good people who like the program,” said Gress. “The 4-H program is a very good program, and the younger generation (of adults) that was in 4-H is starting to have kids, and they are putting their kids into 4-H, which is bringing the numbers back up again,” said Gress.
A lot of clubs are a couple of months into the 2021-22 season, and have been working on many things they would normally do, such as selecting their steers for the show and sale next spring or summer. He hopes that 4-H will continue with activities they have had in the past, such as in-person public speaking rather than virtual competitions.
“As you know, public speaking is a very important part of the 4-H program,” said Gress.
He’s also seen some positive initiatives for clubs in the region and elsewhere in the province.
The Crossroads 4-H Club has started an archery program and is looking to start a soccer program. Archery ranks among the most popular programs for Saskatchewan 4-H.
The Browning 4-H Club has a light horse project, which allows kids who do not have horses or access to horses to join and use a horse from the club.
“We have a lot of urban kids that are coming out and doing the project,” said Gress.
An urban project in the inner city of Saskatchewan was launched earlier this fall, and has been doing really well. Thirty-five kids were part of the club.
“Now we are trying to launch it in other parts of the province for urban kids who will learn a little bit about agriculture,” said Gress.
An urban club would run a program for three months, and then start another.
Gress noted that for 4-H in Saskatchewan, about 100 different projects are available.
“Anything that you want to do, in 4-H, you can do it as a project. There are so many different outdoor clubs, gardening clubs, and anything that you can think about, you can do in 4-H. The horse club and the beef club are … two of our major projects, but there is a lot of different projects in the 4-H program that you can do, as long as you can find leaders and clubs that will let you try them and do them,” said Gress.
While his four years as president are finished, Gress said he will remain involved with 4-H and an advocate for the organization. He’s still on the board of directors at the provincial level, and is a representative for the southeast region.
And he’ll still be active at the local level with the Browning 4-H club.
“If you’re interested in the 4-H program, just look up Saskatchewan 4-H and there are so many different projects and so many different clubs around,” said Gress. “Please feel free to contact any of our organization, or Saskatoon, and they’ll get you a name that’s in your area that if you want to join a 4-H club, please do.”
Their motto is “Learn to do by doing,” and Gress said that not only do kids get to learn from the leaders, but the leaders learn from the youths.
