LAMPMAN - Glenn Gress’s tenure as the president of 4-H Saskatchewan has come to an end, and he’s thankful for the time he had at the head of the provincial board.
Gress stepped down from the job in March after 3 1/2 years as the leader, citing personal reasons. He had one more year remaining when he did step down.
“The 4-H does a lot of good things, and I probably am going to go back on the board someday down the road,” said Gress, who spent close to eight years on the provincial board.
During his tenure as president, Gress believes 4-H Sask. has been able to create more awareness of what the organization is all about and bring the clubs closer. There is also a better relationship with 4-H Canada.
“We all worked on that, all the provinces, worked with 4-H Canada to become better as one instead of 12 different separate provinces,” said Gress.
Gress noted that in the southeast corner, a lot more people are involved on the board and as leaders. He and others have been going to meetings and bringing up the importance of joining the provincial council.
“It gets the word back to the board of directors of 4-H Saskatchewan about what we would like to see out here and some projects that we are trying to get going again and get up to speed,” said Gress.
They didn’t make everybody happy all of the time, but he thinks they satisfied the majority most of the time.
The number of scholarships from different companies and organizations has grown, and that is due efforts of the board and staff of 4-H Saskatchewan, he said.
“We worked really well together, and we got a lot of extra money for these members to get scholarships to go to school more and more, and I think that was a big part of us as the board of directors moving forward and trying to get these people, bigger companies, to give more scholarships,” he said.
They also navigated the COVID-19 pandemic, which required a lot of hard work. They had to keep meeting, even if it was virtually.
“We were just following the government guidelines that they set out for us as a non-profit organization,” said Gress.
The provincial government provides funding to 4-H Sask.
Gress is still active with the Browning 4-H Multiple Club as the general leader. They have projects with the horses and cattle, and are up to 25 members. They were looking to start a chicken project, but it was delayed due to concerns associated with avian influenza.
The 4-H slogan is “Learn to do by Doing,” and Gress said they have many opportunities for kids to apply the motto.
“We have adults that are teaching young members … how to work out problems they face and difficulties in every situation.”
One requirement to be a 4-H member is public speaking, which is something that will be used throughout the members’ lives, whether it be during an interview, in conversation, in farming or in other areas of business.
“The more you can do public speaking is very good,” said Gress.
The leaders also learn a lot from the members through the knowledge of technology that youths have today, he said.
Young people also get to be part of an organization that’s been in Canada for 125 years and in Saskatchewan for well over a century. Members get to learn about agriculture and so much more.
“Our main projects are still the beef and the horse projects, but there are so many different projects in this province and in Canada and even in the world.”
A 4-H member could get the chance to travel internationally through different 4-H exchanges, and he knows people have been all over with the 4-H family.
“It’s just a great, great organization to get youth minds going, and it’s back to the traditional ‘Learn to do by Doing,’” he said.
