Submitted by Jeff Metzger — Chairman, DeKalb County Board
June 30, 2014
TWO NEW BOARD MEMBERS TO BE APPOINTED
County Board Member Derek Tyson (D) resigned this past month. Mr. Tyson represents District 5 in DeKalb County, and offered his resignation due to moving out of his district. County Board Member Julia Fullerton is also resigning, effective at the end of June. Ms. Fullerton (R) represents District 8 in DeKalb County, and offered her resignation, and is also moving out of her district. Each associated party will caucus to determine who will fill each County Board Seat, and forward their recommendation to me, which I will present to the County Board Executive Committee. I am hoping to have the two individuals for recommendation at the August meeting.
JULY COUNTY BOARD MEETING
I would like to remind you that there is no July Full County Board Meeting, and several committee meetings have also been canceled. This is an initiative to help save money, and we chose July since most individuals take vacation during the month of July. We had also been asked by some of our agriculture members of the board, to consider July since this is a very busy month for farming. As always, you can refer to the county website for a current list of meetings.
DEKALB COUNTY 4-H
I learned a great deal at a recent DeKalb County Health and Human Services Committee Meeting, when County Extension Director Vicki Broos reported to the committee. Ms. Broos reported that 4-H is not proud to be known as the best kept secret in DeKalb County. Many people have a preconceived idea of what 4-H is and who joins. 4-H is a youth organization for boys & girls ages 5-18 years old. It is open to ALL young people no matter where they live. The 4-H program for 5-7 year-olds is called Cloverbuds. Youth in Cloverbuds learn about a variety of project areas by participating in hands-on learning activities at their club meetings. Cloverbuds is an excellent stepping-stone to our community club program for young people 8-18 years old. Members learn a great deal from their experiences. 4-H believes that education should be fun and makes it fun through the wide variety of projects available to young people.
Through the 4-H program, today’s young people are becoming tomorrow’s leaders as they are developing life skills, building self-esteem, enhancing decision making and interview skills, learning how to set goals, and learning how to communicate and work well with others. These skills are accomplished not only by their involvement in the 4-H projects that they take, but also by their involvement in their 4-H club and beyond. At the county level, members can participate in 4-H Camp, county clinics and workshops, conferences, fairs and shows. As members enter their teen years, there are even more opportunities for members to be involved in leadership roles. For teens, 4-H offers the opportunity to attend leadership conferences, International exchanges, Citizenship Washington Focus and serve on State and Regional planning committees, as well as serving as a club Junior Leader.
In DeKalb County there are currently 15 community 4-H clubs and five Cloverbud clubs for young people to participate in. Clubs are available in Kirkland, Esmond, Genoa, Sycamore, DeKalb, Malta, Cortland, Hinckley, Waterman, Shabbona, Somonauk and Sandwich. They meet once a month to plan activities for the club to do. Members elect their own officers and conduct official business meetings. These clubs are organized by volunteers, who give their time to assist 4-H members in conducting monthly meetings, electing officers, doing community service projects, conducting fund raisers, as well as planning fun and exciting trips and event for their members and their families. 4-H is very affordable for families by only costing $20 to join for the entire year. The only other cost is a fee of $2 per project taken and any material cost the members might have with their project.
The DeKalb County 4-H program will be having their annual General Project Show on July 16 and 17 at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau Building in Sycamore. These two days of judging offer our members wonderful opportunities to display exhibits within their project areas. On the afternoon and evening of Thursday, July 17 the General Project Show will be open for the public to review the exhibits. This is a great time to really learn and see for yourself everything that 4-H has to offer young people. Those interested in supporting and seeing members in action are encouraged to attend the 4-H General Project Show.
Are you now interested in joining 4-H? To join call the University of Illinois Extension Office DeKalb County at (815) 758-8194 and request a listing of the clubs and their leaders. You can also get a listing from our website at: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/bdo/dekalb4h/ and click on 4-H Clubs in DeKalb County.
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