She used to get freaked out, she said, just giving a presentation to her own club.

“What happens when you take a shy fourth-grader who doesn’t like to leave the house or her parents, and enroll her in a nationwide youth organization where you have to, number one, talk to adults and other youth that she doesn’t know, number two, encourage her to talk in front of people, and number three, encourage her to go on trips from junior camp in Luther, Iowa, for a few days, to a 10-day trip to Washington, D.C.?” Rees asked. “Well, you can look at me.”

Rees was one of the youth speakers who ran the show Sunday night at the annual Webster County 4-H volunteer recognition and awards banquet, at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn and Suites.

Both adult volunteers and members of the 12 4-H clubs in Webster County enjoyed a dinner while being honored. Scholarships were given out, and 12 club members were given the “Spirit Award” for their extra service to the organization.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
Paige Lewis, left, and Aianna Kirby, with the CC Sidekicks, look over their first-year awards while they wait to be recognized at the annual 4-H Volunteer Recognition and Awards Banquet at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn and Suites Sunday.

“Fast forward to nine years later, and I went to Washington, D.C., this summer, going to Chicago next weekend, and I’m considering traveling to a foreign county next summer,” Rees said. “4-H has been so important to me, because I have learned so much and gained so many life skills.

“I have also learned the importance of setting goals and meeting deadlines,” she added. “I also know the importance of hard work, and the great feeling you get when you work hard for something and achieve it.”

Rees is part of the County Council, the group of 4-Hers who plan both the awards banquet and the county fair every year.

Ben Carlson, another council member, also has learned a lot about setting goals and hard work — especially the hard work required when progress on a goal slows down.

“4-H has also taught me how to prepare all of my projects for fair,” Carlson said. “Even though a lot of my projects are done in the last two weeks before fair, my family has been there to support me to get them done.

-Messenger photo by Joe Sutter
County Council member Hannah Rees announces 12 4-Hers, including Anna Hermanson, at right, being honored with the “Spirit Awards” for going above and beyond what’s required in an always busy club.

“I would like to thank my Mom for persuading me to join 4-H, and dealing with all the stress I put on her the two weeks before fair.”

Samantha Alphs said 4-H has taught her how to think through setting goals, and how to make them good ones.

“I was taught the best way to accomplish your goals is to create an action that produces a result you wanted, in the amount of time you had to complete the goal,” she said. “Learning this helped me teach my horse how to back through poles, show my pigs how to walk in the show ring, and how to make the perfect pie, and so much more.”

Abby Chalstrom, a junior, has been in 4-H eight years now, and echoed the importance of communications skills.

“I love the leadership we’ve learned, how we’re put out of our comfort zone. Most of us aren’t the most outgoing people, and every year we have to give a presentation for our club. Even if we don’t want to, we’re made to,” she said.

This year she’s been on a committee planning events, such as a lock-in, or adopting a family in need for Christmas.

But she has a lot of goals.

“I plan on forming a group and going to nursing homes, and providing tea parties for residents,” she said. “And I’m doing this project where I’m going to complete nine projects in nine months.”

Chalstrom can remember the first major assignment she took on in 4-H.

“It was food and nutrition. I made lemon cooler cookies,” she said. “The reason why it was so big was everyone in my family loves lemon cooler cookies.”