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4-H County Council, clubs elect new officers for year ahead

The month of November is a wonderful time to reflect on things we have to be thankful for. This year, I am so thankful for our La Plata County 4-H members, volunteers and parents and all they do to make our youth and adult partnerships strong and successful.

Over the last month, our 4-H clubs have elected their new officer teams to run club meetings and activities. Being a club officer is a big responsibility and an honor to represent the club for the year. Our officers learn leadership skills, social skills and parliamentary procedure. This not only allows them to run a productive and timely meeting but gives them skills they will use well beyond their 4-H careers.

Our 4-H County Council, which oversees the entire La Plata County 4-H program, also elected new officers last month. We have a very strong group of members that I am so excited to work with this year.

Rachel Sanburg is our council president and a member of the Super Shooters 4-H Club. Rachel has been in 4-H for seven years and has a passion for raising goats. Rachel’s responsibilities will include creating agendas, running the council meeting and organizing countywide events. Ellie Casias, a member of Rocky Mountain Rough Riders 4-H Club, is our council secretary. Ellie is a very skilled archer and has been in 4-H for four years. Her responsibilities will include taking meeting notes, distributing them in our monthly newsletter and general correspondence. Our council treasurer is Lanston Howard, a five-year member of the Pine River 4-H Club, and a skilled shooting sports member. Lanston will be responsible for the council budget and banking. His sister, Tanley Howard, will be the council parliamentarian. Tanley is also a member of Pine River 4-H Club and started her seventh year in 4-H. Tanley has many talents and is a published author. Tanley will be our parliamentary procedure expert and will make sure our council meetings run properly. Over the course of the next 11 months, this council will be planning, organizing and running many large countywide leadership events. This next year will be extra challenging for our council officer team because we will be planning virtual events in the place of many in-person events that we typically have. Our biggest challenge is to make them fun for our members who are already maxed out on virtual activities.

I am so thankful to each of these members for taking on these leadership roles, and I look forward to working with them throughout the year as we make our best even better.

Enrollment for our 2020-21 4-H year is open now through April 1. Throughout this next year, we will continue our purpose to help youths acquire knowledge, develop life skills and form attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive members of society.

If you are interested in joining as a 4-H volunteer or member, contact me at the La Plata County Extension Office.

Angela Fountain is the La Plata County 4-H youth development agent. Reach her at angela.fountain@co.laplata.co.us or 382-6460.

Angela Fountain