Retlaw 4-H Beef Club looks back at busy 2019 and gear up for 2020

GATHERED GROUP: Members of the Retlaw Prairie 4-H Beef Club have been off to a hot start in 2020 as they continue to look forward to plenty of different events coming in the near future. ADVANCE PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY DORTHEA MILLS

By Katherine Delanoy
Club Reporter for the Retlaw 4-H Beef Club

On Saturday, Nov. 30, some of our members attended the Regional Consumer Decision Making Judging Workshop held at Vauxhall Elementary School. A variety of members from southern Alberta clubs attended the workshop. Members judged best gaming chairs, horse blankets, sunglasses, dog food and electric fences. We learned lots of new things about each one of those items.  

This year, our club decided to try a new fundraiser. We teamed up with 4-H Alberta and took part in the Vesey’s Seed fundraiser. We made a grand total of around $500 from this fundraiser. Thank you to all of the people who purchased from our club. We hope your gardens look beautiful in the spring. If you did order seeds or bulbs, they are set to arrive in early spring. We will still be selling the Meadowbrook Flower baskets in a month or two, so if you are interested, please see one of our club members.    

On Friday, Dec. 6, our club had their Christmas Banquet and Awards Night. Thirty-seven awards were given out to various members. We would like to thank all of our sponsors, parents, friends, family, leaders and members for their dedication to another good year. Greta’s Kitchen catered the beef for the event and it was delicious. Each member was given a 4-H duffel bag that should be useful in the future.  The members raised a total of $1,074 for their efforts. Special thank you to all of those people who bought cheese. The money will be put to good use by the Horse Project. 
 
Instead of a Christmas gift exchange, this year our club decided to adopt a family from the local food bank. Items were purchased, wrapped, and delivered along with food hampers to two families this year. Thank you to the Vauxhall Food Bank volunteers for all of your hard work.

Before school started back up, the beef project members got together and had their annual calf tour. It was open to any members who wanted to attend. It was a good day for everyone that ended in with pizza and swimming at the Taber Pool.

Our club’s public speaking competition will be held on Thursday, Feb. 6th at 5 p.m.  Everyone is welcome to come and watch that evening at Vauxhall Elementary School. Winners will compete at the district level on Saturday, Feb. 29th. We are always looking for judges, so if you are interested, please talk to one of our members or leaders.

Stay tuned for more information. This little rural town has lots to report. After all, we are the busiest little ghost town around.