A Year In 4H: Achievement Day for the Linden 4H Club

Good enough to eat!

I made it! I made it to Achievement Day, the club-level judging of members' projects that ensures they have completed all the requirements for their year and level. Next is judging at the Cumberland County Exhibition at the end of August, where the real competition begins.
What a great experience -- and the whole point in this year in 4H: to see from the inside what this organization is all about.
After nine months in 4H, I am in awe of this club and these young people and their leaders, as well as their parents and grandparents. 4H is quite the commitment but as I took photos at the barn, where the livestock projects (horse, beef, chicken and rabbit) were being judged, and in the hall where the project displays (like Foods, Cake Decorating, Welding and Outdoors were set up), I admired not only the quality of the work but also the skills being developed.
I managed to learn a skill, the basics in cake decorating, and I'm pretty proud of my appropriately themed cake, which Robbie (a Cloverbud who now "graduates" to being a Junior member next year) won in the annual cake auction that raises funds for the club.
But even more exciting? I love my official 4H "completion gift"! So generous of the club to include me, since really, I ran around taking pictures and interviewing people and generally getting in the way and asking a lot of questions! Now I can continue to do that in the proper gear.