4h Welding Projects

Local youth win big at 4-H on Parade

May 27 was a good day for the Bow Valley Beef and Multi 4-H club.

That was the day three of the club�s junior members earned five of a possible six banners for their sheep projects at 4-H on Parade, Canada�s largest gathering of clubs and members from the agricultural-based youth organization, held at the Calgary Stampede grounds.

Twelve-year-old Camila Schriber earned Grand Champion Junior Judging and Reserve Champion Junior Showmanship banners for her nearly five-month-old market lamb, Gibby, and earned $5.10 per pound during the sale.

Her sister, Emma Gingras, 10, walked away with the junior reserve champion banners for trimming and judging for her $4.90 per-pound-earning lamb, Patty.

Meanwhile, Amy Saretsky, 10, won the Grand Champion Junior Trimming banner for her efforts and earned $5.40 per pound, more than $2 per pound more than the market standard, for her lamb, Sisi, in her first year in the club.

�I was really happy because I didn�t think Bow Valley would take home five of the six banners,� said Schriber. She attributed the club�s success to many hours of practice and teamwork.

The girls� lamb projects began in March, after the January-born lambs, hand-picked by the girls for their potential, were picked up and brought home.

Between morning and afternoon chores, which consisted of feeding, watering, walking and grooming their animals, the girls dedicated about an hour every day to their lambs for the two months it took for them to reach market weight.

Along with animal husbandry, the girls received hands-on experience in choosing livestock, bookkeeping, grooming, trimming and learned other life skills.

This learning opportunity was something Saretsky�s mom, Cori, found appealing.

�It builds responsibility,� she said. �It makes (Amy) accountable. If they don�t do well, it shows.�

The sisters� mom, Jodi Gingras, who lives on a Dalemead-area acreage, agreed.

�I thought 4-H would be a great skill-building (opportunity) for the girls,� she said. �It gives an opportunity to try lots of things.�

Both moms touted the value of the shorter commitment required to raise a lamb, when compared to the more popular beef projects.

�The lamb projects are very manageable for people with smaller places and for little girls,� said Schriber. �It fits a busy lifestyle.�

Gingras, who spent many childhood hours visiting her grandparent�s Vulcan-area farm from her hometown Calgary, added the shorter lamb season provides ample opportunity to take part in the plethora of other 4-H projects offered, including sewing, photography, welding and woodworking.

Western Producer - 4-Hers show off at Calgary event

Coleman Nixdorff of Airdrie, Alta., left, and his brother Adam, won the grand and reserve champion steers at 4-H on Parade. The two are longtime members of the Irricana 4-H multi club. Alternative 4-H projects include welding, sewing, scrapbooking and photography. This year more than 400 projects were on display at the Calgary show. | BARBARA DUCKWORTH PHOTOS

For 12-year-old Nathan Schmaltz of the Irricana 4-H multi-club, winning grand champion market lamb was special because it was his first year in the youth group.

“My friends were talking about how much fun it was so I joined,” he said after selling his prize lamb for $7 a pound to Lyle Hagel of Beiseker.

He was participating in 4-H on Parade, an event for clubs from the Calgary region held on May 27-29 in Calgary.

Schmaltz plans to use the money earned for his champion and group of three Hampshire-Suffolk crosses to pay for the lambs’ care and buy more sheep. A Grade 7 student at Beiseker, he has learned to juggle caring for lambs, attending school and playing hockey.

It was a new experience for him where he had to learn to keep records, halter break lambs and take care of them.

“It was probably the most information- filled year I have ever had,” he said.

Schmaltz grew attached to the lambs and decided to keep one to show at Summer Synergy in July.

Schmaltz was joined by fellow club members, Coleman and Adam Nixdorff of Airdrie, who showed the grand and reserve champion steers respectively.

Coleman, 15, earned $9.80 a lb. or $12,122 for his champion Black Baldie steer. The buyer was Cam Clarke Ford of Calgary.

Adam Nixdorff sold his reserve steer for $7 a lb. to the Calgary Stampede.

Cash rewards and project diversity have helped the Calgary event grow, said Rob Smith, Alberta Agriculture 4-H specialist.

There are 52 clubs in the region and 36 came to Calgary with project displays ranging from livestock and archery to welding and cake decorating.

“The life skills component has exploded,” said Smith. “It made the existing clubs realize 4-H is anything you want it to be.”

Smith said offering other projects exposes members to experts who can teach them anything from scrapbooking to ironworks.

Each year, a club raises a lamb and a steer and donates the proceeds to charity. STARS ambulance service was this year’s recipient.

The Irricana club raised the lamb, which sold for $15 a lb. to Rod Macleod of Balzac and the steer, raised by the Bow Valley club, was auctioned off at $10 a lb. to Encana Corporation.

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