Residents of St. Ann Urged to Support 4-H Movement

Rudolph Bailey, Chairman for the St. Ann 4-H Advisory Council, is appealing to the citizens of the parish to support the 4-H movement, as the organization continued to provide services for the development of St. Ann and the country on the whole.
“4-H in the parish is doing well but I believe that we can do a lot more to bring back some light to the organization, so that people can become actively involved in the movement,” Mr. Bailey told JIS News.
He mentioned that the St.Ann 4-H placed eighth at the National Achievement Day Competition, which was held at the Denbigh Agricultural Showground in March of this year, noting that the placement was a vast improvement over the number 13 position of last year.
“We started off from the parish level and persons could see the innovative ideas coming out of the different clubs. The day was a success and probably one of the best that we have had in a long while,” he said.
He had special commendation for the club at the Marcus Garvey Technical High School, noting that the clubbities were able to maintain their title as champions in the Environmental Challenge Competition, and they were voted top achievers at the national level.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bailey informed that plans were being put in place to rehabilitate the training centre at Thatchfield and work was being done on the farm at the site. “The centre at Thatchfield has not been in operation for some time now and so we are working to develop the site so that things can go on stream again,” he told JIS News.
“We are putting in some permanent and semi-permanent crops, also some cash crops to try and make some money for the 4-H in the parish,” he said further.
Encouraging more young people to get involved in the 4-H, he said the movement provided a number of opportunities for personal advancement.
“We have more than enough activities to attract young people to the 4-H in the parish. We offer a course in tractor driving and this provides employment opportunities for the participants, we offer a number of other short term courses and they are designed so that the participants can benefit,” he said.
Noting that persons up to the age of 23 could become 4-H members, Mr. Bailey said that the programme was not just for the schools and urged community members to start their own 4-H clubs and make a contribution to the development of the parish.