RBC | Rio Blanco County 4-H members have been hard at work selecting their livestock and working on their indoor projects. Members have also been participating in leadership activities across the state and beyond. Here are a few things Rio Blanco County 4-H is up to.
Blake Smith (left) and Samuel Merz practice meat judging skills. | COURTESY PHOTO
Livestock Judging Update
The Rio Blanco County Livestock Judging Team will be going to their next contest in Akron, Colorado, on April 14-16. We know the hard work and focus both the kids and their leaders have to put forth in order to compete in these contests around the state. We would like to wish them all good luck!
MEAT Judging
This year Rio Blanco County 4-H has a meat judging team for the first time in a very long time. This group of pioneering 4-H members has been practicing their meat-judging skills for the past two months. Two team members traveled to Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, over spring break to participate in the annual Spring Invitational.
(From left) Sophia Moody, Dawn Arnold, Joslin Spieth, Brook Arnold, Samuel Merz, Johnny Rust, Hayden Garcia, Ethan Summers, 4-H agent Tonya Merz and Jill Ward attended the District 9 retreat. | COURTESY PHOTO
Northwest Colorado District 9 Retreat
Nine 4-H members from RBC traveled to Glenwood Springs for the annual District 9 Retreat. Members developed their leadership skills, heard from keynote speakers on various topics, and had fun with various STEM activities. The group also participated in a large community service project making tie blankets for cats and denim chew toys for dogs in anmal shelters. These items were donated to shelters across Northwestern Colorado.
4-H’rs across the county participated Meat Quality Assurance training either for the first time or as an update to their training. | COURTESY PHOTO
Meat Quality Assurance
4-H members across Rio Blanco County participated in Meat Quality Assurance (MQA) training either for the first time or as an update to their training. This training educates members in proper livestock feeding, identification, and animal welfare techniques. Our RBC 4-H program utilizes an educational trailer that travels around the state. We present MQA as a scavenger hunt format with hands-on activities at each station. After the 4-H member has participated in each station and completed their scavenger hunt sheet they review their answers with the RBC 4-H Agent or 4-H Livestock leader. 4-H members participate in this training at least twice during their 4-H career and put their skills into practice when raising their livestock for the Rio Blanco County Fair Junior Livestock Sale.
Many 4-H members turned out to help stuff Easter eggs for the Meeker Lions Club egg hunt. | COURTESY PHOTO
Egg Stuffing
On Monday, April 3, many of our 4-H Members came to help stuff Easter eggs for the Lion’s Club and their annual Easter egg hunt for our Meeker community. We would like to extend a special thank you to the Lion’s Club for their continued support of the community and the 4-H program.
We also want to thank and express our appreciation for the time these kids took to help in this fundraiser and showing their 4-H pride in having “Helping Hands to Larger Service.”
Special to the Herald Times
