TIFTON — The Tift County 4-H members participated in many events over the summer, from trips and movie nights to the annual Clover Jam conference and 4-H Cloverleaf 4-H Summer Camp.

Here’s the break down on what they’ve been up to over the summer.

Clover Jam

4-H members in Southwest Georgia attended the 3rd Annual Southwest District 4-H Clover Jam conference held at Camp J.D. Tygart in Berrien County on April 28-29.  

Participating youth took classes on outdoor cooking, team building, healthy living, community service, and archery.

These classes were co-taught by high school 4-H members and 4-H leaders in the district. While there, youth and adults also participated in a movie under the stars and pool time.

In addition to the classes, the 105 participants engaged in a friendly tribal competition.

Clover Jam was co-chaired by Ashley Carroll, Tift County 4-H agent, Megan Powell, Lanier County 4-H agent and Jazmin Thomas, Dougherty County 4-H agent.

Tift County was represented at the event by 4-Hers Haley Brannen, Lauren Brey, Lanae Castleberry, Philycia Hamilton, Melvin Hines II, Wyatt Irwin, Savannah Johnson, Ana Lupo, Kay Bailey Robinson, Charlee Anne Walls, Molly Wells, Donriquez Wilson, La’Khia Wilson and Anna Windmoller.

Tift County was also represented by adult and teen leaders: Ashley Carroll, Alexis Floyd, Sydney Pridgon and Dana Wells. This event was sponsored by many organizations in Georgia’s Southwest District: Curtis Packing Company, National Wild Turkey Federation, Pit-Stop BBQ, Hot Dog King, Sellers Tile, Publix, Golden Corral, Lays, UGA Tifton, Harveys, Walk Georgia, Firehouse Subs, Hilton Garden Inn, Waffle House and Longhorn.

All American Fun Park Reward Trip

On May 22, Tift County took a reward trip to the All American Fun Park in Albany.

The group consisted  of 4-H’ers who had been actively involved in 4-H through programs like Project Achievement, Shooting Sports, judging teams and livestock showing.

Twenty-one 4-Hers attended as well as Justin Hand, Ashley Carroll and Dalton Bowie.

Middle School Movie Night

Tift County hosted a 4-H Middle School Movie Night and was joined by Lanier County 4-H on May 24.

More than 20 youth were in attendance.

Tift County and Lanier County teen leaders facilitated team building activities for the 4-H’ers. Everyone enjoyed popcorn, pizza and movies.

The Tift County 4-H would like to thank Dana Wells, Seth Jones, Lydia Connell, Ashley Carroll, Dalton Bowie and Alexis Floyd from Tift County, as well as Megan Powell and Madison Hunt from Lanier County.

Southwest District

Winners’ Workshop

Dana Wells (dog care and training), Mia Savelli (performing arts – general) and Liz Pridgon (fruits, vegetables and nuts) won 1st place at District Project Achievement back in February.

They are now preparing for the state competition.

Winners’ Workshop is a district event hosted by the Decatur County Extension team. Wells, Saveloy, Pridgon, Carroll and Bowie attended this event on May 29.

The full day workshop allows 4-H’ers to practice their demonstrations, complete interviews, enjoy lunch during an etiquette class, participate in community service, and go on industry tours in Bainbridge.

This helps 4-H’ers learn about how the state competition operate and gives them valuable feedback on their performances.

Cloverleaf 4-H Summer Camp

Forty-nine youth and leaders from Tift County attended Cloverleaf 4-H Summer Camp at Rock Eagle 4-H Center on June 18-22.

Cloverleaf age is 5th and 6th graders.

4-H camp helps to teach youth independence and allows them to have fun while learning.

While at Rock Eagle, 4-H’ers got to participate in many classes including canoeing, lake ecology, forestry, archery, Health is Our Pledge (HOP) and zip lining.

The Tift County boys and girls’ cabin won the Thunderbird on the first and second nights at camp. This means that they had the cleanest cabins.

The Rock Eagle camp counselors provide great leadership and interact with the kids to make it an awesome experience for everyone involved.

Tift County would like to thank Seth Jones, Dana Wells and Sydney Pridgon for serving as teen leaders for the week.

State 4-H Council

State 4-H Council is the constitutional meeting of the Georgia 4-H Council and the election of Georgia 4-H State Officers. This event is open to rising 9th-12th grade 4-H members.

This annual meeting hosts multiple events, competitions and trainings throughout the weekend for youth and adults.

Ja’Mi Barnes, Pashen Barthell, Jordan Daniels, Seth Jones, Meredith Morgan, Liz Pridgon, Sydney Pridgon, Amare Woods and Scott Carlson attended from Tift County.

They served as voting delegates and competed in the Iron Clover competition. Tift County 4-H’er Jordan Daniels was elected on to the State 4-H Board of Directors as a state representative

4-H Summer Fun Days

More than 30 4-H’ers from Tift, Lanier and Lowndes counties came together to learn and have fun during Summer Fun Days June 26-28.

Each day focused on a different subject.

On June 26, 4-H’ers learned about food and knife safety, practiced proper hand washing techniques, measured solids and liquids correctly and learned about nutrition. They also made snacks like peanut butter cookie dough bites, fruit and yogurt parfaits, berry popsicles, trail mix, and English muffin pizzas.

The Tift County 4-H would like to thank Rachel Hubbard, Lanier County Family and Consumer Sciences agent, for her expertise and teaching during the event.

On June 27, 4-H’ers were able to compete in STEM challenges, do physical and chemical change experiments, play in the Youth IMPACT Center activity area and learn about live honeybees.

The Tift County 4-H would like to thank the Youth IMPACT Center for allowing them to host STEM Day there and Kim Kester, Lanier County Agriculture and Natural Resources agent, for bringing her bees and teaching about their importance.

On June 28, 4-H’ers were able to learn about water and the environment, see the difference between adhesion and cohesion with water, play outside water olympics, and enjoy a slip-n-slide.

Other teachers throughout the event include Ashley Carroll, Tift County 4-H, Megan Powell, Lanier County 4-H, Lynn Hall and Emily Teatro, Lowndes County 4-H.

Senior 4-H Summer Camp

Pashen Barthell, Shelby Braswell, Lydia Connell, Seth Jones, Liz Pridgon, Sydney Pridgon and Dana Wells attended Senior 4-H Summer Camp during July 2-6 at Rock Eagle 4-H Center.

Senior 4-H’ers are 9th – 12th graders.

During Senior 4-H Camp, 4-H’ers attended an “All American Picnic,” viewed fireworks, competed in a sports tournament, visited the University of Georgia in Athens, took a variety of classes taught by UGA professors and Georgia 4-H camp counselors and had a meal in one of UGA’s dining halls.

Junior 4-H Summer Camp

Fourteen members from Tift County attended Junior 4-H Summer Camp at Fortson 4-H Center July 9-13. Junior 4-H’ers are 7th and 8th graders.

Lauren Brey, Maggie Harris, Kiersten Huggins, Chris Hutchens, Katie Keith, James Butler Langley, Damieyounah Marshall, Blaine Mitchell, Meredith Morgan, Janie Ragsdale, Catherine Roach, Lilly Roach, Hunter Taylor, Amare Woods and Justin Hand represented Tift County.  

The campers visited the World of Coke, Georgia Aquarium and Stone Mountain.

4-H’ers also got to take classes such as farm to fork, herpetology, canoeing, zip lining, and climbing wall.

State Dairy Quiz Bowl

Tift County 4-Her’s Dana Wells, Sydney Pridgon, Liz Pridgon, Seth Jones, Maggie Harris, Macy Hill, Colin Williamson and Amare Woods competed in the Georgia 4-H State Dairy Quiz Bowl competition on June 1 in Athens. The team’s coach was Justin Hand.

Livestock Judging Camp

Tift County 4-H’ers Chandler Thompson, Colin Williamson, Matthew Layfeild and Lauren Grace Godwin attended UGA’s Livestock Judging Camp in Athens.

During this event, campers learned about various ways to judge livestock and enjoyed their time around Athens.