CALGARY -- Youngsters will still learn leadership skills and the sheep and cattle they raised will still hit the market despite the pandemic preventing longstanding 4-H traditions.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bow Valley Beef and Multi 4-H Club is hosting a virtual show and sale on June 7 at 2 p.m. where members will still demonstrate showmanship by leading their livestock on video while buyers can still place bids online.
“Our club has been operating for 67 years and even though this year has unfolded in ways no one could have predicted, our club is still here to bring you the same quality of beef and lamb a it has in past years,” said club president Logan Jamieson.
Prior to the show and sale the club posted an online catalogue of its members and their livestock so buyers could make early bids. Some steers were already sold before the show and sale took place.
Community-based clubs across the country have had to adapt their programs due to the physical distancing restrictions in place to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus.
“This is certainly not how any of us could foresee how our world or 4-H would look when our year began in October,” said Neil Jamieson, general leader of the Bow Valley club.
“Many great lessons were learned this year, and yes there are positives; such as how we change and adapt to what has been placed before us.”
4-H has been around for more than a century in Canada, with more than 24,000 members between the ages of six and 25 learning responsibility, leadership and caring by following the motto “Learn to do by doing."
