Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

By Connie Gerow, 4-H Program Assistant

Annually held, the 4-H Achievement Night is a night in which 4-H members and their families come together to share the recognition for clubs and individuals and to engage families in a fun night. Salmon River Central School in Fort Covington was the site for the Friday, November 7th, 2014 Achievement Night event.

After recreation of swimming and open gym, eighty-five 4-H youth and families had the opportunity to observe a Karate demonstration from the Malone Zen Do Kai Club. After a brief warm up, the Karate club members presented a variety of sparring events that included kicks, punches and blocks, each of which requires concentration and strict attention. In addition, another individual had a brick that was broken on his abdomen with a hammer while lying on a bed of nails. Mr. Andre Secore, a club contact, explained that many skills are learned, one of which is respect - whether it be from bowing or standing still or waiting for the next command.

In addition to Karate, a Cyber-Safety presentation was given to adults and youth by NYSP Investigator, Rob Marciniak. Marciniak stressed to the adults the necessity to teach cyber safety to their children; he provided examples of several cyber scams and encouraged ways to protect yourself from internet fraud. In his presentation to the youth, Marciniak shared several reasons for not giving out personal information and cautioned youth about information that would be coming across their screen that would make them feel uncomfortable.

NYSP Investigator Rob Marciniak presented on cyber safety.

The evening concluded with awards given out to clubs for community service and individual recognitions. Community service award winners were as follows: Bronze Award, Chateaugay Adventurers 4-H Club (Leaders: Tammy and Ted Dumont): Gold Award, Back-Flash (Leader – Mary Craig); and Emerald Award, Bangor Rangers (Leader – Cindy Clark).

The Junior 4-H Member of the year was given to Katrina Oakes, a member of the Bombay Wildcats and daughter of Gerald and Korin Oakes of Bombay. Two individuals were selected to receive the Courage, Caring and Commitment (CCC) award. This year's CCC recipients were as follows: Kayla Tuttle, a longtime member of Bangor Rangers and the daughter of Fred and Gwen Tuttle of Malone; Joshua Godbout, also a member of Bangor Rangers and son of Edward and Joyce Godbout of Burke. Each recipient received a hooded sweatshirt with their award and name embroidered on it.

For more information about how one can become involved in 4-H, one may call the Franklin County Cornell Cooperative Extension at 518-483-7403.