HUDSON, N.Y. — Lilly Keller and Brendan Ooms have been chosen to receive the 2020 Outstanding 4-H Member Award for the 4-H Club Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties.
The Outstanding 4-H Member Award is given to 4-H members who are at least 16 years old and are selected on a basis of number of years in 4-H, quality and variety of project work, involvement in county and community service activities, as well as completion of project records. This award is sponsored by the Columbia County Agricultural Society and the Fortnightly Club of Catskill.
Lilly is the daughter of Paul and Joanne Keller. They live in the Town of Kinderhook. Lilly graduated from Ichabod Crane High School and currently attends Hudson Valley Community College. She has been a 4-H member for ten years. Although Lilly was a member of a 4-H club early on she spent most of her years as an independent 4-H member. Lilly has also been a member of the 4-H Advisory Committee and the 4-H Dairy Cattle Project Work Group for a number of years.
Lilly has enjoyed learning and participating in many 4-H projects over the years, including dairy cattle, arts and crafts, and foods and nutrition. Along with those projects she found time to help with community service projects and participate in 4-H Dairy Bowl.
The dairy cattle project has been Lilly’s favorite. She enjoyed working with the animals and forming a strong bond with the ones she took to the show ring. She has gained a sense of accomplishment and pride when she and her animal can work as a team. Lilly enjoyed learning about the dairy cow and particularly enjoyed going on dairy judging trips where she and other 4-H members would travel to farms to evaluate a string of four dairy cows to determine which offered the best dairy qualities. Not only did she learn a lot but, like most time spent in a vehicle by a group of teens, she had a lot of fun bonding and sharing lots of laughs.
While a member of a 4-H club Lilly participated in a number of community service projects. Two particular projects are remembered as favorites. Making care packages for homeless shelters and our service members is one. The other they called “Cupcakes for Cancer”. The 4-H club members made and sold cupcakes with the proceeds being donated to cancer research. They were even able to get Kohl’s to match their donation!
When asked about the impact of 4-H Lilly shared that, “it has helped me overcome some of my shyness and become more outgoing….stepping out of my shell”.
Brendan is the son of Tim and Kristine Ooms. They live outside of Valatie. Brendan graduated from Chatham High School and has been a member of 4-H for eleven years as a member of the Farm Friends 4-H Club.
Brendan enjoy a wide range of 4-H projects from animal science to horticulture to foods and nutrition and arts and crafts. Of all of those projects his favorites were those in animal science – dairy cattle, swine and sheep. He really enjoyed the animal projects because he like learning each animal’s personality and figuring out how to work with them so they would show to their full potential.
He enjoyed the many of hours of time it took to prepare his project animals for the show ring – teaching them, caring for them, and learning about them. Of the three animal species he showed Brendan most enjoyed the swine. They are very smart animals and because they are not halter led in the show ring you never know what they will do. It takes a lot of work and effort to gain their trust! And finally, Brendan’s most favorite 4-H activity was showing his animal projects at the fair.
Brendan was able to participate in a number of statewide trips including Animal Crackers at Cornell University, Beginning Junior Dairy Leader Program and Junior Dairy Leader Program.
Looking back, Brendan feels that his years as a 4-H member have influenced and changed him. He shares that, “I learned patience and resilience, the value of hard work, the importance of responsibility….how to get along with others”.
He concluded by saying, “As I move on in life, I will remember the memories from 4-H, the people who helped make all this possible, I will remember the lessons learned.”
Brendan and Lilly are examples of how membership in a community 4-H club can lead to personal growth and development that prepares youth to be able to participate fully in their communities and careers.
Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities. The programs provided by this organization are partially funded by monies received from the Counties of Columbia and Greene.
4-H is New York’s only youth development program directly connected to the technological advances and latest research at Cornell University. 4-H participants learn leadership, citizenship and life skills through hands-on projects in three primary program areas: science and technology; healthy living; and citizenship. To find out more about 4-H programs in Columbia and Greene Counties contact us at 518-828-3346 or Columbiagreene@cornell.edu or visit our website, www.ccecolumbiagreene.org .
–Linda Tripp, 4-H Issue leader
Cornell Cooperative Extension | Columbia and Greene Counties
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