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Volume
13, Number 2, Fall 2002
4-H
Centennial Ambassadors help Michigan celebrate 100 years
of 4-H!
By Abbey Warren
 Nearly
130 4-H youth and volunteers came together as Michigan 4-H
Centennial Ambassadors to help 4-H celebrate its 100th birthday
this year. The ambassadors were required to staff two state
celebration events and to help plan and implement three
local, county or regional events.
At the 4-H Family Reunion in May, ambassadors directed activities
such as kayaking, mural painting and the 4-H fun farm.
For
4-H Exploration Days, ambassadors led 4-H members in singing
“Happy Birthday” to 4-H at the Big Birthday
Bash.
The
4-H Centennial Ice Cream Social was an afternoon of eating
ice cream and birthday cake, coloring, singing and face
painting with the ambassadors in the 4-H Children’s
Garden at Michigan State University.
In September,
they were essential at the 4-H Centennial Gala at the Michigan
Historical Museum. Ambassadors hosted the 4-H action centers
located throughout the three floors of the museum and assisted
with the induction of the inaugural class of the Emerald
Clover Society (also called the 4-H Centennial Alumni).
The
4-H Centennial Tailgate provided another fun opportunity
for the ambassadors to gather in the 4-H Children’s
Garden in honor of 4-H and to cheer on the MSU football
team.
In
addition to helping at state events, the 4-H Centennial
Ambassadors were busy as members of regional ambassador
teams, and some ambassadors even started 4-H centennial
teams in their counties.
Each
of the six regional 4-H centennial ambassador teams received
a $500 grant for their service projects they organized as
gifts to communities for the national 4-H centennial. The
Michigan 4-H Foundation made these grants from funds provided
by the Land O’ Lakes Foundation. Regional 4-H centennial
ambassador team projects included:
West Central Region
Ambassadors
collected, organized and delivered 100 each of children’s
items such as crayons, markers, games and books to donate
to the DeVos Children’s Hospital of Grand Rapids.
They received more than 1,000 items from the 14-county region.
The items are used by the hospital to help improve patients’
experiences.
They
also collected items for babies and young children to donate
to a youth prison where many inmates are teen parents. The
donated items will become birthday gifts for the inmates’
children.
Additionally,
the ambassadors compiled a collection of 4-H essays from
the region. Each essay tells an individual’s 4-H story.
4-H youth, parents, volunteers and alumni submitted essays.
Upper Peninsula Region
The
U.P. ambassador team hosted, taught and served as masters
of ceremonies at the U.P. Leadermete in April. They held
a U.P. Birthday Bash to celebrate 4-H’s 100th birthday
that same weekend.
The
team also hosted a food drive to help their communities
understand 4-H better and collected county 4-H histories,
photos and items for a 4-H history display to tour Upper
Peninsula counties.
Southeast
Region
Regional
ambassadors supported literacy education by tutoring young
children and providing books to 10 libraries. They also
recruited volunteers to expand the tutoring and book distributions
in the future.
North Region
Ambassadors
in the North Region built a parade float to promote 4-H
activities and to recruit members and volunteers at fairs
and other 4-H events.
East
Central Region
The
East Central Region ambassadors created a traveling 4-H
history display board for local and state events. The goal
was to inform people of the vast range of experiences and
opportunities that 4-H has to offer, as well as promoting
the 100th birthday of 4-H.
Abbey
Warren is the communications program manager for the Michigan
4-H Foundation.
Find
out about the Southwest Region’s project!
Copyright
© 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Michigan State University
Last Updated: January 10, 2005
Last Reviewed:
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Guide
to Michigan 4-H
