- Author: Suzanne Morikawa
- Author: Nathan Chi
Towards the end of National 4-H Week this year, from October 11 to 14, our California 4-H Horticulture team competed at the 2019 National Junior Horticulture Association Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska. The event took place at the Lincoln Marriott-Cornhusker Hotel, and consisted of 9 Teams and 143 individual registered attendees.
Their coach, Dr. Terry Berke, shared photos and their team results with us. The team members qualified at the Horticulture Contest at State Field Day in June. What a short time to practice together! Big thanks and kudos to Dr. Berke for bringing together a cohesive—and winning —team! We also want to thank two of our sponsors, Dean Memorial Legacy Fund and the Farm Credit Bureau, for their support to help our team participate in this national competition.
The team participated in a variety of workshops and tours to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Lauritzen Gardens. This biological park leads the nation's conservation efforts. It houses the world's largest indoor desert and the largest indoor rainforest in North America. Convention events included contests in horticultural demonstratinos, public and extemporaneous speaking, and horticulture judging and identification. They also had a photography exhibition and evaluation of projects in environmental awareness, experimental horticulture, and marketing.
The California 4-H team finished third overall in the competition. Nathan Chi (Santa Clara County) was the first place 4-H individual! All of the other team members also placed in this national competition: Hollie Schneider (San Joaquin County)-11th, Emily Wouts (Contra Costa County) -14th, and Collin Robinson-Burmester (Yolo County) -20th.
From Nathan:
I was honored to represent the State of California as part of the 4-H State Horticulture Team at the 2019 National Junior Horticultural Association Convention in Lincoln. It was exciting for me to not only test my horticulture knowledge, but to also meet new people with similar interests and learn from experienced horticulturists on tours and workshops.
The convention is an opportunity for youth passionate about horticulture. Each year's highlight is the Horticulture Identification Contest, where we identify 100 different plant samples. We also answer 80 multiple choice questions (which can about many horticultural topics, ranging from turf to propagation) and complete a judging section, where we grade plants by quality and uniformity.
Every year, each team has a display highlighting the agricultural products of their home state. Our theme this year was citrus fruits since California is a major producer.
Dr. Berke coached our team and provided several 3-hour-long practice sessions for us throughout the summer. We also spent many hours studying on our own. I'm excited to say that our team finished 3rd in the Horticulture Identification contest and 3rd in the state display contest. I'm even more excited to say that I individually placed 1st in the Horticulture Identification contest!
- Author: Serenity Ventura O'Reilly
State Field Day was held at the University of California Davis in Davis, California the first weekend of June. It was a ton of fun and everyone should go at least once. There was so much to see and do there. I qualified to go to State Field Day because I won two gold medals at the San Diego County Art & Design Day for Fashion Revue. For State Fashion Revue, I chose to enter my retro outfit. Did you know that you can qualify to go to state if you receive a gold for presentations too?
My family drove the seven-and-a-half hours each way, but we stopped for snacks and got breakfast on the way. I didn't know how many farms there were between here and Davis. After we got to our hotel the day before, we went sightseeing. We went to one of the art museums, the California Raptor Center, and some of the gardens on campus. I loved going to the Raptor Center because we not only got to see the owls, red tailed hawks, Harris's hawks, peregrine falcons, bald eagles, and other raptors, but different types of bird's eggs, skeletons, and we found out so much about them. I wanted to go to the Underground Museum Tour in Sacramento, but we didn't have time.
On State Field Day
On the morning of State Field Day, I checked in and then went to orientation. There were two orientations for State Fashion Revue—one for families and one for the participants. I then attended four different workshops and activities while I waited for my turn to be judged: a poise workshop with pageant winners, a sewing skillathon, a Maker workshop, and a dog toy community service project. The Maker workshop was my favorite because it let me express my creativity.
Before I could be judged I had to get dressed in the outfit I made, do my hair, and put my makeup on. Then I had to line up with the other 4-H'ers in my group and head upstairs. Our families stayed downstairs while we went to judging. When we entered, the judges had us model our clothes, tell them about our outfit, and then they asked a few questions. Afterwards, I got to head over to the rest of the Field Day activities before the State Fashion Revue modeling and awards.
There were so many activities going on at Field Day. There was a welding workshop, 3-D printing booth, a fire safety booth, UC California Naturalists booth, a film festival, an entomology knowledge bowl, police dog demonstration, logo contest, food trucks, and so much more. At the fire safety booth, they taught you how to use a real fire extinguisher to extinguish a fire. You used the fire extinguisher to spray water onto a special screen that had a fake fire on it; The fake fire would get smaller as you sprayed it correctly. You could try it several times until you got it right. I really liked it because it was fun and you learned a good life skill to have in an emergency.
Time for the runway!
After I checked out all the activities I had to model on the runway for State Fashion Revue. The runway was in the middle of the quad where everyone could see me and I admit, I was a little nervous because I thought that I would mess up but in the end I did well and got a blue ribbon. Next year I am going to try for gold!
I was able to go to Davis for the State Field Day because I received a scholarship from the San Diego County volunteer management board. To earn a scholarship, you need to help out at county fundraisers (so there is money to help kids go to events), fill out a form, make a request at a board meeting (I was really sick when the board met so my mom took my paperwork, speech, and notes and the board let her present it), and give a presentation when you get back. It's really easy!
I am going to work hard and try to go back to Davis for State Field Day and I hope to see more 4-H'ers from San Diego next year.
Editor's note:
UC ANR Risk Services hosted the popular Fire Safety booth. The date for State Field Day 2020 has not been announced yet, but it will be held at UC Davis on a Saturday in late May/early June. The State Fashion Revue event page lists the 2020 service projects and categories, as well as qualification information to participate.
