Clemson Extension Upstate District

Happenings With Union County 4-H – Mark Cathcart

New Year! New Goals! New Clubs! New People!

The new year brings the opportunity to get things back on schedule here in Union County. The Union County Agricultural Fair consumes most of October and Thanksgiving and Christmas family time suspends our regular meeting schedules.  January is a time to get back to the task at hand, positive youth development. With a list of clubs provided by Union 4-H such as Trail Blazers, Shooting Sports (archery/BB gun), Baking Buddies, Poultry, Forged In 4-H, and a new Fishing club, staying involved, engaged, and busy is easy to do. We do our best to provide various types of clubs to reach the interest of as many youths as possible in our county.

Forged In 4-H hit the ground running in 2024! Forged In 4-H is a blacksmithing club that teaches the trade and art of blacksmithing. It is unique to Union, as it is the only program of its kind offered in South Carolina. The club was invited to set up a booth January 4th and 5th at the Grand American held in Orangeburg, SC. The Grand American is the largest wild racoon hunt in the southeast and one of the largest in the country. Over a two-day period 10,000-20,000 people will attend this event each year. Contestants come from as far away as South Dakota and Texas. Along with the blacksmithing demonstrations, we took our shooting trailer to promote 4-H Shooting Sports and raise money to support the clubs. 4-H’ers maned the booth, did demonstrations, assisted shooters, and interacted with people to promote 4-H on a national level!

A new thing coming in 2024 is the 4-H Fishing Club. A spinoff of the popularity of 4-H fishing day camp, the fishing club will meet monthly to learn about fishing gear, fishing techniques, safety, natural resources conservation, and many other things. The plan is to also meet at some fisheries to put learned skills into practice and possibly a fieldtrip to a fish hatchery.  Stay tuned to “Union County SC 4-H” Facebook page for future catch pictures.

The Union County Agricultural Fair received an agricultural award from the South Carolina Association of Fairs at the Georgia/SC Fair Association Conference. The award recognized the partnership between Union Chapter of FFA and Union County 4-H in their efforts to establish a rabbit project and show at the Union County Agricultural Fair. Through this partnership FFA/4-H Members and the special needs class at Union County High School were able to show their rabbits that they raised through the project. This has been a great project and demonstrates the things that can be accomplished when organizations work together for a common goal, opportunity, and positive youth development!

Forged In 4-H in Union County

Forged In 4-H

Mark Cathcart

Forged in 4-H classroom
Union County, Forged In 4-H classroom time.

Being a 4-H agent is the most rewarding, frustrating, difficult, and easiest job I have ever had.  4-H agents do everything at once while everyone thinks you are doing nothing or just playing with kids.  On top of that, we must figure out how to pay for it all. It is often difficult to obtain proper funding to conduct programs at the desired level. Every now and then an opportunity comes along that can help with funding our programs.  The Extension Innovation Award is one of these opportunities.

As a blacksmith, I have a desire to pass the love of this trade on to a younger generation. The blacksmithing “tools of the trade” are always two things, heavy and expensive.  With that in mind, I piloted a blacksmithing program with a homeschool group with “makeshift” equipment and some of my own personal tools to see what would happen.  The enthusiasm was overwhelming!  At this point I realized that with a dedicated set of equipment their learning curve would steepen, and the love of this trade would deepen.  Now I had a new problem, MONEY.  After receiving the Extension Innovation Award, I was able to leverage the City of Union to give some more money to buy the proper equipment.  This equipment has allowed me to accelerate the home school group’s knowledge and technique as well as conduct two summer day camps.  We even gave the program a name, “Forged In 4-H”.

“Forged In 4-H” is designed to teach metallurgy and blacksmithing skills, as well as provide school enrichment through demonstrations, in a safe manner, with the use of chemistry, geometry, physics, math, and hands on projects. This program and equipment are being used to teach 4-H youth of all ages and any student through school enrichment including homeschool groups. The equipment will be housed in Union County, where the principal teaching location will be. The equipment will be kept mobile so that it can be moved to any county in the state to conduct short term projects, demonstrations, day camps, and school enrichment.

The use of hands-on learning techniques will allow students to experience and learn the trade of blacksmithing. With a resurgence of interest in blacksmithing, this is a need that begs to be met. This program is innovative for several reasons. First, we are leading the way in offering blacksmithing in 4-H. Only a few counties in the nation offer a 4-H program similar to this one. This may be due to lack of agents and volunteers who do not have the knowledge or funding. The interest in just my county has been overwhelming. Second, blacksmithing is an ancient art, but we will be teaching it in a new, modern, and exciting way. We will be teaching the life skills of blacksmithing to the younger generation, instilling an appreciation for an ancient art form, and preserving skills that we do not need to lose as a society. Third, we will be providing hands on knowledge and skills in a field that may become a career for some 4-H’ers. Forging, welding, metal working, and fabricating are not going away any time soon. In a world filled with technology, all too often we do not teach youth how to make something real and tangible. With young people spending an exorbitant amount of time on computers and cell phones, real world skills fall to the wayside. Putting simple math and geometry skills to work, seeing chemistry and physics in action, and developing simple hand eye coordination can easily be overlooked.

As youth development agents, it is our job to help young people choose a life path. If we can help these 4-H’ers become productive citizens, then we have done our job.

forging studentforging students workingforging students workinghot forge

Upcoming Events in Union SC

UPCOMING PROGRAMS & EVENTS
In Union County SC
September 9-10, 2022: Carolina Smoke-N-Grass Festival(SCBA)
Union County Fairgrounds, Union SC
September 17, 2022: 20th Annual Union County Farm Show
Union County Fairgrounds, Union SC
9:00am to 3:30pm  **Free Admission**
September 16-18, 2022: Uniquely Union Festival
Downtown Union SC
Starts 4:00pm on the 16th
Sept. 29-Oct.1, 2022: Upstate Livestock Show
Union County Fairgrounds, Union SC
October 18-22, 2022: Union County Agricultural Fair
Union County Fairgrounds, Union SC
4-H Club Meeting Schedule:
Woodsrunners —    1st Thursday of the month @ 7pm
Shooting Sports —  2nd Thursday (BB) of the month @ 7pm
4th Thursday (archery) of the month @ 7pm
Poultry Club —         3rd Thursday of the month @ 7pm
Baking Buddies —   2nd Tuesday of the month @ 3:30 pm
Recycling Club —     4th Tuesday of the month @ 3:30 pm
Union County FCL Club Schedule:
(Union County Extension Office meeting room.)
Twisted Stitches Crochet – 1st and 3rd Monday of the month @ 9:30amPatchwork Quilters – Every Wednesday of the month @ 9:00am

It’s An Exciting Time For 4-H

It’s An Exciting Time For 4-H

Mark Cathcart
4-H Youth Development Agent
     It is time for Union County 4-H to get back to in person meeting.  It has not happened in a while and 4-H has found different methods of providing programming. However, nothing replaces in-person meetings and activities.  With the new year, comes new opportunities for 4-H to be a positive influence on the children and youth in our community.
     As we begin to build speed on the familiar road of 4-H clubs and projects, some things will look the same.  Because of their past success and popularity, clubs like Shooting Sports, Baking Buddies, Recycling Club, and Woodsrunners are back to monthly meetings.  Other things will look different as we constantly strive to keep young people interested and engaged.
     School enrichment is another aspect of 4-H that is getting back on track.  School enrichment is in-class support and reinforcement of lessons and school standards already being taught.  Classroom visits usually consist of a lesson, a demonstration, and an activity.  Currently, 4-H offers school enrichment in embryology, electricity, erosion & environmental protection, rocket science, and will soon have lessons on natural resources & wildlife.  Teachers can contact the Union County Clemson Extension office to set up a lesson and schedule a time.
     If you are interested in becoming a 4-H member, contact the Union County Extension office for information and instruction on how to do that.  Also, if you are an adult with a special interest or knowledge on a particular topic and would like to become a 4-H volunteer, please feel free to contact us.  This is a great way to be a positive influence on the young people of Union County. Contact us at 864-427-6259.
Club Meeting Schedule:
Woodsrunners — 1st Thursday @ 7pm
Shooting Sports — 2nd Thursday (BB) and 4th Thursday (archery) @ 7pm
Poultry Club — 3rd Thursday @ 7pm
Baking Buddies — 2nd Tuesday @ 3:30 pm
Recycling Club — 4th Tuesday @ 3:30 pm