Rivers 4H beef club report

Nathan Hillis Rivers 4H

This week I have been engaged with thought provoking conversations. Has the younger generation lost the work ethic we so valued? And, if so, why? Perhaps we should be more realistic about the value of unrelenting hard work. Several of the proposals for marriage that I received were based on my ability to work hard! Yup, really that romantic! I believe that youth today will work devotedly when they have a purpose. The work (chores) assigned to me when I was a youth, benifted the family, the farm. The work was essential for the whole. And we knew that hard work brought results. We expected to own a vehicle, a home. It wasn’t unusual to expect to take vacations and toys. Some of these expectations are almost unrealistic today, simply because of the economy and the cost od living. This does feel like ‘old’ thinking.

From last weeks front page

Well, older is a given, that’s calendar talk, but old is often a mindset. I have truly appreciated the gentle January we have just experienced. The ‘old’ part of me remembered the winter that the temperature never went about 0 degrees- (old temperature!! )- day or night. My father was away, perhaps at university, perhaps teaching ( we lived near Graysville and his first full teaching year was at McCreary, so he made it home most weekends). As a farming family we had switched from cattle to sheep, easier for a young person to handle, keeping four or five Jersey cows for milk production. We had tried chickens, pigs, Black Angus cattle, and stuck with the sheep for the longest. It was the chores that I recall distinctly. The water was already in the barn, it required filling troughs, not pail hauling it. The square bales were still stacked outside and needed to be lugged and hauled through slathers of snow. It was the warmth of the barn that was significant. From out of the cold, cold so deep it stiffened the hair in the nasal passage, into the moist atmosphere and safety of the barn. The noise upon entering was a cacophony of sheep baaing, cows looing and the barn cats mewling. Each creature was eager to be fed and

The past was not always the good old days. There were my good old days for, more than surviving, I thrived. Thankfully I have learned to embrace change. Move the furniture, change my coffee brand, present a new dish – knowing that I may refuse it!introduce new thoughts. That’s not ‘old’ thinking. I aim to be an old person, not an old thinking person!

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From last weeks front page

The Rivers and District 4H Beef Club kicked off the 2022-2023 year on Dec. 11 at HTA Charolais. The members all brought their market steers to get a beginning weight for their projects. When we wrapped that up, we jumped into our reorganization meeting. The meeting was called to order, we recited our 4H pledge and moto, welcomed new members and held our club election. We have Kara's Munz as President, Austyn PetersVice President, Shayden Manz-Secretary, Tarron Basaraba-Treasurer and myself, Nathan Hillis as Club Reporter. When we adjourned the meeting, we had a fun sock exchange game to get into the Christmas spirit!

On Jan. 15, we held our 2nd meeting at the Riverdale Rec. Complex. We had to guess what the weight of our steers will

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