My name is Jennie Pick and I’m the Nova Scotia YAC representative, new to YAC this year. So far I’ve been having a blast, especially at the AGM in May. I’m also on the planning committee for the National member’s conference in Toronto. For all of you attending in November it sounds like it is going to be an awesome time, so I hope you are all getting excited!

My summer has been really busy so far but it has been a blast. I returned from England in July from the W. Garfield Weston 4-H exchange. I spent 5 weeks traveling to different counties and host families, and will be hosting an exchangee from England in October. It really was the trip of a lifetime, so any of you who are interested in doing international travel, apply through your 4-H office this fall. You will meet amazing people and come back with great memories and I really encourage you all to apply.

That’s all for now, enjoy the heat!

Jennie

4-H on Prince Edward Island is really kicking into high gear now that we have reached summer. Clubs are having Achievement Days and Exhibitions will be starting soon.

I also want to wish Holly, our YAC chair, all the best with her upcoming wedding.

Matthew Tweedy
Prince Edward Island YAC Member

I just had my first 4-H show this weekend with my dairy calf. You have no idea how it feels soooo good to start off the show season with a bright sun and warm weather. Hopefully, at this time of the year, you have also started trainning your calf and decided which one you are going to take as a 4-H dairy project up to the finals at the Royal in november.

At the same time, haying is keeping everyone busing these days! But don’t forget to keep your 4-H activites important in your everyday life, it helps you to clear off your mind when you need to! Having a social life through your job or school is really important !

Have Fun this next month
Roxanne

My name is Katie Cooper and I am the Sask rep for YAC. This is my first year on the commitee and I am already excited to see what it has in store for me. I am in grade eleven and this is my twelth year in Light Horse 4-H.

As we are fairly well into spring, all you 4-Hers better be getting to work on those record books (I know i need to!) and getting your projects and aminals ready for acheivement day. I encourage everyone to take part in all of the activities your provincial 4-H boards are organizing for you this spring and hope you all have a blast!

With the Canadian 4-H Council Annual General Meeting getting closer every day your YAC members are getting together all of the information they need to learn and share ideas at the meeting. I hope all of us remembered to register!

Have a good May and enjoy your flip flop weather! Hopefully we will be able to put away our winter boots and parka’s soon.

Peace!
Katie Cooper

Thankfully there were no tears today, because that probably would have set us all off. We were all tired from our busy week in Ottawa, but you could tell from everyone’s faces that we were incredibly sad to go home.
So goodbye, farewell. I’ll miss you all. We are scattered to our corners of this country, but we’ll still be havin’ a time.
I mean, after all, we’re in 4-H.

-Sasha Baldwin

Wednesday was jam-packed from breakfast to the final banquet. Breakfast felt a bit odd knowing that we’ll be leaving tomorrow.
After breakfast we walked down to a corporate building to meet with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. They gave us all beautiful pins commemorating the occasion, before playing us an amazing Dutch film called ‘Winter in Wartime.’ It was the true story of a young boy, Michiel, who tried to help the resistance during World War II by helping a British RAF pilot, Jack, escape the German-occupied Netherlands. This movie was actually shortlisted for the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film!
After the Dutch embassy, we moved to the Canadian War Museum for lunch and subsequent exploration. The museum was fascinating, and definitely worth the visit. There was one or two intense moments for some of the delegates, but overall everyone had a great time.
When we returned to the hotel, we split into our provincial groups to prepare a presentation on “What Citizenship Means to Me,” which is harder than it sounds. These will later be presented at the final banquet.
Final committee meetings and evaluations followed, and then we were dismissed to get ready for the reception and then the final banquet.
The reception and final banquet went really well. There was a slideshow from the Capture the Spirit Committee, which garnered quite a few laughs. The provincial presentations were awesome!
Thank you’s complete, we all crammed in the elevators to change for the final dance. Unfortunately, the dance was cut short from 10-2 to 10-1, but it was still awesome. Everyone had so much fun – I don’t think anyone wanted it to end!

-Sasha Baldwin

Tuesday started with breakfast as usual, which was followed by a talk on “Opportunities on the Hill” which featured a lot of things most of us hadn’t heard of. This included Page positions for university students, and Encounters with Canada.
Committee meetings were shortly followed by free time and lunch on our own. Most of the groups headed down to the Byward Market for their free time.
We reconvened at 1 o’clock and took a bus ride over to Rideau Hall. Y’know, same old, same old.. Just kidding. Everyone loved Rideau Hall. The inside was gorgeous, but unfortunately no cameras were allowed. The grounds were just as amazing, and our freedom to capture it on film was utilized to our fullest capabilities. The first bus left with no problem, but the second was quite late coming to pick the rest of us up. This offered a great opportunity to just bask in the beautiful sunlight and absorb the quiet that surrounds Rideau Hall.
Once we finally got back to the hotel, it was just about time for dinner. Pizza! With accompanying music from Nova Scotia, naturally.
Final preparations for the debate were calm but a little tense, with the Opposition Party Leader pacing like a mad man. Eventually, our points were organized, rebuttals planned, and it was finally time for the debate.
The debate was intriguing to say the least, with some interesting arguments from the Government, and vice-versa. Mandatory Military Service seems relatively easy to fight from both sides – but when you’re actually debating, it becomes a lot more complicated.
The time flew by, and it was time for the free vote. Final numbers were: 24 in Favor …dramatic pause… and 34 Opposed. Applause, congratulations, and our first parliamentary debate was finished.

-Sasha Baldwin

It was really cool to see this years blogs from CitSem, I hope you had as many awesome experiences that I had last year in Ottawa. One cool thing that happened to me during CitSem 09′ was when I had the opportunity to meet up with my MP; he invited myself and my friend Julia to have lunch with him and guess who joined us? It was Mr.Jack Layton of the NDP party, which was pretty cool. He even showed us around his office and gave us special seats to watch the debate and a vote!

The YAC’ers have been working hard getting ready for the presentation that we will do at the 4-H AGM in Ottawa this year. I am looking forward to meeting everybody, and talking about what skills 4-H can offer members to contribute to the future of Canada.

Anywho, I should get back to studying alternative livestock in Canada. Did you know that there are wild boar and even waterbuffalo farms in Ontario? They make (some) mozzarella cheese out of waterbuffalo milk!

In 4-H Spirit,
Kim Hooey Ontario YAC Rep

Citizenship Conference
Ottawa, ON
Day Four

Monday came way too early for a lot of the delegates’ taste, as breakfast today was at 7:45.

After our breakfast and committee meetings, we had the amazing opportunity to attend a Citizenship Court Ceremony. 51 new Canadians became citizens!