Since 1909, Kentucky 4-H has aspired to “Make the Best Better.” Kentucky 4-H and the people who make it happen are dedicated to improving both educational and recognition opportunities for both 4-H members and volunteers.
The Planning Committee has worked for more than a year to plan this big event. The Kentucky 4-H Volunteer Forum is the second largest of its kind in terms of attendance. With a four year average attendance of just 725, the Kentucky Forum is larger than each of the Regional 4-H Volunteer Forums as well!
The biennial two-day 4-H Volunteer Forum was initiated in 2000; the year of the millennium. This became a great way to kick-off this new beginning in the life of Kentucky 4-H Volunteerism. The theme of this year’s Forum is “Kentucky 4-H Volunteers: Educating * Celebrating.” All told, 100 hours of educational workshops are being offered which cover the entire spectrum of 4-H Youth Develop programs, activities and curricula. The Forum begins with a series of pre-conference workshops held on Thursday, beginning at 11:00 am. The forum continues on Friday morning with a great offering of interesting, exciting, educational and fun tours. Another event that is new for 2008 will be a networking breakfast on Saturday morning. Come to the ballroom, pick a table topic, make some new acquaintances, and share some programming ideas and success stories.
The fifth class of the Kentucky 4-H Volunteer Hall of Fame Awards will be inducted on Friday evening. These include: the TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) Award; the ICE (Innovative, Creative, Enthusiastic) Award; the Community Service Award; the Leadership Development Award; the Conrad Feltner Memorial Awards; the Partners in Progress Award; the Lifetime Achievement Award. Two new awards are being initiated in 2008, including an award for Certified Livestock Volunteers and Certified Shooting Sports Volunteers. The purpose of the Hall of Fame awards is two-fold. First, our goal is to recognize the contributions which volunteers have made to the Kentucky 4-H Program. Second, we want to recognize volunteers for the impact which they make upon the lives of 4-H members in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Saturday’s recognition luncheon will honor those volunteers who have dedicated at least 5 years of service to Kentucky 4-H. New for 2008 will be the recognition of all year 4-H members who have completed 10 years in the program during either 2007 or 2008.
We hope that you’ll enjoy the interesting workshops, are inspired by our motivational speaker, will gain a new programming idea, network with volunteers from other counties, congratulate the award winners, get some exercise at Friday evening’s dance and generally get rejuvenated and ready to tackle another year as a volunteer leader! Thanks for making the trip to Lexington for the Forum! We’re glad that you’re here and appreciate your dedication and service to the Kentucky 4-H Program. Together, we’re all making the best better! |
