A new season to Manitoba's 4-H program has started once again with thousands of young people learning many life skills through this 111-year-old home and agriculture mentorship program. 4-H clubs across the country are driven by thousands of 4-H members and volunteers, plus a strong partnership with Manitoba Agriculture.
Manitoba's 4-H program offers over 80 hands-on projects like beef, photography, outdooring living, machines, crafts, equine skills and so much more to follow their mission, 'learn by doing'.
Westman area veterinarian, Dr. Allen Preston, got involved in the McConnell 4-H program near his hometown of Hamiota when his children joined 4-H. As a veterinarian, Dr. Preston knew the 'learn by doing' concept very well and mentored young people in livestock management with the McConnell 4-H Beef Club for 15 years starting in the mid-1980's.
Now retired at 73, Dr. Preston still sings the praises of the 4-H program, which teaches young people valuable life lessons in so many areas.
"I became a leader in 1986, that was a long time ago, and I was a leader until my kids had all gone through the various stages of 4-H and had moved on," he explains. "The 4-H club is a vital component for our Manitoba youth, so I stay pretty close in touch all the time."
This past summer Dr. Preston was nominated and inducted into the Manitoba Agricultural Hall of Fame by the Hamiota Ag Society and supported by the Hamiota 4-H Club.
Among Dr. Preston's accomplishments throughout his career, he was the Province's Chief Veterinary Officer before being appointed as Assistant Deputy Minister at Manitoba Agriculture and Food, which he chaired the Manitoba Agriculture Research and Innovation Committee. He also provided many years of service to research-oriented groups including the Manitoba Forage & Grasslands Association, Bovine Tuberculosis Management Group, and the Beef Science Cluster Science Advisory Body. He was also the Bovine Tuberculosis Coordinator, and the Chair of the Assiniboine River Basin Initiatives.
"Well, I think I'd like to emphasize with regards to the 4-H program is how it's everything including beef cattle, not excluding it," he explains. "I guess what I'm trying to say from that is that there are so many aspects of the organization from the meeting management to preparing documents for submission to agencies who you might be asking for a job at some point in life, the whole aspect of the program providing skills that are that are lifelong."
"It's just an incredible program," he adds.
Preston says he's very proud of the accomplishments of the McConnell 4-H Beef Club which started in the 1940's. At one time they were down to just a handful of members but now see just over 30 members across multiple projects.
Please listen to more with Dr. Preston below!
"McConnell, if you drive by it you'll see a couple of old elevators in the process of falling down, but the spirit of McConnell in that venue is very, very obvious and it'll be there long after the bricks and mortar fade away," shares Dr. Preston.