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Congress
in Indianapolis last month. A group of four went with the plan of
looking at the mechanics of the process and how to deal with a large
show. (1,400 entries to be exact!) It was huge and ran in a very
regimented order.
The
kids and parents knew it was their job to get the entries in on time,
pay their monies and, if going into a breed class, to tattoo and
register the calves. Also, if they were not at the gate when a class
entered the ring, they were late and could not show.
I
think the show personnel did a good job of keeping the classes flowing,
especially with three rings full on both Saturday and Sunday.
The
cost was $75 per entry. Showmanship and other things were extra
including a late fee of $150 per entry. Each exhibitor also had to be a
member of the Indiana Cattlemen which was $45.
I
mentioned all of this to show how blessed our exhibitors are in Alabama
with fees. It’s also important to say if we want to expand, we can IF
we get the new facilities being talked about at the Montgomery Fair
Grounds. Please, let the elected officials from your area know how much
we need improvements to this facility and make sure they know we are
willing to support and back them up on this big task!
I
want to thank Chuck Hill for helping me with input for this article.
Here is some food for thought!
During
the holidays, many of us went on trips. We may have simply journeyed
"over the river and through the woods" to grandma’s house or
we may have hopped a plane for some distant and exotic locale. No matter
the trip, we had a pretty good idea of where we were going and how we
were going to get there. Even with gas prices being what they are, we
had a pretty good sense of how much it would cost and whether we would
plop down on an air mattress or stay in a five-star hotel.
It’s
funny how many of us put more planning into a few days of vacation than
we put into how we spend our lives. Whether you are a child dreaming of
life as an adult or an adult looking toward your golden years of
retirement, setting goals gives weight and substance to your abstract
dreams.
Probably
the goals we consider most often are our financial and career goals.
Many of us from rural areas once had limited career models. We primarily
saw people who were farmers, school teachers and shop owners. The kids
we work with in 4-H today will have careers we can’t even imagine,
careers built on a global economy with technological advances affecting
every aspect of work and leisure. Nonetheless, if (and only if) Alabama’s
young people, our families and communities are visionary and fully
committed to education, they will still be able to compete against
anybody in the world.
But
planning extends to other aspects of life. We can set spiritual and
ethical goals. If more people set a goal of treating people like they
wanted to be treated, the world could be a much better place. Or we
could set a goal of helping others or spending more time thinking about
faith and our places in the universe.
We
can set goals related to our families. Good families, good marriages and
good family-child relations don’t magically happen. People build
relationships through kindness, love, forgiveness, and deep and caring
commitment. There are few goals more worthy than these virtues.
We
can set goals about personal growth. We always have vague ideas about
getting smarter, healthier or less stressed out. But we can translate
them into substantial goals: "I’ll read a book a month;"
"I’ll walk four days a week;" or "I’ll turn off my
cell phone, my Blackberry and my computer at 8 o’clock every
night." Or we might easily rephrase it as: "I won’t waste as
much time on things that don’t really matter."
As
a 4-H professional, I would encourage you to think about setting a goal
of helping young people. You don’t have to be a source of great
wisdom. You don’t have to study adolescent development or juvenile
psychology. Just talk with them – not at
them. Listen to them as they try to express their dreams, hopes and
aspirations. You might be surprised by how much you both grow from the
experience.
Until
next time, God Bless!
James Shropshire is
the Alabama 4-H Regional Extension Agent for the Central Alabama Region.
E-mail him at shropja@aces.edu.
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