By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Students from across the country recently attended a major birthday party.

Alabama 4-H is celebrating a milestone this year — its centennial anniversary.

The organization got its start in 1908 in Calhoun and Tuscaloosa counties with boys’ corn clubs, according to the Alabama 4-H Web site. Three years later came girls’ tomato-canning clubs.

One hundred years later, there are more than 58,000 children in 4-H clubs in Alabama. The club still focuses on instilling “character values needed to be productive citizens,” the Web site states.

One active 4-H group in the area is the Homeland Christian 4-H Club.

Melissa Merrill is the adult leader of the group, but she describes it as “a kid-run club.”

“I’m just pretty much backup,” said Merrill. “I handle anything they can’t handle as children.”

She likes what the young people in the group are learning.

“They are learning skills that might help them later in life,” she said.

By running their own meetings, the members are learning parliamentary procedure.

Through competitions, they also learn about proper cooking techniques, proper hygiene, healthy eating, photography, building bird houses, quilting and much more.

“We have competitions for anything you can possibly imagine,” said Merrill. “These kids have been quite ingenious.”

They have received instruction on quilting from Betty Kimbrell and other members of the North Jefferson Quilter’s Guild of Mt. Olive.

“The ladies have gotten these kids started,” Merrill said. “My daughter is making her third quilt now. She’s taught them so much.”

Merrill’s daughter Lindsey Merrill, 15, is president of the Homeland Christian 4-H Club.

“She wants to be a vet and 4-H is the way to learn to do these things,” said Merrill.

Lindsey is also president of the Tannehill 4-H Horse Club.

According to Melissa Merrill, 4-H Junior Leaders meetings are held the first Tuesday of every month at 4 p.m. at the Birmingham Botanical Garden. She said it is open to any child ages 9-19.

“They actually make the decisions for the entire county,” Merrill said.

Across the country, there are more than six million students taking part in 4-H Clubs.

Alabama 4-H is a division of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.

To learn more about 4-H in Alabama, visit www.alabama4H.com or call Tammy Belcher with the Jefferson County Extension Office at (205) 325-5342.