Glenn Gress’s first term as the president of 4-H Saskatchewan was so enjoyable and productive, it was decided that a second two-year term was in order.
Gress, who farms near Lampman, is nearing the end of his second term as the president of the organization that plays such an important role in the development of young people in the province.
He became president for the first time in March 2017, and when that two-year term expired, he was re-elected.
“I just wanted to make sure that we finish up what we started a few years ago, and my peers asked me to stay on as president,” said Gress.
During his first term, some policies were introduced that he wanted to see to completion. He’s also working with 4-H Canada on some upcoming events that will affect all of Canada.
“We’re adding some more scholarships for Saskatchewan,” said Gress. “Hopefully we can get back to some national events with our members and leaders once COVID has straightened out.”
And he believes it’s been good to have that stability associated with someone who has been in the role for four years.
When he started his second term as president 20 months ago, Gress could have never imagined what this term would bring. The provincial organization is doing well, as they added virtual events and virtual camps that were held in the summer. A virtual communication session was held in November and virtual judging will happen, too.
“The clubs have moved ahead faster than we have, just because they took the virtual thing in hand, and they started as soon as we could not having in-person meetings. They started meeting virtually and they started asking us for help, and we started making some policies and procedures of how we can handle this, and a lot of the clubs just took it on themselves and moved forward.”
The motto of 4-H is “Learn to do by Doing,” and so the young people and adult volunteers involved with 4-H have moved forward.
“It affects everybody, but our 4-H numbers are still at pretty good numbers here,” said Gress.
Sponsors have continued to be part of 4-H as well, which has helped sustain the clubs.
Gress tells people that if they can dream up a concept for a club, 4-H can make it happen. He noted there are more than 100 different club types in the province. Beef and horse clubs are well-known across the province, but there are clubs for activities such as archery, photography and home crafts, or animals such as chickens.
Saskatchewan is home to thousands of 4-H members and volunteers who belong to hundreds of clubs across the province.
Gress believes 4-H allows kids to be part of a great organization while working on their public speaking and learning from their peers.
“Just moving forward with agriculture the way it is and the new technology that is coming out, 4-Hers are taking it in stride and I think they are the leading edge in a lot of the cattle operations and the grain operations with the 4-H background,” said Gress.
