West Virginia’s state 4-H camping season will begin Sunday (June 22), when nearly 300 youths, ages 14 to 21, gather near Weston for the opening of Older 4-H Members’Conference (OMC). The WVU Jackson’s Mill Center for Lifelong Learning and State 4-H Camp will be their”home”until Saturday, June 28.
OMC, which started in 1944, is the flagship camp of the state 4-H camping program organized by the West Virginia University Extension Service.”In Stereo”is the theme of this year’s conference.
Participants in this leadership development conference select topics they want to address, and each day an invited speaker discusses one. This year, campers will concentrate on: The Future of the West Virginia 4-H Program, Appalachian Culture, Gender Issues, Animal Rights and Why the Rest of the World Hates Us.
Directing the OMC is a volunteer, Bob Richardson, a Lewisburg attorney. He is a former WVU Mountaineer and WVU ’s first Truman Scholar. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia College of Law.
WVU Jackson’s Mill will be the site of two other state 4-H camps this summer. Alpha 1 and Alpha II camps will begin on July 8 and July 15, respectively. The camp programs are identical.
The volunteer directors for these camps are Craig Presar, an admission counselor at Alderson-Broaddus College, and Dr. Frank Mams, a dentist in Elkins.
Alpha camps, open to youths entering the sixth grade through age 21, focus on personal development. Those attending learn more about themselves through hearing speakers, taking part in activities and participating in”grow groups.”In the”grow groups,”participants of the same age explore such issues as friendship, peer pressure and citizenship.
Space is still available for more participants; those interested in attending may contact their county’s WVU Extension Office or Jeffrey Orndorff, WVU Extension 4-H specialist, at 304-293-2694. More details may be obtained by e-mailing Orndorff( jdorndorff@mail.wvu.edu ). In addition to the state camps, Extension faculty, staff and volunteers conduct camps in every county. Approximately 12,000 children and teens are expected to attend county 4-H camps this summer. More information about them is available from county offices of the WVU Extension Service.
4-H, the University’s premier youth development program, is directed by WVU Extension through its state and local offices. Each year, Extension’s youth activities involve more than 56,000 children and teens, guided by more than 7,200 adult volunteers.