Maple Valley 4-H Club in Hadley teaches youth about more than farming, and instills in them important lessons.
Kaleb C. McDaniel, 10, of Cheshire, gets a different view of Paddle, a heifer, that is part of the Maple Valley 4-H Club program at Fort River Farm in Hadley. HADLEY – Mooove over computer games, iPods, cell phones and television. These kids have something else to do.
The 10 members of the Maple Valley 4-H Club at Gordon Smith’s Fort River Farm here are raising heifers, showing them in competitions and learning important life skills and lessons while they’re at it.
“When I first saw a cow, I was afraid of it,” said Caitlin M. Moriarty, 14, a member from Cheshire. “Now, I’m not.”
Moriarty likes being part of the 4-H club not just because she has made friends but because of the “endless” possibilities it opens. She, for example, is a 4-H ambassador for Berkshire County, making presentations about the organization to school and civic groups.
“It has helped me grow as a person,” she said. Caitlin also likes the animals. She works with Cyclone, a “loveable, sweetheart,” that sometimes raps her head around Caitlin “like she’s giving me a hug.”
Most of the club members – ages 8 to 16 – don’t wake up on a farm, according to Laurie M. Cuevas, the club leader. “They are non-farm kids who have gotten involved in the farm industry,” she explained.
Members of the Maple Valley 4-H Club gather at Fort River Farm in Hadley.Calling them ambassadors for the farm industry, Cuevas hopes 4-H youth will “carry it on.”
Jamie V. Kaczowski, 15, of Savoy, enjoys working with the animals “and a few people,” she said, remembering how there was a time she didn’t like talking to people at all and could not talk in front of a crowd.
But, now that she has experience showing her heifer, Calypso, at competitions, she has more confidence. “This has helped me with school presentations too,” Jamie said.
Justin J. Brunelle, 16, of South Hadley leads Alice the heifer during a Maple Valley 4-H Club gathering at Fort River Farm in Hadley.This year members of the Maple Valley 4-H Club will participate in more than a dozen agricultural fairs, even sleeping in the barns to oversee their animals. “It’s a rip,” Cuevas said of the fun. Their animals compete against other heifers of the same age class and breed, while the 4-Hers compete in “fitting” (grooming) and showmanship categories. In the latter, they are judged on how they handle their animal.
Eleven-year-old Ethan S. West, of Hadley, remembers that one year his cow got loose in the show ring, and a judge grabbed her, getting dragged across the ring. “I thought it was sort of hilarious,” the boy said with a smile, then getting serious with the thought of not placing well in that competition.
“I was just glad to be there,” Ethan said, admitting, “I do like to win, but it’s not everything.”
Like the other participants, he’s learning sportsmanship, team work and hard work.
Lucy Grossman, 13, of Hatfield walks with Sandy, a heifer, at Fort River Farm in Hadley as haying is done in the field beyond.E Lary Grossman, of Hatfield, believes the program fosters the independent spirit of his daughter, Lucy, 13, and nurtures patience. Plus, the father added, the people involved with the program are friendly, welcoming and encouraging.
“You train yourself in 4-H to succeed showing your cow,” said Justin J. Brunelle, 16, of South Hadley. “You go out (to the competitions) and you have fun and you learn from other people.”
Most of the Brown Swiss, Holstein and Jersey heifers in the program are leased, and youth participants pay an initial $50 fee to join for the year. They raise their own funds to pay for grooming supplies, veterinarian bills, feed and entry fees. The group meets every other week generally, but more in the summer in preparation for fairs and competitions.
Bruce Jenks and Sara Gauthier are the other adult leaders of the program.
Watching the youth learn and grow, become more confident and experience success is gratifying for Cuevas, a marketing manager for Sabic Innovative Plastics in Pittsfield and an alumna of a 4-H program. “It drives me,” she said. “It’s my gift to them.”