Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Thursday, January 23, 2014

A Moving Meeting

See? 4-H. Totally important.
 I was raised on a ranch near the small town of Milk River, Alberta.
On the Alberta/Montana border.
Farming and ranching country.
We were, quite literally, children of the prairies.
Big brother, George. And calf.
And the highlight of our young lives - the very pinnacle we could aspire to – was 4-H Calf Club.
Our world was small, I admit it.
Yep. When we turned the age of twelve, we could – at last! – join the calf club.
We learned many things there.
Of course, the main (and most obvious) were the care and feeding of your calf.
In my case, handled almost exclusively by my big brother, George.
Because he’s amazing. (Are you reading this, George?)
Big brother, Jerry, ditto.
But there was also the record keeping. (Which George completely refused to do for me. Sigh.)
And the monthly meetings.
Wherein (Oooh! Good word!) we were supposed to learn the proper, accepted, efficient way to run a gathering of that type.
I emphasize the words ‘supposed to’.
Because we didn’t.
Always.
In fact, at some point during many of our meetings, our current club president would throw up his hands and exclaim, in loud and carrying tones, “I don’t know why I do this! I’m getting outta here!”
Something he never did.
Returning to the idea of running a proper meeting . . .
Me. With glasses. And calf.
We had been taught that, if we had something to offer, we should do it in the form of a ‘motion’. As in: ‘I would like to make a motion.’ And then followed by ‘I move . . .’
We were getting it. We were.
One evening, the meeting had been going well.
Everyone had been unusually attentive.
And our leader hadn’t, even once, cried out in despair.
Then one shy young man stuck up his hand.
He was recognized by the ‘Chair’.
And he proceeded. “I-I-I w-would like to m-make a movement!”
There was silence. Then some sniggers.
Umm . . . first door down the hall? Says ‘boys’ on the door?
One of the leaders whispered into his ear, “Motion.”
“Motion!” he corrected himself, turning bright red. “I-I w-would like to make a motion!”
Things carried on.
But the mood had definitely been lightened.
Who says meetings have to be boring?
4-H. Don't you wish you were here?

The grand finale.

17 comments:

  1. Ha ha! That poor kid! I am thinking of signing my little guy up for the 4-H next year (Clover Buds?). He loves animals, especially of the feathered variety. He already helps my mom's neighbor with her chickens, so I think that's a good place to start. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uh oh ... I had a feeling that might happen! Good title :)

    4-H wasn't around in my little community when I was young, but I wish it had been. I would have been the little skinny girl with glasses like yours, with the bunny and the sewing project. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A bunny! and sewing?! Now that's a 4-H I could get behind!!!

      Delete
    2. Are those things not done where you are?

      Delete
    3. Nope. We had the calf club and then, later on we had the (gasp) horse club. I hear about all these different 4-H clubs now and think they would have been so fun!

      Delete
    4. Hahaha - so when I was a kid, maybe the only option WOULD have been calves! That's how much I even know about 4-H - I was thinking about the clubs that formed after I was away to university :)

      Delete
    5. You could have had a calf. My brother George would have looked after yours, too! :)

      Delete
  3. My good (late) friend Arby, so called because his initials are R-B. He stuttered when he was younger but managed to get rid of most of it when he was out of high school. Miss the crude jack-(donkey). We had a lot of good times over the years. But, like my friend, Rob, I've managed to immortalize him in my books.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that's the greatest joy and reward for being an author. You get to remember all the people you grew up with and save them forever!

      Delete
  4. I belonged to the Home Making 4-H...because that was what girls did in my Midwest area. AT least that is what my parents made me do. It was a great experience, but our meetings were dead dull.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So were ours! That's why we had to liven them up a bit. Hence our leaders constant moans and complaints! :)

      Delete
  5. When I turned twelve, well, I was just older than eleven but not yet a teenager. Nothing special going on at all. A lot of the girls I knew were allowed to wear lipstick once they turned twelve and began going to dances too. I wasn't the least bit interested in such stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you. I was never much interested in make-up. Now dances on the other hand . . .

      Delete
  6. Hi, I've been lurking around your blog for a while, now, but when I saw the picture with the sign for Milk River, Alberta, I wanted to ask if you know, or knew, a lady named Francis Swanson? She was my grandfather's sister. He homesteaded somewhere around Milk River over one hundred years ago. I've completely lost track of the family.
    I always wanted to join 4-H but never got to. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely remember Francis Swanson! The Swanson kids went to school with all of my siblings and I. It was a wonderful time to be alive! And you definitely missed out with not being in 4-H. It was a blast!

      Delete

Thank you for visiting! Drop by again!

Real Estates: All Murders Included in the Price!

Real Estates: All Murders Included in the Price!
My FIRST murder mystery!

Blessed by a Curse

Blessed by a Curse
My very first Medieval Romance!

God's Tree

God's Tree
For the Children

Third in the series

Third in the series
Deborah. Fugitive of Faith

The Long-Awaited Sequel to Daughter of Ishmael

The Long-Awaited Sequel to Daughter of Ishmael
A House Divided is now available at all fine bookstores and on Amazon.com and .ca!

Daughter of Ishmael

Daughter of Ishmael
Now available at Amazon.com and .ca and Chapters.ca and other fine bookstores.

Romance still wins!

Romance still wins!
First romance in a decade!

Hosts: Your Room's Ready

Hosts: Your Room's Ready
A fun romp through the world's most haunted hotel!

Hugs, Delivered.

Compass Book Ratings

Compass Book Ratings

Ghost of the Overlook

Ghost of the Overlook
Need a fright?

My Granddaughter is Carrying on the Legacy!

My Granddaughter is Carrying on the Legacy!
New Tween Novel!

Gnome for Christmas

Gnome for Christmas
The newest in my Christmas Series

SnowMan

SnowMan
A heart warming story of love and sacrifice.

Translate

My novel, Carving Angels

My novel, Carving Angels
Read it! You know you want to!

My Second Novel: Kris Kringle's Magic

My Second Novel: Kris Kringle's Magic
What could be better than a second Christmas story?!

Join me on Maven

Connect with me on Maven

Essence

Essence
A scientist and his son struggle to keep their earth-shattering discovery out of the wrong hands.

Essence: A Second Dose

Essence: A Second Dose
Captured and imprisoned, a scientist and his son use their amazing discovery to foil evil plans.

Looking for a Great Read?

E-Books by Diane Stringam Tolley
Available from Smashwords.com

The Babysitter

The Babysitter
A baby-kidnapping ring has its eye on J'Aime and her tiny niece.

Melissa

Melissa
Haunted by her past, Melissa must carve a future. Without Cain.

Devon

Devon
Following tragedy, Devon retreats to the solitude of the prairie. Until a girl is dropped in his lap.

Pearl, Why You Little...

Pearl, Why You Little...
Everyone should spend a little time with Pearl!

The Marketing Mentress

The Marketing Mentress
Building solid relationships with podcast and LinkedIn marketing

Coffee Row

Coffee Row
My Big Brother's Stories

Better Blogger Network

Semper Fidelis

Semper Fidelis
I've been given an award!!!

The Liebster Award

The Liebster Award
My good friend and Amazing Blogger, Marcia of Menopausal Mother awarded me . . .

Irresistibly Sweet Award

Irresistibly Sweet Award
Delores, my good friend from The Feathered Nest, has nominated me!

Sunshine Award!!!

Sunshine Award!!!
My good friend Red from Oz has nominated me!!!

My very own Humorous Blogger Award From Delores at The Feathered Nest!

Be Courageous!


Grab and Add!

Search This Blog

Ghost of the Overlook

Ghost of the Overlook
Need a fright?