Season's Greetings

Christmas & the Holiday Season are in full swing here in Southwest Virginia, and the 4-H Center is no exception. With the weather changing and holidays approaching, we have begun decorating.

The decorating started in the Conference Center office, where Sam eagerly set up and decorated this tree all by herself, singing carols to everyone within ear-shot all morning long.

Our biggest tree can be found in Ratliff Hall, which is toasty warm with a brand new heating system and new windows. Ask Ken or Diane about the bow on top of this tree...

The mantelpiece above the fireplace is decorated too, with a wreath and other small decorations.

The ladies in the kitchen decked the halls in Burley, sprucing the place up nicely.

Our hopes for the happiest of holidays and best wishes for a wonderful New Year to everyone!

Cloverbud camp a success

Early this month, we had our first Cloverbud camp in two years. 15 Cloverbuds (mostly from Washington County) attended, many of them spending their first night away from home.

A grand time was had by all, as the Cloverbuds (or Bovercluds, as FreakShow likes to call them) made holiday decorations and even created life-sized self portraits.


On Saturday, we were visited by Dr. Andy Overbay who brought his full-sized dairy cow models and taught us all about where milk comes from.

Also on Saturday, campers got to design their own constellations and add them to our home-made planetarium.

Overall, Cloverbud Camp was a success....but it would not have been without the help of our terrific volunteers. Jordan Caudill and Emi Scott, both teens from Smyth County, were joined by several former summer camp staff members who volunteered for Cloverbudy duty.




So many thanks to all of our wonderful volunteers and our terrific Cloverbud campers...I hope we see you all again this summer!

Blair Keller Raffle Winner

Blair Keller was the winner of our 150th Bristol Anniversary Rifle. He was absolutely thrilled. Blair is a 4-H All-Star and long time supporter of the 4-H Center, he resides in Washington County. He served as president of our Board of Directors many years ago and still serves as an Honorary member today. Congratulations Blair!
We sold a total of 597 tickets - Barbara Wilson was our top seller, selling eight books. (160 tickets) Way to go Barbara! I would like to thank all those who sold tickets and assisted in the promotion of this fund raiser. Thanks to all your hard work, we have been able to add another $2,000 to the Capital Campaign Fund.

Alpha Natural Resources supports 4-H Center

Alpha Natural Resources representative Donald Ratliff presents Sandra Fisher, Director of the Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center with a $5,000 check. This donation goes to support the 4-H Center’s three year, $1.5 million Capital Campaign. With their main office located in Abingdon, Alpha Natural Resources has operations in seven of the thirteen counties served by the Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center. This generous donation will assist in upgrading the 4-H Center to better serve the youth and families of Southwest Virginia.

With more than four decades of service, the 4-H Center has served over 100,000 4-H youth and more than 500,000 individuals representing businesses, organizations, and family groups. This ACA accredited, non-profit facility serves 13 Southwest Virginia counties. Current Capital Campaign efforts will support new and improved youth lodging and classrooms.

Alpha Natural Resources, Inc. and its subsidiaries are a leading Central Appalachian coal producer with significant operations in Northern Appalachia. Alpha Natural Resources produces, processes and sells steam and metallurgical coal from numerous business units and mining operations located throughout Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania. Each year, Alpha Natural Resources supports their communities with charitable contributions in excess of $1 million.

New 4-H Center Blog!

Welcome to the new Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center blog! We're excited to have this forum to bring you news and commentary about the goings-on here at the 4-H Center. Whether you're a long-time volunteer, a camper, counselor, staff member or have never even heard of us, we hope you'll enjoy reading about what we're up to. Feel free to leave comments or visit our website, linked to the left.