High-spirited camaraderie, a hearty breakfast and the chance to promote all things 4-H defined Sonora Bank’s Cowboy Breakfast last Friday. The annual event not only ushered in the Memorial Day Rodeo, it served to create awareness about the largest and fastest-growing 4-H club in Hays County. As attendees dined on traditional cowboy fare such as biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage and eggs, kids practiced their roping skills on bright blue calf dummies and listened to live music from recording artist Dylan James Riley.
At 130 strong, the Wimberley 4-H Club shapes kids and teens, ages 5 to 18 from ranching and agricultural families, into well-rounded adults. All 4-H clubs are guided by its four values. Members pledge: “My head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service and my health to better living, for my club, my community, my country and my world.”
Wimberley’s dynamic 4-H Club not only hosts the Memorial Day rodeo, it engages young people in livestock and agricultural projects, shooting sports and other activities that build leadership and community building. Each year in January, local 4-H and Future Farmers of America young people exhibit their livestock, agricultural mechanics, home skills and other abilities at the week-long Hays County Youth Livestock Show held in Dripping Springs. According to its members, Wimberley 4-H kids routinely bring home top honors.
It is fueled by the generous members of its Buyers Pool, which acts as a foundation to purchase auction animals, finance kids' livestock show projects and provide funds for college scholarships. Members of the Buyers pool board handed out scholarships to Shelby Cox, Cody Phillips and Eleanor Warner at Sunday’s rodeo.
