Members get creative at 4-H on Parade

While they may be the more popular competitions every year at 4-H on Parade, the event isn’t just for cows, sheep and horses anymore.

Now, 4-H members can get involved with everything from ballroom dancing to drama to mechanics, thanks to creative option projects.

Jesse Heins of Airdrie joined 4-H three years ago and after two years of participating in the beef competitions, he took up a new skill. The Ecole Airdrie Middle School student took up archery.

Some of the other popular lifestyle projects that were showcased at 4-H on Parade included welding, cooking and photography. The welding and photo projects were featured in a silent auction at the Stampede grounds, June 2. However, some of the members of the Prairie Winds 4-H Club in Calgary got creative with their projects.

For her creative options project, 16-year-old Paulina Chiacchia drew inspiration from a former ballroom dance partner and got involved with the Hungarian debutante ball. The young debutantes practiced a 10-minute Viennese Waltz once a week for five months for a gala that was held at the end of February.

“I used to do ballroom dancing as a recreational thing, and my old dance partner’s sister had been involved for a number of years,’ Chiacchia said. “When I was 11, I saw it and said ‘I have to do this when I’m 16,’ so I kept that dream going and this year seemed like a wonderful opportunity to involve both 4-H and dancing.

“What I like with creative options is that you can think outside the box and take it to another level that you wouldn’t think of otherwise. It’s something that I don’t think people think of even as a multi-club project because it’s usually crafts, cooking and woodworking.”