Not quite two weeks in to 2021 and so far our hopes for a normal year have not came true yet. We are still enjoying more freedom here in the East and I am thankful for that. Curfews do not sound fun, but that said, don’t throw out your cards and board games yet.
Our list of extra curricular activities is still quite small with most sports still on hold and now this. No 4-H in Lunenburg County this year…
the General Leaders of Lunenburg County 4-H unanimously agreed that in the best interests of our members and their families not open the 4-H program in Lunenburg County this year
This decision doesn’t surprise me as the fourth “H” in the 4-H pledge states “my Health to better living” .
Here is the official letter about the program remaining closed in Lunenburg County:
DECISION REGARDING 4H this year.
The General Leaders and Executive of the Lunenburg County 4-H Council have held multiple conference calls over a number of months discussing our re-opening plans. The health and safety of our leaders, members and families is the number one concern during these discussions and decisions.We are very concerned for the health and safety of our members and their families. The public health situation in our province is unpredictable and unstable due to the Covid-19 virus. We have taken into consideration the following topics, to name a few:• the number of Covid cases, the cycle from low to high case numbers in one or two days since this all started in March;• there have been a number of cases present in some school systems Provincially, considering many of our clubs consist of members who belong to multiple schools, causing members to ‘mix’ with members and families outside their “bubble”;• our area has a high number of rural families, many of whom have no internet or very poor internet, making virtual meetings impossible. We have spent a lot of time talking about how we can accommodate being inclusive so no member is left out but due to the lack of internet in many areas, this is this very hard.• all the Public Health Guidelines and advice provided by Dr Robert Strang, including the most recent restriction, to quote Dr Strang, from his January 8 public broadcast, he recommended “we focus on essentials” and “…to focus on keeping each other safe…”.We have laboured over how to make re-opening successful with these considerations. It was a very difficult conversation which we put off meeting after meeting, hoping for some change to happen in the Covid-19 situation that would give us confidence in providing programming in a safe manner, without too much disruption due to unpredictable changes in Public Health guidelines. Unfortunately, that positive change did not come.As such, after much difficult conversation, weighing of options and considering all the Public Health guidelines, the General Leaders of Lunenburg County 4-H unanimously agreed that in the best interests of our members and their families not open the 4-H program in Lunenburg County this year. The Lunenburg County Council Executive fully supports this decision. We will reassess in August 2021 with hopes we can re-open to a full and active 2021-2022 4-H year with great enthusiasm.With this decision, our members will not be registering for the 2020-2021 year. Our leaders will continue to register per normal. We feel this is important so that they can continue to get the proper training requirements completed and be up to date and ready to go when the time comes.We wish to thank 4-H Nova Scotia in advance for supporting our decision to keep our county and communities safe!Yours in 4-H,The Executive and General Leaders
Lunenburg County 4-H
