Lebanon County’s 4-H Week honors youth development programs

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The nearly 460 youth members and 90-plus adult volunteer leaders are celebrating this week as 4-H Week in Lebanon County.

A highlight is the issuance of a proclamation on Thursday, March 19, at the Lebanon County Commissioners meeting, according to youth development extension educator Martha Gregory. Commissioners each year financially support Penn State Cooperative Extension, whose employees run the 4-H programs locally.

“Thursday the 19th will be having members attend the county commissioners meeting to receive the proclamation and discuss with the commissioners the value of the 4-H program and our reach and scope in the county,” Gregory said. 

Last year, the week was celebrated by social media posts and there are plans to keep that tradition going this year, too, according to Julie Weaver, the county’s other 4-H educator. 

“We hosted kind of a celebration over on our Facebook page and each day was a themed day where in Lebanon County each member and volunteers could participate,’ Weaver said. “So for example, one day last week was, I think it was throwback Thursday and members and volunteers were able to post pictures of some of their first 4-H projects. So we’re hoping to have something similar like that last year to celebrate.”

Prizes were provided for participants during the celebration last year.

“We did a little contest as well,” added Weaver. “So every post by our 4-H members and volunteers were entered into a drawing and at the end of the week we drew two names for our 4-H members to win a prize. So that was one thing that we did last year and will probably celebrate in a similar fashion this year.”

This year, the club’s have been on a roll with two members achieving a first: two grand champions at the 2026 Pennsylvania Farm Show, and the potato judging team took top honors for the first time at the statewide agricultural extravaganza in January.

Lebanon County’s 4-H Clubs

Lebanon County currently has 12 4-H Youth clubs for ages 5 through 18.

“We have 456 members involved in 12 different 4-H clubs, and we have 91 volunteers that support the club program as mentors and teachers of 4-H curriculum and project information,” Gregory said. 

The success of the program locally is seen through its recent growth. 

“Three of the clubs are relatively new, including the Shooting Sports Club. We also have a livestock clover buds program, which is designed for members 5 to 7. And we have a new horse club called the Boots & Bridles 4-H Club,” Gregory said.

Weaver said Lebanon County was selected to be a test pilot of the newly formed livestock clover bud 4-H program in Pennsylvania, according to Weaver. 

“Our 4-H goat program participated in that as a test pilot and they did a phenomenal job. Now at that point the clover buds were kind of acting as a sister club to the goat club and they were goat focused,” she said. “But with the livestock clover bud program, the program should really be focused on all of the species, not just a particular species. So this year, now that the livestock clover bud program has been rolled out statewide, the livestock clover bud clubs do tend to have a more general focus on livestock.” 

Weaver noted the buds this year may show sheep, goats, swine, llamas and alpacas, dairy calves, rabbits, guinea pigs and poultry. 

“Those are all animal species that are approved to be worked with by our 4-H members ages 5-7,” she added. “Some examples of species that our younger members are not approved to work with are large livestock. So they’re not permitted.”

The three recently added clubs have been successful, according to Weaver. 

Right on target

Gregory emphasized that 4-H is more than just animals, and that’s evident with the recently formed 4-H Shooting Club, an archery-based program in Lebanon County. Weaver said she believed it would be successful if it was launched.

“I had taken shooting sports as a 4-H project myself. So I kind of knew that that was out there as well. And again, just having it as a personal interest and knowing that we’re in a very rural area, I knew that it was just another project that we could offer in 4-H that probably would be interesting to a lot of the youth in the county,” she said.

She was right on target with that prediction. This club, which meets the 4th Monday of the month at the Palmyra Sportsmen’s Association to learn archery and other skills, is maxed out on participants. 

“We actually had to close our registration for that club because we hit 50 members,” she said. “With our manpower and the facilities and the equipment that we have, that’s about the max that we can accommodate right now. Even after that registration was closed and enrollment was filled for the club for the year, we still are having enquiries. Unfortunately, we had to tell them to enroll when the new 4-H year begins Oct. 1, so that has definitely been a really successful club with a lot of interest.”

No “de-neigh-ing” its popularity

The county’s 4-H horse clubs are also trotting along at a great pace with three distinct programs to meet the needs of its participants. Hoof & Horns, Saddle Up, and Boots & Bridles 4-H clubs all focus on horses and equines. 

“They are able to meet in different areas of the county, and are able to focus because each group has a smaller size group,” Gregory said. “So the leaders are able to focus on the interests of the children and families that choose to participate in that program area.”

That leads to diversified educational experiences.

“Each of those clubs plans a different series of educational lessons throughout the year, based on the feedback that the leaders get from the families on what their interests and areas of interest would be,” added Gregory. “In the horse program we have a lot of kids that are riding English or Western. Some choose to drive or do trail riding. There’s lots of different areas of interest within the horse program. And we also have clover buds for the younger five to seven year members that are interested in horses as well.”  

To their credit, 4-H adult leaders aren’t resting on their laurels with these recent club additions. They also offer various program to teach leadership, citizenship life skills, and in one case, provide a look at possible career opportunities in zoology.

Zoom in the Wild

Around 10 southeast counties, including Lebanon, are partnering in a program over four Thursdays in April called Zoom in the Wild. One individual from ZooAmerica in Hershey will be a featured speaker while another on a separate Thursday will discuss Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The culminating event on April 18 is a field trip to Elmwood Zoo in Norristown, according to Weaver, who has worked in this profession in the past. 

“I believe that zoo is in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and that’s where the 4-H members will participate in workshops that are put on by zoo staff, talking about making zoo habitat, zoo enrichment, and just various careers in zoos,” she said. “That’s an in-person day. So this is a little bit of a hybrid event where we’ll be doing virtual and in-person hands-on learning.” 

The organization’s backbone

Grateful for the adult volunteers who make the clubs and other programs happen, Lebanon County’s 4-H program is, in many ways, only limited by having enough leaders to administer them, according to Gregory.

“The adult volunteers are the backbone for our programs,” said Gregory. “And we would welcome adults who are interested in youth development.”

Weaver said there’s an interest in launching a rifle club for 4-Hers as well as a small pet club that would feature, among other animals, dogs. However, leaders are needed to make those concepts a reality.

“We’d like to start some sort of dog or small animal club. But again, I need volunteers in order for us to offer that. So while I’m certainly willing to help start a club, like I helped get the shooting sports club off the ground, I do need some interested volunteers. But yes, a dog or a small animal club is definitely something that I would like to get off of the ground in the relatively near future,” Weaver said.