‘Ambies’ and their friends
By Jodelle GreinerArticle Photos
With the rain drumming on the roof of the Independence Park pavilion, children learned about protecting the environment at a 4-H day camp Tuesday.
About 20 kids ages kindergarten through fourth grade took turns doing activities led by about a dozen teenage 4-H members known as Ambassadors, or Ambies, said Melissa Goblish, summer intern with Lyon County 4-H.
"The Ambassadors is a special group under 4-H," she explained. "They are role models for younger kids."
All of the Ambies are 4-H members, but not all the youngsters are.
"4-H is all about educating kids, whether they are in 4-H or not," Goblish said.
Stations were manned by the Ambies and included one where the children decorated eco-friendly bags, which were made from recycled materials.
"They can put their stuff in them," said Deanna DeVos, who was overseeing the station with Kolin Konjura.
Theresa Burakowski and Trevor Fales didn't know what they'd put in their bags, but Indie Finlo said "money."
"You can use it as a purse," DeVos said.
The purpose of the day camp, said Konjura, is to "take the younger generation and teach them about environmentally-friendly ideas."
"While having fun," added DeVos.
Sydney Meister was at the watershed station.
"We learned to help save the earth and put bushes next to rivers so pesticide doesn't get in rivers so easily," she said. "If we didn't do that, the pesticides would go in the river and then when we'd swim, we'd get sick."
Mason Anderson learned "that we've got to be careful using fertilizers because sometimes it will go into lakes and rivers."
Ellen Skaar let the kids pick out sea shells they liked, then had them close their eyes and describe each shell by touch. She also showed them the differences between the shells when their eyes were open.
"It's basically about identifying the different shells," Skaar said.
"You can sort them in different ways," Tanner Fales said he learned.
"There's lots of types," Kaijula Burakowski said.
The kids got to make a bracelet under the instruction of Cal Swedzinski using tiny little beads made from sea shells.
Dylan Kack said she liked making the bracelets and would like to make more jewelry.
"My favorite was having the sea shells on there," she said.
The kids even had a water-themed snack with pretzels for fishing poles and peanut butter and cheese for "bait" to "catch" Goldfish crackers. Blue Hawaiian Punch represented the ocean, said Goblish.
Day camp seems to be a hit with area kids. The one in Cottonwood drew 10; another in Minneota had 25, said Laurie Palmer, Lyon County 4-H program coordinator for the University of Minnesota Extension. She said 20 attended Tuesday's session, and she was expecting another 20 for a second Marshall session on Friday.
"Some activities we'll do at Day Care Day at the county fair," she added.
The day camps are partially funded through the Lyon County Water Task Force Board, Palmer said.
"That funding helps keep the costs lower for families," Palmer said.
