National 4-H Week in Henry County

MT. PLEASANT - Coming from a family of crop farmers, joining 4-H was a natural choice for sixth-grader Caden Mullin.

'My dad was in 4-H and my parents wanted me to try it out,” he said. Mullin is currently part of the Wayne Soil Savers club.

The middle schooler, who started in the Clover Kids the program when he was in the second grade, said his favorite part of the youth organization is competing in the county fair.

With safety measures in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Mullin didn't get to participate in the 2020 fair like he has in years past but is looking forward to next year when things will hopefully be back to normal.

'I'm just excited to get back and walk around. My favorite part is when little kids come up to my sheep and want to pet them and stuff,” he said.

Mullin, who was named the 2019 grand champion in the bottle lamb show, remembers feeling 'a lot of different emotions” when his name was called.

'But you can't jump around and go crazy, you just have to walk out,” he recalls.

Outside of winning the lamb show, Mullin was recommended for state fair consideration on several static projects.

'I was too young to go to the state fair, but it was cool,” he said.

In addition to competing, Mullin said he likes the rush of the fair - helping out, being involved, working with the local pork producers.

'I just like everything. It's really fun,” he said.

Beyond the fun projects and raising livestock, Mullin said being part of 4-H has helped him with general life skills.

'I can talk to people better now, that's a big one,” he said.

Mullin added the organization's pledge comes to mind when he thinks about how he's grown through 4-H.

'It's the 4 H's: head to clearer thinking, heart to greater loyalty, hands to larger service and health to better living,” he explained.

Tina, Mullin's mother, said that even though activities haven't quite been the same during the pandemic, Mullin has kept on with projects at home, including building a chicken coop with his father and has begun raising chickens in addition to sheep.

'Caden thrives on the in-person activities. We're still involved, and we've tried to have that with an at-home experience,” Tina said of helping her son's continued involvement with the youth organization.

As a parent, she was excited to see her son join 4-H because the program was known to help kids 'be well-rounded.”

'Watching him in 4-H, you learn to stand back and let them succeed or fail on their own,” she said.

Tina added competing in things like the fair gives Mullin an opportunity to work hard and learn to handle criticism as a means to improve.

'They learn they might not always get a ribbon or win the round but they just have to get back up, do better and they might get it next year,” she said.