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One of the best investments that we can make in our community is to help our young people learn life skills and grow into responsible and productive adults. The Oswego County 4-H program has a long history of preparing our young people with the skills and confidence they need to succeed. More than 12,000 youth are involved in 4-H, through agriculture, environmental education, career exploration, clothing and textiles, community service, and many other projects.

The Oswego County 4-H program is administered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County. They do an excellent job. In settings like clubs, camps, after-school programs, and trips, the 4-H Youth Development program encourages "learning by doing" to help youth reach their fullest potential. Oswego County's 4-H has been accomplishing this objective for 84 years.

October is 4-H Month, and I recently had the privilege of participating in the 4-H annual Achievement Awards Program. County legislators Paul Santore of Oswego and Barbara Brown of Palermo also presented awards to young people, as did Assemblymen Will Barclay and David Townsend.

I was incredibly impressed with these youth and their dedication to 4-H. I had the pleasure of presenting the "I Dare You" award, a national leadership award designed to recognize youth who have demonstrated qualities of leadership, excellence in character, and who have potential for future leadership. This year's recipients were Amy Jo Smith, Meridith Reed, and Jennifer Burr.

It was a gratifying and humbling experience to meet the hundreds of young people and their families who make up Oswego County's 4-H program, and to learn about how 4-H has affected their lives.

Let me share just a few examples of what our young people have accomplished:

• Oswego County is blessed with plenty of places to hunt and fish. Several groups of young people learned archery, rifle loading and muzzleloading techniques in a safe environment from experts in our community. Middle school students learned the art of fly-fishing in a separate 4-week course.
• The Oswego City-County Youth Bureau's AmeriCorps program partnered with the 4-H school enrichment program to teach youth about engineering science, magnets and electricity at sites throughout the county.
• Another school enrichment project involved second grade students and their families at Hannibal Central School. They studied local agriculture, nutrition, Native American and colonial American foods, geography and history in the "Combining Cultures through Food" project. They finished with a harvest dinner that the children helped to cook.
• Hundreds of students and adults visited the Amboy 4-H Environmental Education Center for field trips and workshops. Young adults in the County Division of Employment and Training Youth Works program continued to be involved in trail improvement and other projects.
• Young and old alike gathered once a month to learn sewing skills. Our youth made fleece blankets, learned how to quilt, and designed, created and modeled their own outfits.

All of this would not be possible without the dedication and enthusiasm of the program staff and the many adults who volunteer their time and talents to 4-H. Linda Roll, 4-H team coordinator, heads Oswego County's 4-H programs for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County. Paul A. Forestiere II is executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County. I congratulate them and all who are involved in this worthwhile program.

4-H is open to all youth ages five to 18. To learn more about 4-H or to become involved, call Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County at 963-7286.