The weekend was filled with friendship, fun and business.

The 2018 Annual General Meeting was held the weekend of March 24-25 at the Saskatoon Inn. Throughout the weekend, the member and leader delegates were asked to vote on a number of decisions.

The first item of business, after the welcome and introductions, was voting for the 18-year-old member delegates to the board of directors. There were two positions available – one one-year term and one two-year term. Emily Letendre was voting in for the two-year term and Brett Rumpel was voted in for the one-year term.

After the vote was held, the delegates dispersed into their regional meetings, where a number of reports were given, hosts for regional and provincial events were determined, and the elections for AC member and Board of Directors were held.

The Board of Directors for 2018-19 are:

• North East:
  • Tara Malinowski (re-elected)
  • Leslie Penner (re-elected)
  • Tracy Fitzsimmons (returning)
• North West
  • Cameron Choquette (returning)
  • Clint Panter (re-elected)
  • Annaleigh LeBruno (new)
• South East
  • Glenn Gress (returning)
  • Darren Fisk (returning)
  • Tammy Rumpel (re-elected)  
• South West
  • Nora Schock (returning)
  • Stan Figley (returning)
  • Alvin Pawlitza (new)
• Ministry of Agriculture Representative: Leah Clark
• Member Delegates: Emily Letendre and Brett Rumpel

The 2018-19 Advisory Council members are:

• Doug Sroka – North West (returning)
• Freya Kinash – North East (returning)
• Adrianna Simpson – South West (new)
• Shea Tripp – South East (new)
• Emily Letendre – 18-year-old Member Delegate (new)
• Brett Rumpel – 18-year-old Member Delegate (new)
• And Kody Farrow, 4-H Canada’s Youth Advisory Committee Representative from Saskatchewan (returning)

In addition to the AC and Board of Directors, the new Member and Leader Ambassadors were chosen. These are new positions created this year. The Ambassadors will showcase the spirit of 4-H Saskatchewan through their willingness to volunteer and share their knowledge of the 4-H program. Ambassadors will help recruiting new members, representing 4-H at local events and sharing their 4-H story.

The new Member and Leader Ambassadors are:

• North East
  • Leaders
    • Florence Frazer
    • Trena Hoffus-Preston
    • Charlene Fox
  • Members
    • Kyle Kirzinger
    • Rebecca Fitzsimmons
    • Caitlin Fox
• North West
  • Leaders
    • Stacey Zerebeski
    • Nicole Panter
    • Jody Freimark
  • Members
    • Brooklyn Trask
    • Summer Norman
    • Emma Panter
• South East
  • Leaders 
    • Brandice Petterson
    • Cherilyn Gress
    • Brenda Zalys
  • Members
    • Kati Culbertson
    • Hunter Tataryn
    • Shastyna Chambers
• South West
  • Leaders
    • Stacey Hawkins
    • Chelsea Siemens
  • Members
    • Meghan Kerr
    • Erin Casey
    • Lacey Bauer

The banquet was held on Saturday evening, where 4-H Saskatchewan’s sponsors and donors were honoured for their contributions to 4-H, and the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place.

There were three individuals inducted into the Hall of Fame:

• Wes Olynyk
• Donna Cunningham
• Lisa Nestman

All three individuals have dedicated most of their lives to 4-H, helping develop the youth in the province. They were all happy to say a few words following their inductions, where they continued to show their 4-H spirit by encouraging the youth in the room to go on to do great things.

Following the banquet, the members headed to their 4-H dance – supervised by North East Regional 4-H Specialist Shelby Longworth – complete with a piñata and a unique dance developed by the members of 4-H Korea and the leaders joined South West Regional 4-H Specialist Kaitlyn Keller for fun and games.

Although it was a late night on Saturday, everyone was up early and ready for the business meetings to continue at 9 a.m. on Sunday.

New to AGM this year, members and leaders participated in the Focus on 4-H Forum. This was an open discussion on suggested policy changes related to Livestock Show Rules, the new pilot General Record Book, and any other topic of interest to our membership. There were many lively discussions and great suggestions were brought forward! The notes from the discussions were captured for the Board of Directors and staff to use for future meetings.

The 2018-19 Executive Officer and special positions were announced.

• President: Glenn Gress
• Vice-President: Clint Panter
• Secretary: Cameron Choquette
• Representative to the Saskatchewan 4-H Foundation: Alvin Pawlitza
• Representative to the Advisory Council: Tara Malinowski

After the auditor report and the member and leader recognition, two resolutions were voted on by the delegation.

The first resolution was regarding Bylaw #7.16 – Removing a member or leader form the 4-H program, with an amendment on the wording of the bylaw as displayed below. The resolution passed.

• Board’s Power to terminate or suspend a 4-H Member’s Membership or a 4-H Leader’s Membership in the 4-H program.
• The Board of Directors has the authority to remove a 4-H volunteer, member, or leader subject to the removal policy of the Saskatchewan 4-H Council.

The second resolution was to remove the executive committee of the Board of Directors, which was also passed.

After a final loonie draw and four special announcements, the business meetings was adjourned and everyone was free to go home. Overall, it was a very successful weekend and effective AGM!