Meetings

The entire OakTown Club membership meets once a month at the Community Club Meetings from September through June. These meetings are run by elected youth officers. At the meetings members receive information about upcoming events, watch and give presentations, participate in community service, play group games, and enjoy refreshments.

Projects

Members choose one of more project areas to focus on each club year. The projects are led by adult and teen leaders. Projects meet one or more times per month depending on need. 
  • Planned work in an area of interest to the 4-H member
  • Guided by a 4-H adult volunteer Project Leaders and Teen Leaders
  • Aimed at planned objectives that can be attained and measured
  • Meet for a minimum of 6 hours over the course of the club year, some may meet much more
  • Summarized by some form of record keeping
Just about any interest can be turned into a project with the help of an adult volunteer Project Leader. County-wide projects are also available and include Camp Academy (training to be a counselor or CIT for 4-H camp, State Exchange (exchanging homes with 4-H members from another state for two weeks during the summer), and Service Learning Project (members plan and carry out community service projects).
Gardening Vegetable/Crops
  • Gardening with emphasis on vegetable-growing for group consumption, donation and fair entries

Photography
  • Focus on sharing, printing, showing photos. Some post-production work. Computer access necessary. 


Preserved Foods 
  • 3–4 half-day meetings learning about several types of food preservation from jams/jellies, fruit sauces and butters, dried veggies and fruit and fresh herb/flower/fruit instilled vinegars and possibly oils. High priority to complete projects for AlCo Fair. May look into gleaning for fruits and vegetables to use. 

Poultry 
  • We will be focusing on fun with chickens, including practical chicken care, chicken emergency kit and care, making food and treats, growing a chicken garden, how to handle chickens from chicks to adults. 

Cavy (guinea pig) 
  • We will be learning about cavies for pets and as show animals. We will learn about: cavy care, anatomy, health, history, breeds, varieties, behavior, cavies as pets, showing, and other topics as interest develops. We will be attending regional shows to learn about showing cavies. 
Primary 4-H 
  • We will develop a monthly enrichment activity for new and existing members ages 5–8.

Rabbits 
  • We will learn about selecting, housing, caring for, and showing rabbits. Returning members will build on their knowledge, and members without a rabbit are welcome to foster a bunny or just come to meetings. We hope to do more outreach in the form of clinics, shows, fair, and public events where we can grow involvement with rabbits. 

Outdoor Adventures 
  • We will explore our East Bay Parks! Hikes will vary from 1- 2 hours.

Other Activities

In addition to Club and Project Meetings, members have the opportunity to participate in many other club, county, state and national events. Youth are encouraged to attend community service events, field days (day long events focused on a project area), conferences, presentation days, awards ceremonies, skit night, skate night, Alameda County Fair, and sleep-away camp. There are many leadership opportunities for youth on the local club, county, state, and national level.

Meeting Minutes

September 2018