Oh, so close…
Colchester 4-H looking at other options to fix their barn
4-H group came close to getting quite a boost.
The members of Colchester 4-H are going to regroup and look at other ways to raise funds for fixing up their barn on the Nova Scotia Provincial Exhibition Grounds in Truro.
For a while it looked like they were going to be receiving a $15,000 boost to their fundraising efforts.
The Truro Agromart had promised Colchester 4-H the prize money if they won the Thank a Retailer contest they were participating in against nine agriculture retailers in Ontario.
Last weekend the Truro Agromart jumped into the lead for a couple of days but Monday Huron Perth Ag Services in Woodham, Ont., crept back into first.
All day Tuesday and right up the deadline at midnight on Tuesday, the Truro company was between 200 and 300 votes behind.
The final tally was Huron Perth 17,214 and Truro 16,923.
“In true 4-H fashion we did our very best,” said Don Conrod, president of Colchester 4-H. “We’ll have to regroup now, get into our committees and see what options are out there for us.”
Conrad said 4-H in Colchester has grown so much, to 382 members in seven clubs, that the barn can no longer hold all the participants and their animals.
The barn dates back to the 1980s and should have had more regular maintenance over the years.
“It catches up with you and now the big things are repairs to the doors and roof – it needs a major upgrade,” said Conrod.
The metal on the walls needs repairing as well and the rabbit cage shelves need to be modified and the feed room needs repairing too.
The barn is also often used for the annual provincial 4-H show. This provincial show is the largest of its kind in Canada, open to all the 2,400 members in the 100 4-H clubs in Nova Scotia.
Conrod was pleased with the community support for the Truro Agromart and Colchester 4-H.
“The numbers were against us before we even started,” he said. “But 4-H has tremendous support throughout this community – everybody was sharing emails and posting on Facebook and it really took off.
We even got votes from family members in Qatar.”
The contest was sponsored by ADAMA Canada, a manufacturer and distributor with roots in Israel, specializing in crop protection products including herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.