The Basics

We are located in Sharon Massachusetts. Our club is comprised of children ranging in ages from six to eighteen. At our Sharon location, our members learn the responsibilities involved in owning and caring for various livestock animals including goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, horses, and dairy cows.

The Sunny Rock 4-H Club consists of sheep, goat, rabbit, poultry, and horse clubs. At our working barn, each member is responsible for helping out with all the animals as needed and taking care of housekeeping chores.

Sunny Rock 4-H Club is not for people who just want to play with the cute animals - we get dirty, muck stalls, scrub buckets, and wade through mud, rain, and snow in all weather and seasons. But we make great friends, laugh a lot, learn about animals, and have fun while we're at it!

History

Sunny Rock 4-H began as a rabbit leasing program in 1985 as the "Big M Rabbit Club" under the leadership of Joe Major and Maria Cataldo. The early club, located at the Sunny Rock Farm in Walpole, boasted members not only from Walpole but also many surrounding towns. Members met each week to learn rabbit care and have fun.

In the spring of 1989, the club expanded in both membership and livestock as well as diversity and spirit. Dairy, sheep, goat, and poultry programs were added to the rabbit program. The club continues to offer this great variety of options today.

In May of 2000, thanks to the generosity of the Ward family, the club moved to its present location in Sharon. Through the dedication and hard work of our membership, we continue our original commitment to providing a healthy and fun environment for all of our members, volunteers animals.

Visual Presentations

The local county sponsors visual presentations, an informal public speaking and presentation competition. Specific guidelines are set for the creation and format of the presentation. 4-H members from around the county come together to present a topic of their choice, along the way learning about presentation skills, communication, and subjects choses by fellow presenters. Presentation topics range from animals to sewing to conservation to cooking. Visual presentation season culminates at state visual presentation day, where the best presentations in each category from each county are given again and judged state-wide. The competition is light and informal, and a good time is had by all.

Records

Each November, 4-H members submit records. Records are a way of keeping track of community service, leadership skills and activities done through participation in 4-H as well as other programs. The process of record keeping teaches members valuable skills in goal setting, planning, organization and critical thinking . Along with this, members also submit a project record; projects can be an animal project, leadership project , community service project, or any combination of the three. Members can submit up to 5 projects per year.

Fairs and Shows

Each club has various activities within their club which are determined by their club leader; these might include field trips, community service activities, mock shows,showmanship clinics etc. There are also whole barn activities such as fairs, 4-H open houses, and barn clean up day. Each September is our fair season; we attend the Cracker Barrel fair in Wrentham, Adams Farm fair in Walpole and possibly others. These are educational fairs where we bring our animals and posters we have made to show the public what we do as a 4-H club. It is expected that members commit themselves to at least two events per year. Sunny Rock is a non-profit organization and all of our funding comes from member dues and fundraising events, therefore it is important to have involvement from all members.

Camps and Other Activities

There are also activities put on by Mass State 4-H. You can find information about these through the Mass 4-H website or your leader. These may include the annual photography contest, goat camp, sheep camp, summer camp or various showmanship clinics.