The Linn County Small Woodlands Association has had a long partnership with the Clever Clovers 4-H club ever since Sherm and Fay Sallee moved back to Oregon in 1985. They started a community 4-H club, Clever Clovers, that included a forestry group. Whenever the Small Woodlands group needed help with a project, Fay and Sherm recruited 4-H members to help. One project was helping every year for 20 years with the Udell Happy Valley Tree Farm’s Tree Day. 4-H youth worked alongside small woodland members to clear trails, set up and teach classes and contribute to the success of this event. Of course, they both have worked together at the seedling sale since we held the first one at the old Coastal Farm store in their outdoor pop-up canopy.
Other projects on individual small woodlands tree farms have been considered as service projects for the 4-H members. They have cleared Scotch broom by pulling it by hand, pruned trees, moved rocks, built bird houses and planted trees. Their posters related to forestry have been used at various fairs and annual OSWA meetings. Members have given demonstrations on how to make wreaths and have taught tree identification classes.
Our Linn County Chapter has provided the 4-H group with camp scholarships to the World Forestry Camp at the Magness Tree Farm out of Wilsonville. They also provide awards to encourage the 4-H forestry members to complete their 4-H records for the county record book contest that is held each year. The organization has also hosted tours of member’s tree farms that gave them the opportunity to show off their hard work. The 4-H members enjoyed attending the tree farm tours where they obtained information that they could use in educational displays. They even provided tree farm related jobs that the group could do to earn money to go on a 4-H forestry tour to Hawaii.
Each have made friends that have lasted from one generation to the next. The 4-H group still visits the Brendle tree farm to collect insects and plant samples. Both groups continue to see each other at the small woodlands annual meeting.
Our latest project was assigned to us by Larry Mauter, to set up a new Linn County Small Woodlands Association website. The goal is for the 4-H club to maintain the Linn County chapter’s website. Larry set up an instructor, Nancy Hildebrandt, to teach the members and their leaders the ins and outs of setting up a website. The 4-H Leadership group was so excited about learning the website building process that they have also set up a website for the Clever Clovers 4-H club with the help of their leadership leaders, Jennifer Bradford and Kim Calvery. Both groups are looking forward to working with each other more in the future.
