Five members of the Redmond Better Basics 4-H club won blue ribbons in the 4-H Public Presentations event at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup on Tuesday. They are Zach Bircher, 14, Redmond; Jenny Stolarczuk, 12, Redmond; Theresa Barr, 10, Redmond; Faith Walter, 10, Redmond; and Johann deVilliers, 9, Woodinville.

In addition to her blue award, Walter also earned a Special Merit Award. Given to only a select few each year, the Special Merit Award honors a speaker whose presentation is deemed by the judges to be outstanding.

Redmond Better Basics is the only 4-H club in Redmond. Its main projects are robotics, public presentations and community service. Members may design independent projects in virtually any area that interests them — from chickens and knitting to mechanical science entrepreneurship.

4-H is the youth development education program of Washington State University Extension. WSU Extension is a collaboration of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, WSU as the state land grant university and King County Government.

Children may join 4-H at age 5 and remain active until they are 19. Redmond Better Basics is currently at capacity, but leader Katie Walter encourages interested adults to become volunteer leaders and start new clubs.

“King County provides excellent support for new leaders,” says Walter. “There is no end to the things kids can learn in 4-H. If they can dream it, they can do it.”

“A club doesn’t need to be big, either,” she adds. “There are even family clubs.”

For more information about 4-H in King County, contact nbaskett@wsu.edu.

4-H was founded in 1902 with a focus on farming and learning by doing. Today, 4-H is the largest youth development organization in the United States with more than 6 million members. The four H’s stand for head, heart, hands and health.