4-H Hippity Hops into a new Rabbit Club
Jul 10, 2023 11:17AM ● By Skylee Mecham eighth grade student at Morgan Middle School
As 4-H clubs around the county have begun to gather for the new 4-H year, so does a new club. Starting this year, a new rabbit 4-H club in Morgan, known as the “Hippity Hops” was formed. The club consists of 10 members. Elected officers of the club are Megan Neilson as President, Maeve Cornelius as Vice President, Skylee Mecham as Secretary, Megan Pincock as Pledge Leader and Annalise Haddock as Snack Organizer. This club is led by Morgan County’s 4-H Program Coordinator Nicole Reed.
Hippity Hops club members are required to meet at least six times during the summer to prepare for their show date at the county fair. During club meetings, members are taught how to properly care for their rabbits. This includes feeding, grooming, health checks, habitat and safe handling. Members also learn about different rabbit breeds and showmanship to prepare them for judging at the county fair.
For judging, Hippity Hop members will be organized into junior and intermediate classes based on their age and grade. Each member will be judged individually on their rabbit knowledge in showmanship and the health and standards of their rabbit in quality classes. The intermediate age group will be required to answer more difficult questions than the junior group during their judging time. The rabbit show will be held on August 3, at the Morgan County Fairgrounds.
On June 8, the Hippity Hops Club took some time to serve their community by pulling weeds at the Morgan County Library. The areas they cleaned up will be refurbished and beautified for others to enjoy.
4-H is one of the largest youth development organizations in the United States and has been a long-time tradition for Morgan County youth. Besides learning to care for their animals, participants learn leadership skills and many life lessons along the way. The USU Extension Discovery Book states that, “4-H participants have higher participation in civic contribution, higher grades, increased healthy habits, and higher participation in science than other youth” (Lerner et al., 2005). λ
