By Nathan Duke
Staff Writer

For three Auburn girls, community service is a family activity passed down from one generation to the next.

Joelle, 15, who will be a sophomore at Memorial High School this fall; Jackie, 13, who will be an eighth-grader at Auburn Village School; and Julia Janigian, 10, who will be a fifth-grader at Auburn Village School, are three of five members of Auburn Kreative Kids, an Auburn 4-H club.

The Janigian sisters participate heavily year-round in a variety of 4-H events. Joelle, left, wears a jacket and hat that she sewed in the club, while Jackie, middle, displays her 4-H scrapbook. Julia models two of the bears that the girls are donating to the Auburn Police Department. (Nathan Duke Photo)

The club, which is in association with University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension Service, was founded by their mother, Mary Ann Janigian, who said she had great past experiences with 4-H.

“In 4-H, as a kid, it was a valuable thing to me,” she said. “I got a lot out of it. I used a lot of things I did in 4-H to get into college, including awards and community service. It makes you a well-rounded person. When you start applying to colleges, you all of a sudden realize you have all these community service projects on your resume. Now, to get into colleges, it is a big deal to be doing community service.”

The Janigian girls have a combined total of 13 years of experience with the club and have worked on varying projects that encompass community service, crafts and sewing.

Each year, the club focuses on one large project, which they work on at its two-hour meetings every two weeks. This year, the club has chosen to sew teddy bears to donate to the Auburn Police Department.

Officers give the bears to children who are at the scene of a potentially traumatic event, such as a car accident or domestic dispute, to calm them.

Mary Ann Janigian said she hopes to deliver the bears to the department by the end of the summer.

Each year, the club, which also includes members Melissa Myers, 13, and Kelsea Kehoe, 10, takes part in a statewide 4-H competition in which members must demonstrate their knowledge and speaking abilities in front of judges on a 4-H-related topic of their choosing.

This year at the May competition, Joelle displayed how to make baklava and Julia discussed how to make seven-layer bars, a brownie-like treat. Jackie spoke to judges about the different parts of horse saddles and bridles. She is interested in horseback riding, which is a 4-H-related event, though her club does not offer it as an activity. She said the demonstrations help younger students learn to speak up.

"(Competitions) help you get used to talking in front of people," she said. "You are judged on how clearly you talk."

The club's next big event is a county-wide 4-H sponsored trip to New York City in mid- August. One of the focuses of 4-H is fashion and sewing, so the trip will focus on fashion.

Members will meet with a hat designer and magazine fashion editor and learn about designs involved in Broadway shows, as well as take a trip to Ellis Island.

However, there is an age restriction for the trip, so only Joelle, Jackie and their mother will be going.

Julia said other 4-H projects she has enjoyed in the past have been working at the omelet wagon at the Deerfield Town Fair and collecting coats for homeless children. Joelle said she likes many of the fashion related projects and looks forward to the New York trip. Jackie said the demonstrations are her favorite part of 4-H because she likes to speak in front of people.

Mary Ann Janigian said area students interested in joining the club can join through the UNH Cooperative Extension Service. She said she promotes the club because it allows children to take part in a number of activities to which they are rarely exposed.

"4-H promotes learning about clothing and design, but also about animals, agriculture and farming," she said. "It is a way to teach kids to expand their horizons."