Potters Craft Tomorrow’s World

How gifted are potters who have the uncanny ability to start with nothing but a lump of clay and end with a work of art. It looks messy, and it is, but the end justifies the means. When that finished work is painted and glazed, it can be an artwork to decorate a room, hold flowers or anything else. The finished work will last for years, if properly cared for, not abused or carelessly handled.
Recently, my wife needed something from a handcrafts store, and I went along as driver. Soon after arriving I found myself reliving part of my youth staring at boxes of plastic models. There were models of muscle cars and warplanes, submarines and aircraft carriers, and, a even a mini R.M.S. Titanic. The difference with some of those models was that no glue is required, they snap together, and some are already painted.
It brought back memories of long night and weekend hours passed assembling a fleet of cars and boats, birds and even small houses for my electric train village. Strangely, I survived treacherous hours inhaling plastic glue fumes, wondering why some tiny part would not stay in place. Snap-together parts remove the angst of parts that refuse to adhere to one another.
Ah, youth, so precious and yet spurned by legions of those in its tender folds. Too soon they wish to shed the security blanket of those years before the age of responsibility sets in and fun soon is lost. How soon after those enviable childhood years fresh-faced boys and girls are almost scolded to “grow up!” This age of instant education and gratification requires that, somewhere between infant formula and solid food, our toddlers must learn everything seemingly overnight.
Almost before they know their name or can count, we seem to expect them to know their Social Security number, shapes and colors and, hopefully, their telephone number, address, mother and father’s name and a million other facts by the time they set foot inside the pre-K classroom for Day One.
Still, there remains hope for youth that they might enjoy the delicate days before them and learn something that might aid them as they travel into the future.
For three days, starting tomorrow and lasting until Saturday, the Cape May County 4-H Fair will take place at the fairgrounds on Court House-South Dennis Road. While it’s not an official “county fair” it is as close as we come to one. It’s also an excellent place to see what youth can do, and, given the opportunity, one might even get an opportunity to talk with one of those 4-H club members who will be roaming about the grounds.
There will be a fat lamb and hog auction for those who might desire to assist a young club member defray the cost of raising livestock, then learning a fact of life is learning to part with things you love. As many present and former 4-H club members are aware, there is much more to 4-H than raising horses and hogs, chickens and rabbits. That is just the place where adults, who possess time and something to offer, can play the part of a potter with youth.
There’s no need to be an astute in animal husbandry to take charge of a 4-H club. Let’s say you have an affinity for bicycles and love to ride. I’ll bet there are lots of youngsters who would love to join a 4-H bicycle club. Maybe your expertise is in electronics, there are probably at least 10 area youths who would love to learn that as a skill to take into adulthood.
It is a challenge to work with young people, a diverse group of teens who gather weekly to focus on a topic. But, once you get to know them, to remove the veneer of today’s electronic gadgetry, you’ll find they are still children at heart, wanting to show their stuff, yet scared to admit what they don’t know.
One of the key points in 4-H is a night of presentations, when members stand before a small group and give a demonstration. For many, that is a terror. They will have dry mouths, suffer headaches and sweat, will maybe even plead with mom or dad not to make them go. For those who surmount that first-time fright of public speaking, the egg is cracked, and from then on, it gets easier each time. The end product, as many of those once terror-filled teens will admit, they learn to speak in public, not be afraid, and can hold their own in a tough adult world.
It is amazing to watch how teens develop, think, act and react when away from parents for even an hour. They blossom, often in incredible ways, that proves the future is in good hands.
Their ideas can truly be amazing. For certain, the world they see is not the world we gray heads see, but it’s up to them to decide the future, and for us to help guide them in the right way. That is where 4-H plays a very important role in the county and nation.
For too many the annual 4-H fair is simply a time to eat barbecued chicken on long tables under trees, get a funnel cake, see a tractor and call it quits. Those who step inside the Lockwood Building will see works of art, plants that grew under a youngster’s watchful eye, and the world of tomorrow today.
We congratulate adult leaders who volunteer their precious free time so that 4-H youth can learn something to take with them into the future. They play the potter and help mold young lives. To be that person is a terrific reward.