BONNYVILE – Ollie Schoch is a 10-year-old 4-H club member who is off to compete in regionals after winning the Bonnyville District Communications junior presentation division.
A member of both the Iron River Wranglers and the Beaver River Beef Club, Schoch won her public speaking competitions with her presentation on making Bushcraft Candles.
“I like doing bushcraft, I find it really fun . . . I like hiking and finding random things. This one time my sister found a really big mushroom – It had orange and red on it, and it was under a tree.”
Schoch explained that her presentation showed each step in making a bushcraft candle including getting the stringy fibre from the underside of tree bark in order to make a wick and collecting spruce pitch or pine resin for the fuel.
“You have to light them with a lighter, or flint and steel, or whatever you’ve got. Flint and steel works but it takes a long time . . . You can pack it with spruce pitch or pine resin. I like using spruce pitch and pine resin because it has a nice smell to it. You don’t want to collect it all off one tree though, because it’s kind of like a band aid on the tree.”
Schoch said her parents helped her out a lot, and her mother helped her find information about bushcraft on the internet. Last year when she was a 4-H cleaver, she got a lot of encouragement from her family.
“The first time I did public speaking I was really nervous, and my parents helped me out.”
Schoch got some tips from the judges, including slowing down her speech, and remaining calm, which she is going to be working on for her presentation at regionals.
Schoch said she has a passion for bushcraft and wants to continue sharpening her skills.
“I want to learn to survive in the wilderness and collect herbs and everything. My mom finds herbs and makes teas and things out of them.”
Schoch is feeling calm about her trip to regionals on March 22 in Holden, though she is not looking forward to the long drive to arrive there at 9 a.m. Having attended camps with other 4-H members in the region, she is looking forward to seeing some friends.
Schoch spoke positively about her experience with the Iron River Wranglers and her love of horses. She plans to continue with 4-H next year and thinks she will focus her next presentation on something to do with horses.
“I usually take my mini on walks through the woods and do hikes. What’s actually kind of funny about him is he eats cookies and drinks coffee. My mom was eating these cowboy cookies and he got some crumbs and really wanted more. And she left her coffee on a fence post, and he stuck his face inside it to lick it up.”
Schoch rides her pony Storm for the Iron River Wranglers club, and has a horse named Garth Brooks she calls her “big friendly giant.”
