A NEWSLETTER FOR 4-H VOLUNTEERS AND FAMILIES SEPTEMBER, 2006
YORK COUNTY 4H NEWS
Thanks so much!
Another fair season has come and gone and, once again, huge thanks are due to everyone who participated to make this season a success. There are many different youth programs around, but only one that provides (and runs on) the depth of family involvement – a family that extends from preschoolers to grandparents, neighbors and friends!
Thanks to our members who helped each other, engaged with the public, modeled good sportsmanship and character, and did their best every day. Thanks to the officials of Acton Fair who help to make the event such a success each year and who work hard to make 4-H a visible presence during fair week.
Thanks for the time spent in the Food Booth – a bonding experience if there ever was one! A special thanks to Deanna Thompson for coordinating the Food Booth along with Diane Qualey and Barbara Peterson. Many of our clubs pulled together and the kids successfully manned the food booths.
4-H is a community of young people, but it also is a community of people who actively care about young people and their futures.
Thanks for caring!
New 4-H Year Begins October 1
The new 4-H year begins October 1. Please be sure to get your club leaders and members enrolled as soon as possible after October 1. For newer members, please note that you have to sign up for 4-H each year.
Know someone who may want to join? Sign them up! We want to increase our active membership this year, so we are encouraging every current 4-H member to think about asking your friends to join.
If your friends are interested have them call the Extension office or your club leader, and we can get them started.
Project Records Due October 13
2005/06 project records will be due to the Extension office by
October 13. Remember, these records help us to make decisions on special
awards to be presented at Fallfest. They are also a great way to keep
track of what you’ve been involved with in 4-H for the past year, and
eventually will make you eligible for 4-H scholarship and travel opportunities.
Calendar September
25 4-H Leaders Meeting, Springvale September
30 Maine Day at the Big E October
11 Community Angels Informational meeting (Art HOPE) October 13 Project Records Due November 18
4-H Fallfest and Awards Celebration November 15 Deadline for 4-H Club Programs of Work for the New Year
Happy Birthday to… Special September birthday wishes to these
4-H'ers: September Kelsey Bickford Meghan Boucher Ivy Ford Ashley Hellstrom Eric Hellstrom Emily Hill Elizabeth Hilton Jessica Jackman Daisy Martinez Rachel McFarland Mariah Moulton Zach Page Tim Palmer William Palmer Roma Townshend Timothy Schluntz Danielle Sparks Molly Stapleton Quinn Trabold Hannah Tripp Morgan Wass Ben Yeaton
Congratulations to Maine’s
ESE Dairy Team!
The Maine 4-H Dairy Judging Team once again finished in first place at Eastern States Exposition. This means a trip to the World Dairy Expo and the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in Madison, Wisconsin, October of 2007. Congratulations to this team. Also good luck to last year’s winning team, when they attend the 2006 National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in next week.
Other Big E animal shows have occurred or are coming right up!
Dairy September 14-17
Horse September 20-23
Beef September 22-25
Working Steer September 22-25
Dairy Goat September 28-Oct 1
Sheep September 29-Oct 1
Dog September 29-Oct 1
Llama September 29-Oct 1
Art HOPE Offers 4-H Teens
A Creative Service Opportunity
We are offering an opportunity for teenagers aged 14-17 to receive training to become a “Community Angel” and to join monthly Art HOPE Creativity Gatherings as we come together in celebration of creative expression and community.
Creativity Gatherings are facilitated monthly meetings where those affected by cancer gather to create art, support one another in their journeys, and build a sense a community for themselves. Community Angels:
· Receive four hours of training in:
- Visual arts
- Understanding and working with those who have or are affected by cancer
· Agree to participate in at least three Creativity Gatherings. At these gatherings you will assist with interpreting ideas and translating them into art, co-create art projects based on need and ability, and be open as much to receiving as to giving.
· Give to some incredible folks the immeasurable gift of your time, energy and heart.
· Receive from some incredible folks the gift of time, energy, heart – and gratitude.
Art HOPE Creativity Gatherings
will be held at Wells Urgent Care, 4-6 pm on the following dates:
October 24 February 27
November 28 March 27
December 19 April 24
January 30 May 22
Community Angels are expected to participate in at least three Creativity Gatherings, and may choose to participate in as many as eight.
An informational meeting will be held for parents and youth on Wednesday, October 11, 6:30 pm at the Community Room of Wells Urgent Care, Rt. 109, Wells (Exit 19 of the Maine Turnpike, turn left onto Route 109, building is 1 mile on right).
For more information and to register contact Jon Prichard.
Annual 4-H Fall Fest and Awards Celebration planned for November 18
Fallfest, our annual 4-H celebration and Awards Night is months away but we’re making plans now.
This year’s 4-H Fallfest will occur, Saturday, November 18, so please mark your calendars now and plan on attending! We’ll have fun workshops, new arts programs, a pizza dinner, awards and recognition and lots more.
Are there any special workshops or activities you would like to see this year? Any suggestions on the dinner and awards celebration?
Help us make this day fun for you – your opinion counts. If you have suggestions, please tell your club leader, or send them to Jon by phone or mail or email. We value your ideas!
2006 Maine Shepherd School:
Raising Sheep for Profit
This will occur Friday, October 13 and Saturday, October 14, 2006 in Brunswick, Maine. The featured Speaker, Mike Caskey, Pipestone Lamb & Wool Program
The Shepherd School is sponsored by the Maine Sheep Breeders Association, the Maine Department of Agriculture & Rural Resources and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Scrapie funds from the American Sheep Industry Association will also be used to help sponsor aspects of this event. Contact Jon Prichard for a brochure and to register (or check our website.)
We Would Like to See More Volunteers Helping Out with Our Programs
If you know what burn-out is, you can appreciate how wonderful it is to have the help of others. If you know what it is like to have other people’s work added to your own work load, you can appreciate how it feels to have others help.
Participating at the county level in the Leaders Association is an opportunity to learn about group dynamics, about personal; growth, and learn new organization skills that you can use in other aspects of your life. Being part of a group can seem challenging, but it can be very rewarding.
Cooperative Extension is committed to helping volunteers grow and benefit from their experience as 4-H leaders.
So if you aren’t already involved in the Leaders Association or other aspects of Cooperative Extension, consider increasing your activity level. You’ll not only be helping out others, you’ll be giving yourself an enriching experience.
4-H Arts Beautify the Halls of
Extension Office Building
In August a handful of youth participated in a Discovery Arts program and created some beautiful art. If you visited the 4-H Exhibit Hall at Acton Fair you may have seen the fall panels (Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring) hanging there.
Well, they are finding a permanent home in the halls at the Extension office building, so if you’re in town, stop by the office and see the terrific art adorning our walls.
Do You Know the Difference:
Leadership & Citizenship?
What is Leadership?
There are various levels and kinds of leadership:
· Helping an individual on a one-to-one basis.
· Helping several individuals with a project in a group situation.
· Helping individual learn about a project through displays.
· Planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating an activity.
· Serving as leader for a project or activity.
· Serving as a committee chairman or officer.
What is Citizenship?
Citizenship is the relationship between you and others, as shown by the following:
· The way you think, feel, and act toward your family, other 4-Hers, your school and church groups, and other people in your community.
· Activities that help foster greater understanding of the role of a community citizen.
· Activities that contribute to the welfare of your local 4-H club, individuals in your community or the community as a whole.
· The 4-Her shows good citizenship by working with people to carry out the duties and responsibilities of a good citizen.
· Citizenship activities can include helping an individual or a group or carrying out a project individually.
· Representing 4-H while working with others to deal with significant community issues.
It was a Great 2006 4-H Year!
Wow! What a terrific year this has been –
thanks to 4-H members, volunteers, parents, teachers, and all the other wonderful communities members who were involved in “making the best better” in 2006.
Would you believe there were over 1400 adults and youth engaged in direct programming in York County 4-H this year?
Here’s some of where you were involved:
4-H Club Program
220 club members
57 active adult 4-H club volunteers
Special County Programs
(including Fallfest and Summer Celebration)
170 youth
National and International Travel
2 youth (CWF)
2 youth (Japanese Exchange)
Acton and Ossipee Valley Fairs
180 youth (estimated)
Southern Maine 4-H Horse Camp
28 4-Hers
12 active adult volunteers
Discovery Arts
(Including Saturday Arts, Nature Arts, “Art-with-Heart”, Community Banners, Community Angels)
225 youth
Vaughn Island 4-H Camp
110 campers
22 teen leaders
School-based Programs
(Including “Mentor ME 4-H Afterschool”)
30 high school
400 middle school
All of these programs will occur in 2007, and we’ve got some great new ones in the works!
FALL IDEAS FOR KIDS
Fall Napkins
Every now and then I get in the mood for a set of new cloth napkins. It is so easy to do. Choose a nice fall fabric allowing about 16" squares per napkin (some napkins are larger). If you intend to hem the napkins, allow for 17" squares, turn under 1/4" and then another 1/4" and hem with machine or by hand. You can also allow your cloth napkins to go hem-less and fray naturally in the wash.
Another idea is to make two-sided napkins. Choose two squares of fabric of complimentary colors and sew together with right sides together. Leave a little room to pull right-side-out. Press flat and topstitch 1/4" all the way around, closing the open end in this manner. When folded, these look spectacular!
Easy Rustic Basket
Cover an empty coffee can with brown paper (paper sack). Find several sticks of approximately the same diameter that you will cover the can with. Snip sticks with a garden pruning shears to lengths a bit longer than the height of the can. These can be varied to add interest. You will then hot-glue the sticks onto the can, laying them side by side. Be sure to glue them while the can is standing.
When finished drying, tie a raffia bow around the center. Put silk leaves, flowers, living mums or dried wild flowers into the can and display on the kitchen table or anywhere you need a little autumn flavor. A great project for the children.
Leaf Table Cloth
Find a 100% cotton table cloth from the second hand store or your linen closet. If you buy a new cloth, wash it first before beginning this project. Find some interesting leaves. You need acrylic paint (in fall colors) and textile medium, a brayer (or rolling pin), small paint brush, paper plates and paper towels.
Put colors mixed with textile medium on paper plates. Paint the color onto the backside of the leaf (vein side) and then lay it paint side down on the table cloth. Cover leaf with paper towel and roll brayer over it. Lift toweling and leaf gently up. Continue this process all over the cloth until you are pleased with the results. Press table cloth with hot iron to set colors. Tip: Using a cloth with a fall color (gold, light tan) blends nicely with the paint colors.
A Jack-o-lantern Twist
Instead of the charming pumpkin moonshines we've carved for years, add a little twist to the idea by drilling small holes (with a power drill) into the pumpkin either in a pattern or randomly.
You can illumine with a candle or with small white Christmas lights poking through each hole. You might also try a cookie cutter pattern to give an all-over fall look. You might need to tap them through with a mallet or hammer. Use a melon ball maker to carve holes part way through the flesh for a luminary look when lit.