UPCOMING EVENTS
March 17 & 18 - Spring Fling Horse Clinic, Kiplinger Arena, McCook
March 20 - Rabbit Seminar, Blue Hill, 7:00 -9 p.m.
March 23 - Harlan County 4-H Dance, Ag Center, 7:30-10:30 p.m.
March 26 - Speech Contest, Harlan County Courthouse, Alma, 7:00 p.m.
March 26 & April 2 - Teen Farm Safety Seminar, Ag Center, Holdrege, 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. March 28 - NE 4-H & FFA Tractor Operator’s Contest, Lincoln
March 29 - Leader Training Lesson, A License to Grill, Ag Center, Orleans, 5:30 p.m.
March 30 - All market beef must be tagged, weighed, and ID sheets turned in for all showing purposes by this date.
March 31- 37th York-Hamilton Cattlemen’s Beef Progress Show, York County
April 3 - Babysitting Clinic - Legion Hall, Wilcox, 3:30 - 6:00 p.m.
April 7 - Southeast NE Goat Clinic, Near Crete
THANK YOU
A special thank you to all 4-H ‘ers, families and leaders who attended 4-H Family Fun Night on March 5. Eleven Easter centerpieces were made and donated to the Senior Citizen Center in Alma. You should be proud of your hard work.
HANDBOOKS ARE VAILABLE
Four-H handbooks for 2007 are available. Please stop in at the office to pick up your copy.
SPEECH CONTEST
Four-H speakers, mark March 26 on your calendar. That is the date of the Harlan County 4-H Speech Contest. The contest begins at 7:00 p.m. in the courthouse meeting room in Alma.
NEW THIS YEAR:
Harlan County will be adding a Senior Division class: Extemporaneous Speaking. If you are 14 or older you can compete in this class. For a complete set of guidelines and rules for the Extemporaneous Speaking Class, please contact the office. We hope that this will encourage those busy older 4-H’ers to give a speech. Guidelines for the other classes are available at the office.
Please pre-register for the county contest by March 22.
FREE TEEN FARM SAFETY SEMINAR
This seminar will be held at the Phelps County Ag Center in Holdrege on the evenings of March 26 and April 2 from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. Topics include ATV safety, tractor-loader safety, animal safety and general farm safety. This is free to student participants. Pre-register by March 23.
4-H DANCE
The 4-H dance and movie night will be held at the Ag Center in Orleans on March 23 from 7:30 - 10:30 p.m. Cindy Boehler will be the D. J. so the music will be awesome. Admission is only $2.00. Treats will be served and pop can be purchased. The dance is open to all 4-H’ers and their guests.
4-H COMMUNICATIONS EVENT WEB SEMINAR
All Nebraska 4-H volunteers and
youth who are interested in learning more about the 4-H Communications Event are encouraged to participate in an online Web Seminar, presented on Tuesday, March 20, 2007, from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. CST.
Participants in the Web Seminar will need to have a computer with Internet access (high bandwidth connection is strongly encouraged) and a phone. To participate in the Web Seminar, please RSVP to Lisa Spilker at mailto:lspilker2@unl.edu or at (402) 472-9018 by Friday, March 16, 2007. A recording of the Web Seminar will also be made available for viewing on the 4-H Web Site at a later date.
TWO BABYSITTING CLINICS
Boys and girls age 10-13 are invited to attend one of the two Sitter Sense Babysitting Clinics being co-sponsored by Harlan County Extension. Information on safety, play and snacks will be presented. Youngsters who are babysitting now or who are thinking about caring for young children are encouraged to attend.
The first one is on April 3 at the Legion Hall in Wilcox from 3:30 -6:00 p.m. Pre-registration is requested by March 29 by calling the Kearney County Extension Office at 308-832-0645. The second one is April 16th at the Methodist Church in Oxford from 3:15 - 6:00 p.m. Pre-registration is requested by April 13 by calling the Furnas County Extension Office at 308-268-3105.
2007 4-H PHOTOGRAPHY THEMES
Unit II - “What I want to be when I grow Up: People, Places or Concepts Representing Careers”; and Unit III - “To Infinity and Beyond: The Exploration of Science and Technology” or “It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Ag: New Trends in Agriculture”.
NEW HOME EVVIRONMENT PROJECTS
Sketchbook Crossroads and Portfolio Pathways are the new Home Environment projects. They deal with art principles and design elements and are considered art projects, not craft projects. Celebrate Art and Art In Your Future are no longer being offered as a 4-H projects. We suggest 4-H’ers sign up for Design Decisions if they are planning to enter craft type exhibits. We will allow 4-H’ers to enter more exhibits per class in Design Decisions to make up for the classes lost with the removal of Celebrate Art and Art in Your Future.
4-H SPONSORS NEEDED
Four-H sponsors are an important part of the Harlan County 4-H program. A big thank you goes to all of you who are sponsoring trophies and special awards.
Again this year we need a few new trophy or special award sponsors. Please contact the Extension office if you want to support the 4-H program in this way.
QUALITY ASSURANCE - 2007
All 4-H members taking livestock projects must have quality assurance verification to show livestock. Lynette will be willing to offer the training to your club members at a club meeting and can do the testing at that time. Testing can also be done by appointment at the Extension office. A county wide training will be held on May 22 in the courthouse meeting room in Alma.
NEW HELP FOR 4-H LEADERS
The 4-H Foundation has donated a
bag of tricks to help 4-H leaders. The bag contains “ Meeting in the Bag” learning ideas, Books of Games and Learning Activities. Leaders and parents are encouraged to check out the bag for use at a club meeting. Please plan to use this bag. It is doing no one any good just sitting in the office.
EXCITING SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES FOR 4-H'ERS COUNTY CAMP IS BACK
This year Harlan County 4-H’ers ages 8-12 can all go to camp together on June 5-7 at the South Central 4-H Center. The cost of the camp is $100.00 but thanks to a $20.00 scholarship from Farm Bureau Women, the cost will be $ 80.00 per camper. Watch next month’s newsletter for the brochure.
OTHER CAMPS OFFERED
The 4-H Camp brochure that lists all the 4-H camps that are being offered in 2007 can be found at http://4h.unl.edu/. You are encouraged to choose a camp to attend. The Farm Bureau Women are offering a $20.00 scholarship per Harlan County 4-H’er to any of the camps. Register early to take advantage of the early bird discounts.
BIG RED SUMMER ACADEMIC CAMPS
More information about Big Red Summer Camps can be viewed at http://bigredcamps.unl.edu. Camp descriptions, costs, and scholarship information are available at this site.
UNICAMERAL YOUTH CONFERENCE - June 10-13, 2007
Attention, all youth who’ll be in grades 9-12 next fall and who have an interest in politics and state government! The Unicameral Conference is for you! It will be held at the Nebraska State Capitol and you will be staying at UNL’s Burr Hall in Lincoln. Check out http://4h.unl.edu and use the Table of Contents to find Unicameral Youth Conference and the other great things that 4-H is doing.
HOMEMAKER CLUB NEWS
SCHOLARSHIP LUNCHEON
March 12 was the date of this year’s Homemaker Scholarship Luncheon. Keri Anderson received the Homemaker Member Scholarship. Winning the high school scholarships were Cole Bergen, Renea Jorgensen, and Jennifer Schoen. Alternates were Addie Robison and Chance Waggoner. Mr. Bill Minnick from Twin Valley Public Power District was the guest speaker. A special thank you to the Homemaker Club members who furnished food for this annual event.
A LICENSE TO GRILL
A workshop/Leader Training Lesson entitled A License to Grill will be presented on March 29 2007. The training is open to the public and will be held at the Ag Center in Orleans at 5:30 p.m. Participants will learn the basics of grilling plus some money and time saving tips. Call the Harlan County Extension Office (308-928-2119) to pre-register.
Sincerely,
Tony Anderson
Extension Educator
Lynette Brown
Extension Assistant
