Ward County Clover Spirit Newsletter December 2015

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1 Table of Contents: Pages From Micky Pages Calendar of Events Pages Youth Opportunities Page H Enrollment Pages Ward County Fall Archery Shoot Pages Ward County 4-H Honors Program Page Schauer Archery Shoot Page Drift Prairie Day Pages Activity Day Page Junior Ambassador Buzz Page Fundraising Page Extension Office Move From Micky Happy winter! The H year is well under way. If you have not enrolled in 4-H, please do so by December 31 as well as pay your membership dues. Ward County 4-H youth had some amazing opportunities this fall. On October 4 th, the Fall Honors program took place at the North Central Research Extension Center. Members received their 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th, or 10 th year pins. In addition, I Dig It Awards, Outstanding Teen Member, and Outstanding Pre-teen Member winners were recognized. It was also an opportunity to watch the 2015 Communication Arts participants showcase their speeches. On October 17 th, as part of Tractor Supply Company s commitment to 4-H, our county hosted a bake sale. The proceeds from this day go directly back to the 4-H member s premium pool for Achievement Days. A great big thank you to Rocky Acres 4-H club as well as Hannah Remington and Laurel Grams for selling the yummy baked goods made by YOU. The Schauer Archery Shoot was held on October 18 th. I cannot express enough how incredible this day was from the location, to the weather, to the volunteers, and the youth. The 4-H members participated in a full afternoon of fun. There were over 70 shooters. The second annual Drift Prairie Day took place on October 22 nd.the weather could not have been more perfect! Eighteen youth from across our county participated. Nine of those were 4-H members. To top the outdoor skills day, two youth caught Northern Pike fish. It was so exciting! Multi-County Activity Day took place on November 14 th. Over 160 youth from across the northwest region participated. Thank you to the State Fair Center Event Staff and all the volunteers who helped to make this day possible. Page 1 of 20

2 Lastly, as announced via an on November 30 th, my last day as your 4-H Extension Agent will be January 12, The last 22 months have been very memorable because of the great families I have had the pleasure of getting to know and work with. I will continue to watch the Ward County 4-H Facebook page and see all the wonderful things Ward County youth are doing. Until my position is filled, you are left in great hands with Shirrell, Paige, and Ellen. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your families. Each of you will hold a special place in my heart. I will be in a great vacation location for anyone traveling to Montana. As Christmas is approaching and we begin the New Year, I would like to invite everyone to the Ward County 4-H Council Meeting on Monday, January 4, 2016 at 7:00 pm at the North Central Research Extension Center (5400 Highway 83, Minot, ND 58701). Upcoming Calendar of Events (For detailed information regarding events checkout Youth Opportunity) December 2015 December 24 Christmas Eve ~ Extension Office Closes at Noon December 25 Merry Christmas ~ Extension Office Closed January 2016 January 1 January 4 January 4 January 16 January January February 2016 February 6 February 12 February 13 Happy New Year ~ Extension Office Closed 4-H Competitive Judging Team Programs Kickoff Meeting 6:30 pm in the North Central Research Extension Center (5400 Highway 83, Minot, ND 58701) 4-H Council Meeting 7:00 pm in the North Central Research Extension Center SW District Archery Shoot, Bismarck Horse Judging Clinic, NDSU Citizenship in Action, Grand Forks Burleigh County Hippology Contest, Bismarck Little I Judging Contests, Fargo NE District Archery Shoot, Cando Page 2 of 20

3 March 2016 March 1 March 1 March 5 March 5 March 5 March 5-12 March 11 March 12 April 2016 April 2 April 2-3 April 9-14 April 16 April 30 4-H Foundation Scholarships Due to Fargo Ward County Scholarship Applications Due to Extension Office State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest, Fargo NW District Archery Shoot, Minot State Crop Judging Show, Valley City North Dakota Winter Show, Valley City North Dakota Winter Show Hippology Contest, Valley City SE District Archery Shoot & SE District Air Rifle Match, West Fargo State Air Rifle Match, Devils Lake Horse Events, Fargo National 4-H Conference, Washington DC Archery Match, Edgeley Missouri River 4-H Shoot, Bismarck Youth Opportunity: 4-H Competitive Judging Teams The Ward County 4-H program would like to invite all families and youth interested in learning about 4-H Competitive Judging Team Programs to attend a kickoff organizational meeting on January 4, 2016 at 6:30 pm -- before the start of the 4-H Council Meeting at the North Central Research Extension Center (5400 Highway 83, Minot, ND 58701). Participation in the judging programs improves valuable skills important to the development of youth. Valuable skills such as making observations, organizing thoughts, decision making, expressing opinions, public speaking, and interaction with other youth and adults -- that will benefit youth through their life. In addition, it is fun! Youth get a chance to travel to contests and meet new friends from across the county and state. Youth may participate in one or more of the following teams: Consumer Choice Crop Judging Hippology Horse Judging Horse Quiz Bowl Land Judging Livestock Judging Meat Judging Range Judging ~continued on next page~ Page 3 of 20

4 All youth who are interested in judging are required to attend. Decision will be made as to where and when practices will be held. If you cannot attend the meeting, please contact Shirrell in the Extension Office in order to include you in correspondence for practices. Please note that it is up to the parents to get youth to practices and contests throughout the year. Carpools are often available. We look forward to seeing you in January. Youth Opportunity: Ward County 4-H Council Meeting The 4-H Council Meeting will be held on Monday, January 4, 2016 in the North Central Research Extension Center (5400 Highway 83, Minot, ND 58701) beginning at 7:00 pm. Reminder: attending Council Meetings are worth 20 I Dig It Award points Youth Opportunity: NDSU Horse Judging Clinic, Fargo NDSU Horse Judging Clinic in Fargo will be held January 16 and 17, 2016 at NDSU. 4-H members along with coaches and parents who have an interest in learning about equine evaluation are invited to participate. Participants will learn basic information about judging conformation and performance classes commonly encountered at judging contests. The classroom portion of this workshop will focus on rules and judging criteria used to evaluate each class. Participants will also learn how to efficiently and effectively take notes for classes and transform those notes into an organized set of reasons. The session held at the barn on Saturday afternoon will focus on live evaluation and discussion of individual horses. The judging workout on Sunday will consist of four classes and will be run similar to a judging contest. This mock contest will be a placings only contest (no oral reasons will be required from participants). Following each class official placings and reasons will be given. Pre-registration is required and payment must accompany registration. Registration deadline is January 8, Adult and Youth Registration Cost: $20.00 per person for Saturday only or $30.00 per person for Saturday and Sunday. For more information: Page 4 of 20

5 Youth Opportunity: Citizenship In Action, Grand Forks Citizenship In Action (CIA) will be held in Grand Forks on January 17-18, This year the focus is on the Judicial System. CIA is a great opportunity to learn about our government. Registration is available at 4honline.com For registrations completed by December 31, 2015 the cost is $65.00; for late registrations completed January 1 through 13 the cost is $ Participants receive: a free CIA shirt, materials for the event, bowling, lodging, and meals during the event. For more information go to: Youth Opportunity: 4-H Foundation Scholarships, Fargo Several scholarships are available for 4-H and former 4-H members. Youth may apply for more than one scholarship using the same application by checking the blank next to the scholarship(s) for which they wish to be considered on the first page of the application form. The list of 4-H Foundation Scholarships are online at: Submission deadline: must be postmarked or received in ND 4-H Foundation Fargo office by March 1, Youth Opportunity: Ward County Scholarships, Minot The Ward County 4-H Scholarship form is available online at: Submission Deadline: must be in the Extension Office before 4:30 pm on Tuesday, March 1, Page 5 of 20

6 Youth Opportunity: State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest, Fargo Information and registration form for the State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest are located online at: Youth Opportunity: State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest, Fargo Enter two quarts of wheat, durum, oats, barley, sunflower, rye, peas, lentils, beans, and shelled corn. Enter one quart of flax, canola, grasses, small seeded legumes, millet, and seeds of similar size. Enter ten ears of corn. Premiums of $5 for blue, $3 for red, and $1 for white ribbon exhibits. 4-H lot champions receive an additional $10 premium. Champion division premiums are $10 to $100 paid for top 4 to 6 entries. Champion exhibitor in each lot is invited to awards luncheon on Friday, March 7, Entries must be at North Dakota Winter Show by 10:00 am on Monday, March 1, Information and registration form for the State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest are located online at: Youth Opportunity: National 4-H Conference, Washington DC Information available online at: Page 6 of 20

7 4-H Enrollment (Re-Enrollment) Using 4honline.com All new 4-H enrollments and re-enrollments must be completed online at 4honline.com through Thursday, December 31, If you are re-enrolling, you will already have a family/member account. The computer connects all family members by address. DO NOT make a new account. Step-by-step instructions are available online at: If you are a new 4-H family (first-time) using the 4honline.com, you must set up a profile, If you were enrolled in the previous 4-H year (existing family) to add a new 4-H member to an existing family, If you were enrolled in the previous 4-H year, to re-enroll 4-H members in an existing family, Ward County Fall Archery Shoot September 12, 2015 The Ward County Fall Archery Shoot was held at the North Dakota State Fair Center. Youth participation came from across the state, specifically Ward, Mountrail, Rolette, Ramsey, Morton, Lamoure, Pierce, and McLean counties. Five different relays took place involving 52 participants in three different age groups: beginner (26), junior (18), and senior (8). Youth had the option of shooting freestyle or barebow. A freestyle bow is one where the youth have a release and/or sight and a barebow has neither a sight nor release. Area businesses that helped sponsor awards included Archer s Elite, Scheel s All Sports, and the Berthold Sportsman s Club. Top shooters from Ward County were Ethan Myers and Kaden Korgel in junior freestyle and Connor Rudland and Mark Schauer in beginner freestyle. The next Ward County Archery Shoot will take place this spring, March 5, 2016, in the FFA Hall of the North Dakota State Fair Center. Page 7 of 20

8 Additional photographs are posted to the Ward County 4-H Facebook page Page 8 of 20

9 Ward County 4-H Honors Program The Ward County 4-H Honors Program was held on October 4, 2015 in the North Central Research Extension Center. Members received their 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th, or 10 th year pins. In addition, the I Dig It Awards, Outstanding Teen Member, and Outstanding Pre-teen Member winners were recognized. It was also an opportunity to watch the 2015 Communication Arts participants showcase their speeches. Page 9 of 20

10 Additional photographs are available on the Ward County 4-H Facebook page. Page 10 of 20

11 Schauer Archery Shoot October 18, 2015 This was an incredible day -- from the location, to the weather, to the volunteers, and the youth. The 4-H members participated in a full afternoon of fun. There were over 70 shooters. With that many shooters, minor changes will take place for Additional photographs are available on the Ward County 4-H Facebook page. Page 11 of 20

12 Drift Prairie Day October 22, 2015 Extension Agents Paige Brummund, Ellen Bjelland, and Micky Zurcher, along with Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) staff, and volunteer Jim Mertz held a fun and educational outdoor skills day for 18 area youth. The day began by NWR staff presenting the history of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Then, the youth were given a nutrition presentation in preparation to make their hobo lunch. Additional events included a tour of the tam, a hiking and GPS, making Paracord compass bracelets, fishing, and learning how to fillet a Northern Pike. Additional photographs are available on the Ward County 4-H Facebook page. Page 12 of 20

13 Multi-County Activity Day November 14, 2015 Multi-County Activity Day took place on November 14 th. Over 160 youth from across the northwest region participated. Thank you to the North Dakota State Fair Center Event staff and all the volunteers who helped to make this day possible. Additional photographs are available on the Ward County 4-H Facebook page. Page 13 of 20

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19 Ward County Junior Ambassador Buzz The Ward County Junior Ambassador program is beginning with four youth. The youth are (as pictured) Dalyce Leslie, Treasurer; Hannah Remington, President; Jacob Scheresky, Secretary; and Thomas Schauer, Vice-President. This section is to highlight the work our Ambassadors are doing. Below is an article written by Thomas Schauer on his perspective of Judging. I have been a 4-H member of the Peppers 4-H club in Ward County for 7 years. Every year members of Ward County 4-H clubs sign up for the livestock judging team. We begin to learn about and practice livestock judging to be ready for competition that starts in January. 4-H teams from counties in ND compete against each other. Each team has five members, and each county can have more than one team. Judging meets are held in many locations across the state, including Fargo, Valley City, Dickinson, Oaks, and Lisbon. In livestock judging we can apply the 4-H motto: to make the best better. Our individual judging scores are added together and the team with the highest score wins that meet. So if each team member does their best, then the whole team will do well. As an individual, if you practice hard and you do your best, then, you could win one of the high individual awards. A high individual score is chosen for beef, swine, and sheep. In my seven years of judging, I have learned the criteria for judging the animals. I can apply the criteria to the 4 animals in the pen, and rank them from first to last. Then I have to give reasons on why I placed the animals the way I placed them. The reasons are given orally to the judges and I have to use public speaking terms to say my reasons. Public speaking; however, is somewhat difficult for me. So my least favorite part of livestock judging is giving reasons because I have to stand in front of a judge and say my memorized reasons. Points are taken away from me if I look at my notes. My favorite part is traveling to the meets because I get to spend time with my friends and I get to practice before the meet we are judging. I also like to judge the animals at the meet because I get to look at and judge other animals other than my own. I feel that livestock judging has helped me choose better quality animals for my farm. It has taught me important qualities, such as conformation to look for in animals I am buying or selling. Although, public speaking is not fun, it is a skill I will need in my future. For these reasons livestock judging is worth my time and effort. Page 19 of 20

20 Fundraising ~ Thank you to all who have participated! We are on a good start. In previous years, the 4-H Achievement Day Premium Pool has been around $4,000-$5,000. It is entirely up to the youth to raise the money which will go back to them through their projects. During the January 4, 2015 Council Meeting, we will discuss other options for more fundraising. Please come to the meeting with ideas and suggestions. Our Tractor Supply s Bake Sale was another great success, we raised $ With November Pizza Corner, we raised $3, Our office has moved into the new County Administration Building Our new street address is: rd St SE, Suite 123, Minot ND Our mailing address remains the same: PO Box 5005, Minot ND Our telephone numbers remain the same: or Page 20 of 20