GROWS Howard County Clover Connection February 2017 WHAT S INSIDE: Page 2 Spring Fair & Livestock Page 3 Swine Project, County Council, Clover Kids Page 4 Leaders Page 5 Opportunities Page 6 Calendar Junior & Intermediate Fun Who: 4th 8th grade members When: Sunday, February 19; 5-9 p.m. Where: Cresco Fitness Center Cost: $10/person Come beat the winter blues by joining in on a fun night filled with swimming, games, food, and friends! Bring a friend who is not in 4-H to show them how much fun 4-H can be! The County Council has planned a fun night and are really excited to see all of you! A flyer with a sign-up and health form is attached! Deadline to sign-up is February 14!
2 Spring Fair Sign-Up Want to design an outfit by sewing or pruchasing? Showcase a presentation? Or perform a skit? Then Spring Fair is the perfect opportunity for you! Sign up today with your club leader! Spring Fair will be held Saturday, April 8 th at NICC Cresco Center. Members will be judged on their exhibits and learn their ribbon placings. Deadline to register is March 17! What are your opportunities at Spring Fair? Educational Presentation: demonstrate your communication skills by presenting knowledge, information, or a process to an audience in order to gain a desired response Working Exhibits: communicate, interact with, and teach an audience in an informal and experiential way (ex. spin art, washer necklaces, galaxy in a bottle, homemade bouncy balls, scrap art, etc ) Share the Fun: share their skills and talents before an audience purely for the sake of enjoyment (ex. piano solo, dance, skit, improve) Dog Obedience/Agility Classes Do you have a dog and want to show him at the fair? Sign-up for dog obedience and agility classes today! We have sent letters out to those enrolled in the project. If you have not received one, please contact the Extension Office! The first meeting will be Monday, February 20 at 6 p.m. at the NICC Cresco Center. This is an informational night so leave your dogs at home. Remember to bring your dog s Rabies, Parvo, and distemper records plus $10 to cover class expenses. Return your postcard by February 13! Swine Weigh-In The swine weigh-in will be held Saturday, March 11 from 9-10 a.m. at the Crestwood FFA Shop. This will be for swine NOT being housed at the Ag Education Center. The safety protocols we used in the past years will be used again. You will have an appointment to weigh and staging time between herds just like last year. The cost will be $2 per tag. More information will be sent out to swine project members. Clothing Selection: share and model an outfit you selected and/or purchased Fashion Revue: share and model a garment or outfit you constructed, hand-knitted, machine-knitted, or crocheted $15 Challenge: share and model an outfit you purchased for $15 or less from a garage sale, consignment store, or resale shop (ex. Goodwill) Sheep/Meat Goat Weigh-In The sheep/meat goat weigh-in is scheduled for Saturday, April 22 from 9-11 a.m. at the fairgrounds. Information will be sent out to sheep and meat goat project members soon. Mark your calendars! 2
3 Attn: Swine Project Members Your first educational activity will be Friday, February 17 12 p.m. Ag Education Center Dane Lane, an instructor at NICC, will be presenting on swine selection and showmanship! Remember you are required to attend 4 out of the 6 educational activities! County Council Our next meeting will be Sunday, February 19 4 p.m. Cresco Fitness Center We will be discussing last minute items for Fun Night and Spring Fair! Reminders Contact Erica 3 days prior to your club visit so she can make sure you have enough supplies March meeting will be March 6 at 8:15 a.m. at the Extension Office Clover Kids Break is over! Let s get back to having fun! Remember we did not meeting in January! Gear up for our meetings in February where we will be exploring the protein food group. Come hungry! Our next meetings are: Crestwood Date: Thursday, February 2 Time: 3:30-5:30 p.m. Location: Crestwood Elementary Lunchroom Elma Date: Saturday, February 4 Time: 9:15-11:15 a.m. Location: St. Paul s Maple Leaf Church Notre Dame (ND) Date: Tuesday, February 7 Time: 3:15-5:15 p.m. Location: ND Church Basement Riceville Date: Monday, February 13 Time: 9:15-11:15 a.m. Location: Riceville School Lunchroom 3
4 Leader Corner Enrollment Fees Bills have been mailed out! They were to be paid by January 25! If you have any youth join after the date of the bill, they will need to pay $30. Payments due by February 17! Changing Club Events It is important that the Extension Office be notified of club meetings and/or events that are changed from the original date submitted in the club program books. Please submit any changes in date, time, and/or location to Erica, ehollida@iastate.edu. This is extremely important in case an accident was to occur! Club Program Books & Financial Report The following club leaders have not turned in an updated program book for the 2016-2017 and a 2015-2016 financial report: Heritage Homesteaders, Millennium Masters, and Timberland Targeting. Get a copy sent to the office ASAP! Leader Meeting Our next leader meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m.at the Extension Office. This will be a very informational meeting. We will have a presentation on copyright and design principles & elements, fair schedules, and much more! Annual Leader Training Make-Up If you missed the fall required training held in January, the online option is now available. You may access and complete the annual training online via 4HOnline. It will take you approximately 30 minutes to complete. Training must be completed by March 31! Please follow the following steps to complete the training in the comfort of your own home! Step 1: Access the pre-learning and supporting documents on the 4-H website under Volunteer Resources, Annual Training Resources (http:// www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/volunteerresources). Review the three pre-learning resources prior to completing the online training. It will be beneficial to preview or print the three supporting documents as well. Step 2: Access the online annual training of Youth Engagement Strengthens 4-H via 4H Online, link below as well as step by step instructions. Open a web browser (use Firefox, Safari, or Chrome as IE does not always work) and type in: iowa.4honline.com Login to 4H Online using your family email address and login information. Click Continue to Family. Find your name and click Edit on right side by your name. On the top of the page click on the trainings option. Click the Sign up for a training option on the upper right side of screen. View the trainings listed and click Sign up next to the annual training online version 2016-17 Leader Training (Youth Engagement Strengthens 4-H). Click Take the Course to get started. Step 3: Upon completion of the online training be sure to click to receive your certificate! By clicking on the certificate you have verified completion of the course, you can also print or save the certificate. 4
5 4-H Hockey Nights The Waterloo Blackhawks are again planning 4-H nights at two different hockey games this spring. Discount tickets are available for $7 (regular price $12-$14)! Offer is good for individual 4-H families or whole clubs. Ask Erica for more details on the two available games Saturday, March 25 or Friday, April 7. Junior Duck Stamp Program Are you a student in Grades K-12? Are you looking for a fun project for the cold winter months? Prepare an entry for the 2017 Federal Junior Duck Stamp Contest! Google Junior Duck Stamp for contest rules and entry forms. Do a little research from the list of eligible species on the website and decide what species you want to depict. Decide what medium you want to use for your entry. Get started! If you would like some 9 x12 paper for your entry, let me know and I will send you some. Iowa entries must be postmarked by March 15. There are 100 winners from each state. You could be one of those winners! Good luck! Email Doreen_vanryswyk@fws.gov or call 515/994-3400 if you would like paper or if you have questions. State 4-H Conference It s not too early to mark your calendars for the Iowa 4-H Youth Conference! The dates are set for June 27-29, 2017. The theme is Start Your Future Here. This event is open to youth who completed 8 th grade. General information and last year s materials are available on the Conference and will be updated soon with this year s information! www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/iowa4hyouthconference Youth Equine Extravaganza The annual event will be held March 24-26 at Ellsworth Community College Equestrian Center in Iowa Falls. This open to ALL youth: 4-H, FFA, or other. You do not have to own a horse! Quiz bowl, hippology, horse judging, photography, public speaking, posters, painting, crafts, and many more project topic areas all come together in one location. Rules and registration forms are now posted on the 4-H Horse Equine Extravaganza website: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/ equineextravaganza IA Dairy Goat Assoc. Share-A-Kid Program Winners of the Iowa Dairy Goat Association (IDGA) Share -A-Kid program receive a free doeling, as well as one year of free membership in IDGA. Winning applicants are selected from the essays and supporting material (such as photos/artwork, etc) that they send in. This statewide contest is open to those between the ages of 10 to 17. Application deadline is March 15! Winners will be notified by the end of April. Winners are required to show their animal at a county fair or open class goat show and to stay in touch with their appointed mentor with updates every two weeks. More information and application form can be found by visiting www.iowadairygoat.org and following the Youth link from the homepage. World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute The World Food Prize Iowa Youth Institute (IYI) is a transformative experience for high school students held at Iowa State University on April 24. During this event students immerse themselves in global food security issues while presenting their ideas and findings to professionals. Registration is open and due March 27! Visit for more information: https://www.worldfoodprize.org/ en/youth_programs/global_youth_institute/iowa/? nodeid=87662 5
6 Calendar of Events February 4 Elma Clover Kids, 9:15 a.m., St. Paul s Maple Leaf Church 7 Notre Dame Clover Kids, 3:15 p.m., ND Church Basement 13 Riceville Clover Kids, 3:15 p.m., School Lunchroom 17 Swine Education Activity, 12 p.m., Ag Education Center 19 County Council Meeting, 4 p.m., Cresco Fitness Center 19 Jr/Int Fun Night, 5 p.m., Cresco Fitness Center 20 Dog Meeting, 6 p.m., NICC Cresco Center 22 Erica out of the office March 2 Crestwood Clover Kids, 3:30 p.m., School Lunchroom 4 Elma Clover Kids, 9:15 a.m., St. Paul s Maple Leaf Church 6 County Council Meeting, 8:15 a.m., Extension Office 7 Notre Dame Clover Kids, 3:15 p.m., ND Church Basement 11 Swine Weigh-In, 9-10 a.m., Crestwood Ag Shop 13 Riceville Clover Kids, 3:15 p.m., School Lunchroom 21 Leader Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Extension Office Deadlines Feb 13 Dog Postcard Feb 14 Jr/Int Fun Night March 17 Spring Fair Sign-Up March 31 Leader Training Erica Holliday Howard County Extension and Outreach County Youth Coordinator ehollida@iastate.edu 563-547-3001 Iowa State University Extension and Outreach does not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or status as a U.S. veteran. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to Ross Wilburn, Diversity Officer, 2150 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, 515-294-1482, wilburn@iastate.edu. 6