June 2012 edition 4-H Club News from Chittenden County Starry Nights 4-H Club Report Club Reporters Madison Gay and Emma Pearson We have been having a blast this past month with horse shows and events! On June 10th there was the Chittenden County 4-H show, held at Freedom Farm. Many members attended to help out or show. The horses were great, and everyone had a good time! Recently, over the past couple months, we have been extreme couponing and collecting soda can tops to buy pet food, supplies, food, and other necessities. We managed to buy hundreds of dollars worth of pet food and toys for only $50 with all the coupons we collected! In March and April some of our older members held braiding clinics to help out the younger members with tricks and techniques to make their horses looked fabulous! Cara Turnbull and Meaghan Hughes showed us how to braid and pull manes to help us out on show days. They used their very patient ponies to demonstrate, and we all got to practice braiding with yarn. There were lots of contests recently! April 14th was the Vt 4-H State Hippology contest. We had many of the club s kids attend, and we brought home some ribbons too! The tests were a challenge, designed to have questions that you didn t know in order to help you learn. In the 8-9 year old group, Carly Jenkins finished 5th, with Morgan Marckres in 7th. In the 10-11 year old age category, we had Connor Jenny in 1st, with Julia Neeld in 5th, and Hannah Lang in 7th. For the 12-13 year olds, Emma Pearson came in 1st, and Alexis Walker came in 5th. In the Senior category, Kaelyn Jenny came in 7th, and Kira Clokey came in 10th. Bridgette Charlebois also participated. May 5th was the Vt 4-H State Horse Judging contest. It was held at Freedom Farm, where many of our members ride. So while the younger members judged the class, the older members and even some of the parents rode in the class! Chantal Charlebois and Cara Turnbull rode and handled the horses in the 6 classes that we judged. In the 8-11 year old age group, Hannah Lang came in 2nd, with Carly Jenkins in 6th, and Julia Neeld in 8th. Connor Jenny and Morgan Marckres also participated in this age category. For the Juniors 12-13, Emma Pearson came in 1st overall, with Alexis Walker in 2nd, and Madison Gay in 11th. For the Seniors Kaelyn Jenny came in 3rd, with Kira Clokey in 6th, and Bridgette Charlebois in 8th. Everyone who participated learned about what judges are looking for in all of the different classes.
Under the Sea was a skit performed by Carly Jenkins, Dyani Jones, Emma Pearson, and Alexis Walker at Regional Day and State Day. The skit went well coming in 2nd at Regional Day and 1st in State Day! Connor Jenny, Kaelyn Jenny, Hannah Lang, Julia Neeld, and Emma Pearson played the Pink Panther for both Regional and State Day and also did very well. Both acts made it to Eastern States! At our May meeting we had members of Essex Rescue come in and talk to us about what to do when falls or other dangerous situations occur. They showed us what to do if someone falls off, has an allergic reaction, and other extremes. We had volunteers show what to do, and we are all better prepared for worst case scenarios. Over April break, Connor Jenny, Kaelyn Jenny, and Emma Pearson went to a program at the capitol called Raise Your Voice. There we learned about youth activism, bills and laws, and speaking out for things you believe in. We also took a tour of the statehouse and had a mock meeting to decide whether or not to tax sugar. At the end of the day we created action plans for an issue that we thought we could help. It was an eye opening experience that really made us think about what I could do to help out our community, our club, our government. Kira Clokey, Kaelyn Jenny, Emma Pearson, and Alexis Walker have been attending a Teen Leadership program for the last couple Mondays. In the program we learned about parliamentary procedures, and communicating ideas to our club. We received tips on running meetings, and making motions. The 4-H is very busy, with upcoming activities, events, and horse shows! Judging Contest
J u Essex Rescue Demonstration Attending Raise Your Voice in Montpelier Shelburne Explorers 4-H Club Report Shelburne Explorers Begin Their Season Strong By: Courtney Banach and Brooke Aicher We have all leased our animals for the year and the work begins. We have all started going to the barn to work with our animals and get them ready for the fairs. We did a washing clinic at our last meeting and started working on our record books. We have gotten four new members so far this year. Riley, Isaac, Eliza, and Skyler are following around some of us older members learning what we do in order to show.
On April 6 and 7 Courtney, Kim, Ellie, Benjamin, and Nathan went to New England Holsteins Show Calf Summit which we all call Cowtown. We left first thing Friday morning and drove up to Newport for the clinics. Cowtown is a place that brings in professionals to help teach both kids and adults different techniques used in showing. While at Cowtown we attended clinics on clipping, showmanship, selection, nutrition, cow photography, and show prep and care. While at Cowtown we got to meet many new people. Friday night there was an auction at Cowtown and our farm was selling a heifer. Late Friday night we went back to our hotel to swim. Saturday morning before the clinics started we all walked to the Brown Cow for breakfast. Once Cowtown ended we hit the road to head back home, but before we could leave Newport we had to stop at the Pick and Shovel to shop and get ice cream. The Pick and Shovel is an all in one kind of store. When we go there we all took off running to enjoy the store. Before we hit the road we got ice creams. This trip to Cowtown really helped us learn new techniques before the season starts. On April 22 Courtney, Benjamin, and Ellie went to Vermont Technical College s show summit. This was just a day trip but we attended classes on selection, cow parts, clipping, showmanship, and what should be in the tack boxes. While at cow parts we got to touch a cow s reproductive part. We also got a chance to walk a heifer around and get feedback on how to improve. At a previous meeting we had a man from Australia visiting the farm who came to our 4-H meeting. While here he was telling us about how he shows in Australia. He was telling us that our supplies are much cheaper here but there dairy shows can have around 20,000 cows per show. He also showed us an easier way to clean our show halters. On May 5 the farm had a group of 4-H ers from New Hampshire come for their judging tour. Courtney, Ben, Elsa, and Brooke came to help prep the cows before the group arrived. They also each got a chance to lead the cows in the group for the kids to judge. We got to learn and hear the judge s remarks and understand more about judging cows. On May 6 the farm held an event called Dairy Day were the public can come and learn about cows. The 4-H members got to help out with this event and talk about what cows mean to us and what 4-H is all about. We got a chance to take our animals out and give the public a chance to brush them and learn what we do.
4-H ers leading the cows into the barn at Dairy Day
Cowtown group shot. Shelburne Explorers are below the N in the front row. Courtney (red coat) Cheese taste Riley working with his heifer Tsunami