March 2016 Bow Knot 4-H Newsletter 431 So. 10 th Avenue Broken Bow, NE 68822 (308) 872-6831 www.custer.unl.edu UPCOMING EVENTS MARCH 1 Deadline for ad sales 1 4-H Scholarship Application deadline 1 Deadline for submitting Premium Book Cover Photo to Extension Office 12 4-H Horse Stampede, UNL Campus 15 FINAL 2016 CWF Payment Due 19-20 Nebraska State 4-H Air Pistol Championships, Broken Bow 21 Registrations for 4-H Public Speaking Contest due in Extension Office 21 4-H Council Meeting, 4-H Building, 7:30 p.m. 28 4-H Public Speaking Contest, 4-H Building, 6:30 p.m. 30 Registrations due for Canine Companions for Life APRIL 1 Deadline for 4-H ONLINE Enrollments 1 Deadline for 4-H membership contest 2 Nebraska State 4-H BB Gun Championships, Wayne 3 Nebraska State 4-H Air Rifle Championships, Wayne 4 Quality Assurance Training Registration and Biosecurity Forms due in Extension Office 8 Registrations for Custer County 4-H Indoor Archery Match due in Extension Office 8 Market Beef DNA Deadline for State Fair & Ak-Sar-Ben 10 2016 CWF Final Pre-Conference Meeting, 4-H Building, 2:00 p.m. APRIL (continued) 11 Deadline for 4-H membership fees due in the Extension Office 16 County 4-H Indoor Archery Match, Shooting Range, Fairgrounds 16-17 Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports Instructor Certification, Arlington 22-23 Canine Companions for Life: Nebraska 4-H Dog Expo, Hastings 23-24 State 4-H Clay Target Championships, Grand Island 29 Office closed for holiday 30 Quality Assurance Training, Broken Bow 30 West Central Regional 4-H Speech & Interview Contests, North Platte MAY 1 Camp Counselor Applications Due 1 Pre-registrations due for 4 th Annual Custer County Challenge Beef Progress Show 2 4-H T-Shirt Orders due 2 Deadline for Life Challenge Sign-Up 6 4-H Horse ID s due in Extension Office 6 State and District 4-H Horse Show Entries due in Extension Office 15 2018 CWF Payment Due 15 4 th Annual Custer County Challenge Beef Progress Show, Fairgrounds in Broken Bow 16 4-H Council Meeting, 4-H Building, 8:00 p.m. 26 Animal Science Youth Field Day, Curtis 30 Office closed for holiday 4-H PUBLIC SPEAKING CONTEST Monday, April 6, 2015 4-H Building, Broken Bow 6:30 p.m. CUSTER COUNTY YOUTH ANIMAL QUALITY ASSURANCE TRAINING Nebraska Extension in Custer County is once again partnering with Adams Land and Cattle to hold a Youth Quality Assurance Training. We have some exciting things planned for this year s Youth QA Training. Please mark the morning of Saturday, April 30 on your calendar for the 2016 Youth Quality Assurance training. A registration form and biosecurity form have been included with this Bow Knot. Forms are due to the Extension Office by April 4. Contest rules were included with the February Bow Knot newsletter. If you would like to enter the contest, give your entry information to your organizational leader. Organizational leaders received a contest entry form with the February Bow Knot newsletter. Contest entry forms are due in the Extension Office by Monday, March 21. CONTEST RULE FOR PSA ENTRIES.The actual PSA s will be due in the Extension Office on Monday, March 21, along with the club s Public Speaking Contest Entry Form. PSA s may be judged prior to the contest. At the contest, PSA s will be played at the end of the contest while judges are making final placing decisions. Contact Colleen if you have any questions.
4-H ENROLLMENT DEADLINE APRIL 1, 2016 As you know, Nebraska 4-H introduced a new 4-H online enrollment system, called 4-H Online, in 2015. enrollments are no longer used. The process is easy and should only take a few minutes per member. Paper Enrollment for ALL MEMBERS (YOUTH) AND ADULT VOLUNTEER LEADERS, must be completed on 4-H Online. There are instructions for the following: 4-H Members - New Enrollments 4-H Members - Re-enrollments 4-H Volunteer Leaders - New Enrollments 4-H Volunteer Leaders - Re-enrollments These instructions and 4-H Online link are available at the Extension Office or can be found online at: http://extension.unl.edu/statewide/custer/custer-county-4-h/ Enrollment deadline will still be April 1. There is an online payment option for membership fees, however, Custer County will not be using this option. The fee online for Custer County will be set to $0. That does not mean there is not a membership fee. It means that leaders will need to collect the $7.00 per member and turn it in to the Extension Office as in the past. Checks should be made payable to: 4-H Activities. For Organizational Leaders Only Originally we told you that organizational leaders should be able to have privileges on the website to see who the 4-H members are that are enrolled in their 4-H club. That feature in the program is still unavailable at this time. As soon as the April 1 deadline is past, we will create reports of your members and send them to you very quickly so that you will know who is enrolled in your 4-H club. We will give organizational leaders until Monday, April 11, to turn in their $7.00 per member fees based on the 4-H Online enrollments for their club. You can be collecting the $7.00 per member fee prior to that time, as you know members have enrolled. Please turn in your club s membership fees to the Extension Office on or before Monday, April 11. If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call, (308) 872-6831. STATE FAIR 4-H AND FFA BEEF SHOWS The State Fair 4-H and FFA beef shows will be no-fit shows this year. This decision was made based on feedback from staff and families, as well as the success of the blow and go showmanship contest at the 2015 Nebraska State Fair. Families were largely in favor of the change specifically for a reduction in the cost of supplies and products, the need for fewer blocking chutes, and to help expedite the unloading process.
4-H SHOOTING SPORTS NEWS The Progressive Pistol Shooting Match will be held on Saturday, March 19 at the Shooting Sports Building at the Fairgrounds in Broken Bow. Match bulletins can be found online at: http://4h.unl.edu/shootingsportseventcalendar. For more information, contact Ron Carda at 872-3371. The Nebraska State 4-H Air Pistol Championships will be held on March 19-20 at the Shooting Sports Building at the Fairgrounds in Broken Bow. Match bulletins can be found online at: http://4h.unl.edu/shootingsportseventcalendar. For more information, contact Ron Carda at 872-3371. The State 4-H BB Gun and Air Rifle Championships are scheduled for April 2-3 at the Wayne Community Activities Center in Wayne. Pre-registrations are due online by March 11. Registration information is available at the Extension Office or can be found online at http://4h.unl.edu/shootingsportseventcalendar. The State 4-H BB Gun Championships will be held on April 2 and the State 4-H Air Rifle Championships will be held on April 3. The Custer County 4-H Indoor Archery Match will be held on Saturday, April 16 at the Shooting Sports Building at the Fairgrounds. 4-H ers may register to shoot at one of the following sessions: Morning Session - Check in at 8:30 a.m., match start time at 9:00 a.m.; Afternoon Session - Check in at 12:30 p.m., match start time at 1:00 p.m. Youth MUST be enrolled in the 4-H archery project in a Custer County 4-H club, under the direct supervision of a certified 4-H archery leader to compete in this match. Contestants must wear blue denim jeans and the choice of a Custer County 4- H t-shirt, 4-H club shooting shirts, or a white shirt with a 4-H chevron. Contestants are to pre-register for the match by returning a completed registration form to the Extension Office by April 8. A Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports Leader Certification Workshop is scheduled for April 16-17 in Arlington. Registration deadline must be completed online by April 5. Adult volunteers and junior leaders can choose one of five disciplines to become certified. Shotgun, Rifle (.22, BB Gun, Air Rifle), Hunting Skills, and Archery will be offered. The registration fee is $100 per person for initial certification and $90 per person for recertification. The fee includes meals, use of facility, and program materials. It does not include lodging. Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday and departure will be approximately 4:00 p.m. on Sunday. Partial scholarships are available from the Custer County 4-H Council. Contact Colleen at the Extension Office for scholarship information at least 2 weeks prior to the registration deadline. Online registration information can be found at: http://4h.unl.edu/3_4hprograms/ a_stateregionalnationalprograms/shootingsports/nebraskashootingsports/arlington%20-%20april%202016-% 20SS%20Ldr%20WS.pdf or contact Steve Pritchard at 402-395-2158 or 308-536-2691. The State 4-H Clay Target Championship will be held April 23-24 at the Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island. This will also be a qualification match for the 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships. Registration information will be available at http://4h.unl.edu/shootingsportseventcalendar. The Nebraska State 4-H Outdoor & 3D Archery Tournament will be held June 4-5 at the Heartland Public Shooting Park in Grand Island. More details will be available at a later date. Event information can be found on the internet at http://4h.unl.edu/shootingsportseventcalendar. The 2016 4-H Shooting Sports National Championships will be held June 16-July 1 in Grand Island. The 4-H Firearms Shooting Matches will be held on July 29-30 at the Custer County Fair. The 2016 Nebraska Youth Smallbore Silhouette Invitational will be held on Saturday, September 24 at the Pressey Wildlife Management Area near Oconto. A Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports Instructor Certification Workshop is scheduled for October 15-16 in Broken Bow! Watch the State 4-H Shooting Sports website for more competition dates and registration information at: http://4h.unl.edu/shootingsportseventcalendar * * * * * * * * * * * * NEBRASKA 4-H ROPING CLINIC A 4-H Roping Clinic will be held April 2-3 at the Lilienthal Indoor Arena in Grand Island. Topics of the clinic will be breakaway roping, tie down roping, and team roping. The main instructors for the clinic will be Justin and Garrett Nokes. The Nokes train roping horses, are PRCA ropers, and have been qualifiers for the National Finals Rodeo. Registration fees are $60/day without a horse and $80/day with a horse. Spectators are free! Registrations and payments are due March 26. Contact the Extension Office for registration forms and more information.
CAMPS...CAMPS...CAMPS Each 4-H family is receiving a colorful 4-H camp brochure with this issue of the Bow Knot newsletter. SIGN UP NOW...EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION FEE FOR SUMMER 4-H CAMPS...SAVE 10% WHEN REGISTERING ON OR BEFORE APRIL 15! REGISTRATION IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT: http://4h.unl.edu/4hcampandcenters Youth may attend any of the camps. If registering by mail, forms must be sent to the site of the camp you are attending. The addresses of the camps are listed on top of the registration form in the brochures. Checks must also be made payable to the site of the camp you are attending. Camps will be filled on a first come, first served basis, so be sure to get your registrations sent as soon as possible. Youth do not need to belong to 4-H to attend these camps. If you cannot register online, the complete camp brochure is available at the Extension Office. CAMPERSHIPS AVAILABLE! With the support of the Nebraska 4-H Foundation and its donors, we are able to offer a limited number of $100 Camperships to support participation of young people at the 2016 4-H Summer Camps. Day camps are not eligible for camperships. If you have a camper in need of such support we welcome your request. Camperships must be awarded prior to registration. The application process for a Campership is simple. Submit a request to Jill Walahoski via email or by mail with the following information: 1. A request for Campership support. Please be sure to include the age and gender for each camper and the session each camper would like to attend. 2. A brief statement from the parent of camper expressing why they would like to attend camp this summer. More Information can be found at: http://4h.unl.edu/4hcampscholarship. Requests can be sent to: Lindsay Shearer, State 4-H Office, 114 Ag Hall, Lincoln, NE 68583-0700, or via email: lshearer2@unl.edu. Take a friend, make a friend! Sign up now! 2016 BIG RED SUMMER ACADEMIC CAMPS The 2016 Big Red Summer Academic Camps, to be held June 7-12, are only four months away! Information about Big Red Summer Camps is available online at: http://4h.unl.edu/4hcamps/bigredcamps 4-H CLUBS SHOULD BE COLLECTING SALES TAX 4-H clubs are considered retailers, and should be collecting sales tax when they make sales of tangible personal property to the general public such as cookbooks, Christmas cards, t-shirts, etc. Also, concession sales of hotdogs, hamburgers, candy bars, etc. at special events such as county fairs are subject to sales tax. When 4-H clubs make purchases of items they will be reselling, they can purchase these items tax free as a sale for resale. If your clubs are considering making these types of sales, they should contact the Nebraska Department of Revenue and apply for a Nebraska Sales Tax Permit. A Nebraska sales tax permit can be applied for by using a Nebraska tax application Form 20. The Nebraska Department of Revenue also provides educational opportunities for taxpayers interested in learning about their sales tax responsibilities as a Nebraska retailer. The Department of Revenue offers sales tax seminars every spring and fall, and will gladly speak to small groups. If your club would like to have a speaker, feel free to contact Taxpayer Services, North Platte, Nebraska, (308) 535-8291.
CAN ANIMALS BE SHOWN IN BOTH 4-H AND FFA SHOWS? The answer is NO for the county fair! At the county fair, no individual animal may be shown in both 4-H and FFA or in both breeding and market classes. (Taken from 2015 Custer County Fair Premium Book, General Livestock Rules, p. 85.) However, NEW for the 2016 Nebraska State Fair...If an animal was shown in the 4-H division at the county fair, they may be entered in the FFA division at the State Fair, or vice versa, if all State Fair identification requirements were met. The designation must be made when entries are made online by the 4-H families by August 10. YOUTH PROTECTION - 4-H VOLUNTEER SCREENING We appreciate your interest in serving as a volunteer for the Nebraska 4-H Youth Development program. Volunteers are fundamental to the 4-H program! The Nebraska Extension 4-H Volunteer application process includes a volunteer screening. All volunteers and staff who work directly with youth are required to complete the Youth Protection 4-H Volunteer Screening form. Be assured the volunteer screening process is confidential. Volunteer applicants are screened in order to assure a safe, positive, and nurturing environment for all youth involved with the Nebraska 4-H Youth Development program; and provide protection for the child, the volunteer, the educator, the 4-H Council, the Extension Board, and the Nebraska Extension program. Please do this on or before April 1. If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call. In order to meet the requirements of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Youth Safety Policy, all volunteers are required to complete the volunteer leader registration (enrollment form) in the 4-H Online enrollment system. Additionally all registered volunteers are required to complete the volunteer screening form. The screening conducted by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Service is completely confidential. It only checks for offenses that endanger children or youth. By completing the registration process the volunteer is entitled to full rights of a 4-H volunteer including coverage by the UNL liability policy. Enclosed in each February Bow Knot newsletter was one copy of the volunteer screening form. If more than one form is needed in your family, please feel free to make a photocopy, or you may pick up a copy at the Extension Office. Please mail completed forms to the address near the top of the form. Do not return completed forms to the Extension Office. TURN UP THE HEAT! 2016 CHOICE GAS CONTEST Constellation, an Exelon Company, has been a proud supporter of 4-H and FFA. Over the past four years alone, Constellation has contributed more than $78,000 to 4-H in the 60 counties it serves. Constellation wants to contribute even more cash to 4-H in Custer County! How can you help raise more money for 4-H in Custer County? Choose Constellation as your natural gas supplier during the Choice Gas selection period, which is April 15-28, 2016. A Constellation flier has been included with each 4-H Bow Knot newsletter. COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES Clubs interested in community service projects may want to contact Tyler at the fairgrounds. Some of the projects available may include painting and picking up shingles/construction clean-up. Contact Tyler at (308) 870-2493 if clubs are interested in any of these projects. RABBIT IDENTIFICATION PROCESS FOR STATE FAIR State Fair pre-entry deadline is August 10. Rabbit exhibitors will have the option to enter up to 10 rabbit entries into the online entry system...showorks. Rabbit exhibitors will only be allowed to show 5 rabbits at the State Fair. Any rabbit that was pre-entered into ShoWorks by August 10 will be eligible as a substitution. The family would incur a $3 fee per rabbit. There will be no refunds for rabbit entries into ShoWorks. Families are not required to pre-enter more than five rabbits but will not be able to make substitutions at check-in. There will be no identification of rabbits prior to the August 10 pre-entry deadline. Rabbits that will be entered at the Custer County Fair will still need to be identified by June 15 on the Rabbit Identification Form. OFFICIAL BAN LIFTED ON POULTRY SHOWS, FAIR, AND EXHIBITIONS As of January 1, 2016, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture (NDA) has officially lifted the ban on pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HP AI) last year. We will all be happy to see the poultry back at the fairs this year. 2015 was also a very good educational tool on learning more about biosecurity measures with poultry and other livestock.
4-H ENROLLMENT DUE APRIL 1! April 1 is the deadline for all youth and leaders to be enrolled using the 4-H Online enrollment system. All youth who would like to participate in the Custer County 4-H program for the 2016 year need to complete the 4-H Online enrollment process on or before April 1. Youth may still join a 4-H club after the April 1 deadline, however, they will be ineligible to participate in 4-H projects and activities at the 2016 Custer County Fair. The 4-H Council policy for late enrollments states, The deadline for membership and project enrollment was discussed. Lori Cox moved and Tom Hoff seconded that the deadline be moved to April 1. 14 voted in favor - 3 opposed. Carried. Lori moved to allow membership after the deadline but that the new member not be allowed to participate in exhibiting or competition activities. Joni seconded. Carried. (From 4-H Council Minutes - January 15, 1996) NOTE TO 4-H CLUBS WHO USE THE SHOOTING SPORTS BUILDING (BUILDING 18) AT THE FAIRGROUNDS The Custer County Ag Society voted at their February 10, 2011 meeting to ask all 4-H clubs who use the Shooting Sports Building (Building 18) at the Fairgrounds for monetary donation(s) to help defray the costs of utilities (heat, electricity, air conditioning) effective immediately. The Ag Society would also consider in-kind labor for projects at the Fairgrounds, in lieu of monetary donation(s) from 4-H clubs. Clubs who would like to provide in-kind labor should contact the fairgrounds manager at 870-2493. April 8 June 15 July 1 August 8 Sept. 17-18 Sept. 22-25 2016 AK-SAR-BEN DEADLINES Market Beef DNA Deadline Feeder Calf/Market Lamb/Hog/Goat DNA Deadline Broiler Orders/Entries Due Ak-Sar-Ben Entry Deadline to County Offices Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Horse Show, Lincoln Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Livestock Exposition, Omaha Enclosures To Everyone 2016 4-H Summer Camps & Trips Flier Turn Up The Heat Constellation Flier 2016 Quality Assurance Training Registration Form ALCC Bio-Security Form To Members & Leaders Enrolled in the 4-H Archery Project Custer County 4-H Indoor Archery Match Registration Form Troy M. Walz Jessye Goertz Colleen Peterson Extension Educator Extension Educator 4-H Aide twalz1@unl.edu jgoertz1@unl.edu cpeterson2@unl.edu