Karen Branstetter

4-H Youth Specialist

P.O. Box 190

302 Water Street

Steelville, MO 65565

(573) 775-2135

APRIL 2016

INSIDE THIS ISSUE :

Thank you! 1

Crawford/Gasconade Preview Show 1

National Volunteer Week 1

Reminders 1

State 4-H Congress 1

4-H Teen Conference 2

4-H Achievement Day 2

Upcoming Events 3

Happy Birthday! 3

Help Children Grow Vegetables 3

Heading for the Fair 4

4-H Clover Kids Corner 4

Clover Kids Corner 4

Attachments:

Preview Show Flyer

4-H Camp Registration Form

4-H Horse Day Camp

Dent County Jackpot Show

CRAWFORD COUNTY 4-H NEWSLETTER 4-H is a community of young people across America who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills.

University of Missouri Extension is an equal

opportunity/ADA institution.

Thank You!

A big thank you to all who helped with the Race to the Rocker and the Showring Showdown!

Both are fundraisers that benefit 4-Hers.

THANK YOU!

4-H Volunteers…. Inspiring the Next Generation

National Volunteer Week—

April 10-16, 2016

Thank you for donating your skills and time for the youth in your

community.

REMINDERS

Market Hog, Lamb and Meat Goat Weigh-In is April 2.

Last Chance—Livestock Quality Assurance Make-up Date: April 7, 6:30 PM at the Owensville High School Commons

4-H Congress registration deadline is April 10.

Bucket Calf project meeting is April 10, 2:00 PM at the Cuba Fire Station.

4-H Counselor Training is Monday evening, April 11, 6-8:30 PM at the Phelps County Courthouse Meeting Room.

4-H Day with the Cardinals registration deadline is April 11.

4-H Camp registrations due no later than May 1.

Final Call for State Congress—June 1-3

Teens, Don’t miss out on this leadership opportunity. The

registration deadline for 4-H State Congress is April 10.

This event will be held in Columbia on the University of MO

Campus and is for 4-H members ages 14-18. The trip costs

$225 and youth are eligible for our county scholarship

partial reimbursement. For more information about the

trip see the Missouri 4-H website: http://

www.4h.missouri.edu/statecongress/main. If you have any questions

please call the extension office at 775-2135.

Our own Mackenzie Courtouise is a 4-H Regional Representative to the

State 4-H Council. Let’s send a big delegation to support Mackenzie as she

runs for re-election.

Dear 4-H Members, Leaders and Parents,

It’s springtime! That means summer is just around the corner with lots of 4-H activities. 4-H Camp is June 6-9 (see attached information and registration forms). 4-H Camp registration is due May 1.

Mark June 18 on your calendar. That is the date set for Crawford County 4-H Achievement Day. State Fair 4-H exhibits are selected at that event so it’s a good time to start those projects if you haven’t already.

Crawford/Gasconade Preview Show Saturday, April 23, 2016

Crawford County Fairgrounds

For more information see attached flyer or call: Shane Staples at 885-4141 or Becky Gerloff at 437-7070.

PAGE 2 CRAWFORD COUNTY 4-H NEWSLETTER

Crawford County 4-H Members Attend State 4-H Teen Conference

Local 4-H members Jake Butyenek, Alex Coleman, Jacob Hana, Mackenzie Cour-touise - State 4-H Council Representative, and Bethany Donnell attended the State 4-H Teen Conference in Columbia, March 12-13, 2016. The trip is planned and hosted each year by the Missouri State 4-H Council.

The two-day conference included sessions on product invention and marketing, foreign exchange interviews, and citizenship development. Evening activities consisted of a dance, a movie, and a robotics chal-lenge.

Jake, Alex, Jacob and Bethany had the opportunity to interact with 11-13 year olds from all over Missouri, and learn more about where 4-H can take them in their

education and careers.

2016 4-H Achievement Day “Can You Dig It?” - June 18, 2016

It’s time to start thinking about planning for 4-H Achievement Day. It takes everyone working together to car-ry out a successful event. Each 4-H member is encouraged to participate. Each club will obtain judges and provide assistants or helpers. The following was decided at the last 4-H Council meeting. If you have addi-tional ideas or are available to help, please let us know at 775-2135.

Saturday, June 18, Living Word Church in Leasburg

Set-up Forest Hill 4-H Club

8:30 AM Registration (4-H Council officers and representative from each club)

9:00 AM Opening Ceremony

12:00 Awards & Closing Ceremony (4-H members must be present to exhibit at MO State Fair)

Event/Exhibit Club Responsible for judges & Helper # judges needed

Demonstrations/Public Speaking Outdoors & More 2

Fashion Revue Prairie 1

What About Me Interviews Prairie 2

Clover Kids Outdoors & More 2

Foods/Cake Decorating Ozark Trails 3

Photography Lone Star 3

Clothing/Crochet Yadkin Creek 2

Crafts/Home Environment Crossroads 4

Scrapbooking Blue Ribbon Kids 2

Gardening/Ag Final Drive 3

Woodworking/Welding Oak Hill 1

Shooting Sports Forest Hill 1

Drinks & Kitchen Organization Forest Hill

Each club is to bring refreshments for approximately 50 people, and provide a helper for the judges they ob-tained. The 4-H Council will provide drinks and paper products. Please have names and addresses of judges to Karen or Presha by June 1.

PAGE 3 CRAWFORD COUNTY 4-H NEWSLETTER

Happy Birthday!

Isabelle Bolte

Mackenzie Courtouise

Bethany Donnell

Adam Doyle

Noah Halbert

Kamren Harris

Lane Jones

Marlee Jones

Maxwell Kimberlin

Owen Marquez

Benjamin McKellips

Kenna Noltkamper

Abigail Peterson

Nicholas Smith

Piper Sykes

Autumn Wheeler

April

1 4-H Congress (June 1-3) registrations due 2 Market Hog Weigh-In, 8:00 AM Hood Park 2 Market Lamb & Meat Goat Weigh-In, 10 AM Hood Park 7 Livestock Quality Assurance, 6:30 PM Owensville HS Commons 10 County-wide Bucket Calf Project Meeting—2 PM Cuba Fire Station 11 4-H Day with the Cardinals ticket orders due 11 4-H Camp Counselor Training—6-8:30 Phelps Co Courthouse 23 Crawford/Gasconade County Preview Show—Hood Park

May

1 4-H Camp registrations due 3 Crawford Co 4-H Council Meeting, 7:00 PM at Cuba Church of Christ 14 4-H/FFA Golf Tournament—Cuba 15 County-wide Bucket Calf Project Meeting—2PM Location TBD 21 4-H Day with the Cardinals

June

1-3 4-H Congress 3-4 4-H Counselor Camp 5 Crawford County Swine Jackpot Show, Hood Park 6-9 4-H Camp 9-11 Shooting Sports Camp 16-18 Canine Camp 18 4-H Achievement Day

Help Children Grow their Own Vegetables for Improved Nutrition and Family Fun

Many parents lament that they can’t get their children to eat vegetables. One possible solution, is to provide children with a small plot of land so they can help grow vegetables themselves. They also learn responsibility for that space and patience as the plants grow. With the harvest of plants, there is a sense of pride in their accomplishments, and self confidence is gained as a result of this summer long project.

It is a good idea to provide children a small plot of land so they don’t become overwhelmed. If you do not have an area you can give them, give them their own set of pots for their very own container garden. Let them have their own tools such as a watering bucket, gloves and a kid sized shovel and rake. Helping children work a successful garden does take adult supervision and some coaching about how to work the soil, how to plant seeds and how to know when to water plants. Teaching children the difference between wees and plants is also a good idea.

Remember to keep gardening sessions short to maintain interest, and it’s also a good idea to choose easy to grown plants like tomatoes and radishes. Radishes are a good choice because they come up in three or four days. You might like to have a specialty garden. For example, you could plant tomatoes, onions, peppers, oregano and have a pizza garden. Change the oregano to cilantro and it could be a salsa garden. No matter what your children plant the reward they reap will be a new knowledge and healthy food.

Heading for the Fair…Which Way are you Headed?

As we get busy with the many activities of summer and prepare for 4-H contests, shows and fairs, let’s remember:

In 4-H, we believe that… ...the young person is more important than the project.

...a 4-H member should be their own best exhibit.

...no 4-H award is worth sacrificing the reputation or feelings of a 4-H member (or leader).

...learning how to do the project is more important than the project itself.

...a “blue ribbon” 4-H’er with a red ribbon exhibit is more desirable than a “red-ribbon” 4-H’er with a blue ribbon exhibit.

...and, again, the young person is more important than the project! These ideas were developed by the Indiana 4-H Staff a number of years ago. They remind us that em-phasis in 4-H has always been upon helping young people grow and develop. Rather than asking 4-H’ers “What did you win?” we should be asking, “What did you learn about your project? What did you learn about yourself?” Keeping these questions and ideas in mind will help us head in the right di-rection as we head for the fair, contest or show.

Garden Stones

You Will Need:

Model Magic (one tennis ball size amount per child)

Flat gemstones and shiny beads, can be found in discount stores

Here’s How:

1. Shape Model Magic into a ball.

2. Flatten it into a half-inch shape, such as a circle or square.

3. Place gemstones and beads on the shape.

4. Let it dry over night. The Model Magic dries hard so the stone will withstand outdoor weather.

5. Once dry, place the garden stone in a garden or yard.