July 4-H Newsletter Northern Maine Fair Edition

Upcoming Dates:

Prepare for Fair Day: July 15th, 9:00 – 2:00
NMF 4-H Horse Show – be watching your email for registration link.
Northern Maine Fair: July 30th – Aug 3rd
Project Records Due: September 30th
Aroostook 4-H Achievement Celebration: October 11th

Celebrating the Year of Youth in Agriculture at the Northern Maine Fair!

The Northern Maine Fair, running from July 30th to August 3rd, is just a few weeks away, and we’re incredibly excited for our 4-H members to participate! We want to emphasize that fair participation is for every 4-H member, regardless of age, interest, or even if you can’t join us at the fairgrounds. The fair is a fantastic opportunity for our youth to showcase their talents, develop skills, and have a lot of fun.

4-H & FFA Day Is Back!

Aroostook 4-H & FFA are joining forces to offer a day of activities and events for the youth of our programs to build and showcase skills. The morning will be dedicated to livestock shows for our 4-H members. We will then come together for a combined Opening Ceremony with FFA and an afternoon of events for both groups. We will close with awards for the day’s activities and an ice cream social.

We need a few members to lead the 4-H Pledge & the Pledge of Allegiance during the opening ceremony, please let the office know if you are interested.
All 4-H livestock shows EXCEPT Baby Beef & Horse Shows will be held in the morning before the opening ceremony.
Ag Skill-a-Thon is open to all members. Members will have the opportunity to form teams if they wish. Please register with 4-H the morning of 4-H & FFA day.
4-H & FFA members are asked to bring new school supplies to donate to local agencies & schools. If you can’t attend in person, please consider dropping off your donations with staff ahead of time.

Prepare for Fair Day: Clean Up & Info Meeting

All members, volunteers and families are encouraged to join us at the fair grounds on July 15th for a clean up day and fair meeting. We will be doing some light maintenance and painting, and also go over all the fun ways members can be involved in the fair.

Clean Up starts at 9:00 am
Lunch & Meeting 11:00 am (bring a bagged lunch)

This is a great time to ask your questions, work on club displays, make plans, and spruce up our section of the fair grounds. Many hands make light work. We hope to see you there whether you can stay all day or just for a while.

Members age 9+ are welcome to be dropped off, cloverbuds must attend with an adult.

Year of Youth in Ag, Sowing Seeds for the Future: County Display

seed art

Our county wide 4-H display at the fair will display our members’ creativity with seed art. Members who attended Spring Fling may have already received their supplies for the activity. Please reach out to the office if your member would like to participate and needs supplies. For those that took materials already, please return those anytime to one of the offices, but no later than July 25th.

Benefits of Fair Participation

Participating in the fair offers numerous benefits for 4-H members:

Showcase Your Skills: The fair provides a perfect platform to display your hard work and achievements in various projects, from crafts and baked goods to livestock.
Earn Premiums: Both the Northern Maine Fair and the 4-H Leaders Association offer monetary premiums for submitted projects and exhibits. Cloverbuds (ages 5-8) receive a $4 honorarium from the Fair for Exhibit Hall submissions. Junior and Senior members earn $1 from the 4-H Leaders Association for each project record submitted with an Exhibit Hall item, in addition to various monetary premiums from the Fair.
Complete Project Records: For Junior and Senior members, submitting a project record at the fair is a great way to get a head start on the required September submission. We even offer edits and suggestions on project records submitted at the fair to help you improve them before the final deadline.
Community and Fun: The fair is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other 4-H members, meet new people, and enjoy all the exciting activities the fair has to offer.

Ways to Get Involved

There are many ways for members to participate and showcase their skills at the fair:

- Exhibit Hall: Even if you can’t be at the fair in person, you can submit items to the Exhibit Hall. This is a popular option for showcasing projects across a wide range of categories.
  - There is a place for almost anything you wish to showcase in the exhibit hall. Popular submissions include.
    - Arts & Crafts/Artwork/Handicrafts
    - Fruits/Vegetables/Flower
    - Project & Informative Posters
    - Club Displays
- Contests: Explore the various contests available, detailed in the Exhibit Hall & Contest Handbook.
  - Demo Ex: Non-Animal classes & Animal class. REGISTER HERE
  - Bartlett Signs
  - Photo Contest
  - Supper from the Soil
  - Egg Exhibits
  - Ag Skill-a-thon
- Livestock Events: For our members involved in animal projects, the fair offers many ways to share your knowledge and show off your animals.
  - Livestock Shows (cattle/sheep/horse/goat/etc)
  - Demo Ex: Animal Class REGISTER HERE
  - Ag Skill-a-thon
  - Bartlett Signs
  - Sharing information with fair goers visiting the livestock area.

Fun for all activities: Many 4-H events are open for all to participate in and have fun.

- Veggie Races
- Costume Show
- Obstacle Course
- Icecream Social
- Stuff a backpack community service activity.
- Volunteer at little farmers.
- Supporting fellow members at contests and shows.

You can find details on all participation options, including specific categories and requirements, in the Exhibit Hall & Contest Handbooks and the Livestock Handbook. Links to these handbooks are available on our website (https://extension.umaine.edu/aroostook/4h/fair-info/), or you can pick up hard copies at one of the county offices.

Your 4-H Membership Card: Your Fair Pass!

Be on the look out for your 4-H Membership Card, which is mailed out in July. This card is your pass to get into the Northern Maine Agricultural Fair for free! Each member’s card also allows one parent/guardian to accompany them for free, as per the Northern Maine Fair’s policy.

Important Note for Entry: All members wishing to use their 4-H card for free entry must enter through the livestock gate on State Street. If you attempt to enter through another entrance, you may be redirected or refused.

We ask that you are kind and courteous to the entry attendants and do not abuse the privilege of free entry by sharing cards or trying to admit non 4-H members or guardians.

graphic of 4-H birthdays for July

State 4-H News

July, 2025

Skip the Stress – Get Into College with 4-H Direct Admissions!

Great news for Maine 4-H high school juniors and seniors: applying to college just got a whole lot easier. With 4-H Direct Admissions, you can be automatically considered for admission to all seven of Maine’s Public Universities—no Common App, no test scores, no essays, no recommendations, and no application fees required! If you’re enrolled in any 4-H program in Maine, you’re eligible. Just click to opt in, and we’ll take care of the rest. Click here to learn more about 4-H Direct Admissions

This is your future—made simple. #BeyondReady

Maine 4-H State Dairy Show

Maine 4-H invites you to participate in the 2025 Maine 4-H State Dairy Show! This year’s event will take place from July 18th to 20th at the Windsor Fairgrounds. The contests are open to all 4-H dairy project members ages nine and above and include a grilled cheese and milkshake cookoff, a dairy cattle fitting contest, and a dairy cattle show. For a complete schedule and registration information, visit extension.umaine.edu/4h/dairy/maine-4-h-state-dairy-show/. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, please contact Sadee Mehuren at 207.342.5971 or Allison Pollock at 207.781.6099.

Big E Ruby Morris 4-H Scholarship

Every two years Maine has the opportunity to select an Eastern States Exposition participant to receive a $500 scholarship towards continuing his or her education beyond high school, and this is one of our years!

This is a scholarship that was established by The Morris Family who are longtime concessionaires at ESE. A total of three $500 scholarships are awarded each year. In 2025 and future odd-numbered years, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont will each name a scholarship recipient. In even-numbered years, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut name a scholarship recipient.

Visit the website for all information about applying. Materials must be received by 4:30 pm on Friday, August 15, 2025. If you have any questions, contact Jessy Brainerd at 207.581.3877 or jessica.brainerd@maine.edu

Tri-County Sampler: Nature Art

July 29, 5:30-7pm Join Penobscot, Piscataquis, and Somerset County 4-H staff for July’s Tri-County 4-H Sampler “Nature Art” at the Lakeshore Park in Dexter. We’ll break the ice with parachute play, then make dirt babies and explore the park for bits and pieces to create foraged friends. Parents are welcome to participate and encouraged to learn more about how 4-H can fit into their families’ lives. We can chat at the hand wash station, over the DIY trail mix bar, and as we’re guiding youth to set up their dirt babies and foraged friends for display. Our evening will conclude with young participants telling the rest of us about their creations. Enrolled Cloverbuds and 4-H’ers may go home with an exhibit or two for the Fair!

Please pre-register so we can bring plenty of snacks and supplies! https://4h.zsuite.org/external-event-registration/38368 Location: Lakeshore Park 16 Crockett Rd, Dexter, ME

For more information or a request for reasonable accommodations, contact Emily Pigeon, Community Education Assistant, Penobscot County 4-H, Phone: 207-942-7396, Email: emily.pigeon@maine.edu.

Maine 4-H Celebrates “The Year of Youth in Agriculture” with New Ag Challenge

The state of Maine has officially declared 2025 as “The Year of Youth in Agriculture,” an exciting initiative to highlight the vital role young people play in the future of our state’s agricultural landscape. In celebration of this significant declaration, Maine 4-H is thrilled to encourage all our members to delve deeper into the rich and diverse world of Maine agriculture.

Agriculture is a cornerstone of Maine 4-H as well as the economy and heritage of our state, offering a vast array of unique and rewarding opportunities, from traditional farming and livestock management to innovative food production, sustainable practices, and agricultural technology. This is the perfect time for our 4-H members to explore the many facets of this dynamic industry.

To help you do just that, Maine 4-H is launching the 4-H Ag Challenge! This special challenge is designed to guide members through an exploration of the unique and vast opportunities within Maine agriculture. To complete the challenge, members must complete activities from each section, with the number of required activities varying by age group:

Cloverbud (ages 5-8): 2 activities per section
Junior (ages 9-13): 3 activities per section
Senior (ages 14-18): 4 activities per section

4-H Ag Challenge Download (PDF)

Once you’ve completed your activities, please return the form to the 4-H Ag Leadership team at extension.4hagleadership@maine.edu or to your local UMaine Extension office. As a special reward for completing the challenge, you will receive a specially designed Maine 4-H Ag Challenge hat! Prizes will be mailed to those who complete the challenge. This challenge will run through the entirety of 2025, giving you plenty of time to explore!

If you have any questions please contact:

Megan Cook
4-H Youth Development Professional, Aroostook County
megan.cook@maine.edu
207.532.6548

Harvest of the Month – Squash

5 Tips for Making Delicious Jam and Jelly This Summer

Food Preservation, Spoonful

— By Kate McCarty, Food Systems Professional, University of Maine Cooperative Extension

During the summer I usually get a few calls from frustrated preservers asking why their jam or jelly didn’t come out right. It’s annoying to try and make a nice, spreadable jam and instead end up with something that’s too runny or too thick.