August 2021 4-H News
Cumberland County 4-H News
4-H Calendar
State 4-H News
4-H Club Happenings
Other UMaine Extension Cumberland County News
August 19: 4-H Exhibit Hall Cleanup and Leader’s Association Meeting at the Cumberland Fairgrounds at 5:00PM
4-H Exhibit Hall Cleanup, Pizza Party, and Leader’s Association Meeting at the Cumberland Fairgrounds on Thursday, August 19, at 5:00PM
The Cumberland County 4-H Leaders Association is having their annual clean up of the 4-H Exhibit Hall at the Cumberland Fairgrounds on August 19, at 5:00 – 6:30PM for 4-H’ers, leaders, parents, grandparents, and friends, at the fairgrounds. Pizza will be provided from 6:30 – 7:00 PM. for all those who come and help. Please bring your own drink. Masks will be required at all times while in the 4-H Exhibit Hall, regardless of vaccination status. The hall always needs a good cleaning before the fair, especially with a year off!
We can always use someone to bring an iron, ironing board, hedge trimmers, & rakes.
After cleaning the grounds and having some pizza, leaders are invited to stay and join the Leaders Association at their August Leaders meeting to get ready for the fair. We look forward to seeing you there!
2021 Pig Raffle Tickets Available Now
The Pig Raffle is one of the most interesting fundraisers that Cumberland County 4-H does each year. The Pig Raffle raises funds to support 4-H scholarships, trips, and other awards for 4-Her’s in our county. If you would like to purchase or sell these tickets to start raising money before the Cumberland Fair starts, please contact our office, 207-781-6099 to have some mailed to you, or arrange to pick some up! Tickets may also be picked up by contacting Jenn Grant, at findviewfarm@juno.com or 207-318-9166. For more information and the PayPal link please visit: https://extension.umaine.edu/cumberland/4h/events/cumberland-fair/pig-raffle/
Shift times:
- 7:00 – 9:00AM
- 9:00 – 11:30AM
- 11:30AM – 4:30PM
- 4:30 – 9:00PM
Cumberland Fair, September 26 – October 2, 2021
All 2021 Cumberland Fair 4-H information is available on the Cumberland Fair 4-H Information page. Please be sure to look over the page carefully for important information. Livestock entry forms will be due to Mark Cooper by September 1st. Here are some helpful suggestions for you while you are getting ready for the fair:
- Club Exhibits: Be sure to bring everything for your display, including a table no larger than 4 ft. by 4 ft., if it will be needed!
- Projects: Pay close attention to the details on your projects and allow time to complete them and not leave things to the last minute.
- Exhibit Forms: Be sure to get your Cumberland Fair Exhibit Hall Entry form (Google Form) filled out early so we can make sure we have room in the hall for your exhibits and enough judges. Please also make sure each project you enter has an Exhibit Form AND Skills Card OR the new double-sided Exhibit Form/Skills Card filled out completely and attached. The Life Skills Wheel side of the skills form DOES NOT need to be filled out.
- Project Drop Off: Make sure to note the new drop off times for all projects. Some projects will be judged on Friday and some on Saturday in order to space out people in the Exhibit Hall and make set-up of the hall easier.
- Fair Passes: Same as 2019. Your 4-H member cards will NOT work as gate passes. Livestock members and families showing at the fair will receive fair passes from Mark Cooper, Livestock Superintendent. Those exhibiting in the 4-H Exhibit Hall who are 13 and older must see Sara Conant during project drop off in the 4-H Exhibit Hall if you need passes, or arrange a time to pick them up from the 4-H office prior to the start of the fair.
Save the Date Annual Meeting, Wednesday, September 8, at 5:00PM.
4-H leaders and members are invited to the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Cumberland County Extension Association to be held on Wednesday, September 8 starting at 5:00PM at the UMaine Gardens at Tidewater Farm in Falmouth. Appetizers will be provided.
For dessert we will enjoy the delicious results of the annual Pie Bake-Off ! Do you have a favorite pie recipe? We invite you to enter the bake-off sponsored by King Arthur Flour and share your scrumptious dessert! For directions, guidelines for the Pie Bake-off, and more information visit the Pie Contest Rules page. Whether you choose to enter the pie bake-off or not, we look forward to seeing you there!
To register your pie bake-off entry by September 7, or for more information contact us at 781.6099 or 1.800.287.1471 or email extension.rlreception@maine.edu.
Cumberland County 4-H Members Help Local Food System
Katie, Bea, & Olivia are all members of the Cumberland County 4-H program. Again this year they are working on their annual community service project that will benefit both 4-H’ers and their local food pantries. They would like to raise enough money so that the Gray and New Gloucester Food Pantries can purchase market hogs and market lambs at the Cumberland Fair 4-H Livestock Auction.
The Gray Community Food Pantry serves 60 – 100 families including emergency and home deliveries. The New Gloucester Food Pantry serves 60 – 70 families in a year. Since meat is one of the more expensive items for clients to buy, having fresh pork and lamb available from local sources is a win-win-win for these food pantries, youth, and the local food system.
Donations of any amount can be sent to GNG 4-H Food Pantry Project, P.O. Box 1012, Gray, Maine 04039. Checks may be made payable to: GNG 4-H Food Pantry Project.
4-H Summer of Science Wrap Up
Over the past year, 4-H youth participants across Portland voiced an overwhelming desire to return to in person programming. After a wonderful but fully virtual Summer of Science in 2020, teen teachers and students alike were excited to return to live programming!
Cumberland County 4-H Cooperative Extension partnered with Portland Public Schools to offer a variety of summer, extracurricular, educational opportunities for high school and college teens. 4-H CYFAR provided three learning opportunities for teens to build their resumes and hone professional skills. Students applied to be: Video Makers, Teen
Science Teachers, or Summer of Science Interns. The University of Southern Maine extended their outdoor tent to us for use as a training site. Three college interns accompanied teen teachers and mentored them at each site. Our twenty-two teen teachers, four of whom are alumni of the program, participated in trainings led by Mitch Mason, Kristy Ouellette, Laura Personette, Dana Dotson, and Sarah Sparks.
Teens actively learned about asking purposeful questions, leadership, teamwork, time management, adaptability and more. Teachers worked in teaching pods at nine community sites including; the YMCA,
Boys and Girls Club, Intercultural Community Center, Portland Housing Authority Sites, and others. Teens served over 60 local youth, ages 6-13, this summer. They delivered weekly, hour-long, hands-on science activities for a four-week series. The four activities were; Building a Tower, Car, Mask, and Parachute! Interns helped pack and deliver project materials which were provided to students for free, making the program more equitable for participants from low-income families.
We hope the awesome community connections forged through “SOS” 2021 will only strengthen in seasons to come, enabling us to provide increased programming for future teachers, scientists, and other 4-Hers with a spark to explore!
Welcome Eavan Sibole to the 4-H Team!
State 4-H News August 2021
4-H Summer Learning Series – Part II Registration Still Open!
Maine 4-H is offering its hands-on virtual summer learning series through August 20 with over 50 workshops open to all youth ages 5–18. The 4-H Summer Learning Seriesincludes learning tracks in Arts and Crafts, Food and Nutrition, STEM, Marine Science and Aquaculture, Animal Science and Agriculture, Teen Leadership, and more! Offline projects that can be completed at home are also available.
The series is free; registration is required and is open until August 13. Register here and find more information on the 4-H Summer Learning Series webpage. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Jessy Brainerd, 207.581.3877; brainerd@maine.edu.
Enter Your Projects in the Maine State Virtual Fair!
Have you been working hard on a 4-H project that you’re ready to show off? The 2021 Virtual Exhibit Hall is here! Entering projects in your actual fair this summer? Consider entering them in the Maine State Virtual Exhibit Hall as well! We will be accepting submissions now through August 31st. We can’t wait to see what our talented Maine 4-Hers have created! Information about exhibit categories, submission guidelines, and judging can be found on the Maine State Virtual Fair web page.
National Trip Interviews, 2021
In the past, we would have held interviews for National Trips in the early spring. At the time, we had youth that had been chosen but had not been able to participate yet due to the pandemic. It was decided that it was not in our best interest to add more numbers to those delegations given we still did not know the status of the pandemic and where all was headed. So, therefore we did not hold any National trip interviews in 2021. We will resume in 2022. If you have questions, please email Heidi Palmer at thuotte@maine.edu.
Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) 2021
CWF 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic. Maine 4-H was committed to sending the 2020 delegation in July of 2021. As we moved forward with the pandemic still around us, last winter the decision was made by National 4-H to hold CWF 2021 virtually. Taking into consideration many different factors, we have decided not to participate in the CWF Conference virtually this year. We will however be encouraging that the same delegation to be ready for July 2022. All youth must still be between the ages of 14 to 18 and be an enrolled member in 2022. We realize that, unfortunately, some youth will have aged out, etc. This is very unfortunate but hopefully, those youth will come back when adult life gets underway for them and perhaps chaperone with us. Monies that were sent in for the trips have been left on file and we will be reaching out to those individuals regarding that. If you have questions, please email Heidi Palmer at thuotte@maine.edu.
National 4-H Congress 2021
Exciting news! National Congress 2021 will be happening in person in November 2021! As with other trips, Maine 4-H already has a delegation picked from previous National Interviews. We will be reaching out to that group of youth to see where they are at. These youth will need to still be age 14-18 and still enrolled in 4-H. If you have questions, please email Heidi Palmer at thuotte@maine.edu.
Club Happenings
Your 4-H Club Happenings could be featured here! Just email sara.conant@maine.edu by the 25th of each month with information about your club meetings, events, or fundraisers. Pictures are always a plus!
Other UMaine Extension Cumberland County News
UMaine Extension Cumberland County offers many different workshops throughout the year. To learn more about our workshop offerings please visit https://extension.umaine.edu/cumberland/upcoming-events/