November 2019 4-H Newsletter
4-H Happenings
A monthly newsletter for Hancock County 4-H Members
Download the PDF
Table of Contents
Upcoming Dates| County News | Club News | State News | Leaders Meeting Minutes | Cooking with Kids
Upcoming Dates to Remember
November 11 – Veteran’s Day – Extension Office Closed
November 13-14 – Extension Office Closed – All Staff Organization Conference in Orono
November 15 – 6:00 pm – Leaders’ Banquet – Eastbrook Community Center
November 25 – Re-enrollment Forms are due in the Extension Office
November 28-29 – Thanksgiving – Extension Office Closed
December 7 – Ellsworth Christmas Parade – See page 2
December 25 – Christmas – Extension Office Closed
December 31 – State Deadline for Re-enrollment Forms – No Exceptions
December 31 – Deadline to submit Volunteer Background Check Online
January 1 – New Year’s Day – Extension Office Closedc
January 14 – 6:30 pm – Leaders’ Meeting – Extension Office
County News
Cloverfest 2019
I was impressed by all the 4-H youth who attended Cloverfest this year. It was lovely to meet everyone and hear about all the projects happening in Hancock County! What with Zoe & Hunter going to Eastern States, Trenidy raising the steer for the steer raffle, among all the others who achieved awards or who made progress towards achieving their goals, I would say it has been quite a year!
A spe
cial thank you to Emma B. from Chewonki, who led a presentation on owls. We were all captivated by the owl sounds (“Who cooks for you – who cooks for you all!”), the skulls and feathers that were passed around, and of course, the actual owls that Emma brandished on her arm. In owl seriousness, I think Cloverfest was a hoot! I am looking forward to this coming year and taking it to the nest level! – Zabet
New Background Check Policy for Volunteers – Our Maine 4-H program takes the safety of our program participants very seriously and has implemented an important policy change that will affect some Hancock County 4-H Volunteers this year. All Maine 4-H volunteers are now required to have a background check every three years. If you have not had a background check within the past three years, you should have received an email with instructions for how to submit your background check online. If you are a new volunteer within the past three years, you don’t have to do anything at this time!
If a volunteer does not pass a background check or refuses to follow through with this policy, then the volunteer will no longer be able to serve as a UMaine Cooperative Extension Volunteer. This re-screening will be done at no cost to the volunteer.
Our currently enrolled volunteers will have until December 31, 2019 to submit your background application online at Online Candidate Verification Center. Please notify the Extension Office once you have completed and submitted the form so we can complete the process. Further instructions are included in your re-enrollment packets.
Re-enrollment 2019-2020 Reminder – Another 4-H year has begun! Re-enrollment packets have been sent to all members. All paperwork must be returned to the Extension Office by Monday, November 25th in order to be processed before the state deadline on December 31. Absolutely no exceptions will be allowed after that date.
The 2019 Leaders’ Banquet – will be held on Friday, November 15th at the Eastbrook Community Center at 6:00pm. Calling all 4-H Volunteers! Please join us for this annual 4-H Volunteer Recognition Event which includes a meal and silent auction. Volunteers will be recognized for their efforts throughout the year as well as for reaching milestones in 1, 5, 10,15, 20, 25, 30 and 50 years of volunteer service! Please bring any items you wish to auction in support of Hancock County 4-H.
Reminder about Fundraising – If your club is planning fundraising events this year, please remember to post a UMaine fundraising sign at your location (such as on a table, etc). You can request signs from the Extension Office, or download the fundraising PDF signs at the Hancock County Fundraising Signs page. Thank you for complying with this mandate from UMaine. Questions about Fundraising? Don’t hesitate to contact Carla anytime.
Ellsworth Christmas Parade – will be on Saturday December 7th. The theme this year is “Silver Bells.” 4-H will be marching again as a unit. Contact Heather Linnehan at 667-9570 or email her at heather@linnehans.com to let her know who will be participating. Let’s show our community support! We’ll be carrying our big Hancock County 4-H Banner and we’ll be wearing green scarves to let the audience know who we are!
4-H Opportunities at Lone Spruce Farm – Lone Spruce Farm in Dedham, home of the Spruced Up Homesteaders 4-H Club, is expanding opportunities for 4-H’ers! A series of Homesteading Sessions (covering topics such as Livestock, Gardening, Food Preservation, and Handiwork) will be offered throughout the year, one per season. The sessions are FREE and open to enrolled 4-H members, ages 6+, in Hancock and Penobscot Counties. Space in each session is limited to 10 youth and is first-come, first-serve. Register online.
Save the Date! – At the September Leaders’ meeting, the following dates were chosen for Hancock County 4-H events in 2020. Mark your calendars now!
March 7 – Public Speaking Hancock County Tournament – start practicing in Jan/Feb!
April 4 – State Public Speaking Tournament – for those who qualify at the state tournament.
May 8 – Style Revue – sewing contest open to all 4-H’ers!
June 5-7 – 4-H June Jamboree – a weekend full of hands-on workshops, livestock clinics, camping, and fun for all ages!
July 31 – 4-H Photo Contest – snap photos all year long and submit them to the photo contest!
September 3-7 – Blue Hill Fair – exhibit your projects in the 4-H Exhibit Hall!
September 21 – Project Records – start keeping records of your projects now. NEW this year: cash prizes for youth who submit project records!
October 23 – Cloverfest – annual celebration of the 4-H year, with entertainment and awards!
* Dates are subject to change
Oops! – When listing our 1st year Volunteers in last month’s newsletter – we missed Candace Gray – Peninsula Explorers. She will also be recognized at the Leaders’ Banquet. Congratulations to Candace and all our leaders!
Hancock County Extension Budget Update – Some of you may have heard about the proposed budget cuts to the Hancock County Cooperative Extension Office (home of 4-H!) by the Hancock County Commissioners. We wanted to give you an update on where we currently stand:
The Budget Advisory Committee (BAC) unanimously voted against the proposed $10,000 budget (yay!), and voted to fund us at the same level as 2019. The County Commissioners are currently reviewing these recommendations from the BAC and have yet to make their final vote. We won’t know the final outcome until the Commissioners vote, which is an unknown date at this time but sometime before December 15.
Thanks to everyone for your outpouring of support for the Hancock County Cooperative Extension Office. Your letters/calls/emails have made a huge impact! The County Commissioner’s office has been inundated with information from our very active Extension communities: 4-H, Master Gardeners, Eat Well Volunteers, Homemakers, and more.
4-H Awareness Day – Our 4-H clubs arrived at Tractor Supply at 9:00 on Saturday, October 12th, and found EVERYTHING had been made ready for us — a very pleasant surprise! Since there was a forecast of rain, the staff at Tractor Supply had graciously set up pens, fencing and cages for all our critters under the canopy attached to the store. It made a great place to show off our goats, sheep, miniature horse, hens, bunny and our official 4-H dog, Georgia! Additionally, the store manager, Raven Allen, brought in several of her chickens and roosters to complete the indoor barnyard! We had five 4-H clubs represented, some with animals and others offering homemade treats, including some delicious chili, for sale. This was the largest group of visitors to Awareness Day since moving to Tractor Supply a few years ago! Many people asked if we could do the same thing next 
year, but to expand the hours from 10 to 2. We will certainly give this suggestion consideration! Tractor Supply was also holding their Paper Clover sales during this time. They have been very generous to Hancock County 4-H with the proceeds of these sales. It seems that people enjoy seeing all the ways 4-H contributes to our communities! Submitted by: Heather Linnehan, Committee Chairman
Club News
Peninsula Explorers – We had a great time exploring how to take a wonderful fall harvest of apples and enjoy them now, but also preserve them for later in the winter! Canned apple sauce, dried apple slices, freshly baked apple muffins and fresh apples off the branch made for a delicious gathering. Submitted by club leader, Chrissy Allen
Lock, Stock & Barrel – Field Trip for the Lock Stock and Barrel 4-H Teens – On Sunday, October 27, Alice B. and Wade C. of Blue Hill with Kaedyn C. of Bucksport along with leaders Norwood and Becky Ames attended the Waltham- Eastbrook Youth Association 7th Annual Turkey Shoot. They participated in a number of shooting events including 22.s, open category and 20 gauge. This was Kaedyn’s first time attending the Waltham shoot. He won a turkey in his first event. Wade won two different shooting events, so he won two turkeys. We would like to thank Chris Kravitt and the Waltham – Eastbrook club for a fun time.
Jolly Juniors – “Fun at the Jack O Lantern hike!”
Jolly Juniors 4-H will be celebrating their 88th year in 2019-2020!
Horse of Course and Aquaculture Internship 2019 – Hannah Dyer, member of Horse of Course and also Aquaculture Internship was featured in the Weekly Packet – wonderful seeing the impact 4-H has on youth! Check it out!
Spruced Up Homesteaders – This month our club had a super fun time attending Cloverfest… it was great connecting with our fellow clubs, celebrating one another, and meeting the owls with Chewonki!! We also gathered to create some seasonal hand-poured gourd candles! We had a great time carving our tiny go
urds, melting and adding frag
rance to soy wax, and the end result was just as sweet as our smiles! We made time for outdoor rainy day play too… because there’s no such thing as “bad” weather… it’s all in the gear! Submitted by Club Leader, Kristin Beauchamp
State News
- 4-H Statewide Teen Dance Seeks Planning Committee Members – There is a small group of 4-H members who would like to plan a statewide formal dance for teen 4-H members across the state. We are looking for teen volunteers who would like to be a part of the planning committee for this Winter event. For more information please contact Maddie Gray maddicus83@gmail.com.
- Join Us for “Dining In” Day – National Family & Consumer Sciences Day – December 3, 2019 is National Family & Consumer Sciences (FCS) Day. The Maine Affiliate of the National Extension Association of Family & Consumer Sciences and UMaine EFNEP are planning to participate and we would like 4-H to join the promotion too. What is it? A specific opportunity to promote family and consumer sciences programs, tools, and professionals that support family mealtime. We ask families to make and eat a healthy dinner together during the week of December 3rd. Research has shown that the whole family benefits from family mealtime by having better nutrition, improving family communication, fostering family traditions, and teaching life skills, such as meal planning, budgeting, and food preparation. Encouraging families to prepare simple, healthy meals and eat together supports the essence of family and consumer sciences: “Creating Healthy and Sustainable Families.”
Learn more about Dining In Day, and find some great resources for yourself and your club here. - Winter Becoming an Outdoors Woman Program – The 2019 Winter Becoming an Outdoors Woman program will be held on February 21 – 23, 2020at Bryant Pond 4-H Camp and Learning Center, 17 Conservation Lane, Bryant Pond ME 04219 in Oxford County.This fun weekend is geared towards women seeking new ways to get outdoors, meet new friends, and challenge themselves. All meals and lodging are provided and space is limited to 36 participants. For more information or call 207.665.2068.
- National Youth Agri-Science and Healthy Living Summit Applications for 2020 Are Available Now! – There are currently eight scholarships available through funding from the Maine 4-H Foundation, to send youth to the National 4-H Conference Center, just outside Washington, D.C., for the Agri-Science and Healthy Living Summits in early 2020. Attendees will learn more about their area of interest by attending career panels, interactive workshops, and visiting related agencies throughout D.C. The Summits were created to empower youth to be well-informed citizens, expand engineering and agriculture experience, and increase connections to living a healthy lifestyle, all while being actively engaged in their communities.
Agri-Science: January, 9-12, 2020 Healthy Living: February 13-16, 2020
Eligibility: Youth ages 14-18. Enrolled in 4-H by December 31, 2019.
Participant Cost: $150.00 (Maine 4-H Foundation funding will cover the remainder of registration & flight cost – approximately $800).
Application can be found here. This is a combined application for both the Agri-Science and Healthy Living Summits.
For more information about the National Youth Summits please visit here. If any youth would like to attend, but do not receive the scholarship funding, they may self-fund and attend. Counties are also welcome to provide full or partial-scholarships to youth as well. Email or call Sara, sara.conant@maine.edu, 207-781-6099, for more details on these options, or with any questions. Applications and Recommendations due by December 1, 2019.
Leaders Meeting Minutes
October 8, 2019 Meeting
Members Present- Dwight Sargent, Terry Swazey, Lisa Carney, Brenda Jordan, Heather Linnehan and Carla (office staff). Sarah Swazey, Gail Sargent and Lee Sargent by phone.
The flag was saluted and the 4-H pledge recited.
The September minutes were accepted as written, and the Treasurer’s report was accepted as read.
Old Business
- Cloverfest- at Surry on October 25th. Cherwonki will be the entertainment, get pizza from Yanni’s, registration is open. Carla will give out awards. May need to buy water. Lisa ask Yannis if they can make pizza
- 4-H Awareness Days @ Tractor Supply from 10-1 – rain is forecasted, but we can move almost everything inside. Jolly Juniors will make slime, sell apple cider and cornbread. Heather will bring a mini horse, goat and bunny, having a bake sale.
- Project Records- have 17 or 18, need to be judged. The cloverbud records seem very involved. They are very time consuming. Maybe there should be a monetary incentive? Maybe give different amounts for different ribbons? Motion by Terry Swazey: Give youth $15 for blue, $12 for red, and $10 for white ribbons for project record financial remuneration. Seconded and passed. It might be a good idea to offer another leader training on project records.
New Business
- Leaders’ Banquet – Franklin Vets Club- open most Fridays. November 8th or 15th? Always make ~$350 from the auction. Date & Time- from 5-9? Meal- they do everything, what do we want? Budget- usually pay $10-$12 per meal. 60-75 people
- Theme for the year for Hancock County- “4-H: The Maine Way… Then and Now” Have a t-shirt contest to connect the two together? Have art teachers judge them, Brenda can get a rubric. The website Maine200.org has lots of ideas for how to celebrate the bicentennial
- Should get a plaque for the Gross family for their commitment to raising the steer. Maybe we need to raise the price of the steer tickets?
Office report
- We still have lots of photos collected for the 4-H 100 year celebration. A couple of years ago, Norma agreed to mentor a youth who might be interested in doing so. Can use the equipment in Orono.
- The county commissioners have proposed significant cuts to the Extension Association budget. It would be good if they received some letters from 4-H, one should come from the LA, maybe some from teen members.
- The Leadership in Action Award is going to McKenzie Evans.
Motion to adjourn made at 7:56; seconded and passed.
Respectfully submitted by Lisa Carney, Secretary
Cooking with Kids
Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1⁄2 cup non-fat dry milk
1 1⁄4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1⁄2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
3⁄4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
1⁄2 cup vegetable/canola oil
4 eggs
1⁄2 cup water
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400°F.
2.Spray two loaf pans or pans for 30 muffins with nonstick cooking spray.
3.In a large bowl, mix both flours, non-fat dry milk, sugar, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice.
4.In a second bowl, beat pumpkin, applesauce, oil, eggs, and water until blended.
5.Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture and stir with a spoon just until moistened. Do not over mix.
6.Pour batter into 2 loaf pans or muffin tins.
7.Bake loaves for 60-75 minutes, or muffins for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
8.Cool on a rack and remove from pans after 10 minutes.
9.If not eaten right away, wrap the loaves (or muffins) in foil or a plastic bag and store in the freezer.