February 2020 4-H Newsletter

February 12, 2020 4-H News

4-H Happenings

A monthly newsletter for Hancock County 4-H Members

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Upcoming Dates to Remember

February 11 – 6:30 pm – Leaders’ Meeting – Extension Office
February 15 – 9:00-11:00 am – Birding 101 – Acadia National Park
February 21-23 – Becoming an Outdoors Woman Program
February 23 – 1:00-3:00 pm – Glass Mosaic Birds – ArtWaves in Town Hill
February 26 – 4:00-5:30 pm – DIY Birdfeeders – Northeast Harbor Public Library
March 1 – Deadline to register for Public Speaking
March 7 – 10:00 am – County Public Speaking Tournament – Ellsworth Assembly of God
March 9 – Deadline to register for Egg Business Project
March 18-22 – 2020 Maine Science Festival – Bangor, ME
March 22 – 1:00-3:00 pm – Egg Business Project Meeting – Extension Office

County News

A Snapshot Into 4-H Clubs’ Impact
Thank you to the 4-H club leaders who completed their re-enrollment forms! This information allows us to share with our larger community what exactly our 4-H clubs are doing. We’re proud to share an infographic of some of this data from 2018-2019; however, this doesn’t even begin to capture the extent of 4-H’s footprint in Hancock County! We are working on creating a larger infographic to showcase the work independent members do, special events, and more.
It is amazing the impact 4-H has on area youth – and the broader community– and it isn’t possible without all the hard-working and dedicated 4-H volunteers. Thank you to all!

Leaders’ Meeting – the next Leaders’ Association meeting will be on February 11th, at 6:30 pm. If you cannot attend in person – join the meeting by computer! Contact the Extension at 667-8212 and we will send you a link.

4-H Public Speaking Reminder – Every 4-H member in Hancock County is encouraged to participate in Public Speaking! Youth choose a topic of their choice and then practice the important life skill of public speaking by giving presentations to their clubs, community, and at the county and state tournaments.

The Hancock County 4-H Public Speaking Tournament will be held on March 7 at 10:00 am at the Ellsworth Assembly of God. ALL 4-H’ers are encouraged to practice their Public Speaking Presentations in January and February before the county tournament!

Get all the details – including tips for planning your presentation and registration for the 2020 county tournament – on the Public Speaking page on our county website! *Note: you can access this page and other programs/events under the “Programs” tab on the 4-H main menu.

Public Speaking participants are encouraged to register online for the county tournament instead of their club leader doing it for them – because it allows us to easily track your participation, guests, and more. However, if Club Leaders prefer, they can still register their members as a group online, or call/email the office to register as a group. Deadline to register is March 1st.

Don’t hesitate to contact any of the 4-H Staff with your Public Speaking questions!

The State Public Speaking Tournament will be held on Saturday, April 6th, at noon at the University of Maine in Orono.

Egg Business Project – Are you interested in participating in the Egg Business Project that is coming to Hancock County 4-H this spring? Under the mentorship of a trained 4-H Leader, participants will learn about, understand, and follow state and local regulations for producing and selling poultry eggs in order to run their own Chicken Egg Business! The program is run in partnership with the Maine Small Business Development Center (Maine SBDC) at Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) in Ellsworth. There will be a kick-off meeting for all participants on Sunday, March 22 from 1-3pm at the Extension Office. For more information and to register, visit our website.

Save the Date – Style Revue – Have you started your project? Our 2020 Style Revue will be held on Friday, May 8th at 6:30 pm. Dress rehearsal will be Thursday, May 7th. Registration will be online next month.

Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) – CWF is a National 4-H trip geared toward 4-H youth ages 15-18. This years trip will take place the week of June 27 – July 5th. If you are interested in applying for CWF, please submit a completed 4-H Portfolio and a $25 deposit by March 2nd and hold April 25th for a mandatory orientation meeting. Scholarship funds to help cover the fees will be available. For more information, contact Sue at the Extension Office at 667-8212 or sue.baez@maine.edu.

Details will be mailed to 4-H members ages 15-18 soon. If you do not receive one, please call the Extension Office. Be sure to read your letter for full details.

4-H Scholarships and Grants – Do you know about all of the scholarship opportunities available to Hancock County 4-H’ers and Clubs? This is the time of year to learn about these and apply, some deadlines are approaching in March and April.

College Scholarships | Camp Scholarships | Leadership Scholarships | 4-H Foundation Scholarships for individuals and clubs

Visit our website for details and application materials.

2020 Maine Science Festival – Hancock County 4-H has $25 gas cards available to families who attend the 2020 Maine Science Festival on March 18-22 and are willing to complete a simple evaluation. For more information or to reserve your gas card please contact us by phone, email, or message us on Facebook!

Attend 4-H@UMaine for free! Thanks to the generosity of the Hancock County 4-H Leaders Association, as well as the funds raised during the Tractor Supply Company Paper Clover Campaign, we are able to sponsor Hancock County middle and high school youth to attend 4-H@UMaine! 4-H@UMaine is July 16-19.

4-H Formal Dance – 4-H Teens from across Maine are organizing a formal dance – the first ever! Any teens in Hancock County interested in attending? The dance will take place after the State Public Speaking tournament on Saturday, April 4, at 5-9pm. Location TBA. If you are interested, please contact the Extension Office.

Animal Science Project Webpage – For youth and volunteers involved in 4-H Livestock projects, we have created a new webpage to serve as a resource for the many dates, deadlines, and events & commodity-specific information. We hope this will be a valuable resource to help you access forms and meet appropriate deadlines. As always, please don’t hesitate to contact us for assistance and please read the newsletter for announcements!

JOANN and 4-H Partnership – 4-H Fabric is currently on clearance at JoAnn Fabric! If you make something with 4-H fabric, send us a photo – we love to see your projects! Also, don’t forget to sign up for the 4-H rewards programs to get VERY good coupons and even more discounts.

JOANN will hold another paper clover-style fundraising campaign for 4-H from March 1 – April 30 where patrons will be asked to donate to 4-H at checkout. We encourage you to spread the word! The funds raised in Maine will stay local – the total amount raised will be split evenly between all counties and all 4-H Camp & Learning Centers.

4-H Insurance – Remember downhill skiing, snowboarding, sledding and other downhill winter sports are excluded (not covered) by the AIL year round accident policy used by 4-H clubs on a statewide, county wide, and individual club basis. The good news is coverage is available online at www.americanincomelife.com by choosing the “Submit 4-H Activity Report” button and requesting special activity insurance used for individual group events like ski trips. All three plan options provide full accident coverage for downhill skiing, snowboarding, sledding and other downhill winter sports. Contact the office with any questions!

Maine Envirothon – Envirothon is a state and nationwide natural resource problem-solving competition for grades 9-12. Students compete outdoors in five natural resource areas: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and a current national environmental issue. Regional and state competitions are held each spring, and the top Maine team qualifies for the North American Envirothon finals – an opportunity to compete against teams from across the United States and Canada. Hancock County 4-H’ers are encouraged to start an Envirothon team! More information can be found on the Maine Envirothon Website, or pick up a brochure at the Extension Office.

Camperships for Summer 2020 – The Ellsworth Garden Club in partnership with the St. Croix District of the Garden Club Federation of Maine will be offering camperships of up to $800 each for summer 2020. Applicants should be between the ages of 7-18 and be residents of Ellsworth, Lamoine, Trenton, Hancock or Clifton. Applications should be for day or overnight programs fostering exploration of nature, ecology, conservation, botany, gardening, agriculture or other related areas. Examples of the many eligible camps and programs include: Wolfe Neck’s Farm Camp, Freeport; College of the Atlantic Summer Camps and Programs, Bar Harbor, UMaine Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Camp Tanglewood; and Camp Chewonki, Wiscasset.

Potential campers should apply electronically to ellsworthgardenclub@gmail.com no later than February 20. The letter of application should include: 1) the applicant’s name, age, school and municipality of residence, 2) the camp and program to be attended, and 3) why they want to attend and how it will benefit them and others. More information may be found at on their web or by contacting Mary Blackstone at blackstm@uregina.ca.

Upcoming Workshops – Did you know the third weekend in February is both the Great Backyard Bird Count and Maine Outdoor Weekend? These are both fabulous events and Zabet NeuCollins, your Community Education Assistant, is excited to share her knowledge and love of the outdoors! She has organized three workshops, open to 4-H and the general public, geared to get children pumped about birds and being outdoors!

Saturday, February 15th: Birding 101 – Come on a winter hike and learn the basics of birding. 9 – 11am. Meet at the Sieur de Monts Nature Center parking lot in Acadia National Park.

February 23rd : Glass Mosaic Birds – Have you seen an amazing bird at your feeder? While you’re walking? Bring your observations to this ArtWaves workshop and make your own glass mosaic bird. 1 – 3pm at ArtWaves in Town Hill.

February 26th: (New Date!) DIY Birdfeeders – Upcycle your milk jugs, yogurt containers, and more! This workshop is for youth who’d like to creatively recycle while feeding the birds too. 4 – 5:30pm at the Northeast Harbor Public Library.

Club News

Jolly Juniors – Jolly Juniors elected club officers for 2019-2020 ~ Club officers – Samantha B, president; Cassidee C, vice-president; Bryce H, secretary/treasurer; and Leah S, club reporter. Cloverbud president – Olivia D, Cloverbud club reporter – Addison C. Our club set a goal of donating 88 items of pasta to the WDEA Ton of Pasta Drive. The Harts started us off!
Kaydence and I went to Joannie Jodrey’s to bake sugar cookies for the February Meals for Me. We were supposed to make 40 cookies but instead we doubled the batch and made 80! The next afternoon, Cassidee and Sam decorated the sugar cookies. Sadly, the meal was canceled due to bad weather so all of the 4-H members got to eat the cookies! Submitted by Leah S, club reporter

Jolly Juniors Cloverbuds – We elected Cloverbud officers and practiced doing demonstrations Jolly Juniors Cloverbuds at our meeting. Our Cloverbud president is Olivia D and our club reporter is Addison C. Jolly Junior Olivia J demonstrated how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then made all of us a sandwich to eat! Ella and I demonstrated how to make chocolate milk. Most of the Cloverbuds demonstrated how to make chocolate milk.
Fun things about demonstrations: You can do it with a buddy. You can choose what you make. It is very fun.
Directions to demonstrate: You choose what you want to do and you talk about it. You keep talking while you are doing it. You reread the ingredients. Don’t forget to tell your last name and your first name and how long you have been in 4-H.
Practice: You have to practice a lot to get it right. Five times or more at least. You can practice with your buddy or yourself. Ask your mom or dad to time you. Submitted by club reporter, Addison C with some help from her buddy, Ella K.

State News

Come to Orono for the 2020 4H@UMaine May 29 – 30, 2020
Planning has started and the wheels are in motion thanks to the efforts of a tremendous team! We are always looking for individuals interested in helping with pre-event planning or attending the event itself! Stay tuned for details. For more information about 4-H@UMaine, contact Greg Kranich at gregory.kranich@maine.eduor 207.581.3292.
Save the Date for 2020 Maine 4-H Days
Maine 4-H Days will take place July 16 – 19, 2020 at the Windsor Fairgrounds. If you are interested in helping to plan next year’s event, please contact Jessy Brainerd at jessica.brainerd@maine.edu or 207.581.3877.
Citizenship Washington Focus
Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF) Start making plans now to visit our Nation’s Capital during the week of June 27 to July 5, 2020. CWF is a leadership program conducted by the National 4-H Council for high school youth ages 14 to 18. Delegations of 4-Hers from across the country spend six days touring the city and attending leadership skill-building workshops. This summer, the Maine delegation will travel down on Saturday, June 27 and travel home Sunday, July 5, 2020. You will stay at the National 4-H Conference Center just outside Washington, DC. Visiting the most popular sites in Washington, DC will be a part of the trip, including spending the 4th of July in our nation’s capital. There is a mandatory orientation for Maine delegates on April 25th, 2020. For more information visit CWF. Contact your county 4-H office for details about how to be a part of this experience if you don’t hear from them very shortly. All county offices have different criteria/dates to apply, so please contact them ASAP. For specific questions, please contact Heidi Palmer, State Activities Coordinator at: heidi.thuotte@maine.edu.
National 4-H Trips (Conference and Congress)
National 4-H Trip Applications are due March 20th, 2020 (Conference and Congress). National 4-H Trips are excellent opportunities to meet 4-H members from across the nation. Participants learn about many career options, and learn through educational workshops at Congress or become a part of a team making recommendations to National 4-H Council at Conference. To learn more about these trips, visit: https://extension.umaine.edu/4h/national-trips/. For specific questions, please contact Heidi Palmer, State Activities Coordinator at: heidi.thuotte@maine.edu
4-H Science Saturdays are Returning in 2020!
Thanks to the generous support of the Maine 4-H Foundation, we will be offering opportunities for middle/early high school aged youth to visit the UMaine campus for targeted science or engineering experiences!
Science Saturday programs run from 10 AM – 1:30 PM, and include time for youth to engage in hands-on activities with professors and current UMaine students, as well as time for lunch in a UMaine dining hall!
We need your input! What topics should we offer? Please let us know by filling out the survey here.
Maine 4-H Project Records Survey – The final survey regarding the Maine 4-H Project Records is available. You are invited to participate in a statewide research project being conducted by Kristy Ouellette and Jennifer Lobley, Extension Educators at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. This is the third of three surveys. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to complete an on-line survey with questions pertaining to your attitudes and beliefs regarding 4-H project records in Maine. The survey will take you approximately 20 minutes to complete. You will be entered in for a drawing of a Hannaford Gift Card. The survey is available here.
Higher Education Scholarships – The Maine 4-H Foundation provides a number of scholarships for graduating seniors. The applications are found on line and are due in the county office by March 1 and to the Maine 4-H Foundation by March 8th. Please see the rubric and application requirements on line.
Camp Scholarships Available – The Maine 4-H Foundation has camp scholarships ranging from $100-$200 available for 4-H members to any one week of 4-H camp. Try one of our University of Maine 4-H Camp and Learning Centers at Blueberry Cove, Bryant Pond, Greenland Point and Tanglewood. Call the camps to ask for a scholarship. Scholarships are based on need and first come, first serve.
National 4-H Dairy Conference – The 66th National 4-H Dairy Conference will be held September 27 to September 30, 2020in Madison, Wisconsin. It will be held in conjunction with World Dairy Expo and attendees will have the chance to visit Expo as part of the conference agenda. Additionally, the conference will offer opportunities to learn more about careers in agriculture, seminars on dairy topics, and a wealth of chances to interact with dairy 4-H members from across the country.
The Maine 4H Animal Science Dairy Committee would love to try and send/support a team of motivated kiddos who are involved with the Dairy Goat, or Dairy Cattle Project Areas for this very unique and meaningful opportunity.
The National 4H Dairy Conference requires that 4H team members: Have spent at least 3 years in those project areas, and be at least 15 years old but not yet older than 18 (4H age).
We are also looking for potential VOLT Chaperones who might like to help organize and facilitate this trip. If we have an idea of how many kids are interested we can plan our fundraising efforts accordingly. Interested parties can contact Tara marble at tara.marble@maine.edu, or 207-778-4650 at the Franklin County Office.
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. FMI please contact Maddie Gray maddicus83@gmail.com.
4-H Dairy Team Dates – The summer show season is fast approaching and it is time to start preparing for the 2020 Eastern States Exposition. Please save the dates below for Eastern States 4-H Dairy team tryouts and events. More information on the Eastern States Exposition 4-H dairy team and how to get involved in a 4-H dairy project can be found here. Please contact Tara Marble at tara.marble@maine.edu or Sadee Mehuren at sadee.mehuren@maine.edu with any questions.Note: In order to be eligible for participation on the 2020 ESE 4-H Dairy Team youth must: Be enrolled in a 4-H dairy project for at least one year . Be 12 years old or older by December 31st of the current 4-H year Submit an ESE dairy team intent to participate form by Feb. 1, 2020 Participate in at least one state tryout event . Submit their animal approval form to their county office by May 1st (if they intend to bring an animal) Participate in the Maine State 4-H Dairy show in JulyMaine 4-H Dairy Team Dates:
4-H Dairy Quiz Bowl Team Tryouts: 2/15/2020, at 10:00 am at UMA in the Randall Student Center, Room 218 (snow date: 2/16/2020 same time and location)
4-H Dairy Judging Team Tryouts: 4/18/2020, time and location
Animal Approval and Lease Form Due Date (for ESE participants): 5/1/2020, in your local County Extension Office
Animal Approval and Lease Form Due Date (for non-ESE participants): 6/30/2020, in your local County Extension Office
Maine 4-H Dairy Show (including 4-H Grilled Cheese Contest and 4-H Dairy Fitting Contest): 7/18/2020 – 7/19/2020 at the Windsor Fairgrounds

Leaders Meeting Minutes

HANCOCK COUNTY 4-H LEADERS’ ASSOCIATION
January 14 Meeting Minutes

Present- Secretary Lisa Carney, Board Member Lee Sargent, Treasurer Terry Swazey, Vice President Heather Linnehan, Board Member Dwight Sargent, President Brenda Jordan, and office staff Carla Scocchi and Zabet NeuCollins (6).

Many thanks to the office staff for providing a delicious dinner tonight!

The flag was saluted and the 4-H pledge recited.
Secretaries Report: the October minutes were approved as written. A thank you note from Joyce was read.

Treasurer’s Report: a motion was made to approve the Treasurer’s report as read;seconded and approved.

Club reports:
Heather (Horse & Rider) has had her first meeting this year, there were only 6 members because of travel and vacation. Terry (Horse of Course) had 2 meetings, have had numerous kids join, the club is doing well. Lee (Rails N’ Trails) had their Christmas party in December and attended the Bucksport parade, some members will be doing public speaking. The Jolly Juniors and Brenda attended Wreaths Across America, and they want to put wreaths in the Waltham Cemetery next year. They also did a Christmas scavenger hunt at the Community Closet, all the kids loved it. Her middle group and Cloverbuds are planning demonstrations, starting a sewing project.

Old Business:
Budget – we went over the Google sheet LA Budget for 2020 with Terry; a motion to approve the budget as written for 2020 was made; seconded and passed.
Leaders’ Banquet – maybe check into China Hill for next year. It used to be cramped for the auction, but we anticipate a smaller crowd next year.
Ellsworth Christmas Parade – several clubs went. It always raises interest in 4-H.

New Business:
Maines 200th birthday – Carla says there will be a bicentennial parade in Lewiston-Auburn on May 16th. The Franklin County LA will do it, but they want the other counties to participate. Kind of far for us. Need to apply by March 2nd. Style Revue is just before. We could have a group carrying our banner. Table and revisit next month.
Public Speaking – Will be March 7th. Need a committee meeting to decide location; have it February 11th at 5:30 before the Leaders’ Association meeting.

Office Notes:
4-H Unconference – Will be here in Ellsworth this year, on February 8th. All day, but come when you can. Need to preregister by Feb 5. Teens are invited, it was popular last year.
Paper clover campaign with JoAnn Fabric – Runs thru March. They have a great rewards program for 4-H.
Partnership with Rotary is expanding: working on a career exploration project in Ellsworth for middle school students.
Illinois 4-H is looking for Maine pen pals.

A motion was made to adjourn at 8:12; seconded and approved.
Respectfully submitted by Lisa Carney, Secretary

Cooperative Extension in Hancock County