May 2020 4-H Newsletter

May 7, 2020 4-H News

4-H Happenings

A monthly newsletter for Hancock County 4-H Members

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Upcoming Dates to Remember

While the Hancock County Cooperative Extension office is closed until May 30th and programs are canceled or postpones, our 4-H staff is still working and is more than happy to respond to questions, figure out alternative programming, and be the trusted resource you rely on.

May 12 – 4:30 pm – Leaders’ Meeting via Zoom – Contact us for the private link
May 15 – Deadline to submit application for 4-H Leaders’ Association College Scholarship and Hancock County Homemakers’ Colleg Scholarship
June 30 – Animal Forms Due

Given the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation in Maine, all 4-H club meetings and events are canceled or postponed until further notice. UMaine is adhering to Governor Mills’ Stay Healthy at Home Order, which means 4-H clubs are not to meet in person or participate in any activities that would encourage youth or volunteers to leave their homes or neighborhoods. We encourage clubs to come together by staying apart and only participate in virtual gatherings and/or activities that can be done “together” but from the safety of home and only with household members who are staying at home together. We have resources at extension.umaine.edu/plugged-in/program-volunteer-resources/4h/go-virtual/ to assist club leaders if they are interested in hosting virtual meetings.

COVID-19 Hancock County Resources Report

County News

Leaders’ Meeting – New time this month – the next Leaders’ Association meeting will be by Zoom on May 12, at 4:30 pm. Email carla.scocchi@maine.edu for the private link.

Hancock County-Wide Service Projects: choose one!
We are strongly encouraging Hancock County 4-H members to participate in one of these two simple county-wide service projects that you can do from home:

OPTION 1: Thank a Farmer

Step 1. Choose a local farmer that you would like to thank for being an important contributor to our local food supply. Can’t think of one? Check out UMaine Cooperative Extension’s Farm & Seafood Directory and pick one!

Step 2. Write a note to the farmer with a personal message from you. Here’s an example (feel free to come up with your own message!) sample letter

Step 3. Take a photo of the message and send it to us via email, Facebook, or mail. We will make a photo collage representing all of the notes and “thank-yous” that we collectively send from Hancock County 4-H!

Step 4. Send your note in the mail with the good feeling that you will brighten a farmer’s day!

Step 5 (optional). Remember to record this service project in your 4-H project record.

OPTION 2: Pen Pals with an Extension Homemaker

The Extension Homemakers of Hancock County are the hidden gems of the Cooperative Extension. These women have been Extension volunteers for many years and have plenty of stories to share! They’re missing their monthly meetings and are looking for ways to connect to their community. Consider becoming a pen-pal to an Extension Homemaker! Write letters, draw pictures, share artwork – the sky is the limit! If you are interested:

1.Email zabet.neucollins@maine.edu so she can connect you with a Homemaker and you can exchange addresses.

2.Take a photo of your writing process! Be creative — will the photo be of the message itself? Your writing desk? Delivering to your mailbox? Send it to us via email, Facebook, or mail. We will make a photo collage representing all of your notes!

3.Be sure to record the time you spend with your penpal as a service project on your project records!

June Jamboree – A modified and very exciting June Jamboree is coming your way! The annual Hancock County 4-H event will not be held in person this year, however, there will be two ways to participate (dates for both are TBA):

In our county event which will include a variety of hands-on activities that can be done at home, but together with your 4-H community. The planning team is currently designing the program and welcomes your ideas and input (by attending the May leaders meeting and/or contacting Carla, carla.scocchi@maine.edu). Registration will be announced via email and Facebook.
For youth specifically interested in Livestock/Animal Science: a statewide Jamboree event is currently in the works. This event will feature virtual programming in animal care, nutrition, safe handling, and proper showing techniques.

Style Revue – the annual 4-H Sewing Contest, has tentatively been rescheduled to take place during Cloverfest on October 23. We encourage youth with the ability to sew at home to do so and send us your photos! If you need patterns or 4-H sewing activities/curriculum, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kids Can Grow –
Do you have a garden plot at home?
Are you interested in learning more about gardening and developing your garden skills?

Kids Can Grow is going virtual! We are partnering groups of two – four 4-H youth with a Master Gardener Volunteer. From June through September, your group will meet virtually once or twice a month to discuss your garden and talk through issues, concerns, questions and what gardening tasks you should be working on that month. We encourage you to take photos and document your garden’s development – even submit a few of your photos to the 4-H Photo Contest! Limited to twenty participants throughout Hancock County.

If you would like to grow vegetables for your local food pantry, we can send you various seeds for you to get started. Contact CEA Zabet NeuCollins for more information: zabet.neucollins@maine.edu

Animal Approval Forms – For youth planning to show livestock in any 4-H shows this year, Animal Approval Forms are still due by June 30 but we are making the following exceptions:

You do not need to obtain a Leader’s signature by this date
We will send an embossed copy to you via mail before the date of your show and/or when our offices reopen (whichever comes first)

You can submit your form in multiple ways:

Mail them to the Extension Office (we are still receiving mail daily)
Scan & email a copy to joyce.fortier@maine.edu
Take a photo with your phone and email joyce.fortier@maine.edu

*Remember to visit the Animal Science Project webpage for important dates, forms, deadlines, etc.

Photo Contest – Information on the 2020 Photo Contest has been updated and is now

Kids Can Grow –

Do you have a garden plot at home?

Are you interested in learning more about gardening and developing your garden skills?

If you would like to grow vegetables for your local food pantry, we can send you various seeds for you to get started. Contact CEA Zabet NeuCollins for more information: zabet.neucollins@maine.edu

Animal Approval Forms – For youth planning to show livestock in any 4-H shows this year, Animal Approval Forms are still due by June 30 but we are making the following exceptions:

You do not need to obtain a Leader’s signature by this date
We will send an embossed copy to you via mail before the date of your show and/or when our offices reopen (whichever comes first)

You can submit your form in multiple ways:

Mail them to the Extension Office (we are still receiving mail daily)
Scan & email a copy to joyce.fortier@maine.edu
Take a photo with your phone and email joyce.fortier@maine.edu

*Remember to visit the Animal Science Project webpage for important dates, forms, deadlines, etc.

Photo Contest – Information on the 2020 Photo Contest has been updated and is now online. Photos are due July 31, 2020. There are so many beautiful and unique scenes to take pictures of – and this is a GREAT quarantine-friendly activity!

Statement from Blue Hill Fair – May 1, 2020 – As the Blue Hill Fair would normally be gearing up for the 2020 season, we have spent the past several weeks meeting with fair officials across the state, to determine if there will be a 2020 Fair Season at all. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, we are faced with the difficult decision of possibly cancelling our 2020 season. These are challenging times for everyone and the fair is no exception. We continue to meet regularly with the Maine Association of Agricultural Fairs, reviewing the latest state directives, to determine what is best for our fair as well as other fairs across the state. We will provide updates as they become available. While no decision has been made to date, it is our plan to continue to monitor the situation closely and make a decision around the 1st of June.
David W. Gray, President, Blue Hill Fair

Public Speaking – Congratulations to the Hancock County 4-H Public Speakers who participated in the first ever virtual State Public Speaking tournament! Wyatt B, Margaret Mae R-G, and Zoe S, we are so proud of you for your accomplishments. Special congratulations to Zoe S for making the ESE Communications Science Team! The Awards Ceremony can be viewed on our website. Zoe

Club News

Spruced Up Homesteaders – Everyone here at the Spruced Up Homesteaders has been adjusting and adapting to our new normal in our own individual ways. Because adapting and growing through that very process is what 4-H is all about, we are super proud of every single one of our youth! Though we have not made our curriculum content virtual, we did decide that we would love just to see each other’s faces, even just once a week for a few minutes, so we did have our first Zoom session!

We also want to congratulate our Wyatt and all of the youth who participated in the first-ever virtual public speaking presentations! And a very special thank you to the extension staff that worked overtime to bring together Spruced Up Homesteaders such a thoughtful and meaningful event for our youth… just another example of the excellent leadership brought out through 4-H!

Everyone here at Lone Spruce Farm wishes our 4-H families in Hancock County and beyond strong hearts and good health! Submitted by Kristin Beauchamp, club leader

Jolly Juniors – Our club has cleaned up the roads in Waltham for many years. We do believe this was THE coldest day we’ve ever done the clean up! We had to get creative this year due to COVID-19 and Governor Mill’s restrictions for large gatherings and physical distancing. Earth Day 2020 saw our 4-H families not gather together but chose a section in their towns and clean up the roadside. Waltham, Eastbrook, & Franklin all had sections of their town cleaned up! Thank you to Katherine Jordan for leading this activity and thank you to the families who participated. We hope next year we can gather to prep, share our treasures and stories of our walks, and have our hot dog roast! The tradition was slightly different but we still go the job done. We are proud of our Jolly Juniors! Brenda Jordan, Leader

Report from Club Vice-President Cassidee C. – Roadside cleanup is gross but you have to know that you are doing it for a good cause. When we do roadside usually there are black flies so we have to bring bug spray and we all meet up to choose our groups. But this year there were no bugs, it was cold, and we were quarantined so we could not all meet up. I will tell you about some of the things my family and I found this year. I found a tire rim, a stand, an old mailbox, a bucket of sand, and a orange juice jug that still had orange juice in it. My sister and my cousin found a baby shoe. During roadside we care a lot about safety. If we find a needle we need to tell a adult because that could be very dangerous. The most important thing about roadside is to clean up the sides of the road.

Jolly Juniors - 2 From Cloverbud Club Reporter Addison C. – On April 22nd we did road side clean up. This year instead of swatting black flies we were dodging snowflakes! As always we found some treasures. We found several car bumpers. Must have been a bad winter for accidents! We walked a lot, it was and tiring but we made the best of it. We filled a lot of trash bags and there was a pretty big pile at the end. I can’t wait for next year’s clean up so we can enjoy a BBQ after all together.

State News

Daily Virtual 4-H Offerings! – As a part of UMaine Cooperative Extension’s response to the changes in the world due to the novel coronavirus, we have created a weekly schedule of activities to keep youth engaged in learning:

- Monday: “Mainely Dish” Mondays – nutrition professionals from the UMaine Extension Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) share videos of easy and healthy snacks kids can make at home.
- Tuesday: QuaranTEEN Virtual Science Cafes – Join us each Tuesday where you will meet scientists, learn about how they ended up at UMaine and how they became involved in their work/research, and participate in informal discussions. So, sign up and learn some cool science! Registration is required, learn more about the topics and sign up for the cafes.
- Wednesday: “Wednesdays in the Woods” Outdoor Activities – join the 4-H Camps and Learning Centers for outdoor adventures. Live on Wednesdays on the UMaine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Tanglewood Facebook page. Join Hannah Raymond as she does different outdoor activities you can do in your own back yard! Activity sheets can be downloaded and printed.
- Thursday: Growing Maine Gardeners – Join UMaine Extension Horticulturist Kate Garland and her kids in videos that introduce gardeners to fun projects and new techniques. New videos and activity sheets are posted every Thursday.
- Friday: Learn at Home with 4-H Friday Fun! Videos – Each Friday, watch for a new hands-on activity that you can try out with simple materials you have at home. Watch a short video clip to see how it’s done or download our 4-H Learn from Home activity sheets. Each activity outlines materials needed, easy to follow instructions, reflection questions for discussion and activity extensions.

2. Learn at Home: Educational Resources to Use During School Closures – With novel coronavirus closing schools across Maine for several weeks, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension has assembled this collection of helpful educational resources for parents and caregivers. From science to financial literacy, whether for toddlers or teenagers, we encourage you to take advantage of these activity books, guides, and other resources to help children remain engaged in educational experiences throughout their school closure. Find resources for every age group.

3. 4-H “Learn at Home” BINGO – Looking for some fun family activities you can do from your own home? Maine 4-H invites you to play 4-H Learn at Home BINGO!

4. New 4-H Citizen Scientists Club – We have an exciting opportunity for kids in 4th through 8th grade to join a new virtual 4-H club – the 4-H Citizen Scientists! In this club you’ll practice citizen science in your own back yard, and observe and report on the nature around you while making connections with fellow citizen scientists around the state! The club will meet Wednesdays starting May 13, 2020 through June 17. This club is limited to 10 members, and online registration is required. If there is enough interest, we may consider adding additional dates. We have some great resources to learn about different Citizen Scienceopportunities. Register online.

5. Deadline to Apply for National 4-H Conference and Congress has been Extended to May 22, 2020! – 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 National 4-H Congress, or become a part of a team making recommendations to the National 4-H Council at Conference. To learn more about these trips, visit here:

Any Maine 4-H Youth, ages 14 to 18, is eligible to apply. Applicants must be current Maine 4-H members both at the time of application and the time of the actual trip. This year based on the ongoing Covid 19 crisis and the shelter-in-home orders, we are extending the application deadline. (Thank you to all those who have already sent in applications, we have them on file.) Application packets must be sent to: State 4-H Office 491 College Avenue, Orono ME 04473 or emailed to jessica.brainerd@maine.edu by: May 22, 2020. They must be emailed by the end of the day, or postmarked by May 22, 2020. You will be called or emailed directly for a convenient interview date and time. Interviews most likely will be held via “Zoom” technology or something similar. This schedule applies to applicants who have already sent in their applications.

If you have any questions, please contact Heidi Palmer at 207-310-4235 (cell) or heidi.thuotte@maine.edu. 2020 National 4-H Congress is still scheduled to take place on November 27-December 1, 2020 in Atlanta GA. (The Congress trip orientation is scheduled for October 24, 2020) and 2021 National 4-H Conference is scheduled in Washington, D.C., April 10-15, 2021. (The 2021 Conference orientation will be Feb 13, 2021).

6. 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.

7. Virtual UMaine Webpage – If you’re interested in UMaine – there is a dedicated web page for students to learn more information because Accepted Student Days and Open House Programs have been canceled for the spring. Check it out

8.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 4-H Animal Science Dairy Committee would love to try and send/support a team of motivated youth who are involved with the Dairy Goat, or Dairy Cattle Project Areas for this very unique and meaningful opportunity.

The National 4-H Dairy Conference requires that 4-H 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 (4-H 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.

Leaders Meeting Minutes

April 14, 2020

Present on Zoom meeting- President Brenda Jordan, Vice President Heather Linnehan, Treasurer Terry Swazey, Secretary Lisa Carney (late), Board Member Lee Sargent, and office staff Carla and Zabet (5).

The flag was saluted and the 4-H pledge recited.
Secretary’s Report: not given.
Treasurer’s Report: not given.

Club reports: No one has done any virtual meetings. The Jolly Juniors will be doing a roadside cleanup during April vacation; they will assign spots and will have all week to do a section.

Old Business:

Jamboree – Hancock County June Jamboree on the Blue Hill Fairgrounds is canceled. We decided to split the event – the Saturday “workshops” will be held virtually as part of a statewide Jamboree event, and the Horse Camp part of Jamboree will be held in October during 4-H Awareness Days. We could host it at Tractor Supply Company, especially if the fairgrounds are not available to us.
Mega Builders – still following up regarding their disbanded bank account.
Equine Affaire fundraising – Lee and Heather’s clubs had some bottle drives, but may end up waiting until next year.
CWF has been cancelled for this summer. Our one applicant (Sherry) should be able to go next year; we will carry her scholarship forward.

New Business:

Terry – If we don’t have the Blue Hill Fair, can we judge exhibits at the office, or virtually?- Yes, that will probably work. Will probably be able to have small groups. Might be able to put projects on exhibit somewhere (a library perhaps?)
If anyone uses any of the Learn at Home with 4-H materials, make sure you mention it to the office staff. They need to keep track of how important their services are.
Probably will not offer the Kids Can Grow gardening program this year (too hard to mail lumber and compost). But considering other options for helping kids who are gardening.
Future Leaders Meetings via Zoom will be earlier – next one will be at 4:30 on May 12th.

Office Notes:

Stay in touch with us about your club work/activities. Lots of new things to consider when going virtually – tip sheets for virtual meetings are at this link. We also recognize people have other serious priorities right now. 4-H participation may not be a priority at this time.
The Master Gardeners can’t meet to start seeds together. They would appreciate donations of vegetable seedlings. Might be a good club community service project.
Scholarship deadlines- Joyce wants to know if we are willing to extend the deadline for applications; Terry (scholarship committee) says we should. The new date will be in the next newsletter (May 15)
4-H Camp & Learning Centers are still open for enrollment. In the event that camp programs need to cancel, families will receive a full refund.

Adjourned at 7:39

Respectfully submitted by Lisa Carney, Secretary

Cooperative Extension in Hancock County