September 2021 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
September 27 – Project Records are Due in the Extension Office
October 3-9 – National 4-H Week
October 6-17 – Fall Paper Clover at Tractor Supply Company
October 11 – Indigenous People’s Day – Extension Office Closed
October 12 – 4:30 pm – 4-H Leaders’ Meeting via zoom
County News
The Blue Hill Fair 2021
A BIG thank you to all of the 4-H members who submitted their exhibits to the 4-H Exhibit Hall.Exhibitions ranged from posters to nature journals to cookies to flowers to birdhouses and more! It was so exciting and heartwarming to see all of the work 4-H’ers in Hancock County have put towards their projects, even when it has been difficult to meet in person. We had four phenomenal judges come on Wednesday before the fair. Their comments, suggestions, and presence were so appreciated. Thank you to the judges for donating your time and energy to help 4-H’ers grow and thrive!
I will be honest, I had no idea what to expect for the 2021 Blue Hill Fair. Would there be any 4-H exhibitions? Would anyone come to the food booth? Would we sell any steer tickets? Happily, all three of those questions were answered positively!
The food booth was steady all weekend, and even though we had some shortages of volunteers, it worked smoothly and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Thank you to everyone who worked a shift (or many shifts!) — your time was much appreciated!
Finally, a big thank you to Allie B. of Horse n’ Rider who helped me sell steer tickets for more than five hours! It can be daunting to interact with the public, especially these days, but Allie B. was up for the challenge and she was great at it! She kept saying how “nervous” she was to sell the tickets, but she did all the work! All I had to do was sit and smile.
Thank you to everyone who helped sell steer tickets this weekend.
A special thank you to Shelby G., Independent 4-H member, and the Doug Gross Family Farm in
Bucksport for raising the Simmental Steer for this year’s Steer Raffle. Andy Maguire from Verona Island won the steer (all 1300 lbs of it!) – and is keeping the steer!
The Razor Crosman Award went to a 4-Her from Penobscot County – Kaylee Keniston and she also was the winner of the Cake Decorating Contest
There were some rainy days, but there weren’t any rainy spirits. I really enjoyed my first year at the Blue Hill Fair as part of 4-H. I was so impressed with the 4-H’ers who raised and showed off their goats, cattle, horses, and sheep. When I was a kid, the only animal I really interacted with was my cat! And that was only to pet her: I never led a cow that was 10x heavier than me around a ring with a bunch of spectators! Good job on all the hard work you’ve all put into your exhibitions, your animals, and into 4-H. We are proud of you all. -Zabet
The Exhibit Hall – We had 30 exhibitors putting in 85 exhibits and receiving $396 in premiums.
Best Projects:
Aquatic Life – Wyatt B, Spruced Up Homesteaders
Civil Engagement – Nayeli M, Independent
Clothing/Sewing – Sherry F, Independent
Crafts – Olivia D, Jolly Juniors
Crafts – Charity G, Horse & Rider
Flowers – Noah D, Independent
Forestry – Finn M, Independent
Gardens – Noah D, Independent
Outdoors – Nayeli M, Independent
Painting – Nayeli M, Independent
Writing – Nayeli M, Independent
Best in Show – Sherry F, Independent
Lynne Clement Award – Noah D, Independent
Special thanks to Mary Jude and all the judges for their help!
Livestock Awards
4-H Beef Show
Fitting and Showing – Junior – Shelby G, Independent
Junior Champion: Shelby G, Independent
Junior Reserve Champion – Hunter E, Independent
Wilbur Wilson Memorial Reserve Grand Champion – Shelby G, Independent
Cow and Calf – Shelby G, Independent
Market Steer – Hunter E, Independent
4-H Sheep Show
Market Lamb: Shelby Gross
Breed: Shropshire – Grand Champion Ewe: Shelby G
Leaders’ Meeting – The next Leaders’ Association meeting will be by Zoom on September 14, at 4:30 pm. Email carla.scocchi@maine.edu for the private link.
4-H Enrollment 2021-2022 – Be on the lookout for new information about enrolling for the 2021-2022 4-H year. We are hoping the process looks and feel much better this year. The deadline is earlier this year due to upcoming changes in our office – please have paperwork returned to the Extension Office by Monday, November 1st.
The Lock Stock and Barrel 4-H Club – is a youth club for children ages 9-18. The Club is a shooting sports program that offers a number of different disciplines, rifle, shotgun, archery, wildlife and Black powder. The club meets once a week at the Blue Hill Rifle and Pistol Club normally from September through May. Due to Covid the club is considering different days and times to meet. IF youth are interesting in learning more about our program please contact. Norwood and Becky Ames, club coordinators. Call 567-3066 for more information. PLEASE leave your name and phone number, clearly stated.
Project Records – All project records are due in the Extension Office on Monday, September 27. For all instructions, please visit our webpage.
Paper Clover Campaign at Tractor Supply – The Fall paper clover campaign will be held October 6-17, with the opportunity to donate to 4-H in-store and online.
A Fond Farewell to Zabet – Zabet NeuCollins, the Community Education Assistant for 4-H, will be
stepping away from her position with the Cooperative Extension to begin a full-time position at the non-profit, Women for Healthy Rural Living, in mid-September. Her last day of work is September 22nd.
She says, “I have really enjoyed working with you over these two years and I am bittersweet to step away! I especially loved this last weekend at the Blue Hill Fair, the Jamboree workshops, and getting to know you all in person and virtually. It was a super weird time to be involved with 4-H, because the pandemic kind of upended everything and turned it on its head.
That being said, it’s been remarkable seeing how 4-H youth, leaders, and volunteers have really stepped up and have been creative during these last two years. I feel privileged to have been a part of your community during this difficult time!”
Please call the Extension Office if you would like Zabet’s contact information. She promises to keep in touch with 4-H, and has already agreed to volunteer for the 2022 Blue Hill Fair.
Club News
Rails N’ Trails – Kacie and Alyssa S. and Zoe S. did a good job participating in the horse show at the Blue Hill Fair. It was one of Alyssa’s first times riding her horse in a walk-trot-canter class at a show which has been her goal for the year. Kacie rode my horse Chubbs in the show which was also a first for her. Zoe also rode Chubbs for the first time in a walk-trot-canter “western” classes. The show was a challenge for all 3 girls but they all ended up learning something new and had fun doing it! Submitted by club leader, Lee Sargent
State News
- K-12 Planetarium Field Trips at the Versant Power Astronomy Center – The Versant Power Astronomy Center (formerly Emera Astronomy Center) would like to share the news that they have over 50 different programs that cover not just astronomy and space exploration, but also biology, chemistry, climate science, earth science, engineering, history and more! We have programs for all age levels which match with the Next Generation Science Standards, so do explore our offerings.A full list of their offerings can be found at visit here and for general information see here which has a variety of online resources and our full public program schedule. If you have any questions about our programs, feel free to contact me directly at planetarium@maine.edu or shawn.laatsch@maine.edu.
- New England 4-H Summer Show Survey
Please share your thoughts on the 4-H Summer Show, whether your group attended or did not attend. We want to hear what you think! Please share this with others who are interested in the Summer 4-H Show and other New England 4-H activities. This survey is one way to get voices heard from Maine that we would prefer the ESE experience during the Big E vs. the summer show experience. Follow this link to the survey: Take the Survey. - The Art of Math: Maine 4-H STEM Toolkit of the Month
Each month we will be highlighting a different 4-H STEM Toolkit available from UMaine Cooperative Extension 4-H Program!
The Art of Math activities include sessions on Patterns and the Fibonacci Sequence, Symmetry, Shapes, Geometry, and end with a building challenge! This kit can be used with upper elementary aged youth (4th – 6th or so). It was used virtually last spring for the 4-H STEM Ambassador program, and most of the activities worked well.
Learn more about this, and other 4-H STEM Toolkits online, where you can see what is available for different age groups or topic areas. - Join the Conversation & Share Your Ideas
Calling on Youth and Young Adults Ages 15-20 to let your voices be heard as 4-H forms a National Youth Access, Equity and Belonging Advisory Committee. We want to hear from youth like you! Please join the Access, Equity and Belonging Committee (AEBC) for a listening session with youth and provide new and exciting ideas to help us establish a Youth Advisory Group.Focus Group Goals:- Provide a youth perspective and partner with AEBC in the decision-making process of building a youth advisory group
- Establish youth advisory group purpose
- Determine what makes a youth advisory group successful
- Identify barriers to youth advisory group participation
Choose a date that works for you!
September 14th @ 7 p.m. EST
October 12th @ 8 p.m. EST
November 9th @ 9 p.m. EST
December 14th @ 10 p.m. EST
For more information, please contact, Phillip Ealy at ple13@psu.edu
Nia Imani Fields, Ed.D.
University of Maryland Extension Assistant Director,
Maryland 4-H Program Leader
Leaders Meeting Minutes
HANCOCK COUNTY 4-H LEADERS’ ASSOCIATION
August 10th, 2021
–Zoom meeting due to COVID-19–
Present- Lisa Carney (online), Brenda Jordan (online) Lee Sargent, Dwight Sargent, Terry Swazey and office staff Carla Scocchi (online). (5)
Terry stated that the Treasury had not changed much
Lisa had no secretary correspondence.
Old Business:
- No office updates
- Lots of entries in the photo contest (~56, 16 participants). They were all digital, so if we want to display at the fair they will want to print them out. Carla can put them on a screen at the booth. The Leaders could pay to print off the winners for display?
- Steer tickets- not selling online much
- Food Booth-
-Need someone on Monday (goat show, no Kenny or Scott) Brenda has a shift on Saturday
-Ask Joyce about sign-ups. Dennis paper is open to members, Terry has a membership and can pick up.
-Country Kitchen is having bun production issues. Matt from Friends & Family offered a similar cost round hot dog bun, but we like to grill them. So Lisa will tell him we want the flat sided hot dog buns and smaller burger buns.
-Still need relish in packets.
-Put food booth cleaning date in newsletter, Saturday the 28th at 9am.
-Should we increase the Pepsi order?
-Dwight will get entry tickets, he will leave Brenda’s at the office.
-Brenda has some Plexiglas barriers for the front window.
-Booth health guidelines- masks required indoors at all times.
New Business:
- Brenda had an idea for 4-H awareness days at Tractor Supply- we could host a turkey drop off for and collect food for a shelter. It could be a good community service project.
- The Blue Hill Fair Book lists the Horse Show incorrectly; send inquiries to Lee for class lists and registration.
Adjourned at 5:18
Respectfully submitted by Lisa Carney, Secretary