August 2022 4-H Newsletter

4-H Happenings

A monthly newsletter for Hancock County 4-H Members


Table of Contents

Upcoming Dates| County News | Club News | State News | Leaders Meeting Minutes


Upcoming Dates to Remember

August 1 – Photo Contest Deadline
August 5 – Friday on the Farm at Lone Spruce Farm in Dedham – see County News
August 9 – 4:30 pm – 4-H Leaders Meeting (Hybrid)
August 26 – Steer Tickets are Due at the Extension Office
August 30 – Exhibits are Due at the Extension Office – See instruction in County News
September 1-5 – Blue Hill Fair – Blue Hill Fairgrounds


County News

New Staff in Hancock County- We are so excited to announce that Andrea Mahoney will be joining Cooperative Extension as Hancock County’s new Administrative Assistant! Andrea graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2010 with a degree in Elementary Education. She has taught many subjects, both in person and online, for over 15 years. Andrea and her family decided they wanted to live a gentler pace of life and moved to Maine in 2017. Soon after moving, they got involved in 4-H and found themselves entering fairs, attending jamborees, practicing for public speaking, and much more! They even started keeping chickens!Collage of Andrea with her husband and three kids

Andrea enjoys painting, crocheting, reading, baking, cooking, and playing games with her family. This summer she took part in the 4-H Summer Learning Series by teaching watercolor workshops. She is such a lovely welcome to the team and she shared that this position is an amazing opportunity to continue working with the organization that helped her own kids grow and learn since moving to Maine.

Andrea is honored to be here and can’t wait to meet everyone! She welcomes any questions you may have and can be reached at andrea.mahoney@maine.edu or by phone at (207) 667-8212.

Leaders’ Meeting – The next Leaders’ Association meeting will be hybrid (in-person or Zoom) on Tuesday, August 9th, at 4:30 pm. All 4-H Volunteers will now receive the zoom link in the newsletter email. Contact carla.scocchi@maine.edu for info.

4-H Open House – The 4-H Open House was a new event for Hancock County and had an amazing turnout! Hosted at the Hancock County Extension Office, we offered workshops, activities, animal meet and greets, and shared about the many resources and volunteer opportunities Cooperative Extension has to offer. Of course, none of it would have been possible without our amazing volunteers and staff. Thank you to all who joined us, whether it was to host a workshop, share your animals with the community, or if you came to participate in the activities! And if you were unable to make it this year, don’t worry! We think this event will definitely be making another appearance in the future!

4-H Photo Contest – Another wonderful year in the books for the 4-H Photo Contest! This county has so much talent. All submissions will be judged in the coming weeks and participants will be contacted soon. If you would like to see these amazing pictures in person, they will be on display in just a few weeks at the 4-H Exhibit Hall at the Blue Hill Fair!

Fridays on the Farm: in Hancock County! – Volunteer Kristin showing 4-H teens around her greenhouse Fridays on the Farm is a series of hands-on learning experiences for Maine teens. In this series of farm tours, participants will explore possible careers in agriculture, learn about the Maine Food System, and practice real-life farm skills.  Participants may join one, or all of the farm visits. This year, one of the featured farms is our very own Lone Spruce Farm, owned and operated by 4-H Volunteer Kristin Beauchamp! She hosted youth on Friday, August 5, and brought the participants around her beautiful farm where they were able to learn about topics ranging from native Maine pollinators, goat milking, caring for poultry, caring for broiler chickens, small-scale farming, and bringing her products to market. 

Blue Hill Fair Exhibit Hall –  Start thinking about what projects to enter in the 4-H Exhibit Hall this year! Categories range from “Aquatic Life, Leadership, Nature Collections, Outdoors, Writing Sampler, Crafts”, and more! Remember that there are options to enter individual exhibits as well as club exhibits – and that everyone receives a cash premium! Your project can be dropped off at the Extension Office before Monday, August 29th. Remember, Entry Forms and Exhibit/Life Skills Cards are required and are available online. The 4-H theme of the 2022 Blue Hill Fair is “Get Rooted in 4-H”. Exhibits are due at the Extension Office by 4:00 pm on Monday the 29th, or set up yourself at the Exhibit Hall between 12:00 and 4:00 pm on Tuesday the 30th. We look forward to displaying your work to the public!

**Please note: 4-H information printed in the Blue Hill Fair Book was printed incorrectly. Please visit our webpage for the most accurate information, and/or request a 4-H at the Blue Hill Fair Information Booklet – we will happily mail you a booklet at no cost!

NEW! “Future 4-H’ers” corner of the 4-H Exhibit Hall – Do you have a future 4-H’er in your family? A youth who is under 5 years old who cannot WAIT to become a Cloverbud? We invite future 4-H’ers to display their projects this year, too! Submit a project created by a future 4-H’er in any of the exhibit hall categories, accompanied by a cloverbud entry card (filled out by an adult but dictated by the youth), and we will put the project on display in a special corner of the 4-H Exhibit Hall. Future 4-H’er projects will not be judged, and are not eligible for ribbons or premiums, but are a great opportunity for younger members of the family to practice their 4-H project skills and put them on display!

Annual Steer Ticket Raffle – The Steer Ticket fundraiser is the premier fundraiser for the Hancock County 4-H Leaders’ Association. Tickets are $1 each; 15 cents go directly to the 4-H Club that sells the tickets, 85 cents go to the Leaders’ Association to support 4-H programming, scholarships, county events, and more. The Steer Ticket Raffle winner will receive a cut-to-order, freezer-ready Beef Steer raised by a Hancock County 4-H’er, OR $650 cash. The drawing is at 5 pm on Labor Day at the Blue Hill Fair. The 4-H Club AND the 4-H’er who sells the most tickets will receive an award at Cloverfest . Tickets are now available for pick up by 4-H’ers at the Extension Office. Steer ticket money must be returned to the Extension Office by August 26th or the fifteen-cent club money per ticket will be forfeited! Steer tickets are not to be brought to the Blue Hill Fair. Also, remember that we cannot sell raffle tickets to people under 16 years old and youth under 18 should not be handling money. Adults should not put youth’s names on the tickets.

Volunteers needed for 4-H Food Booth and Steer Ticket Table – Calling all 4-H families! – The 4-H Food Booth and Steer Ticket Raffle are the two largest fundraisers for the Hancock County 4-H Leaders’ Association. The funds raised are used to support the 4-H programs you love all year long – Cloverfest, June Jamboree, Public Speaking, Style Revue, Leaders Banquet, and so much more! We rely on our strong 4-H community to deliver quality youth programs in Hancock County, and we are asking 4-H Clubs, Groups, Independents, and Parents/Guardians to volunteer their time during the Blue Hill Fair (September 1 – 5). We need:

  • Youth AND Adult Volunteers for the 4-H Food Booth: “Front” of the booth (taking orders, distributing food), and “Back” of the booth (cooking burgers, hot dogs, etc)
  • Youth AND Adult Volunteers for the Steer Ticket Table: selling Steer Tickets to fairgoers. Adults needed to handle the money.
  • Volunteering here is a requirement to win the Razor Crosman Award.

If you haven’t volunteered at the fair before, please consider contributing to this important cause this year! Contact the Extension Office or fill out the form on the webpage to sign up for a shift at the Food Booth and/or the Steer Ticket Table.


Club News

Jolly Juniors- Last month the Jolly Juniors represented 4-H by taking part in the Eastbrook Parade. They also got together to sell steer tickets in the town circle AND at the 4-H Open House!

Kids selling raffle tickets under a pop up tentJolly Juniors posing with club banner at town parade


State News

  1. Looking for 4-H Alumni & Members Attending UMaine!
    If you are a current or former 4-H member planning to attend UMaine this fall, know of a 4-H member currently attending UMaine, or know of recent 4-H alumni attending UMaine, read this! Collegiate 4-H is an opportunity for 4-H alumni and college students interested in supporting the mission of 4-H to be involved in 4-H after high school. We are currently exploring starting a Collegiate 4-H Club at UMaine with an anticipated start date for the 2022 fall semester. Simply fill out this short form to let us know if you think you might be interested!
  2. Save the Date for the 4-H Unconference
    UMaine 4-H Unconference will be an organized forum for 4-H volunteers, club leaders, afterschool providers, teachers, parents and teen leaders to gather. UMaine 4-H Unconference is intentionally designed to have YOU teach and learn from each other. There is no agenda; you come with 4-H ideas and topics you want to talk about or learn more about, and we’ll guide the process to get folks into groups where YOU are the experts.  Save the dates: Saturday, October 22nd and Friday, November 11th.  Come to one or both. Watch this website for more information as it becomes available.
  3. 2022 Topsham Fair Summer Horse Show
    Join us on August 7, 2022 for the Topsham Fair Summer Horse Show! Registration deadline is August 4, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. Warm-up starts at 7:00 a.m. and the show starts at 8:15 a.m. Premiums will be paid. There are open events that anyone can register for. The event has passed, and registration is now closed. 
  4. Maine 4-H Survey Request
    From: Andrew Hudacs, the new member of the Maine 4-H team, whose work supports 4-H teen leadership and career exploration statewide:

    If you are 11 years old or older, please help me learn more about your interests in 4-H activities by completing the following SHORT survey (about 30 questions/7 minutes). The survey results will be used to improve statewide 4-H program planning.  If you are a parent of a 4-H child receiving this message, please have each child 11+ years old complete one survey. The survey is now closed. 

    If you have any questions, I can be contacted at andrew.hudacs@maine.edu, (207) 581-8204, 24 Main Street Lisbon Falls, ME 04252. Thank you in advance for your support!

EFNEP Recipe of the Month: Flavored Water
After the long cold winters here in Maine, the summer sun is a welcome sight and feeling. Many of us are out enjoying the beaches, lakes, mountains, and sports camps. With the hot weather comes the need to stay hydrated, and drinking plenty of fluids is important all year long, but so much more so in the heat. General guidelines state that it is important to drink eight glasses of water a day, as this will keep the average person doing average activity adequately hydrated throughout the day. Remember, if it is hot or if you are staying active, you may need to drink more water throughout the day. Here is a great recipe for Flavored Water that is very refreshing and enjoyable on hot summer days.

For more delicious recipes, check out our UMaine EFNEP Mainely Dish Video Series.  By Debbie Barnett (EFNEP CEA in Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln, and Waldo counties – deborah.barnett@maine.edu)

Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) offers FREE nutrition education classes to income-eligible adults with children, or young adults 19-25 years old, and if you are eligible for programs such as SNAP, WIC, or Head Start. Find out more online.


Leaders Meeting Minutes

Hancock County 4-H Leaders Meeting of July 12, 2022

–Zoom and In-Person Meeting–

Present– Lisa Carney, Terry Swazey, Leah McCluskey, Carla Scocchi, Rebecca Duhaime (new livestock manager for the BHF), Joannie Jodrey, Brenda Jordan, and Elaine Gokey (5).

Secretary’s Report– Motion to accept the June minutes as written; seconded and approved.

Treasurer’s Report– No major changes since last month.

Club Reports– Elaine’s club did a food fundraiser for the Bagaduce River Equine Rescue. Jolly Juniors have been cooking with Joannie.

Old Business

  • Open House on July 30th – press release going out tomorrow at the Extension Office. There will be animals! Share on FB. Some clubs could sell steer tickets.
  • Steer Tickets- can we sell at Tractor Supply this year? We may be able to be in store.
  • Photo Contest- not many entries yet, deadline is August 1st. 
  • Might be able to bring back Pumpkin Daze? Joanie will contact the owners.

New Business

  • Blue Hill Fair
    • Changes in midway hours- open an hour later on Friday, end an hour later on Monday.
    • Will have vinyl decals for vehicle entry thru the livestock gate.
    • Food Booth 
      • Schedule same as last year?- Yes, we will have 5 hour shifts. 6-10, 10-3, 3-8.
      • Rebecca may know of someone who can repair the exhaust fan.
    • Exhibit Hall
      • Drop off/Pick up projects at the extension office. 
    • Horse show ring- we may be able to get the footing fixed this year!
    • Could we suggest naming the livestock ring after Dwight?
    • Don’t hesitate to contact Rebecca if we need anything or have any questions
  • Style Revue- Brenda and Joanie are planning to have information in the next Newsletter. 
  • Bank account- Motion to remove Heather Linnehan from the Leaders Association banking information; seconded and passed. Motion to add Brenda and Lisa; seconded and approved. If we had more people on the account, deposits would be much more convenient. Add Brenda and Lisa, Lisa will type up a letter for Terry to take to the bank.
  • Margaret is going to Eastern States this year, she is eligible for the $100 scholarship from the Leaders Association.

Office Report

  • Leah has been with the office for a month, and is doing wonderful!
  • Interviews for the 4-H Support staff position are happening next week
  • The Extension Association will be installing a granite bench at the office in Dwight’s memory, and would appreciate suggestions for the engraving. Dwight Sargent, “Dedicated Lifelong Extension Volunteer”

Adjourned at  5:35 pm

Respectfully submitted by Lisa Carney, Secretary