4-H Happenings, August 2022
Contents
Important Dates:
- August 5, 2022: Fridays on the Farm at Brigeen Farms, Turner, ME
- August 5, 2022: Fridays on the Farm at Lone Spruce Farm, Dedham, ME
- August 7, 2022: Topsham Fair Summer Horse Show
- August 8 & 9, 2022: Skowhegan Fair 4-H Exhibit Hall open for exhibits to be set up
- August 11-20, 2022: Skowhegan State Fair
- August 11, 2022: Working Steer Event at Skowhegan Fairgrounds
- August 12, 2022: Fridays on the Farm at Pumpkin Vine Family Farm, Somerville, ME
- August 19, 2022: Fridays on the Farm at McDougal Orchards, Springvale, ME
- August 24, 2022: Windsor Fair 4-H Horse Show registration deadline
- August 30, 2022: Windsor Fair 4-H Horse Show
- October 22, 2022: 4-H Unconference
- November 11, 2022: 4-H Unconference
County News
Skowhegan State Fair Starts Next Week!
Thursday, August 11th – Saturday, August 20th
Make sure to get your forms in by the deadlines, for showing animals or displaying work in the exhibition hall. More details can be found in the 2022 Premium Book (pdf).
View the schedule on the Skowhegan State Fair website.
Best of luck to all that are showing animals and exhibiting!
2022-23 4-H Membership and Volunteer Renewals
Keep an eye out for renewal paperwork, which will be coming out soon. Volunteers, remember that you must have a background check every three years. Contact Karen Giles (karen.giles@maine.edu) at the Somerset County Extension office for more information.
Updating Record Sheets
Club News
Clubs have been getting educational displays and club exhibits ready for the 4-H Exhibition Hall at the Skowhegan Fair. Solon Pine Tree, Groovy Go Getters, and Boots & Spurs are participating from Somerset County. Five 4-H booths, chosen by the 4-H professional, will also have the opportunity to be part of the state-wide virtual exhibition hall this year. Come to the fair, see the exhibits, get inspired to participate next year, and vote for the Peoples’ Choice award! Members are also competing with their animals at various fairs around the state. Come cheer on your friends and families!
Please send club and fair photos to the 4-H Professional Karen Giles at karen.giles@maine.edu. We can share them here over the next few months.
Solon Pine Tree met on Jul 7, 2022. They had a cookout and worked on their educational exhibit for the fairs. They also created string art, bead bowls, paintings, and wood-burning projects.
Don’t Forget to Submit Your Secretary’s Reports!
This is a friendly reminder that each club’s secretary should be submitting a report to this office after each meeting. Photos are encouraged too! These reports help us stay in the loop with what is happening within your clubs. Secretaries may email a digital copy to extension.somerset@maine.edu or mail a physical copy to Somerset County Cooperative Extension, 7 County Drive, Skowhegan, ME 04976.
Club Updates
We would love to use this space to share more stories directly from clubs. Please send us your news and events so we can share them in this newsletter! You may send them to karen.giles@maine.edu or to emily.collins3@maine.edu. We would love to hear and share what your club has been learning and doing!
State News
Events and Opportunities
Fridays on the Farm is Back!
You are invited to join Maine 4-H staff for Fridays on the Farm, 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. 4-H enrollment is not a requirement for participation, so share this opportunity with your friends! All youth ages 12-18 are welcome to participate. For more information on the available farm tours or to register visit the Fridays on the Farm registration page.
Save the Dates 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 22 and Friday, November 11. Come to one or both. Watch this website for more information as it becomes available.
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 a 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!
Tell Us About Your Interests! – 4-H Teen Survey
A letter from our colleague:
Greetings 4-H Community Member!
My name is Andrew Hudacs and I am a new member of the staff team at Maine 4-H. I am working to support 4-H teen leadership statewide and would love to hear your thoughts. 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 in 4-H complete a survey.
Also, I would be happy to share a summary of the results with you! Please let me know if you are interested by sending me an email.
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!
Sincerely,
Andrew
Summer Camp Opportunities
Visit the Summer University Youth Programs’ Youth Summer Camps page to learn about a huge variety of camp experiences available to youth. From our traditional 4-H Camp and Learning Centers, to camps that focus on Academics, Art, Music, or Sports – there is something for everyone. There are often opportunities for scholarships.
Fairs and Shows
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. Register online.
Save the Date for the Maine 4-H State Dairy Show
The Maine 4-H State Dairy show will be July 22-24 at the Windsor Fairgrounds. The event is open to all Maine 4-H dairy project members 4-H ages 9 and above. In addition to the 4-H dairy show, the event includes a 4-H dairy fitting contest, grilled cheese contest, and educational workshops. For additional information and a schedule of events please visit the Maine 4-H State Dairy Show webpage.
Upcoming 4-H Working Steer Events
Save the date for upcoming 4-H working steer shows! In order to qualify and be a part of the Maine ESE Working Steer Team, you must attend two of the three tryouts. The tryout events are:
- Saturday, July 9 at Ossipee Valley Fair
- Saturday, July 23 at Windsor Fairgrounds
- Thursday, August 11 at Skowhegan Fair
For more information on upcoming 4-H working steer events and the Maine ESE Working Steer Team, please visit the Working Steer webpage or contact Sadee Mehuren at 207.342.5971 or sadee.mehuren@maine.edu.
2022 Windsor Fair 4-H Horse Show
Join us on August 30, 2022 for the Windsor Fair 4-H Horse Show! Premiums will be paid. Show starts at 9:30 am. Open Statewide to all 4-H members.
Registration Deadline: Postmarked or emailed by August 24
Windsor 4-H Horse Show Packet (Google Document)
Leaders Meeting Minutes
July 20, 2022
Attendees: Sherry Grunder, Karen Giles, Lori Swenson, Hailey Dellarma, Eleanor
Pooler
Minutes:
Fairground Improvements: David is working on shoring up the boards. The
boards on the floors are in good shape but need cross braces for support. The
lattice should be cleaned and possibly repainted. We will only do the green lattice
this year. This will be our August meeting. We will meet at the fairgrounds on
August 2 at 8:00 AM to do the cleaning and painting.
Exhibit Hall Details: Clubs need to contact Karen by July 22nd to let her know if
they are doing exhibits in the hall. If you miss the deadline, you can still sign up
after the deadline if there are booths available. It will be a first come/first served.
We need members to cover the hall during the fair. They are paid. If they are 15,
they need a work permit from the school district where they attend and need to fill
out an application. We currently have six clubs that have a club and educational
exhibits. Karen has spoken to a couple of more clubs that have contacted her.
We might have three homemaker ones and the goat club exhibit. We also have a
couple from the extension.
Forensics Day recap: It went very well! Thank you notes were sent out. We
had a lot of good feedback. A couple of the teenage girls said it might be nice to
have the older kids separate from the younger kids. Everyone loved the jewelry
heist. Next time, do a short talk on how to process a crime scene. We had 17
kids attend. We had 5 that were non-members and the rest were members. We
will start planning the next one maybe for October.
Date of next meeting: September 21st at 6:00 at the extension.
Hailey motioned to adjourn the meeting. Sherry seconded. Meeting Adjourned.