York County 4-H News, March 2017
4-H Club News
Acton Homesteaders
Acton Homesteaders worked together with Aubuchon Hardware in Springvale to host a chicken day and Bake Sale. Pictured is Adia Herman with some of our chickens and displays we set up through out the day. We had a great time and look forward to doing full demonstrations next year.
Lucky Charms
On April 2, the club will be at the 4th Annual Pet Expo at the North Berwick Elementary School. The Pet Expo is fundraiser for the club and Another Chance Animal Rescue.
Alexa is making our 4-H Card for The Center for Wildlife. The club raised $170.00 from our fundraising event selling birdseed ornaments at Tractor Supply!
Boots and Buckles
We made homemade horse and dog treats. We are planning on doing a community service day at the animal refuge league in the next few weeks, plus many spring clinics.
4 Leaf Clover
Club members attended the Engineering Expo at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham. The club also went snow tubing!
Wall-E
The Wall-E Club is continuing to work on robotics. They have almost completed the assembly on the Meccano robots and also working on programming for the Lego EV3 robots.
Kidding Around
At our February Meeting it was all about bunnies. Anna Kezar and Daniel Kezar showed us how to give a bunny a health check and talked about showing. They did a fantastic job and we all learned a lot. We had quite a few bunnies in attendance. After the meeting, the kids played with the animals and had a snowball fight.
At our March meeting, Nicholas Thompson shared his metalsmithing skills with us. He has his own forge and we visited that and he showed us how he makes a knife from a piece of metal. He made each 4-H member a hook to take home with them. It was a beautiful day to be outside and the kids played with Nate’s two baby bunnies.
Nature Kids
In March, Nature Kids planted vegetable and herb seeds, learned about animal tracking, and had a whole meeting that was all about drawing!
York County Shepherds
York County Shepherds met for our March meeting at Amelia Duca’s home.
We discussed making cat beds from wool and donating them to a local animal shelter. We went over some lambing supplies and scrapie tags. We had a practice demo from Kat. She practiced giving Kentucky, the Mandarin orange, a shot. She will be in great shape for the real demo. We had a barn tour of Amelia’s farm. She is ready for the lambing season begin!
Enrollment Information
4-H reenrollments for 2016-17 were due in the UMaine Extension York County office on December 31. Members needed to be reenrolled by that date to participate in 4-H Shows at the county fairs. New members have until April 1 to get their enrollments into the office. If you have any questions, please call Sally at 207.324.2814.
Upcoming Dates
April 4: 7:00 PM, York County 4-H Volunteer Leaders Meeting
May 13: 10:00 AM, Sheep Clinic, Rummler Run Farm in Buxton
July 6 – 9: Ossipee Valley Fair
July 14 – 17: Southern Maine 4-H Horse Camp at Fryeburg Fair
August 24 – 27: Acton Fair
State 4-H News
Come to Orono for the 2017 4H@UMaine May 19 – 20!
Planning has started and the wheels are in motion thanks to the efforts of a tremendous team! We are looking forward to another great event this year, and there are some exciting changes in the works! Stay tuned for details. For more information about 4-H@UMaine, contact Greg Kranich at gregory.kranich@maine.edu or 207.949.3878.
Save the Date for 2017 Maine 4-H Days
Maine 4-H Days will take place July 21 – 23 at the Windsor Fairgrounds. If you are interested in helping to plan next year’s event, please contact Jessy Brainerd at brainerd@maine.edu or 207.581.3877.
Maine 4-H Days Planning Committee
July will be here before you know it, and we are looking for a few good volunteers to join the fantastic current Maine 4-H Days Planning Committee. This year we are trying to recruit some teens to join in planning. Joining this committee gives you the chance to help come up with ideas and plans for one of our biggest statewide events! If you are interested in joining the Maine 4-H Days Planning Committee, or have general questions/comments/recommendations about the event, please email brainerd@maine.edu, or call 207.581.3877.
2017 is MARCHing right along! It is time to get a4-H Fix! March is Women’s History Month!
An article submitted to the National 4-H History Preservation Newsletter about the Maine 4-H Fix blog, was included in the January/February edition! Not only that, but 4-H National Headquarters, NIFA, USDA brought it to the country’s attention! Here is an excerpt from the USDA announcement.
News from NIFA 4-H HQ. Enjoy the January/February issue of the 4-H History Preservation newsletter. In this issue: Maine Offers “The 4-H Fix.” Incorporating 4-H History into state programs presents a creative opportunity. Maine 4-H offers regular written updates to local and county volunteers and staff to keep history front and center in programs.
4-H Statewide Public Speaking Tournament
The 4-H Statewide Public Speaking Tournament will be held Saturday, April 8, 2017 (snow date April 9) at Neville Hall, University of Maine, Orono. 4-H Youth ages 9 to 18 who have participated in their county 4-H public speaking tournament and received the required score are invited to participate. For youth in counties that do not hold public speaking tournaments, arrangements may be made through their county’s UMaine Extension office to present their presentation to their county’s 4-H staff in order to be eligible.
For more information, see 4-H Statewide Public Speaking Tournament or contact Barbara Baker at barbara.baker@maine.edu or 207.942.7396.
Eastern States Sheep Team
If you are interested in being a member of the Eastern States team then the intent form must be signed by one of your county’s UMaine Extension staff. The form must be postmarked by May 1 and sent to Judy Smith in the UMaine Extension Franklin County office. You must be at least 12 years old by January 1 of this year. You must be enrolled in at least your second year in the sheep project.
The intent form indicates your intent to participate in the 2017 Eastern States 4‑H Sheep show as a representative of Maine. Any Maine 4-H member who is considering team membership in 2017 should fill it out. This form must be completed and returned by the deadline to be eligible for the 2017 Maine 4‑H ESE Sheep Team. However, this form alone does not enroll the member on the Maine 4‑H ESE Sheep Team. A schedule of mandatory meetings and further information will be mailed to you once we receive this form. The form can be found on the Maine 4-H Sheep page.
Are YOU a 4-H Alum? If so, you will want to read THIS!
4-H alums from across the nation are being asked to raise their hands to support the next generation of true leaders. Every alum’s raised hand is a vote towards a $20,000 award for the 4-H state with the most alum hands raised. So if Maine gets enough hands raised, Maine 4-H will get the 20 grand!
Want to “Raise Your Hand” for Maine? Here is what to do:
- Go to Raise Your Hand to show your pride as a 4-H alum and vote for MAINE!
- It’s all about MAINE: Raising your hand is a vote towards a $20,000 award for the state with the most alums’ hands raised, which, in this case, will be MAINE! Second place gets $10,000 and third place gets $5,000.
- Pay it Forward: Tweet, post, and share your #4HGrown experience or support and tag fellow alums asking them to raise their hands for MAINE (or, in a show of good sportsmanship, for their state if not MAINE) at Raise Your Hand.
The contest runs from March 1 through June 30 but don’t wait THAT long to RAISE YOUR HAND for Maine 4‑H!
FilmFest 4-H
Teens interested in the world of cinematography/videography will want to know about the 6th Annual FilmFest 4-H!
FilmFest 4-H, hosted by Missouri 4-H, is a national 4-H film festival for teens that brings young people together to learn from film industry professionals and each other. Whether your interest is in cinematography or acting, costumes or stagecraft, or more, this is the event for you! The film industry professionals come from a wide range of roles: producers, actors, directors, sound technicians, voice actors, scriptwriters, miniatures experts, special effects technicians, makeup artists, casting directors, and many more! They are the kind of people who are truly interested in the youth, the type that stick around after their presentation to sign autographs, take photos, and answer any extra questions that came to mind. Young filmmakers whose work addresses an important social, economic, or environmental need are also eligible to apply for the annual National Leadership Awardfor Youth-Produced Media. Last year’s attendees came from Missouri, Ohio, Delaware, Illinois, Utah, Iowa, South Carolina, West Virginia, Delaware, North Dakota, Texas, and the Virgin Islands! Who might YOU meet at FilmFest 4-H?
For more information, visit FilmFest 4-H or find @FilmFest4H on your favorite social media site.