GIFT Garden Offers Endless Opportunities

The dream of a GIFT garden in Hamilton County has become a reality!! But right now it is simply some dirt! We have a long was to go and I will need your help!

SPIN Clubs are forming now..hopefully you will join one or more!

Marketing Club-This will focus on setting up the farmers market, managing it and publicizing it. Youth will learn about retail display, handling funds and recording sales.

Horticulture Club-This club will play in the dirt and plant seeds, plants, flowers and harvest vegetables.

Videography Club-This club will take pictures and videos of the progress in the garden. They will eventually make a marketing video and power point for promotional uses.

Entrepreneurship Club-This club will learn how to start a new business, work with money and run reports that show if it profitable or not.

Canning Club-This club will provide an opportunity to can vegetables when they become ready in the garden.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated from members and volunteers!

Pork Chop Dinner Tickets

It is time to start thinking about the 4-H Pork Chop Dinner Fundraiser on June 17. The ticket price will remain the same as last year, which is $10.00. Each 4-H member is encouraged to sell at least five tickets. Tickets are ready now! This is the only fundraiser held annually to support the Hamilton County 4-H program and 4-H scholarships. Again this year we will be awarding cash prizes to the members selling the most tickets.

Just as in the past each club will be asked to donate a tricky tray for the raffle, it should be at least a $20.00 value. Call the office to let us know what theme yours will be.

Each club will also be encouraged to make one cake for each five members. So if your club has ten members you should plan on at least two cakes.

Premium Money Has Arrived!

If you did not get your check please contact the office today! Please cash your check as soon as possible.

Livestock Fitting & Skill-a-thon Held

The annual Livestock Fitting Clinic was held on April 5 at the fairgrounds. Over 60 participants learned about how to show and clip beef animals. Katie Hatfield and experienced 4-H members talked about how to show and prepare beef, sheep, goats, swine, poultry and rabbits for the fair.

Inexperienced 4-H members were able to lead a calf and goats.

Following the fitting clinic the Pioneer Country Kids provided a tasty lunch for all participants.

The Skill-a-thon offered youth the opportunity to test their skills as they competed in equipment identification, breed identification and feed identification.

The youth were divided into either the junior or senior division or Cloverbuds.

The youth who placed top in each section received a t-shirt. The results were as follows:

Equipment ID-

1st Samuel Lueke & Lucas Anselment

Breed ID-

1st Samuel Lueke & Sarah Davis

Feed ID-

1st Samuel Lueke & Sarah Mead

Cash awards of $15.00, $10.00 or $5.00 were awarded to the top three individuals overall in each division.

The winners were:

Junior Division

1st Samuel Lueke , 2nd Lauren Burrs, 3rd Grace Lueke

Senior Division

1st Sarah Davis, 2nd Sarah Mead, 3rd Samantha Davis

Cloverbud Division

Rachel Wuebbels

Congratulations to all participants...great job!

Speak Your Mind

The 4-H Public Presentation Contest was held March 28 at Heritage Woods. Sixteen 4-H members presented speeches to almost 50 residents, parents and siblings. Formal speeches were given by Brandon Davis, Emily Lueke, Leslie Davis and Lane Parker. Illustrated speeches were given by Jack Aydt, Madison Payne, Jaycee Clark, Adrianna Maxwell, Brianna Wilson and Leah Ragan. Oral interpretations were done by Camryn Parker, Alyssa Parker, Brianna Wilson and Kayla Parker. Winners were selected in each category and they have the opportunity to present their speeches at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield on August 10. If the winner cannot attend he alternate may go in the members place. In formal speech the winner was Brandon Davis and Emily Lueke was selected as alternate. The illustrated speech winner was Jack Aydt and Leah Ragan was alternate. The oral interpretation winner was Brianna Wilson and Camryn Parker was chosen as alternate. Dianna Wilson served as judge.

Horse Fitting Clinic

The Bandits 4-H Club invites anyone who will be showing a horse or interested in horses to come out to the fitting clinic. Participants will watch two experienced 4-H'ers prepare themselves and their horses to show. They will be demonstrating proper attire, proper equipment and tack and show ring etiquette. The clinic will be held on Tuesday, June 4 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hamilton County Saddle Club. Participants will not need to bring their horse, just a positive attitude and a smile!

Attention Livestock Exhibitors

Starting in 2013 all 4-H Youth enrolled in a livestock project area will be required to complete this online course one time in order to stay enrolled in a livestock project area.

( If you do not complete by the June 1 deadline you will automatically be removed from the project and will be unable to show and/or sell your livestock project, NO EXCEPTIONS!)

The Quality Assurance and Ethics Certification has been developed to review what is expected of youth when preparing for and exhibiting animals in competition.

Once you complete this program, you will earn your certificate of completion for the Quality Assurance and Ethics Certification requirement and will be eligible to show your livestock and stay in your 4-H project area.

All Illinois 4-H Youth enrolled in the following 4-H project areas of poultry, beef, dairy, goats, horses, sheep, and swine, will be required to complete the certification. All county 4-H junior show exhibitors will also be required to get certified. You can get certified by going to web.extension.illinois.edu/qaec

You will need to complete a certification for EACH livestock species you plan to exhibit.

If you do not have access to a computer, you can come into the office and complete the certification here!

Once again there will be NO EXCEPTIONS!!!!!!

25th Annual Crappie Tournament Planned

The 25th Annual Crappie Tournament is scheduled for May 4, 2013 from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the McLeansboro Lake Reservoir. It was a great event last year with 15 bank teams and 28 boat teams. There were approximately 80 people who participated with ages ranging form 5 to 80!

The primary goal is to continue promoting fishing and outdoor recreational activities for all ages in our communities.

All participants will win prizes. If you would like to register contact Rodney Campbell at 927-2076 or Flash Flannigan at 643-4978. The cost is $30.00 per team of two!

County Line Crew 4-H Club will host the food stand. They will offer drinks, BBQ, Hot dogs and chips! Stop by for a bite!

Rules, Dates & Time Changes for Livestock Show

The Hamilton county Livestock Show and Auction will see a few changes this summer. The Small Pets Show will begin Friday, June 14 at 2:00 p.m. with Livestock check in from 4-7 p.m. followed by Ag Olympics at 7:00 p.m. and pizza to follow. The Livestock Show will begin promptly at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 15. With a shortened schedule, we will move along quickly to get all judging completed in time to hold the Hospitality Tent at 1:00 p.m. The Awards Presentation will be at 1:30 p.m. followed by the 4-H livestock Auction at 2:00 p.m.

A few minor changes were also made at the Livestock Meeting. The eligibility to sell in the auction was discussed. You must own or have partnership of your animal by May 1 and turn in what you intend to show and sell by May 15. You must attend at least 6 club meetings in order to sell in the auction. A 4-H member must be present to show and sell their own animal. He or she must be at the show and the auction unless there was a family emergency or medical situation to be voted upon at the discretion of the committee.

Illini Summer Academies Planned

ISA is scheduled for June 23-26, 2013 on the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana campus. So far, we've confirmed two NEW Academies – Creative Writing and Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences. Plus several Academies from previous years have already signed on – Veterinary Medicine, Art & Design, Crop Sciences, and many more.

ISA is open to any Illinois high school student, ages 14-18 by September 1, 2013 and offers youth a chance to explore college life, check out the University of Illinois, and get hands-on experience in classes and labs of a specific college department. Registration will open March 1. Our website will be updated at that time with all the 2013 information:

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/events/summeracademies.cfm

2013 Changes for 4-H Memorial Camp

2013 will bring some exciting changes and new opportunities to 4-H Memorial Camp near Monticello! Current year 4-Her's will register for their county's selected camp session directly with their local Extension office and non-4-Her's will register with the 4-H Camp office itself. Visit the 4-H Memorial Camp website at http://extension.uiuc.edu/4hmemorialcamp for county schedules.

Registration begins February 1st!

Just 20 spots left!

Southern Illinois Cooperative Youth Conference Planned

The 2013 Southern Illinois Cooperative Youth Conference will be held Thursday and Friday, June 6^th and 7^th on the beautiful campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. The conference, co-sponsored by the Illinois Cooperative Council and SIU Carbondale's College of Agricultural Sciences, was a huge success in 2012.
The conference provides high school juniors and seniors an exciting yet educational opportunity to learn about the cooperative business model. They will learn about the unique principles and benefits of a cooperative, as well as the governance and operation. The students are then challenged to "form" their own cooperative, using the information that they learned. They will take a field trip to see a local cooperative in action and then spend the evening at the Student Recreation Center!

There is not cost to attend!

If you are interested in participating in this great opportunity contact the office today or send an email to jackiew@siu.edu and a registration form will be sent to you.

Federation Meeting

The May Federation meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 1 at 3:30 p.m. in the courthouse basement. We will be planting flowers around the square or working in the garden, Please join us! All help will be greatly appreciated!

4-H Night with the Southern Illinois Miners

The date has been set for our 2013 4-H Night with the Miners event. The game will be Tuesday, May 28 at 7:05, with pre-game activities beginning at 6:00 p.m. This year tickets are increasing from $6 to $8, but half of the ticket sales still come back to the club. It is a new Miners policy that each ticket be $8 and only $2 go back to the fundraising group, but because our event has been so successful they have grandfathered us in and our price will remain half! So that means for every ticket your club sells $4.00 will come back to the club.

Also, new this year we will be adding the option to purchase a game t-shirt. More details to come later.

May 1 is the deadline to order!!!

GIFT Garden Clean up Held

Thank you to this fine crew for the help on Saturday, April 20. We picked up trash, sticks, rocks, metal, cans, belting, bottles and many other items. Jacob and Kaleb Burris and James Stewart spread straw on the less desirable soil areas while Alex Rapp mowed. Julie and Carrie Rapp as well as Emily, Samuel and Caroline Lueke and Jacob Wuebbels planted flowers and made a fire of debris. It was amazing the difference we made in just over an hour. (Sorry Jacob, I cut you out of the picture!)

If your club has a day of an evening after school they would like to help...let me know. The building is to arrive tnext week and I will start to purchase tools. The next big item is to get a fence built and several raised beds. I am still looking for leaders for the SPIN clubs.. let me know if you know of someone that would serve as a leader or just teach a few lessons!

County Line Crew

The County Line Crew met on March 12, 2013 at 6:00pm. The club received a Farm Credit grant and plan to replace tables and chairs at the 4-H food stand. Reports were given on the activities that members attended such as the Story Hour, Leadership Training, President Lincoln Presentation, and Federation Meeting where Easter cards where made. The club played 4-H Newsletter Jeopardy to learn about upcoming events and dates. Refreshments were provided by the Smith's.

Leah and Braxton Ragan and Maddi Maxwell participated in the Hippology Contest on April 6 at Rend lake College. They had a good time!

Bandits 4-H Club

The Bandits 4-H Club invites anyone who will be showing a horse or interested in horses to come out to the fitting clinic. Participants will watch two experienced 4-H'ers prepare themselves and their horses to show. They will be demonstrating proper attire, proper equipment and tack and show ring etiquette. The clinic will be held on Tuesday, June 4 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hamilton County Saddle Club. Participants will not need to bring their horse, just a positive attitude and a smile!

Pioneer Country Kids

The Pioneer Country Kids held their April meeting on April 16 in the Courthouse basement. We hope everyone who attended the Fitting Clinic came away with a bit more understanding of how showing livestock works. Thanks to our club members that took an active role in making it all possible. Members were reminded to make any changes to their project sheets by April 30. We were also reminded to complete the Quality Assurance & Ethics Certification before June 1. A big shout out to Jacob Wuebbels, Alex, Carrie and Julie Rapp and Emily, Caroline and Samuel Lueke for helping with the garden project on Saturday, April 20. We appreciate your dedication! Congratulations to our Seniors who will be graduating in May: Luke Anselment, Emily Lueke, Levi Lueke and Samantha Davis. These four have all been very active members for many years, way back to their grade school days! We appreciate their commitment and dedication to 4-H. Often times, it's hard to stay active when you are involved in sports and other high school activities, but these four are proof that it can be done! Congratulations! You've made us proud!

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 21st at 6:30 p.m.

Funny Farmers

Funny Farmers held a meeting at General Baptist Church. We collected deodorant for the Baptist Childrens Home. The May item will be laundry detergent. Lane , Camryn, Alyssa and Kayla Parker attended the Public Presentation Contest. They all got blue ribbons. We talked about doing a tricky tray for the pork chop dinner. Austin and Colton Carter went to the Livestock Fitting Clinic and Skill –a-thon, where Colton spoke about how to show goats. The deadline to add or drop projects is May 1st. Let the office know what projects you are doing.

Barbwire Gang

The Barbwire Gang 4-H club met on April 18th at Dianna's house. We had a representative, Kelly York, from Farm Credit Services as a guest at our meeting and presented us our Farm Credit Service Community Service Grant. We discussed many new topics including food stands, the pork chop dinner, volunteering to help with the community garden. The members reported on 4-H Trivia Night and we all agree it was a great success and we would like to make it an annual event. Kinsey also talked about what she learned at the Livestock Fitting Clinic. Everyone was reminded to complete the Quality Assurance Ethics Certification. And also to get their money in for the Miner's tickets. Tyler then gave a talk on the St. Louis Cardinals. We adjourned to enjoy pizza provided by the Lasater's. Our next meeting will be May 16th at Dianna's house.

2013 Fair and Show Schedule

May 15 - Deadline to call the office with which animal you will be showing and selling

June 1 - Dead line to complete QAEC

June 10 - Fair Clean-up 9:00 a.m. Fairgrounds

June 14 - Horse Show 9:00 a.m. Saddle Club

June 14 - Dog, Cat and Small Pets Show 2:00 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 14 - Early Check-in 4:00-7:00 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 14 - Ag Olympics 7:00 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 14 - Pizza for All 8:30 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 15 - Livestock Show 7:00 a.m. 4-H Barn

June 15 - Hospitality Tent 1:00 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 15 - Awards Presentation 1:30 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 15 - Livestock Auction 2:00 p.m. 4-H Barn

June 17 - General Projects Show 8:30 a.m. Floral Hall

June 17 - Pork Chop Dinner 4:00-7:00 p.m. Floral Hall

June 17 - Pick-up Projects 7:00 p.m. Floral Hall

July 6 - Tractor Rodeo 1:00 p.m. Fairgrounds

August 10 - Hamilton County Day at Illinois State Fair Springfield

Food Stand

June 17 - Federation Horse Races

June 18 - Open Horse Show

June 19 - County Line Crew Talent Show

June 20 - Bandits Tractor Pull

June 21 - Barb Wire Gang Junior Rodeo

June 22 - Open Demo Derby

Call the office if your club would like a night in the food stand!