News from Kelly Sadowski

Dear 4-H Families,

With spring right around the corner (we hope), we start to think about cleaning up, getting organized and making plans. Whether your plans are for your homes, gardens or your 4-H projects, now is when we are really starting to make plans for our projects and what to show at fair. General project areas are moving forward accomplishing goals set in those areas. 4-H members are putting time and energy into taking care of the livestock they will show and our horse members and dog members are starting their busy schedules preparing for their shows. We appreciate all the effort and time you spend in learning and growing in your project areas. A big "Thank You" to all the volunteers who help make those activities possible and continue to help make "the best better".

Kelly Sadowski

State and County Fair Dates

State Fair Dates

May 2 - State fair green sheets are due to Extension office along with

ownership/lease papers, 2 photos' and permission to participate form.

June 9 - Last day for Horse Ethics

June 9 - State fair horse entries are due to state fair grounds

June 15 - Last date for dog and livestock ethics

July 1 - State fair livestock entries due to state fair grounds

July 26-31 - Illinois State Junior Horse Show

July 31 - State fair dog entries due to state fair grounds

August 1 - Intent to participate in Filmmaking/Video, Geospatial and My 4-H

Project Video

August 12 - by 12:00 Noon, deadline for online registration for Filmmaking/Video,

Geospatial and My 4-H Project Video

August 13 - Welding Judging

August 14 - McHenry County Day at State Fair

August 20 - Film Festival-presentation of awards for online fair entries

August 21 - Last day of Illinois State Fair

McHenry County Fair 2011 Dates

Dog Fun Match - July 16^th

Cat Show - July 17^th

Clothing judging - July 20^th

Dog Obedience - July 23^rd

Fair Set Up - July 28^th

General Project judging - August 1

Visual Arts Judging - August 1

Foods/Crops/Horticulture - August 2

Animal Check-in - August 2

Fair Starts: August 3

4-H Night at Fair: August 4

Auction: August 6

Last Day of Fair: August 7

Records due to Extension Office - August 23 NO EXCEPTIONS!

2011 State Fair Changes

Dog, Horse, and Livestock State Fair Entries

• Horses: All state fair horse green sheets along with ownership or lease papers, and participating forms are due at the Extension office by May 2. Two pictures, one of each side of the horse must be included. These forms are to be in hands of the State Fair by May 15, 2011. Green sheets not turned in by this time WILL NOT have the opportunity to go to state fair. NO EXCEPTIONS!
• 4-H'ers also have the option this year to mail the green sheets and other forms and payment directly to state fair by May 2. Because this is the first year this process has been implemented we are giving kids the opportunity to drop them off at the Extension office, by the deadline.

o Due to lack of Extension staff in local office, office staff will not be signing them this year.

o Horse entry forms due June 9

o Livestock entry forms due by July 1

o Horse and Livestock state forms will be on the state fair website.

• Horses: Horse ethics must be taken by June 9 in order to show at the Illinois Junior Horse Show or McHenry County Fair. If a youth has taken ethics they do not need to retake it.
• Livestock: Livestock ethics must be completed by June 15 for state and county shows.

• Dogs

o Dog entry forms given out at dog show. Forms are due to State Fair by July 31.

o Dog ethics to be done by June 15.

Requirements to Exhibit

The following requirements must be met to be eligible to exhibit at the McHenry County Fair.

• Enrolled in project by deadline according to project showing.
• Attendance Policy—4-H'er in his/her second year and beyond must attend 4 of club meetings, after enrollment, with exceptions of excused absences of illness, school or church activity.
• Any member that is away at college will need to provide proof of college enrollment with fair enrollment.
• 4-H members in their first year of membership must attend one third of club/group meetings after registration in order to show in the McHenry County Fair's 4-H show.
• Any member enrolled in animals need to take Ethics online. Last day for online participation is June 15th NOTE THIS DATE HAS CHANGED.
• Swine Project Members ONLY- PQA Training prior to May 1, 2011

Animal Updates

State Fair Sheep Weigh-Ins

All lambs to be exhibited at the State Fair must be taken to one of the statewide locations for weighing and tattoos. Each lamb will be tagged with an electronic ID tag (and owner charged $2.00/lamb); tattooed; weighed; and recorded on Lamb Nomination Forms. Fee for electronic ID tags will be payable on that day.

Boone County will serve as a statewide location for weighing and tattooing on Saturday, May 7th from 10:00am-12:00pm at the Boone County Fairgrounds.

Horse

Horse Requirements to Show at McHenry County Fair

In order to participate and ride a horse at the 2011 McHenry County Fair youth must complete the following:

• Attend 2 approved horse clinics
• Turn in Horse Green Sheet with one picture of horse along with "Permission to Participate" form by May 2 at 4:30 pm.
• Have taken Ethics on line by June 9 if this is your first year in an animal project.
• Selection of fair entries must be returned to local club leader by club assigned date in order for leader to turn the whole club into the office by June 3.

Horse Green Sheets

McHenry County Fair

• Must turn in a green sheet for each horse which you are planning to bring to the fair.
• Allowed to bring up to 5 animals.
• Green Sheet must be turned in for each horse by May 2 by 4:30 pm along with one picture of the horse.
• "Permission to Participate" must also be turned in on May 2.

State Fair

• Must turn in green sheet for each horse which you are planning to take to the Illinois State Junior Horse Show.
• Must have 2 original photos attached (a picture of each side of the horse).
• Horse ownership/lease papers are required at the time of green sheets .
• "Permission to Participate" must also be turned in.
• All horse State Fair green sheets are due May 2.

Clarification: County green sheets only require 1 side view photo of the horse. State Fair requires a picture of both sides of the horse. The photos and paperwork are not returned to the 4-Her.

More Horse News

From the Horse Committee

Reminder: All horse project members must attend TWO of the 2011 approved clinics in order to be able to exhibit at the McHenry County 4-H Fair. In addition, 4-H'ers intending to show in novice classes at the fair must attend one weeknight warm-up session in June or July 2011 WITH THEIR GREEN-SHEETED HORSE. In order to receive credit for attendance, 4-H'ers must sign in on the official signup sheet at the clinics, and novices at weeknight warm-ups must check in with a horse committee member upon arrival that evening.

The remaining approved clinics for 2011 are:

Regional Horse Judging Clinic and Contest -- May 7, 8:30 a.m., at the Fox Valley Saddle Association, 44W300 Rohrsen Road, Hampshire. 4-H'ers will have the opportunity to judge six classes in an indoor arena with a heated clubhouse attached. For information, call Sandy Kucharski, (815) 568-6772, (815) 568-6772. There is a $10 fee per member.

Equine dentistry by Dr. Fritz Trybus -- June 1, 7 p.m., at Langans', 17619 Garden Valley Road, Woodstock. For information, call Suzanne Langan, (815) 790-4460, (815) 790-4460.

Grooming clinic with June Pedersen -- June 16, 7 p.m., at the McHenry County Fairgrounds, Country Club Road, Woodstock. Meet at the Hanson Pavilion.

Weeknight Warm-Ups
Weeknight sessions are offered at the horse arena at the McHenry County Fairgrounds in Woodstock to help riders and their horses become acquainted with the county fair horse show site. Weeknight warm-ups DO NOT count as approved clinics for 2011.

Sessions will be held June 14, 21, 28 and July 5, 12, 19 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Horses must be loaded by 8:30 p.m. and ready to leave. Cancellation due to weather conditions may occur. For information, call Suzanne Langan, (815) 790-4460, (815) 790-4460.

Guest speakers at weeknight warm-ups include:
June 14 -- Speed events with Joe Parratori
June 21 -- Dressage with Polly Hall
June 28 -- Patterns with Suzanne Langan
July 5 -- Showmanship with Emily Northup and Lisa Kucharski
July 12 -- Trail with Bill Kmoch
July 19 -- Rain date (if needed) or more trail with Bill Kmoch

McHenry County Horse Committee Pre-Fair Play Day, 8:30 a.m. July 9 at the McHenry County Fairgrounds in Woodstock. This show offers English and Western classes, gymkhana games and speed events. This is NOT an approved clinic.

Congratulations to our 4-H members who participated in Hipplogy and Horse Bowl Contest!

Hippology Intermediate Results

2^nd place Laura Ganvik

8^th place Josa Comstock

10^th place Sydney Domann

Hippology Senior Results

5^th place Jordan Langan

7^th place Rachel Siddons All these members qualified to go onto state

Horse Bowl Individual High Points

For Senior

5^th place Rachel Siddons

Regional Horse Judging Clinic
Save this date. Regional horse Judging clinic is hosted by McHenry County at Fax Valley Saddle Association on May 7, 2011. Further information will be available closer to that date.

Animal News!

Poultry Clinic

A poultry clinic is scheduled on June 25^th at the fairgrounds from 2:00-3:00 pm with poultry blood testing right after the clinic. The clinic will be given by Jim Konency and he can do the testing after giving the clinic. A $5.00 charge for the testing is paid on the day of the clinic directly to Mr. Konency. All poultry need to be tested to show at fair.

Rabbit Clinic

Do you need some fine tuning in your technique for showing your rabbit? Are you just getting started and need to know how to show your rabbit? Do you need more information about your rabbit? Then come to a rabbit clinic on May 21^st at 11:00am at the fairground 4-H building. You are welcome to bring your rabbit and learn or brush up on your rabbit showing skills.

Livestock Showing and Grooming Demonstration

Nasco in Fort Atkinson, WI will host their 25^th Annual "Showing and Grooming Clinic" on May 7^th. Topics include proper clipping, clipping techniques, grooming equipment, showmanship and more.

Demonstrations are free and lunch will be provided with pre-registration by May 2^nd. To reserve your spot call the Nasco Store at 920-569-5600.

Schedule of events for May 7^th

• 8:30-10:00 Sheep Demonstration
• 10:15-12:00 Beef Demonstration
• 12:30-1:00 Lunch
• 1:15-3:00 Dairy Demonstration

Dogs

Classes begin Tues. April 5, Wed. April 6, and Thurs. April 7 at the fairgrounds.

Sat. April 16th @ 3pm Bldg D. - First Aide Clinic
Registration required - No Dogs

Sat. May 21st @ TBD - 4-H Building - Rally Clinic
Registration required - Entered Dogs Only

No Classes the week of May 31, June 1, June 2

No Classes the week of July 5, July 6, July 7

Thurs. July 7th @ 6:30pm 4-H Building - CGC Clinic
Registration required - Entered Dogs Only

Sat. July 16th @ 9:00am Fun Match - Cary, IL
Entered Dogs Only

Last week of classes July 12, 13, 14

Sat. July 23rd @ 9:00am Dog Show - Cary, IL
Entered Dogs Only

New kids to the program must get their Ethics Certification by Mid-June.
4-H'ers must attend two (2) clinics

To pre-register for any clinic or if you have any questions, please contact Lisa A Lillie @ 815-210-1260.

Great Livestock Opportunity

Ak-Sar-Ben 4-H Stock Show is in its 83^rd year of existence benefiting 4-H'ers from nine states including Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and North Dakota.

It was with great honor that the State of Illinois has been invited to become the tenth state to be eligible to have our 4-H'ers participate and exhibit at the 4-H Stock Show.

The mission of the show "Empowers youth to reach their full potential as productive adults through learning opportunities which develop life skills and character".

Here is the link to the flyer for more information. http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mchenry/downloads/26465.pdf

PQA & Ethics News

PQA

PQA written exam will be administered at the McHenry County Extension on June 9th at 6:00 pm for those members enrolled in swine that were away at school or unable to attend the PQA clinic in February. PQA is mandatory to show swine at fair.

Ethics

Reminder: All 4-H members enrolled in Beef, Swine, Dairy, Sheep, Goats, Poultry, Rabbit, Horse & Pony project areas MUST to take ethics. This requirement is done online and needs to be completed by June 15th. HORSE EXIBITORS ARE DUE BY JUNE 9TH. The website will be available from February 1 to June 15th. The site is http://web.extension.illinois.edu/qaec/. Before exiting the ethics website REMEMBER to print a copy of the certification to prove completion. Those who have previously taken the QAEC training are maintained on the approved list and will not need to be re-certified. NOTE: 4-H'ers who are going to State for the first time must retake the ethics in order to show.

NEW! 4-H State Fair Online

4-H State Fair Online

University of Illinois Extension 4-H State Fair Online provides an additional state judging opportunity for kids to showcase their project. This is also a great opportunity for 4-H'ers to share with others what they have learned. For more information see the flyer http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mchenry/downloads/27254.pdf

Other 4-H News!

Jumping Jack a Thon

Milk Center 4-H club hosted this year's Jumping-Jack-a-Thon on February 27th at the Extension Office. We had 3 clubs participate with a little over 20 people there. This event raised $212.00 for our local food pantry with Community Clovers donating $50.00. Thanks to all who participated to help our local community. Isn't it great what 4-H can do for our communities!

International Night

On March 18^th, 19 clubs met for our 10th Annual International night at the McHenry County Fairground. This evening was quite a success as we raised $275.00 for the Japanese Relief and brought numerous canned items to our Woodstock food pantry. We handed out 200 passports and had even more guests participate. It is always so exciting to see the creativity of the clubs as they present the information they learned about their counties. There was a lot of great food to sample too! Thank you to all the clubs that participated. We had 12 clubs participate in club judging and that too went well. Huntley Hartlanders is McHenry County's State Delegate with 4-H Falcons being our State Alternate Delegate. Congratulations to both clubs. Crystal Clovers and 4-H Falcons tied for the audience vote for the club display that best represents International Night/best display. Congratulations to those clubs too. A big Thank you goes out to the Landorf family for continuing to help us organize and run International Night. Thanks too to the Ambassadors that helped that evening.

Project Day

Project Day was on March 5th. We had 50 members participate with 16 different classes you could take and learn about project areas. Most of our project day classes where taught by our 4-H youth leaders. Thanks go to Deanna Harman, Daniel Frank, Tonya Kowalski, Reese Sadowski, Cheyenne Bihlmaier, Quincy Sadowski, Avery Sadowski, Rachel Siddons, Laura Ganvik, and D.J. Charewicz. We also want to thank Pam Polizzi, Michelle Frank, Cindy Harris, Nancy Kowalski, and Judy Corson who took their time to teach classes for our youth. Our Ambassadors helped out again so a thank you goes out to them too.

McHenry County Fair Competition

Thanks to all the clubs that signed up to participate in the Garden competition for County Fair. Good Luck to the clubs participating.

Club Volunteer opportunity:

The Master Gardeners and Extension have a booth at the Woodstock Farmers Market. The Farmers Market is every Saturday from 9:00am to 12:00pm. The Master Gardeners provide information and answer gardening/plant questions for people attending the farmers market. They often have people asking 4-H related questions. We would like to have 4-H volunteers at the Woodstock Farmers Market as many Saturdays as we can starting on the 1st weekend in July. Please contact Mary Johnson at jajmcjwood@ yahoo.com, she is the Master Gardner contact or you can contact Kelly Sadowski at the extension office.

Host Families Still Needed for 4-H Exchange with Japan

URBANA - Despite the tragedy in Japan, Illinois 4-H will continue the long-standing tradition of providing homestay opportunities for Japanese youth and their adult chaperones this summer through the 4-H Japanese Exchange.

This year, the 4-H-Japanese Summer Exchange will provide a language immersion experience for 57 Japanese youth ages 12 to 15 to experience an English-speaking culture on a daily basis. These youth are members of Labo and LEX language acquisition programs in Japan where English is studied and practiced.

Illinois 4-H is looking for families with children between the ages of 11 and 16 to host a Japanese child for four weeks this summer. Interested families do not have to be involved in 4-H to host, but should be willing to open their homes to a visiting child.

The program is open to families who have a child close in age to the Japanese youth. One Japanese visitor will be matched to a family based on the host sibling's gender, age and interests.

There are also opportunities to host adult chaperones for 2 to 4 weeks. Families who host chaperones are not required to have children in the home.

Japanese families involved in the language programs recognize the value such programs offer their children. Like American families, Japanese families see our world becoming more global and look for ways to expose their children to different cultures.

The 4-H Japanese exchange is scheduled for July 21 to August 19. Illinois 4-H hopes to have all participants placed by April 15.

If you would like more information or are interested in hosting an exchange member please contact Jonna Burk (847) 458-4779 or (847)809-6950 or you can e-mail her at jonnaburck@yahoo.com

Shooting Sports

Once again it is time to start thinking about starting a Shooting Sports Program in McHenry County. 4-H Shooting Sports includes Archery, Rifle, and Shotgun. In order to add Shooting Sports to our program opportunities we need to have at least 2 adult volunteers (over the age of 21) complete the weekend training to become a Coordinator or Trainer. We need at least 1 Coordinator and 1 Trainer in order to offer Shooting Sports in our County.

The next training session is scheduled May 13-15 at the 4-H Camp in Monticello, IL. If you are interested, please contact the Extension Office for more information on cost and registration.

News from 4-H Foundation

The 13th Annual String Tie Affair was on March 19, 2011 at Donley's Village Hall Banquets. This year was a huge success. We received a lot of donations for the live and silent auction. We also had a huge turnout for the event. We were able to raise money to help all the local 4-H'ers. We would like to thank everyone who helped plan the event and get the donations for the auction. A special thank you goes out to the 4-H clubs who participated with baskets or donations. A big thanks goes out to everyone who attended the event and helping make it a HUGE success.

Calling all Club Reporters WE NEED YOU!

We would like our club reporters to be sending us information on the activities that their club is doing. It would be fun to read in the newsletter about all the things that clubs are doing. So, if you have had a fun event please let us know. It would be great to have pictures too! Thanks in advance. We look forward to hearing about the great things our clubs are doing.

Club News

Team Awesome
Hello fellow 4-H friends. We are Team Awesome. We are a new homeschooled 4 H club and we are excited to be a part of 4-H. See you at Fair. Keva and Gerard Jones, Club contact leaders.

Illinois Summer Academies

This opportunity offers teens the opportunity to explore the University of Illinois campus and potential degree programs and/or careers. University faculty and staff plan interactive learning sessions to provide delegates an overview of actual college classes required in various majors. Click here for more detailed information. http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/events/summeracademies.cfm

Also, here is the direct link to the online registration for the academies: https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/default.cfm?RegistrationID=5474

News from State 4-H

4-H License Plates

Help support 4-H by purchasing a 4-H License plate. Click here for more information. http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mchenry/downloads/27265.pdf

Illinois Leader Newsletter

Leaders - Please take some time to read the Illinois Leader newsletter for volunteer opportunities and other Illinois 4-H news! http://my.extension.uiuc.edu/documents/8111603110311/April-May%202011.pdf

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MCHC Pre Fair Play Day

Attention 4-H'ers! July 9 - MCHC Pre Fair Open Horse Show at the McHenry County Fairgrounds. This is a fun opportunity for kids with horses to participate in. For more information contact Suzanne at 815-568-5348 or Chris at 815-338-2307. Click here for more information

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mchenry/downloads/27755.pdf