4-H Focus on Character – A 4-H Club Program!

Looking for a club project or club activity? 4-H Focus on Character is based on the six pillars of character – Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. The curriculum is designed to be used at 4-H Club meetings and could be a great addition to your 4-H Club program this year.

A Statewide Telenet will be held on Monday, November 22 to train leaders to use these materials. Materials will be provided to those registered at the Extension office. Registration materials will be available at the Extension office. Please call Tina if you are interested in attending this training opportunity!

4-H Club Audit Training To Be Held for Club Treasurer's and Leaders

A county-wide audit training will take place via telenet (you can stay home and dial into a conference call) on Thursday, Nov. 4 beginning at 7 p.m. This training is targeted towards club treasurers and club organizational leaders working with a club checking account or savings account! Attendee's must pre-register! Please contact Tina at the Extension office for more information or to sign up!

4-H Enrollment Changes

Please throw away all old enrollment forms and Clovers! With the use of a new 4-H enrollment program, we have revised the 4-H enrollment process to make it easier for 4-H members and leaders to enroll! Your 4-H leaders have copies of the new enrollment materials and will be distributing them to you at your 4-H Club meetings!

Membership Age Reminder

As of September 1 we are now under the new membership guidelines that are stated in the Illinois 4-H policies:

Any person, regardless of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, ancestry, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, or disability may enroll as a 4-H member.

" Youth who are 5 through 7 years of age on or before Sept. 1, 1999, may enroll in the 4-H Cloverbud Program.

" Youth who are 8 years of age and have not yet reached their 19th birthday on or before Sept. 1, 1999, may enroll in 4-H Clubs and groups.

" Persons considered to be mentally challenged may participate fully in the 4-H program regardless of age.

September 1 is the date for determining eligible ages to enroll in 4-H.

1999 State Club/Group Award Winners

Congratulations to the following clubs for being selected as State Club/Group Award Winners!

" Hobby Horse in Agriculture
" Green Leafers in Mechanics and Technology
" Space Age Pioneers in Agriculture and Food, Nutrition & Health
" Towanda Busy Bees in Food, Nutrition & Health
" Towanda 4-H in Environment & Natural Resources and Personal Development

Congratulations to these clubs for their outstanding achievements! We are very proud of you! These clubs will be recognized on October 30 at 4-H Day at the University of Illinois! Good Luck!

Special Thanks to 4-H Leaders

Thanks to the 33 4-H club leaders that I have had the opportunity to visit with during our 4-H leader meetings! I appreciate the time and dedication you give to this program to make it so successful! We are doing so many wonderful things to "Make the Best Better!"

If you have not yet signed up for a 4-H Leader Meeting, please call me as soon as possible to schedule an appointment to be able to receive your club re-enrollment packets!

Farm Bureau LCP Award

The Illinois Farm Bureau & Affiliates Youth Education committee is sponsoring the 4-H LCP Award. This program is designed to recognize older 4-H members who excel in the areas of leadership, citizenship and professionalism. One 4-Her is selected to be sent per county. The top 20 selected will attend the 2000 Premier 20 Youth Conference in April at Illinois Farm Bureau. Applicants must be junior or senior in high school or college freshman to apply. Applications are available at the Extension office and are due by November 22. A finalist will be chosen and application submitted to Illinois Farm Bureau by December 1.

4-H Fabric Coming This Fall

Springs Industries, Inc. will be introducing four 4-H fabric designs in October. The fabric will be available most likely at Wal-Mart, Joann Fabrics and Hanover Fabric stores. The designs are perfect to make special gifts, brighten up your 4-H club displays, or whatever you can think of!

JBT Scholarships

Sixty $4,000 Jonathon Baldwin Turner Ag Scholarships are available to freshman entering the University of Illiniois College of Agriculture. Students who have completed their junior year in high school and who have an interest in entering the College of Agriculture in the fall of 1999 are eligible. Requirements include an ACT score of 27 or higher and be in the top ten percent of his/her class at the end of the junior year. Applications are available from University of Illiniois, College of ACES, Office of Academic Programs, 104 Mumford Hall, 1301 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801 or call 217-333-3380.

Safety education grant

Funded by: American Income Life Insurance Company
Application Deadline: November 19

Grant Description:
National 4-H Council will offer grants of up to $500-$1,000 to teams of youth and adults to conduct projects addressing safety issues in their communities. These funds must be matched by local resources and can be the catalyst for securing those resources. Projects can focus on safety in the home, at school, or in the community at large.

The Safety Education Grant Program is designed to achieve the following goals:

" Address safety issues through community-based, collaborative action by youth working as partners with adults.
" Educate the public about safety issues.
" Promote community service.
" Provide a learning experience for youth in proposal writing and project management.

4-H Home Page

The McLean County 4-H home page now offers links to the monthly Extension newsletter as well as a calendar of events. Check out both of these at: www.mcfb.org/mc4h/index.html.

North Carolina Flood Relief

The North Carolina 4-H web site has information for anyone interested in helping with relief efforts following hurricane Floyd. You can find more details by accessing their site at http://www.nc4h.org/ . You can also access this site from the McLean County 4-H web site at http://www.mcfb.org/mc4h/index.html.

Congratulations to Zach Mohr!

Zach Mohr, son of Ray and Jill Mohr of Danvers was elected to the Federation Board as a Director. Zach is a member of the Linden Lead'em 4-H Club! Welcome to Zach!

Federation Dates Have Been Set

November 22 – County-Wide Officer Training ALL club officers are invited to attend an officer training workshop! Special guests from the community will be sharing tips on how to be a good President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Recreation Chairman, and Historian! The Federation Board meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Extension office with the Officer training immediately following. This event is being planned by your county Federation Board.

December 18 – Christmas Party – Federation is planning to have a holiday gathering and go Christmas caroling! Watch for more details to come!

Special Thanks to Federation Board Members for organizing and conducting the 1999 4-H Leader's Banquet on September 25! We had a great turnout of about 200 4-H leaders in attendance! Congratulations to all the award winners!

Wanting to give back to the 4-H program? Sign up to be a club Mentor Leader!

We need your help in building strong clubs in McLean County! If you have served or are serving as a leader and would like to help a new leader or a new club, please contact Tina at the Extension office. Training and materials are available.

Would you like to learn more about your projects?

Would you like to learn about a new project?

Would you like to help teach a workshop to other youth?

Would you like to participate in a county-wide event?

Then this is your chance –

MARK – Saturday, January 29 on your calendar

For the annual 4-H Learn & Fun Day workshop!

Registration will be in next month's newsletter!

If you are interested in helping with a specific project, please contact Tina at the Extension office at 309-663-8306.

A 4-H experience that ended in disaster but turned out great! Sound familiar?

I'm sure many of us have had such 4-H experiences. Ruth Kagel Poppe, the current McLean County 4-H Alumni winner, shared one of these experiences with us recently. Since a new alumni winner will be named at the McLean County 4-H Recognition of Excellence Awards ceremony on Nov. 14, we thought it would be fun to talk to Ruth.

She said she had won many honors in 4-H and had had her share of exciting moments but one particular event stands out. She had just completed her foods demonstration which featured canning techniques, "I Can, Can You," thanked the judge and turned around when the cord of the microphone which was clipped onto her collar became tangled up in the cart in back of her. The cart contained all the items she had used in her demonstration, including canning jars. Everything on the cart went crashing to the floor. This created lots of noise and embarrassment for the 4-H'er. It didn't effect her score though since she was chosen to demonstrate at the State Fair. This was exciting for Ruth since being chosen to demonstrate at the State Fair had been her goal for that year. The real highlight of the demonstration was opening up the Pantagraph newspaper the next day and seeing that a large picture of her had been used. "When you got your picture in the Pantagraph it was a very exciting event and my parents and grandparents were so proud." Ruth recalls of the 1970 photo, which appears with this column.

Ruth was a ten-year member of Ellsworth Tip Toppers and Dawson Toppers. Her major projects included Shorthorn cattle, sewing, foods, rabbits and swine. She was a Key Club winner, won the Citizenship Award for which she received a trip to Citizenship Washington D.C. Focus and was on the fair royalty court.

Her parents are the late Deloss Kagel and Louella Kagel of Ellsworth. Her siblings were 4-H'ers and include Janet Hogan of Dalton City, Karen Wyant of Ellsworth, Mary Kerber of Arrowsmith and John of Ellsworth.

Ruth graduated from Tri-Valley High School, Joliet Junior College and Illinois State University. Her husband, Gerald, a dairy farmer is also an alumnus of McLean County 4-H. They have a son, Phillip, who has been in 4-H for five years.

Ruth is 4-H Fun Lympics superintendent for the 4-H Show and is a past Visual Arts Superintendent. She also helps in the dairy barn. She is organizational leader of Space Age Pioneers 4-H Club in Chenoa, a club she has been leading for over 10 years with 65-75 members.

The one most important skill she gained from 4-H was being an accomplished public speaker. It has helped her in her career at State Farm where she is in the advanced marketing area of the company. She has no fear of speaking in public and feels, as a 4-H leader one of her most important jobs is to encourage members in public speaking. Having an eight-year-old give a speech in front of not only his peers but also teens and adults is the best way for them to learn and gain confidence.

One of the challenges of being a leader is explaining the 4-H program to those who have not had the 4-H experience. Ruth explains that 4-H is truly a family activity. This is what makes 4-H unique from other organizations. It includes independent study that is done by the member with the help of the family. Good or bad you learn about your family. Skills learned will be used your entire life. Ruth uses her own example. Although she doesn't can, she helps her mother-in-law and the organization skills she learned in putting together good demonstrations are used by her each day.

4-H work takes up a lot of her time, but she still has time for community and church involvement. She participates in church choir, as a lector and the Parish Club at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. She served as president for the Chenoa Ambulance Service Association.

At the time she was honored with the 4-H alumni award it was said, "Ruth has literally touched the lives of hundreds of children in the Chenoa community. She involves many project leaders in programming and thus makes the club a true group effort." Timeless Clovers salute Ruth Kagel Poppe who continues to lend excellent support to the 4-H program in McLean County.

I thought it would be interesting to list previous winners of this honor. I have listed winners as far back as I could find information. If you know any I have missed or can add earlier years let me know.

1997-Carl Graf Jr.
1996- Steve Calhoun
1995- Jerry Hoffman
1994- Sharon Hoobler
1993- Bob King
1992- Betty Broadfield
1991- Ray Ropp
1990- Mary Krueger
1989- Evelyn Schroeder Shiner 1988- Margaret Curry
1987- Ronald Hofbauer
1986- Irene Oehler Risser and Jean Mohr Wager
1985- Betty Ann Yoder, Gary Pearl and Helen Guth
1984- John Hodges, Carolyn Hofbauer and Nancy Messamore
1983- Jan Troyer Cregier, Eleanor Weinzierl and Harlan Yoder
1982- Lois Krueger and George Schaefer
1981- Rene Schwoerer Atkinson, Sondra Knowbloch and Charles Neubauer
1980- Norma Ashbrook
1979- Darla Price and Kenneth Scheets
1978- Marian Harris
1977- Gordon Ropp.

Receiving Illinois Alumni awards were John Maitland, Norma Ashbrook, John Hodges, Marian Harris and Gordon Ropp.

Don't forget to check-out our Timeless Clover web site at www.mcfb.org/4halumni or call 663-8306 and leave a message on extension 152. --- Diane Donelson Logsdon

Two new 4-H Show Directors will join the McLean County 4-H Show Committee in preparation for the 2000 McLean County 4-H Show. New to the Committee are Scott Buck of McLean as Horse Director and Jackie Kraft of Towanda an Environment and Natural Resources Director.

Officers elected for the year are Ray Mohr of Danvers, chair; Kevin Poppe of Lexington, vice-chair; and Carol Johnson of Chenoa as secretary.

Other 4-H show directors include Don Bergfield of Bellflower, Carol Charlson of Lexington, Kris Decker of Carlock, Karen Hill of Downs, Joan Ichniowski of Normal, Cindy Kelley of Normal, Carol Ropp of Normal and Brad Yoder of Congerville.

1 Year Leaders
Allin Pathfinders	John Robb
Blazing Saddles	Ann Brandt Dave Brandt Sally Rudolph Dana Tuttle Ann Whitacre
Buckingham Clovers	Carol Brewer Gail Roof
Dog Universe	Sally Krostal Gerald Nichols Ruth Nichols
Downs Top Notcher	David Liebers Jean Liebers Maureen Roach James Stewart
Dry Grove Happy Larks	Jeff Johnson Rhonda Johnson Edward Moser
Equus	Elizabeth Connour Tracy Walters
Green Leafers	Barbara Bush Rebecca Ichniowski Katherine Poppe Kurt Poppe
Hobby Horse	Patricia Tilton
Hudson AG	Lori Guth Mindy Snowden
Leroy 4-H	Pamela Munster Rick Munster Rod Noe Denise Noe Elizabeth Quaid
Linden Lead'em	Ray Mohr
Old Town	Theresa Graf
Over the Top	William Wayne Whitehouse
Pride of Sabina	Diane Alden Marilea White Alisa Sorenson
Saybrook Willing Workers	Julie Brownlee
Space Age Pioneers	Rebecca Calhoun Patricia Kahle Dawn Neubauer
Towanda 4-H	Tammy Corbin Amy Glasscock
Towanda Busy Bees	Janet Morris Teri Parker
Working Wizards	Cindy Eaves
5 Year Leaders
3-F	Shari Somers
Blazing Saddles	Laura French
Bloomington Busy Bees	Teresa Casselman June Fitzgerald
Blue Ribbon Kids	Cindy Harris John Harris
Bridle Path	Ruth Knecht
County Capri	Ginny Pulley
Danvers Industrial Youth	Diane Stephens
Dry Grove Happy Larks	Mary Rapp
Hobby Horse	Scott Broadfield
Leroy 4-H	Earl McCarron Sue McCarron
Linden Lead'em	Kathy Pool Mike Pool
Lucky 4's	Kay Bowen
McLean County Shooting Stars	Ellen Farney Ron Farney
Over the Top	Debbie Jones Richard Jones
Silverleaf 4-H	Jane Ann Long
Space Age Pioneers	Peggy Wahls
Towanda 4-H	Rosemarie Christensen
10 Year Leaders
Ardent Tillers	Kathy Schwoerer
County Capri	Cheryl Gebhardt
Equus	Connie Becker
Greenleafers	Mary Ellen Andris Marilyn Mapes
Over the Top	Pat Bonnell Dennis Butler Bill Whitehouse Michelle Whitehouse
Sabina Greenleaf	Barbara Dean
Saybook Willing Workers	J. C. Zimmerman
Silverleaf 4-H	Julie Steinberg
Space Age Pioneers	Doug Mays Sonia Vercler
Towanda Busy Bees	Barbara Jurgens
15 Year Leaders
Leroy 4-H	Dennis Mennenga Mary Ella Mennenga
Towanda Busy Bees	Sylvia Gibson
20 Year Leader
Stanford Silver Stars	Carmen Schnitker

The Leader of the Year Award was introduced in memory of Roberta Ropp, who passed away in 1998 and is greatly missed as a 4-H leader and friend.

Nominations were submitted to the Extension office with a one-page narration about the nominees attributes of an outstanding leader. The nominee must have been enrolled as a leader this past year. This award cannot be awarded more than once to the same leader. Gordon Ropp, the first-year recipient presented the award to Jean Wager of Towanda 4-H.

This individual has been a 4-H Leader for 25 years. She currently is a 4-H Cloverbud leader and continues to help with the traditional club she led for so many years, even though her children are grown and are no longer involved in the 4-H Club.

She has been involved in the fair as a food superintendent. She also has been active in the Homemaker's Extension Association.

This individual's nomination read. "She has given so much to the 4-H program. She is always enthusiastic, encourages her 4-H members to their best and teaches youth to give back to their communities. She teaches leadership and citizenship. She will do anything to make 4-H better."

Brian Butler of McLean County was one of three top contestants for the showmanship phase of the 1999 Superior Young Dairy Producer Award Contest at the Illinois State Fair. Thirty-three youth from across Illinois took part in the contest. The top five in the four-phase competition receive a $1,000 scholarship.

The first phase was a four-station skill-a-thon on various aspects of the dairy industry. Contestants had to identify different feed stuffs, answer questions about understanding how to read pedigrees, mastitis and understanding somatic cell counts, and identifying dairy equipment.

The second phase of a 50-question dairy management test. Questions were asked on dairy nutrition, health, reproduction, breed characteristics and other dairy-related information.

The third phase was showmanship. The Purebred Dairy Cattle Association showmanship scorecard was used for determining contestant's ability to present their animal in front of the judge.

The fourth phase was a judging contest consisting of three classes of dairy cattle including Ayrshire cows, Holstein heifers, and Jersey cows.

The superior Young Producer Award Program has provided youth from the dairy, sheep, swine, beef and horse industries the opportunity to compete for college scholarships. The program was developed by and is coordinated by the University of Illinois Extension.

Do you know 4-H members who: are 16 or older, are really into computing and would like to promote and improve computer projects in Illinois 4-H? If so, then they might be interested in forming a 4-H Youth Technology Corps in Illinois. For information have them e-mail Chris Roegge at the State 4-H Office at c-roegge@uiuc.edu. Want to check it out for yourself? Go to the website at: www.4-h.org/4htech.