Anne Arundel County 4-H Happenings
November 2021
Hello 4-H Families
I hope that you are getting outside to enjoy the beautiful colors and crisp air.
While outside, why not participate in a community service event? There are opportunities abound throughout the next months. You can beautify an area in your community, help a neighbor get ready for winter, organize a local collection, and so much more. "I pledge my Hands to larger service" is part of what we do; it's giving back to our communities to make a positive difference.
Share your involvement with the county 4-H office and we will highlight your actions in our next newsletter! Looking forward to hearing about all you do.
Regards,
Gretchen
Upcoming Events
Youth Record Book Workshop. Monday 11/22/21, 6:30pm-8:00pm @ the Anne Arundel County Extension Office, 97 Dairy Farm Lane, Gambrills. Completing a Record Book is a great way to learn more about your project and capture all the amazing things you’ve done during the year. By keeping records, you will also have an advantage when applying for awards, special trips, scholarships and 4-H leadership positions. Whether your new to 4-H or simply looking to make the best, better, stop by to learn more about how you can submit a blue ribbon book!
Register here by Nov 18, 2021.
AAC Sponsored Youth Event
Youth Club Officer Workshop. Tuesday 11/30/21, 6:00-7:30pm @ the Anne Arundel County Extension Office, 97 Dairy Farm Lane, Gambrills. Are you currently an officer or looking to hold an officer position for your club? At this workshop, we will provide information on what the common club officer positions are, running for an office, discuss the responsibilities of the various offices and share some helpful hints to make your position run as smooth as possible. It’s also a great way to meet other 4-Hers in leadership positions in our county! Register here by Nov 24, 2021.
AAC Club Event
4-H Turkey Shoot sponsored by Friendship Outdoors Club. Saturday 11/13/21, 9:00am at the Meyer Station Nature Center, 1600 Meyers Station, Odenton. Free Event! Come out and celebrate thanksgiving by showing us your shooting sports skills. Rifles (.22 rifle with iron sights) and Bows (recurve bow) will be provided. You do not need your own equipment and we shoot at paper targets – not real turkeys! Breakfast and lunch refreshments for sale and there are special activities for youth ages 5-7. This year’s event will commemorate the 50th anniversary of this event! No RSVP required. Reach out to friendshipoutdoorskills4h@gmail.com for more info.
Caroline County Extension Event
Mid-Shore Stem Festival. Saturday, 11/6/21, 9:30am - 2:30pm at the Caroline County 4-H Park, 8230 Detour Road, Denton, MD. All age 4-Hers and families are invited to this hands-on STEM event featuring demonstrations, workshops, and career connections. Admission is free and food is available for purchase. For more information, please contact the UME Caroline County 4-H Office at 410-479-4030 or email Navonne Owen at Nowen@umd.edu.
Maryland State Youth Event (Over, yet if interested reach out, we will pass along the power point and information shared)
Maryland 4-H State Council Open House. Wednesday 11/3/21, 7:00pm. Virtual via Zoom. Senior 4-Hers: are you looking to gain and strengthen your leadership traits? If so, MD 4-H State Council may be your answer. Join the virtual open house hosted by current members to learn more. Final Applications for State Council due November 15, 2021.
Registration MD State Council webpage
National Youth Event
National Leadership Trips The Maryland 4-H Program is proud to offer senior 4-H members the opportunity to participate in Leadership Trips at the National Level. All enrolled and dues-paying members ages 14-18 (as of January 1st, the year the trip takes place) from all counties and Baltimore City are eligible to submit an application and portfolio packet for any of the national leadership trips. To be considered for a Leadership Trip, a 4-H member must complete a portfolio package (that includes an application, 4-H resume, essay, and interview) by January 1, 2022 to AAC office. For all details scroll down to 'National 4-H Leadership Opportunities' on the Youth & Adult Leadership page. Adults interested in supporting our Team Leadership youth as a coach or volunteer, please see volunteer information below to apply by January 15, 2022
*** Be sure to share your club's next event with us so we can help you spread the word!
4-H'er Highlights
AAC Dairy Leasing Club members participated in the Dairy Bowl & Skillathon. Mary Flores, Madison Barnes-Loveday, Iris Lillie, Elizabeth Karides, Emma Hutson, and Elijah Lillie participated and placed as individuals. The teams also did well. Congratulations to them and their coach, Ed McCabe.
Elizabeth Karides, member of the Dairy Leasing 4-H Club, will be heading to Louisville, KY on 11/5/21 to take part in the National Dairy Bowl Contest. Elizabeth is on the State Dairy Bowl team and will be competing with other 4-H members from across the nation. Elizabeth was also chosen 2021-22 Maryland State Dairy Princess in July, and has been attending many events throughout the state representing MD. We wish Elizabeth and the MD team good luck!
Check out this awesome Facebook post about Kinder Farm Park's Felicia Fishburne by an Anne Arundel County need-based assistance network: https://www.facebook.com/span.charity/ Such a wonderful gesture Felicia - she made the best of a tough situation and helped others while doing so!
UME - AAC would like to congratulate our 4-H Alumni Alyssa Degreenia as the new Assistant Director to the Ag Institute at NCSU! Read all about Alyssa here: CALS Alumna Named New Assistant Director of Ag Institute | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (ncsu.edu)
*** Send us your 4-h'ers accomplishments and special honors, we'll publish it here!
ICYMI Events
🐖🐑🐄🐐 Congratulations to the many participants in our Anne Arundel County Fair! It was a true pleasure to see our 4-Hers showing their animals and participating in our many contests and demonstrations. We are looking forward to seeing many more smiling faces, exhibits and participation next year! See you September 14-18, 2022!
Congratulations to the Linthicum 4-H Hi-Riders in running a successful 3 horse show series. So good to see them get ‘back in the saddle’ after loosing 7 shows to the pandemic. The shows serve as a marketing/fundraising tool for the club and provide many area youth the opportunity to ride in a smaller local horse show series. For those that participated, stay tuned for more information regarding their annual End of Show Series Banquet on January 22, 2022! Below, check out Caydence Lowe's and Jocelyn Burchell's awesome costumed horse entries! ⬇⬇⬇⬇
Community members had a ‘ghoul’ time at the Harwood 4-H Club’s 👻Trunk or Treat🧛♂️ display on Oct. 22 at Knightongale Farm. Over 1300 people attended this event! Volunteers (adult and youth) passed out 865 bags of goodies packed with candy, trinkets and information promoting the club and 4-H. Aren't these volunteers just Fab-boo-lous!?!? (If other clubs/4-H members are interested in promotional brochures, flyers, banners, yard signs, etc... the county office is happy provide marketing materials to support your event. Please reach out to Gretchen at gsumbrum@umd.edu, or Joy at jsim1@umd.edu.)
*** Share your club experiences with us and we'll be sure to include your event in our next newsletter!
This Hi-Rider is too cute to spook!
Hi-Rider's give 'em pumpkin to talk about!
Harwood #squash goals
Our Heroic Volunteers
UME (University of Maryland Extension) Volunteer Training - If you aren’t already a UME Volunteer, make please plans to complete the training. Just email Gretchen (gsumbrum@umd.edu) and you can complete all of the required paperwork and training directly from your home. Trainings can be completed at anytime!
Volunteer Refresher Course - The state 4-H program is requiring all UME Volunteers who have been a UME Volunteer for 5 or more years to complete the Maryland 4-H Volunteer Refresher Training (if you haven't already done so). It never hurts to get updated on information for volunteering with the Maryland 4-H Program. You can complete the Refresher Course anytime from the comfort of your own home by visiting: https://extension.umd.edu/programs/4-h-youth-development/volunteers
State 4-H Team and Leadership Trip Coach/Chaperones - The Maryland 4-H Program proudly supports several opportunities for youth that travel out of state to compete or participate in National Events. Youth must qualify to participate in these trips either through a State Contest or State Portfolio Process. Please follow this link for more information on National Contest and Event opportunities supported by the Maryland 4-H Program and the Maryland 4-H Foundation: https://extension.umd.edu/programs/4-h-youth-development/volunteers
Each of these opportunities is led by UME Volunteers and/or Faculty/Staff as a 'chaperone'. Some of these chaperone roles will also include coaching responsibilities, but all adults interested in serving as a state team or trip chaperone must apply to serve. The application process for Team Chaperone positions will be conducted through 4-H Online. An interest/knowledge in the subject matter of the trip is preferred. Organization and a desire to work with senior age 4-H members is a plus! All applicants must:
Be at least 21 years of age (preferably 25).
Be a certified UME 4-H Volunteer for at least 3 years.
Be currently enrolled as a volunteer in 4-H Online.
Agree to adhere to the Maryland 4-H Adult Code of Conduct and enforce the Maryland 4-H Youth Code of Conduct.
Complete the application by the deadline identified for the desired team trip (see below).
Be verified by their county 4-H Educator.
Team Coach/Chaperone Applications due January 15th:
Team Trip Coach/Chaperone Application - Volunteer
Livestock Skill-a-thon Coach
Horse Bowl Coach
Dairy Bowl Coach
Horse Hippology Coach
Horse Judging Coach
Horse Communications Coach
Shooting Sports Coach/Chaperone-Archery
Shooting Sports Coach/Chaperone-Shotgun
National 4-H Conference Chaperone
Anne Arundel County Fair, Inc, a non-profit membership organization, sponsors a variety of events throughout the year at the fair grounds including a rodeo, fall craft festival, the annual county fair, Halloween Happenings and the upcoming Christmas at the Fair. They are always looking for volunteer support, both young adult and adult, to assist with various positions for these events. If you are interested, please email info@aacountyfair.org.
Unit, Club & Group Leader Huddle
Please contact Gretchen at gsumbrum@umd.edu if you have questions.
Program News
- Levels 1-4: Completed project form due to club leader by Nov 30, 2021, and require signatures from youth, parent, and club leaders. When finished, youth receive a pin from their club leaders.
- Level 5: Completed project forms are due to UME - AAC (97 Dairy Ln) by Nov 30, 2021 and require signatures from youth, parent, club leader and UME-AAC 4-H Educator.
- Level 6: Project Applications need to be previewed by the club leader, 4-H Educator and Diamond Clover Advisory Committee before submission to the DC Project Proposal Portal. Those were due to the State Office on Sept 30, 2021.
History in the making
We are anticipating as close to normal year as possible for 2022, however we are still waiting on formal dates for quite a few things. We will adjust dates as they come available. Please see above for details regarding this information:
Nov 3, 2021 - State Council Open House, Zoom meeting
Nov 6, 2021 - STEM Workshop sponsored by Caroline County 4-H Extension
Nov 11, 2021 - Extension office closed, Veteran's Day
Nov 13, 2021 - Turkey Shoot sponsored by the Friendship Outdoors Club
Nov 15, 2021 - MD 4-H State Council applications via 4-H OnLine
Nov 22, 2021 - Record Book Workshop, RSVP by 11/18
Nov 25-26, 2021 - Extension office closed, Thanksgiving
Nov 30, 2021 - Club Officer Workshop, RSVP by 11/24
Nov 30, 2021 - Diamond Clover Award list from Club Leader for Levels 1-4; Level 5 forms due to AAC county office
Dec 11, 2021 - UME-AAC winter activity (details coming soon)
Dec 24, 2021 - Extension office closed, Christmas
Dec 31, 2021 - Extension office closed, New Years
Jan 1, 2022 - Senior Portfolios for National 4-H Leadership Trip consideration must be brought to county office and signed by County Educator (to be ready for Jan 15, 2022 4-H Online Portal upload).
Jan 8, 2022 - AAC Steer Weigh In
Jan 15, 2022 - State Team/Coach Chaperone Applications Due
Jan 16, 2022 - Maryland 4-H Awards Gala (more info next month)
Jan 17, 2022 - 4-H Online Enrollment begins (more info next month)
Jan 17, 2022 - Extension office closed, MLK Day
Feb 1, 2022 - Club Leaders hand in Record books to AAC office 4-H Form (books due to clubs earlier)
University of Maryland Extension - Anne Arundel County 4-H
Have questions, ideas or news to share? Please Email Joy Sim, jsim1@umd.edu, to be included in our UME - AAC 4-H monthly newsletter.
Gretchen Sumbrum, UME-AAC Educator Facebook
UME 4-H Facebook
Email: GSumbrum@umd.edu
Website: https://extension.umd.edu/locations/anne-arundel-county/4-h-youth-development
Location: 97 Dairy Lane, Gambrills, MD, USA
Phone: 4102223900
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AACO4H