Hamilton Co. Headlines
4-H weekly updates for April 16-22, 2017
FARM TO FORK-BEEF
YOU COULD BE THE WINNER!
* It needs to be a single color design!
* Please have your entries emailed into our office at hamilton-county@unl.edu.
* These are due April 24th by 5 p.m.
* The voting will be decided by fellow 4-H members April 25-May 1st, from approved designs.
* The design must include the words "2017 Hamilton County Fair" and the words "4-H Champions" or 4-H Champions Club". It also needs to contain the official 4-H Clover. We can email that to you.
Contact the office, 402-694-6174 if you have any questions!
SUMMER PROGRAMMING ALL SET AND SCHEDULED!
GO BIG GIVE!
Tack Swap!
Stock Show University Fitting Clinic
4-H Photography Workshops! Spaces still open in the Advanced Classes!
Beginning Classes will run from April 6-May 4 every Thursday at 5:30-6:30 (5 weeks) Location will change weekly. You will receive a schedule when you sign up.
Advanced Classes will run from May 4-June 1 Thursdays 5:30-6:30 (5 weeks) *also will have a variety of times and locations due to lighting. (STILL CAN REGISTER FOR THIS)
If you have any questions, please call the office as ask for Deb. To register go online www.hamilton.unl.edu or call 402.694.6174.
Jr. Leader Road Trip to Lincoln with Hamilton and Merrick Co. Jr. Leaders, April 14, 2017
Jr. Leaders with Dr. Yang at the Biofibers Lab on the UNL Campus.
Largest John Deere tractor ever tested in the Western Hemisphere
$500,000 Sweater
Aurora Elementary After School 4-H Kids in the Kitchen Club
Scott and Ziljian learning the importance of food prep and food safety
Micah is learning how to chop a cabbage
Ashlyn and Kassidy are learning about the importance of eating a rainbow of colors!
4-H HORSE INFORMATION
Ground lesson (no horses) start at 6:30pm: April 27
Riding practice (bring horses) start at 6:30pm: May 11, 18, 25; June 8, 22, 29; July 6, 13, 19
County 4-H Horse show time TBD: July 21
Timberlake Open Shows: June 3, August 19
If you have any questions, please contact Hillary at hillary.fuhrman@unl.edu or Amanda at amanda@timberlake.org
YQCA IS NOW AVAILABLE
We are excited to announce that the new QA Curriculum called Youth for the Quality Care of Animals (YQCA) is now active. Anyone who has not registered for the LQA online course for 2017 should now navigate to the NEW online YQCA course at yqca.learngrow.io. You will use your FAMILY 4HOnline login and password information to access the courses for the ACTIVE youth in your family. Only ACTIVE members will show in the drop down menu for access to the course. All registration questions with YQCA should be directed to help@yqca.org. There will not be local support for the YQCA program. All 4-Hers need to use the 4-H tab and not the FFA tab even if they are members of both organizations. There is a button for families that have forgotten their password. 4-Hers that have started their QA training in the LQA site will be able to complete their modules and print off their certificate of completion and take it to their Extension Office. The YQCA site is user friendly and should make it easy for 4-H families to complete their QA training for this year.
If you have ANY questions, call Hillary at the Extension Office. 402-694-6174
QUALITY ASSURANCE CLASSES
Quality Assurance is for all youth ages 8-18, who are interested in showing livestock – Beef, Dairy, Swine, Sheep, Goats, Rabbits and Poultry MUST pass QA (either face to face or online) every year unless they have tested out in our office.
Hamilton County Face to Face Classes will be at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds 4-H Building
April 30th at 2pm
May 20th at 2pm
June 10th at 2pm
Class will be 60-90 minutes
All Juniors ages 8-10 MUST be accompanied by an adult!
Please call the office to register as we need to know how many will be at each class!
2017 Special Garden Project-SUNBURST SUMMER SQUASH (PACKETS ARE IN!) COME PICK THEM UP IF YOU STILL ARE INTERESTED! WE HAVE EXTRA PACKETS!
Youth participating in this project will receive squash seeds, a newsletter and evaluation about planting and growing squash, squash problems, and insects, harvesting and using squash and how to exhibit squash. They will be able to enter their vegetable at County and State Fair. NEW THIS YEAR: Youth will enroll for this project on 4honline.com. Once enrolled, they will need to call our office to reserve the seeds. We have only 30 packets to distribute! Please call to reserve yours today. They will be ready to pick up in March!
Sunburst squash, also called Pattypan, has yellow, scalloped shaped fruits with bright green blossom ends. The plants are very productive and are an All-America Selection winner for its early fruit production and for producing a large number of fruits per plant. It takes about 52 days from seeding until squash is ready to harvest.
4-H and FFA Plates for the State of NE!
Take your support of “Making the Best Better” and “Learning to Do” wherever you go with the new license plates showcasing Nebraska 4-H and Nebraska FFA! The Nebraska 4-H Foundation and Nebraska FFA Association in cooperation with the Nebraska FFA Alumni, have teamed up to create the first ever license plate supporting the two largest youth organizations in Nebraska. Similar to other organizational specialty license plates, there must be 250 applications received before the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles will begin issuing this organizational plate. Order yours today by filling out the application form at http://ne4hfoundation.org and mailing it along with the $70 fee to the Nebraska 4-H Foundation. Be one of the first 4-H and FFA license plate owners and show the world you are an advocate of these outstanding youth organizations. Show your support of using your “Head, Heart, Hands and Health” to promote “Premier Leadership, Personal Growth and Career Success.”
AG SCIENCE EXPO-A Free Family Event at Raising NE, located in Grand Island.
1. 3-D Sand: Understand topography maps by playing in the sand.
2. Nutrients for soil: Discover the nutrients that let plants grow.
3. Electric Flower: Build a circuit to make your flower glow.
4. Print your Fix: Design and print your solution to a problem.
5. Laparoscopic Surgery: Complete the challenge by designing a tool and conducting surgery.
6. Code Your Name: Use binary code to make a name bracelet.
Saturday, Apr 29, 2017, 12:30 PM
Raising Nebraska, Grand Island, NE, United States
2017 4-H Clover Chase
An original event created just for those engaged in 4-H and the Nebraska 150 Celebration! Specific challenges will be made for each county and listed on the 4-H website and app click here!. Participants can submit scavenger hunt findings for display in the 4-H building at the Nebraska State Fair, photos on social media using #NE4HChase (all photos entered will be put into a Storify story) and more! Contestants have 150 days to complete the “chase.” which means that they must finish as many challenges as possible! The county with the most complete challenge wins a Nation Youth Science Day KIT! (LOOK BELOW)
This event will be run from March 1, 2017 until August 1, 2017.
National Youth Science Day Announced for 2017
RAISE YOUR HAND!
National 4-H “Raise Your Hand” Promotion focuses more upon attracting 4-H alumni back to the program as parents, volunteers, and donors. During this promotion, alumni are being asked to complete the following steps:
1) Raise Your Hand – Complete the form at http://4-h.org/raise-your-hand to show your pride as a 4‑H alum.
2) Compete for your state – Raising your hand is a vote towards a $20,000, $10,000 or $5,000 award for the states with the most alumni hands raised.
3) Pay it Forward – Tweet, post and share your #4HGrown experience or support and tag fellow alumni asking them to raise their hands for their state at http://4‑H.org/RaiseYourHand.
Club opportunity to raise money!
CLUB OPPORTUNITIES!
4-H Meeting In a Bag Lessons-(FIBER BINGO, WOODWORKING, GARDEN MEMORY, BEEF PYRAMID, HEALTH, LEADERSHIP)
Exploring the Treasures of 4-H-Includes lesson plans that relate to a 4-H project area. The lessons are created for a variety of time lengths. Materials will need to be gathered.
More Activities that Teach- 80 Hands on learning activities useful with 4-H Clubs.
Best New Games- 77 cooperative games to play with all ages
Questions for Guiding Experiential Learning- A pocket guide to using the experiential learning process.
UNL TRACTOR SAFETY
Nebraska Extension Tractor Safety & Hazardous Occupations Courses will take place at nine Nebraska locations this year. Teens 14 or 15 years of age who will work on a farm should plan to attend.
Federal law prohibits youth under 16 years of age from working on a farm for anyone other than parents or legal guardians. Certification received through this course grants an exemption to the law allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to drive a tractor and to do field work with specific mechanized equipment.
The most common cause of agricultural-related death in Nebraska is overturned tractors and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Extensive training on Tractor and ATV safety occurs during in-class lessons with hands-on activities. Instilling an attitude of ‘safety first’ and respect for agricultural equipment are primary goals of the course.
The course consists of two days of instruction plus homework assignments. The first day of classroom instruction includes hands-on demonstrations, concluding with a written test. Students are required to pass the test before taking the driving test on day two. Classroom instruction will cover the required elements of the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program. Students will complete homework assignments that will be due on day two. The second day will include a driving test, equipment operation, and ATV safety lessons. To receive certification, students must demonstrate competence in hitching and unhitching equipment and driving a tractor and trailer through a standardized course.
Two locations, Gordon and McCook, will offer online course instruction to replace the first day of the two-day course. Students complete this at their convenience before attending the driving component of the course on-site.
All on-site classes begin at 8:00 A.M. and end times will vary, depending on the number of participants. Dates, locations, and Site Coordinator phone numbers are as follows: May 30 & 31 - Kearney Fairgrounds (308) 236-1235; June 1 & 2 – Auburn Fairgrounds (402) 245-4324; June 6 & 7 – Valentine Fairgrounds (402) 376-1850; June 13 & 14 – North Platte West Central Research and Extension Center (308) 532-2683; June 15 & 16 – Gering Legacy Museum (308) 632-1480; June 19 & 20 – Wayne Fairgrounds (402) 584-2234; June 22 – Gordon Fairgrounds (308) 327-2312; June 23 – McCook Fairgrounds (308) 345-3390; July 10 & 11 – Grand Island College Park (308) 385-5088.
Participants must submit registration forms to the location they will attend at least one week before the course. The registration form is available online: kearney.unl.edu. Cost of the course is $60, which includes educational materials, instruction, supplies, and lunches. For more information, contact the Extension Office of the location where student will attend.
Extension is a division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln cooperating with Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture.
Select 2017 4-H Projects by Using the Online Search Feature!
All across Nebraska 4-H youth are beginning to select their 4-H projects for 2017! Let the Nebraska 4-H Pick Your Project help connect you with projects that fit your interests and skill levels!
The NEW interactive, web-based Nebraska 4-H Pick Your Project can be found online at http://nebraska4hprojects.com. This project selection guide is accessible trough the Nebraska 4-H website on the club, volunteer, and parents/youth resource pages. Using the Pick Your Project, youth, volunteers, and parents will be able to search for projects by keywords, project areas, curriculum areas, experience levels, and projects that contain State Fair and/or County Fair eligible entries.
As an added feature, the web-based Pick Your Project contains the same project codes that are shown in the 4HOnline Enrollment system, making it easier to match the exciting 4-H projects you are learning about in the Pick Your Project with the projects you are enrolling in through 4HOnline.
Explore over 150 Nebraska 4-H projects through the Nebraska 4-H Pick Your Project app and find the 4-H projects that will help you grow throughout 2017.
AKSARBEN STOCK SHOW IS NOW MOVING TO GRAND ISLAND FOR 2017! MARK YOUR CALENDARS--SEPTEMBER 28-OCT. 1, 2017
STATE CAMP SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE!
Once again this year the Nebraska 4-H Foundation has graciously donated funds to allow us to provide camperships to individuals that would not be able to afford camp otherwise. Camperships are available in the amount of $100 and must be requested prior to registering for camp. Below is the information that I will need in order to award a campership to an individual.
To apply for a campership, please submit the following information to Lindsay Shearer by email or mail. Allow 7-10 business days for response to campership request. Please note that single day camp sessions are not eligible for Camperships. *Campership requests must be received and approved prior to registration for a camp session.
1. A request for campership support from the parent/guardian. Please be sure to include the name, age, and gender for each camper and the session each camper would like to attend.
2. A brief statement from the parent or from the camper expressing why they would like to attend camp this summer.
Once a request for a campership has been approved you will receive notification from Lindsay and receive an authorization code for registration that can be entered online or documented on a mail-in registration form. Following any campership support, we do ask that the camper send a thank-you note to donors sharing a highlight from their summer camp experience. Thank you notes can also be sent to Lindsay Shearer either by mail or email.
Request can be sent to:
Lindsay Shearer
State 4-H Office
114 Agricultural Hall
Lincoln, NE 68583
Or via email to:
lshearer2@unl.edu
Nebraska 4-H Foundation Club of the Month
ATTENTION: YOUTH LIVESTOCK PROJECTS
Nebraska Extension in Hamilton County
Email: hamilton-county@unl.edu
Website: www.hamilton.unl.edu
Location: 1111 13th Street Ste. 6 Aurora, NE 68818
Phone: 402-694-6174
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hamilton.unl/
Twitter: @HamiltonExten4H