Sioux County Newsletter
June 2020
Calendar of Events
June 1-5 – Virtual Babysitting Camp
June 2 – Virtual Cooking with Yeast Workshop
June 3 – Virtual Outdoor Skills Hiking Workshop
June 4 – Virtual Bee Hotel Workshop
June 8 -9 – Virtual Panhandle Babysitting Camp
June 10 – Virtual Scratch Junior Workshop
June 11 – Virtual Batik Workshop
June 11 – 4-H Council Meeting at 6 pm
June 16 – Virtual Cake Decorating Workshop
June 16 – Home Environment Workshop from 12 to 4 pm
June 17 – Virtual DIW Wooden Signs Workshop
June 18 – Wilderness Wonders Camp from 9 am to 5 pm
June 18 – Virtual Creating Family Adventures Workshop
June 23 – Western Livestock Challenge
June 22 – Level Up Geek Side with Rockets from 9 to 12 pm
June 23 – Virtual Entomology Workshop
June 24 – Virtual Photography Workshop
June 25 – Virtual Shopping in Style Workshop
June 27 – Box Butte Progress Show
June 28 – Sheridan County Progress Show
June 29 – Virtual Dried Up Workshop
July 1 – Virtual Crochet Workshop
July 2 – Virtual Can-Can Robot Workshop
July 8 – Virtual Upcycled T-shirt Workshop
July 8 – Clothing project Workshop from 12 to 4 pm
July 9 – Virtual TinkerCAD Workshop
July 15 – Fair Enrollment Due
July 17 – Life Skills Judging
July 24 – Open Youth Livestock Show
July 27 – Companion Animal Show
July 28 – Horse Show
July 30 – Static Entry
Summer Workshops
Social distancing slowing down your 4-H goals? Join Nebraska 4-H Panhandle Staff as they present 6 weeks of fun filled virtual presentations to build your skills and jump start your project list for fair. Each week 3 new presentations will be hosted from all over the Panhandle. Each workshop is guaranteed to help you learn more about the topic and has a direct tie to project that you will complete with the class or give you the tools to start and finish on your own time. Workshop cost vary from free to $20. Go to https://www.smore.com/bzx5h to learn more about the topics and projects! And be sure to check back as more opportunities for 4-H fun will be added soon!
Besides these virtual offerings, we are working to provide a few face to face workshops as well. Details for these workshops along with the virtual workshops can all be found in the enclosed packet. If we have interest in the virtual options after June 15th date, we will have host sites in Sioux County for youth to be together to participate. For youth to participate in our in person workshops, we are going to follow the public guidelines and have masks available for the youth to wear.
Virtual Babysitting Workshop
On June 8th and 9th we will be hosting a Panhandle Virtual Babysitting Workshop. Youth will join us via zoom from 10 to 12 pm and then again from 1 to 2 pm. The fee for the workshop is $20 and youth need to be at least 11 years old. Youth need to register by June 3rd at https://go.unl.edu/panhandlebabysittingregistration in order to ensure you get your supplies mailed to you. Make your payment out to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Please mail it to Garden County Extension, PO Box 350, Oshkosh, NE 69154.
Horse Camp in a Box
4-H youth still can participate in Horse Camp. The 4-H staff have created a Trail Map full of challenges for the youth to complete. The youth will be encouraged to practice Horsemanship, Reining, learning about Horse parts, creating horse treats, and other crafts for their horses. The Box will provide supplies for the crafts, the horse part activity, as well as the Trail map. Once youth complete the Trail map, they will receive a prize. To show completion of the Trail map, youth will need to take photos of them completing each obstacle on the Trail Map and send them to Melissa Mracek at mmracek2@unl.edu.
Nebraska 4-H Helping with the Census!
Did you know that $20,960 is lost to Nebraska in a 10-year span for one person being missed in the Census count? The census data helps how federal funding is distributed amongst 55 government programs including funding for highways, grants for buses, and other public transit. It impacts the local schools to determine how much can be allocated for Head Start programs, grants to support teachers, special education, and school lunches. It also is used to support housing for older adults along with Medicare funding.
Nebraska 4-H are providing promotional information to help families complete the Census. There is a Bingo card with activities for youth to complete related to the Census. All youth who participate will receive a water bottle, those that complete a Bingo will get a waterproof cell phone holder, and if they complete a Blackout, they will get an Underarmour backpack. Youth can show how they are helping Nebraska complete the Census by posting photos to #4HCOUNTUSIN.
The Census can be completed by phone, mail, or online. If you decide to complete it online, you must do all of it at once. The questions asked are:
How many people are living in this household as of April 1st, 2020
Were there any additional people staying here that you didn’t include in the first question?
Are you living in a house, apartment, or mobile home….?
What is your phone number?
What is Person 1’s name?
What is their sex, age, and birthdate?
Are they Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
What is their race?
What is the name of Person 2?
Does this person usually live or stay somewhere else?
How is this person related to Person 1?
If your youth is interested in participating in the Nebraska 4-H Census project, please contact your local extension office to get the Bingo card and your prizes.
Virtual and At Home Learning Opportunities
Looking for summer learning opportunities you can do from home? We’ve got you covered! Nebraska 4-H is excited to share our upcoming summer virtual learning opportunities with you. All experiences provide hands-on, virtually guided activities! We’re kicking off our summer sessions on Monday, June 1, with a new Boredom Buster Challenge and our first Virtual 4-H Camp. Family Fun Night and Living Room Learning are also starting next week! Plus, Virtual Field Trips and the 4-H Clover Fun Pack provide additional ways for youth to learn from home.
Be sure to visit our virtual and at-home learning page (https://4h.unl.edu/virtual-home-learning) for more opportunities and resources this summer! Youth do not need to be 4-H members to participate or to utilize these resources. We look forward to learning virtually with you this summer!
Western Livestock Challenge
The annual livestock judging contest will be held on June 23rd in Hemingford at the Box Butte County Fairgrounds. Prizes will be awarded to the first three places in each age division. The youth will complete in 6 judging classes along with reasons and questions. This contest is a part of the Great Plains Judging Circuit. You can complete the registration form and send it to the Box Butte County office at 415 Black Hills Ave, Alliance, NE 69301. The fee is $15 and can also be paid the day of. The fee includes lunch. To register please visit: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/northernpanhandle/event-calendar/.
Wilderness Wonders Camp
Wilderness Wonders Camp has been moved to June 18th and to just a one day camp about water. The camp will still be for youth entering 3rd through 5th grades. They do not have to be 4-H members to attend. The camp will be held at Camp Norwesca from 9 to 5 pm. Youth will participate in fun activities including archery, water rockets, water slide and more! The fee for the one day camp is $40. This camp is limited to 25 youth and registrations are due by June 10th. The registration form can be found at: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/northernpanhandle/event-calendar/.
Sheridan County Progress Show
The Sheridan County 4-H Foundation is planning to host a Jackpot Progress Show in Gordon on June 28th. Weigh-ins start at 7 am. The show will start at 10 am. Animals that can be exhibited are market beef, breeding heifers, market sheep, and meat goats. The fee is $20 per head before June 19th, after June 19th it is $25. Showmanship will be $5 at the gate. The registration form can be found at https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/northernpanhandle/event-calendar/.
Box Butte County Progress Show
The Box Butte Progress Show will be held on June 27th at Box Butte County Fairgrounds. Check-in is from 7 to 9 am. The Show will start at 10 am. The entry fees are $20 per head and $5 for showmanship per head. To find the entry form visit: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/northernpanhandle/event-calendar/.
Photography Challenge
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday youth and adults will be challenged to take a picture around a certain topic and submit it to the Nebraska Extension Staff. The photos can be emailed to Melissa Mracek (mmracek2@unl.edu). The winners of each photo challenge will be posted on Facebook the following day or two.
Virtual Field Trips
The STEM Careers Issue Team is excited to announce that the NebrASKa Scientist Virtual Field Trips will continue throughout the summer as part of the 4-H Virtual Summer Programing. Our kick-off event is Tuesday, May 26th with a visit to Wildcat Hills in Gering, NE. We will learn about the Big Horn Sheep living in the area as we learn how to be a biologist! The content is mostly driven towards 7th-12th graders. If able to join the live session, youth are encouraged to ask Amanda Filipe, Nebraska Game and Parks Outdoor Education Specialist, any questions about the sheep, Wildcat Hills, or what it takes to be a biologist. The session will be recorded and posted at https://4h.unl.edu/virtual-field-trips. Go to https://go.unl.edu/8hir to register for this amazing tour!
4-H for the Summer
The Nebraska Extension office along with the Ag Society and 4-H Council will be working towards figuring out what fair looks like for this summer. We will be utilizing the Governor’s Guidelines and Panhandle Public Health’s recommendations. This is allowing us to make county by county decisions. We will keep you posted on the decisions being made but are hoping to have something in person this summer.
Nebraska Extension Sioux County Office
Email: mmracek2@unl.edu
Website: go.unl.edu/siouxcofair
Location: PO Box 277 Harrison, NE 69346
Phone: (308) 668-2428
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLSiouxCounty