Sheridan County Newsletter
March 2020
Calendar of Events
Mar. 2 – YQCA training at Hay Springs school at 4:15 pm
Mar. 5 – Gordon Clover Bud Meeting at Gordon Elementary at 3:30 pm
Mar. 10 – Rushville Clover Bud Meeting at Rushville Elementary at 3:30 pm
Mar. 10 – Rushville Sewing Workshop at Extension Office 1:00-4:00pm
Mar. 11 – YQCA training at Extension Office starting at 1 pm
Mar. 19 – Hay Springs Clover Bud Meeting at Hay Springs School at 4:00 pm
Mar. 20 – County Wide Project at Extension Office 1:00 – 4:00 pm
Mar. 27 – Baking Basics at Hay Springs School at 9 am
Important Announcements
· Seniors!! The 2020 Sheridan County Memorial 4-H Scholarship will be due April 15th. The scholarship will be available by March 15th on the North Panhandle 4-H website.
· The District Horse Show is in Scottsbluff this year. Level 2, horse id sheets, and registrations are due by May 8th. Horse Level 2 testing will be held on April 13th at 1 pm.
· 4-H pigs are available for purchase. Families can call Daryl Scherbarth at 308-360-1881 or Travis Binger at 308-430-0564.
Baking Basics
The Hay Springs February Baking Basics will be held on March 27th. At this workshop youth will prepare pizza. The youth will also continue to work on their sewing projects. Participants will need to pack a lunch. The fee for this workshop is $10. Please register by March 25th, by contacting the Nebraska Extension Sheridan County office at (308) 327-2312. This event is open to anyone interested in baking and sewing projects.
YQCA In Person Training
Youth for the Quality Care of Animals training must be completed by June 1st for any 4-H member who is planning to take a livestock project (beef, goat, sheep, swine, rabbit, or poultry). Youth can complete the training online at yqca.learngrow.io with their family 4-H online login for $12 or register online for an in person training for $3. Melissa will be conducting in person trainings on March 2nd at the Hay Springs school after school that day, March 11th at Extension Office at 1 pm, and at the Extension Office on April 13th at 9 am.
Clover Buds
The Gordon Clover Bud workshop will be held on March 5th from 4:00 – 5:00 pm at the Gordon After School program. The Rushville Clover Bud workshop will be held on March 10th from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm as a part of the Rushville After School program. The Hay Springs Clover Bud workshop will be held on March 19th from 4:00 – 5:00 pm. Please register for the Hay Springs event with Erika Gaswick by March 17th.
Clover Bud members are youth between the ages of 5 and 7 as of January 1st, 2020. These youth will experience teamwork, social interaction, and decision-making skills while participating in hands on activities. Upon participating in these workshops, youth will have Clover Bud projects to display at the 2020 Sheridan County Fair.
ARBA Rabbit Show
The Monument Bunny Breeders Association is hosting their first ARBA show on April 25th at the Livestock Pavilion on the Scottsbluff County Fairgrounds. This show is for all purebred rabbits. There will be a total of four shows, two youth and two open. It is $3.75 per rabbit per show. This will also be a great opportunity for families to find 4-H rabbits for fair!
Tractor Safety Course
The course provides extensive training on tractor and all-terrain vehicle safety with a variety of hands-on activities. Instilling an attitude of ‘making safety a priority’ and respect for agricultural equipment are primary goals of the course. Any 14 or 15 year old who plans to drive a tractor this summer for someone other than their parents, is required to complete this course.
Teens who are older than 15 and are interested in learning about safe farming practices, are welcome to register for the Nebraska Extension Tractor Safety & Hazardous Occupations Course. Anyone under age 14 is not eligible to take the class.
Cost of the course is $60 and includes educational materials, instruction, supplies, and lunch.
Dates, training site locations, and site coordinator phone numbers are below:
June 3 (first day is online) – Gordon, Fairgrounds, (308) 327-2312
June 29 & 30 – Gering, Legacy Museum (308) 632-1480
For more information or to register, contact the appropriate Extension office above. The registration form is located at kearney.unl.edu.
County Wide Project
The County Wide Project will be held on March 20th from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. At this workshop, youth are invited to create a project for Design Decisions and enter at the 2020 Sheridan County Fair. Please register by March 18th, by contacting the Nebraska Extension Sheridan County office at (308) 327-2312. This event is open to anyone interested in weaving.
Speech Contest
The PSA Theme for 2020 is “Inspire Kids to Do”.
State Robotics
Three robotics teams from Gordon competed on Sunday, February 22nd at the State Robotics Competition at the Air and Space Museum in Ashland. GR Overdrive-Blue team members are Colton Archibald, Austin Child, Bronson Freeseman, Ileigh Hunter, Maddox Leeper, Ben Meyer, and Brayden Simmons. The Lady Mustang team consists of Jordan Olsen, Reese and Rowan Simonson. The GR Overdrive-Navy team members are Kaden Jackson, Kannon Leeper, Draven Russell, Tyler Shelton, Paxton Simmons, and Chris Swanson. At the competition the teams compete in four different areas. One area is the project area, where the teams have to create a unique, innovative solution for a problem within the season’s theme. This year the theme was community improvements. GR Overdrive-Blue created a solution to help fix potholes better. GR Overdrive-Navy tried to help educate people about how to protect birds. The Lady Mustangs created a mini garden space within the Gordon-Rushville Middle School to help reduce stress in their classmates. The Core Values area gives the team an activity to complete within a time frame and then answer questions about how their team solves problems and works together. The robot design competition has the team present how they designed and programmed their robot. Within the robot game, the teams have three rounds that last two and a half minutes each to complete as many missions as possible with the preprogrammed robot. They then take the team’s highest score. At the state competition, the GR Overdrive-Blue received the Rising Star award for placing well in the project, robot design, core values, and robot game but not quite making it to the top 3 out of 56 teams. They also received Honorable Mention for their project of creating new pothole material. They competed against around 152 teams for this award. They scored third highest in the robot game. GR Overdrive Navy placed 42nd and Lady Mustangs placed 44th in the Robot Game component.
Save the Date - Wilderness Wonders
Wilderness Wonders camp is an overnight camp for youth going into 3rd through 5th grade on May 27th through the 28th at Camp Norwesca. Youth will ban together to Survive the wonderful outdoors while participating in a campfire, water slide, archery, and more. The fee for the camp is $80.
Save the Date - LOG N Camp
Youth going into grade 6th and 7th are welcome to join us at the LOG N Camp on June 3rd and 4th in Halsey. Participants will enjoy camp activities such as canoeing, ziplining, and high wires while developing their leadership skills. As 7th graders they will graduate to become a part of our Next Chapter program gaining life skills necessary for the next chapter of their lives.
Horse Level Testing
This year’s District Horse Show will be held in Scottsbluff on June 15th. To participate youth must complete their Horse level 1 and 2 prior to May 8th. Youth can visit the Extension Office to complete their test. Melissa will be hosting a riding skills and demonstration day in Gordon on April 13th from 1 until 3 pm. For more information and written test prep materials visit https://4h.unl.edu/horse/district-shows.
Save the Date - Horse Camp
Fort Robinson 4-H Horse Camp is June 11 through the 13th. This is for youth and adults. Participants will develop horsemanship skills while exploring the beautiful scenery of Fort Robinson. Participants also get to create a craft and experience the traditional camping experience. The fee for this camp is $50 for youth and $40 for adults accompanying youth. Registration information will be coming soon.
Upcoming Livestock Judging Contests
The North Panhandle will be hosting three livestock judging contests as a part of the Great Plains Circuit. The scores youth receive at each of these contests will be put into their overall Great Plains Circuit score. The youth who place within the top 5 in both the Senior and Intermediate age divisions will be recognized at the State Fair and will receive awards. The North Panhandle contests will include 4-H members ages 8 to 18. The first contest will be in Gordon on April 26th. The next contest will be in Chadron on May 21st, and the final one is June 16th in Hemingford. For the Sheridan County contest contact the Sheridan County Office at 308-327-2312, for the Dawes County contest contact 308-432-3373, and for the Box Butte contest contact 308-762-5616.
4-H Beekeeping Essay Contest
The 2020 National 4-H Beekeeping Essay Competition: Call for Entries is now available at: https://preservationofhoneybees.org/essays/2020-essays.
Please have interested students submit state entries to the UNL Bee Lab (unlbeelab@unl.edu) with the subject header “4H Essay Contest” by March 1, 2020. This year’s topic is a bit challenging, especially if they are new to beekeeping, so if there are students who would like to interview or get in contact with a local beekeeper, they can reach out to the Nebraska Beekeepers Association (https://nebraskabeekeepers.org).
Questions? Contact Judy Wu-Smart, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist in the Department of Entomology at UNL, at jwu-smart@unl.edu or at 402-472-8696.
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension educational programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.
The 4-H Youth Development program abides with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture.
Copyright ©2020
Nebraska Extension Sheridan County Office
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/northernpanhandle/educational-programs/northern-panhandle-4-h/
Location: PO Box 329 Rushville, NE 69360
Phone: (308) 327-2312
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLSheridanCounty
Twitter: @SheridanCounty