Newsletter prepared by Kati Peiffer,

4-H/Youth Coordinator

Kpeiffer@iastate.edu

Gene Mohling

Regional Extension Education Director

February-March 2011

4-H Family Focus Newsletter

Washington Co. Extension Office

2223 250th St.

Washington, Iowa 52353

Phone: (319) 653-4811

FAX: (319) 653-6712

W a s h i n g t o n C o u n t y p r o p e r t y t a x d o l l a r s s u p p o r t t h e

W a s h i n g t o n C o u n t y E x t e n s i o n O f f i c e . T h e s e t a x

d o l l a r s c o m e t o u s t h r o u g h t h e A g r i c u l t u r a l E x t e n s i o n

D i s t r i c t t a x l e v y . T h e e l e c t e d n i n e - m e m b e r E x t e n s i o n

C o u n c i l i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e s e f u n d s . T h a n k Y o u F o r

Y o u r S u p p o r t !

Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.

Highlights of this Edition :

Livestock “Tails”

Sheep, Goat & Swine Weigh-ins

FSQA Information-Important new changes to note!

Livestock Fair Changes

Clinics

Money, Money, Money

Scholarships for Jr. & Sr. high school students

Event Center

4-H Fire-Up!

4-H Gala

Vet. find-out day at ISU

Project Meetings

Volunteering

SESS Leader Training

Clover Kid Mentoring

Leader’s Conference

Hall of Fame Nominations

Odds & Ends

State Opportunities

Pictures for Shari Temple

Club Corner

Recruitment Winners

Enrollments

Studio 4-H Club

Additional Insert:

New! Non-livestock Exhibit Class

Iowa Promise Grant due Feb. 1

4-H Scholarships, Hills Bank Grant, & Christina Hixson Award applications due

Feb. 1

State 4-H Leader’s Retreat-Newton

Feb. 11-12

4-H Photography Project Meetings-10 a.m in Feb. 9 a.m. in March Washington Co. Ext.

Feb. 19 March

19

4-H Fire Up! - 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.—Wash. Co. Ext. Office

Feb. 27

Pet Project Meeting-7:00 p.m.-Extension Office

March 3

FSQA meeting-6:30 p.m.- Wash. Co. Ext. Office

March 16 and

April 14

Garden Project Mtg.- 10:00 a.m.-Extension Office

March. 19

Interviews for State Recognition-Ames

March 26

Swine Weigh-in-Fairgrounds 10:00-11:30 a.m.

March 26

4-H Leader’s Meeting-5:15 or 7:00 p.m.-Extension Office

March 30

Dates to Remember

Page 2 4-H Family Focus Newsletter

Swine Weigh-In

(Production Barrow weigh-in for

optional Production Barrow Division)

Saturday, March 26th

10:00 -11:30 a.m.

Fairgrounds

Sheep/Goat Weigh-In

Saturday, May 7th

8:30 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Fairgrounds

FSQA MEETING Wednesday, March 16 Thursday, April 14 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Washington Co. Ext. Office OR Washington Co. Ext. Office

(Fair Board Conference Room) (Fair Board Conference Room)

All beef, swine, sheep, dairy cattle, dairy goat, meat goat, rabbit, and poultry exhibitors are REQUIRED to be

FSQA certified to exhibit at the county fair and State Fair in 2011. The certification may take 2 forms: attend a 2

hour class or obtain certification by testing. Those attending the class may attend either date listed above or attend in an-

other county.

If you select the educational class option, you will be required to attend the class each year to be eligible to exhibit. The

educational class is the ONLY option available to Junior exhibitors (grades 4-6). Intermediate (grades 7-9) and

Senior members (grades 10-12) may obtain certification by passing an exam or attending the class. Once the member re-

ceives a passing score, he/she is certified until he/she moves up to the next age bracket.

FSQA Change: Certification divisions (Jr., Int. & Sr.) will now follow the same divisions as 4-H. No longer will it be based

on age as of Jan. 1st. For 9th graders, because this is a transition year, if your certification is expired in 2010, you will be

allowed to take the Sr. test. This will be good for the rest of your 4 years of 4-H. This is the only year 9th graders will be

allowed to take the Sr test.

Tests may be taken after the training, prior to the trainings between 5:30-6:15 p.m. or by making arrangements with the

Extension Office.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS:

County Council will again be

hosting an Open Cattle Show on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the

Washington County Fairgrounds. This is a

great opportunity for you to get extra work and experience with your project.

Watch for more details to come!

CHECK IT OUT...

One hundred twenty-eight 4-H’ers and

FFA members weighed in 271 market beef

on December 18th. Seventy-one animals

were nominated for State Fair and/or Ak-

Sar-Ben. Be sure to keep good records on

your animals. Thanks to those who helped

with weigh-in!

Dairy Steers

Ak-Sar-Ben has added a Dairy Steer Show for

2011. Nominations must be completed by April 1.

For nomination information contact the Extension

Office, 319/653-4811.

Page 2 Feb./March 2011

Premise ID and COOL

Reminders: All swine exhibitors need to obtain a Premise ID in or-der to sell your hogs through the fair buyer. Once this ID is obtained it does not change from year to year. This is a mandate of Tyson Fresh Foods. All livestock must have a COOL affidavit stating the animal was born in the United States or in another country. This is an USDA mandate.

SCRAPIE ERADICATION

PROGRAM REMINDER All reproductively intact sheep and goats (ewes, rams,

does, billies) must have an official scrapie program tag be-

fore being shown or sold. This includes feeder animals,

market animals or breeding animals. Castrated males are

not required to be tagged. If you purchase ewe lambs, be

sure they are tagged by the original owner and an Owner’s

Statement with flock information is provided.

To register your flock for the scrapie program and receive

your tags, call 1-866-873-2824. For more information go to

http://www.animalagriculture.org/scrapie/Scrapie.htm or

contact the Extension Office.

This process may take several weeks so don’t wait until the

last minute.

State Fair Swine Weigh-In

Saturday, April 30, 2011 Crawfordsville, ISU Research Farm, 8 a.m.-Noon

(contact the Extension Office for other weigh dates)

Intent to Participate Forms are due to the

State 4-H Office by March 20th.

Watch for specific information to come shortly.

Changes for 2011 Washington County Fair Following are approved changes for the 2011 Washington County Fair. Continue to watch the

newsletter and fair book for additional changes in rules and schedule.

AUCTION:

Monday’s weigh-in weight will be used for auction weight. Therefore, no livestock will be

required to be taken off feed and water on Thursday evening.

Page 3 Feb./March 2011

Iowa Horse Fair

On April 1-3 the annual Iowa Horse

Fair will be held at the Iowa State

Fairgrounds. Details can be found at

http://www.iowahorsecouncil.org/Iowa

%20Horse%20Fair/ihf-general.htm.

New this year is the Cowgirl Queen

Contest.

Showmaster Clinic

An educational clinic will be offered on February 5th

at Blackhawk Community College in Kewanee, IL.

The focus will be on showing cattle and hogs. Cost is

$15.00. To register visit

www.showmasterfeedinfo.com/SMBC11. For more

information contact Kim Lewis 319/665-8912.

Page 4 Feb./March 2011

LEADERSHIP GRANT…

High school juniors are en-

couraged to apply for the Hills

Bank and Trust Company

Leadership Grant.

Recipients of the grant will at-

tend leadership training and

then receive a $1,000 scholar-

ship. Both 4-H’ers and non-4-

H’ers are eligible.

Applications due Feb. 1.

Iowa Soybean Association Ag Scholarship

The Iowa Soybean Association is accepting applications from high school seniors for scholarships in the amount of $1500. Must be pursuing an education at an ag-related college or university. Ap-plications must be postmarked by March 15, 2011. Applications may be obtained at www.iasoybeans.com.

SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE Every county is awarded one Christina Hixson Scholarship per year. This

scholarship provides half-tuition grant (estimated value of $14,000 over eight

semesters) for incoming freshman at Iowa State University. Appli-

cation deadline is February 1st. Contact the Extension Office for

more information or check the web at

http://www.iastate.edu/~hixsonawards/.

Applications are available for the Herbert Hoover Uncommon Stu-

dent Award, a $5,000 college scholarship program for juniors enrolled in an

Iowa high school or home school setting. This program identifies & honors up to

15 students who propose & then accomplish a project of their own choosing &

design. The application deadline is March 31st. For application materials,

contact your high school Guidance Counselor or download the materials at

http://hooverassociation.org.

DEKALB is offering ten $2,500 scholarships to both high school and collegiate

students pursuing an agricultural-related degree and demonstrate strong lead-

ership skills and community involvement. Apply online at DEKALB.com, appli-

cations are due February 17, 2011.

Farm Bureau Scholarships Available

The Washington County Farm Bureau Jim Roberts and Celeste Hora Memorial

Scholarship applications are now available. Applicants must be a member of a

Washington County Farm Bureau family, have at least a 3.0 GPA, and enter a pro-

fession/vocation requiring at least two years of college or the equivalent amount of

technical/educational training. Information and application is available for the

Iowa Farm Bureau Federation scholarship as well. Application deadline for both of

these scholarships is March 1, 2011. For more information contact Washington

County Farm Bureau, 319/653-5428. Applications are available at the Extension

Office.

The Washington Master Gardeners are offering a $500 scholarship to anyone pursuing a horticulture related

degree or certificate from a college or university in the state of Iowa. Anyone is eligible whether in or out of

high school.

Applications are due April 1st to the Extension Office. For more information contact Nancy Adrian, 653-4811.

State 4-H Scholarships

Iowa 4-H members are eligible to apply for 4-H Scholarships. Over 100 scholarships totaling

$100,000 will be given to youth planning to attend college. Scholarships range from $500 to $5000.

Scholarships are to be postmarked no later than Feb. 1, 2011. Scholarship information can be ob-

tained at the Extension Office or at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/teens/scholarships/

Scholarships for current collegiate students are available as well.

Page 5 4-H Family Focus Newsletter

4-H Fire Up!

Sunday, February 27, 2011

2:00-4:00 p.m.

Washington Co. Ext. Office

We will have our 4-H Fire Up meeting on Sunday, February 27, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. All 4-H’ers

and parents/guardians are welcome to attend but it will be most beneficial to those in 4-H three years or

less.

Each family will receive a 4-H Handbook. This meeting is designed to provide information about 4-H,

various projects, opportunities, upcoming events, and much more. Snacks will be provided.

4-H’ers and family members planning to attend the 4-H Fire Up! are asked to RSVP to the Washington

County Extension Office by February 23rd. You may call 319/653-4811 or e-mail Kpeiffer@iastate.edu to

RSVP.

Interested in Veterinary Medicine?

Iowa State University will hold a find out day on Veteri-

nary Medicine on February 26th. This day will be filled

with workshops on suturing, anatomy, parasitological &

physical examinations. The day will also give you a

chance to get more information on schooling and careers.

It is open to all youth in grades 7th-12th.

Registration is due by Feb. 5th, cost is $10. For a regis-

tration form contact the Extension Office.

PROJECT MEETINGS

Take a look at the “dates to remember” on the front

page of the newsletter for project meetings.

These meetings are a great opportunity to learn more

about project areas, get ideas, speak to the superinten-

dent(s), find out about deadlines and get your questions

answered.

More meetings to come possibly in bucket bottle, sheep,

dog, and rabbit.

4-H Gala

The 2nd annual Iowa 4-H Foundation

Gala will be held on February 19, 2011

at the Sheraton Hotel in West Des

Moines. All volunteers and support-

ers are invited to attend. For more

information visit

http://www.iowa4hfoundation.org/ga

la/index.htm

Events to watch for:

Dodgeball Tournament-Tentatively March

13th

Jr. Y Lock-In-April 2nd

Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser-April 16th

Junior Trip- June 21-22

Intermediate Trip- week of June 13th

(watch for specific dates to come)

State Conference- June 28-30

Page 6 Feb./March 2011

Leader’s Meeting

Wednesday, March 30

5:15 p.m. or 7:00 p.m.

Extension Office

Shooting Sports Training

The next Shooting Sports & Education in Shooting Sports training will be held April

1-3, at the Iowa 4-H Center. Registration deadline is March 4 and the Iowa 4-H Child

Protection Screen process must be completed prior to the registration deadline. For

more information contact the Extension Office at 319-653-4811 or

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4H/SESS/Documents/SESSstateLeaderTrainingSp

ring11.pdf

Recognize our volunteers

In 2009 we began presenting awards to our

volunteers throughout Washington County.

Awards given were for 4-H Alumni, 4-H

Family of the Year, 4-H Volunteer of the

Year, Partner in 4-H and Friend of 4-H.

Anyone can nominate anyone in Washing-

ton County for these awards.

Nomination forms can be taken anytime

throughout the year. They are available on

the web at

www.extension.iastate.edu/washington or at

the Extension Office. These nominations

will not be reviewed until October, when all

nominations have been received.

Nominate someone today, so you don’t for-

get their hard work and dedication!

Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame

Each year we able to elect one person/couple from Washington

County to be inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. This per-

son can be living or deceased. We have so many well deserving

volunteers in our county and we are looking for suggestions from

you. Send Kati, Kpeiffer@iastate.edu an e-mail of someone you

think should be inducted and why. Youth Committee will re-

view the suggestions. This is a great award. Past awardees

have been: Esther Birney, Elmer Schneider, Mike Orris, Howard

& Shirley Bohr, Gary Murphy, Robert Spenner, Marie Hora,

Donnie Davison, and Pat Greiner.

4-H is Fun Leader’s Conference

A great opportunity for 4-H volunteers to network with other

volunteers from southeast Iowa.

When: March 19th Time: 9:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Where: Indian Hills-Ottumwa

Registration: due March 1st Cost: $10 (includes lunch)

For more information contact the Extension Office

Mentor a Clover Kid

Members of Washington County Clover Kids are future 4-H members. Help them get a jump start on learning

about 4-H opportunities and take on a leadership role by mentoring a young member.

Current mentor opportunities for fair

Sheep Mentoring-those 4-H’ers who have shown sheep for at least one year can be paired up with a clover kid.

The clover kid will come out to your farm, you teach them a little about sheep and then following the sheep show at

the fair, the Clover Kids will get to show your sheep in a special class.

Clothing Event-those 4-H’ers who have participated in Clothing Selection, Fashion Revue or $15 Challenge can

be paired up with a Clover Kid. You speak to them about the Clothing Event experience. They meet with a judge

with you and then they have a style revue during the fair.

If you want to mentor a Clover Kid, but it doesn’t fit into these areas, contact the Extension Office about your

idea and we can see about adding new things. To sign-up contact the Extension Office by May 1st.

Page 7 4-H Family Focus Newsletter

WASHINGTON COUNTY FAIR DATES!

Sun. Ju ly 17—Fr i . Ju ly 22

Non- l i ves tock Judg ing—Sa t . Ju ly 16

L ives tock we igh - in & l i ves tock judg ing contes t—

Mon. Ju ly 18

Attendance Reminder… In order to exhibit at the Washington County Fair you must attend club meetings. Any member missing more than 3 times without a legitimate excuse will not be able to show. This ruling is in the Fair Book!

STATE AWARD OPPORTUNITIES

4-H’ers have the opportunity to apply for the following area and state recognition events. Applications are due by February 1. Interviews will be Saturday, March 26 in Ames.

State 4-H Council—10th & 11th graders can apply for State 4-H Council. This group acts as ambassadors for the

state 4-H program by providing input and helping with planning of state events.

National 4-H Congress—10th & 11th graders can participate in a forum to discuss issues important to youth and

learn more about making contributions in our community. This event takes place Nov. 25-29, 2011.

National 4-H Conference—9th-11th graders gather at the National 4-H Center tentatively March 24-29, 2011 and

discuss the future 4-H program needs at the national level.

State Project Awards—9th-12th graders can apply for this award to receive recognition for participating, learning,

and evaluating 4-H experiences.

Iowa Youth Technology Corps—9th-11th graders will meet with teens from around Iowa to develop a community

service project, use the latest technology tools, promote technology, and gain leadership skills. This opportunity is also

available to non 4-H’ers.

All opportunities include an application form, support material or audio tape/video tape, and an interview. Applications

and support material due to the State 4-H Office by February 1st. Contact the Extension Office for an application.

Pictures of Shari Temple

Cindy Hinckley & Jennifer Wag-

ner are looking for pictures of

Shari Temple. Please look over

your county fair and other event

photos to see if Shari is in them.

Shari’s family lost their home in a

fire in December.

You can e-mail photos to jwag-

ner@highland.k12.ia.us or chinck-

ley@stjameswashington.org or

bring them to the Extension Of-

fice.

Support the Troops

If you are interested in sending valentines or care packages to

deployed soldiers, addresses are available at

www.iowanationalguard.com/PublicAffairs/Duty/DeployedUni

tAddresses.htm

Junior Duck Stamp Contest

Youth in grades K-12th can submit artwork of North American

waterfowl for the Iowa Junior Duck Stamp Contest. For more in-

formation go to www.fws.gov/juniorduck. Entries must be post-

marked by March 15th. Remember to check out project hot sheets at:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/projects

The Recruitment Winners are……. Crooked Creek 4-H Club. They recruited 12 new members. The club will receive a $50 pizza party. Congratulations Crooked Creek! The Washington Clover Kids were the winners of the Clover Kid’s Recruitment Contest. They recruited 21 new members. They will receive a $25 ice cream party. Congratulations Washington Clover Kids!

Great Job to everyone! We have a total of 80 new members so far. Keep recruiting!!

New! Studio 4-H Club

Do you enjoy animation and film-

making? 4-H has a new statewide

virtual 4-H club focusing on digital

storytelling. If you are interested in joining

contact the Extension Office.

Almost there…..

Each year we strive to grow our 4-H memberships

by 3%. This year we need to have 434 members en-

rolled to meet this goal. Currently we have…..422

members. Twelve more members are needed to

meet our goal. Recruit your friends and family

members to join!!!

Leaders: if you still have enrollments out there,

please turn them in immediately!!! 4-H Displays needed:

In the Extension Office Conference

Room is a display case that was

made several years ago by former

4-H’er Braden Gaal. We would like

to invite your club to create a dis-

play for this case. You can focus

on activities your club is doing,

historical, club or individual pro-

jects. Anything you want featuring

4-H & your club!!

Lets show visitors to our confer-

ence room what 4-H is all about.

Page 8 Feb./March 2011

4-H Camera Corps

This is a fun opportunity for youth who enjoy photography. This

allows members to expand their photography and photojourna-

lism skills. The theme for 2011 is “rural Iowa Architecture,”

which could include, but not limited to farmsteads, barns, main

streets and bridges.

For more information and application visit

www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/projects/Iowa4-hcameracorps.com

182 4-H’ers, family members and friends

enjoyed the Skating Party on Jan. 23rd.

Page 9 Feb./March 2011

New Non-livestock

Classes

The State 4-H Office has made changes to the classes for non-livestock

exhibits. Washington County will follow these class changes in order to stay

consistent.

The changes came from an attempt to make things simpler. Now, instead of

a project area having 3-5 classes under that project area, there is one class

per project area.

For example project area: Home Improvement

Old Classes: Design in the Home

Furniture in the Home

Accessories for the Home

Fabrics in the Home

Maintenance in the Home

Other Home Improvement Idea

New Class: Home Improvement

The class description reads: An exhibit that shows learning in

planning, improving and caring for your home living space.

Exhibits may include new or refinished/reclaimed/restored items.

All class descriptions are short and simple like the above one for Home Im-

provement. For a full listing before the Fair Book comes out go to:

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/statefair/ and it’s in the left column

under Exhibitor Info, called 2011 4-H Exhibit Rules

This is Your

Washington County

4-H Newsletter

Feb.-March

Iowa State University Cooperative Extension Washington County District 2223 250th St. Washington, IA 52353-1743

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