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4-H Clover Patch

Dorchester County 4-H Youth Development Newsletter

September - October 2017

Dorchester County 4-H 501 Court Lane, Room 208 Cambridge, MD 21613 Phone: (410) 228-8800 Navonne Owen 4-H Agent Associate nowen@umd.edu Missy Tucker 4-H Program Assistant metucker@umd.edu Lisa Trice 4-H Administrative Assistant ltrice@umd.edu

Website: http://extension.umd.edu/ dorchester-county Facebook:

University of Maryland Extension – Dorchester County 4-H

Onward to Fall...

What a busy summer it was. We were busy teaching outreach programs at the library and schools, hosting Fair Prep Workshops, and prepping for the county and state fair.

Speaking of the Fair, the annual county Fair does not happen without the many hours of planning and hard work before, during, and after. Thank you to all the Dorchester County volunteers, members, and families that helped with various tasks to get the 4-H Park ready, helped with judging, worked in the kitchen, assisted with the horse/livestock shows, prepared and served the nightly dinners, helped clean-up, and so much more. We were impressed with the amount of participation and spirit that Dorchester County members and families showed throughout the Fair. Your help and support is appreciated.

Now, we look onward to Fall and the great opportunities that await you. Make sure to read about the 4-H booth at the Hurlock Fall Fest, 4-H Volunteer Forum for youth and adults, Mid-Shore STEM Festival and much more that will take place the next few months. You will also find Fair results, important record book reminders, and other noteworthy items.

Don’t forget to celebrate National 4-H Week, which is October 1-7. We encourage you to invite a friend to join Dorchester County 4-H!

We look forward to seeing you all this Fall!

Navonne Owen, 4-H Agent Associate

Missy Tucker, 4-H Program Assistant

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We are excited to welcome two new UME 4-H volunteers to our program:

Amanda Lehmann - 4-H Leprechauns

Erica Willing - County-wide volunteer

4-H Horse Jamboree 2017 The Maryland 4-H Horse Jamboree was held in July at the Patuxent River 4-H Center in Upper Marlboro. Dorchester County sent three 4-H members and one adult chaperone this year. Members included Kaitlyn Bradley, Madalyn Wagner, and Rachel Widmaier. The group was chaperoned by 4-H volunteer Lisa Widmaier. Thank you Lisa!

The group reports that they had an excellent time at their first Jamboree. They participated in: workshops, demonstrations, horse skill-a-thon contest, games, recreation, crafts, a mock rodeo, and many hands-on activities with horses. Favorite activities of the Dorchester participants included the mock rodeo, the bonfire, the workshops, and watching the movie “Spirit.”

Special shout-out to Rachel Widmaier for teaching and leading a workshop on photography! This was a great way to share your photography knowledge, skills, and talents with your peers!

MD 4-H Congress 2017

By Rachel Widmaier, State 4-H Council Representative

I attended the Maryland 4-H Congress June 20-24, 2017 at the University of Maryland College Park. Maryland 4-H’ers got to choose between 7 different career tracks which consisted of: Agriculture and Animal Science, Agronomy and Plant Science, Creative and Fine Arts, Communications and Journalism, Law and Policy, Engineering, and Healthy Living. We stayed in campus resident halls, ate in dining halls and toured campus classrooms, labs and facilities. This provided opportunities to explore careers and experience life on a college campus.

I chose the Agriculture and Animal Science track where we learned how the care and production of both agriculture and animals impact our environment, health and wellness. We sat in on lectures about livestock management, equine studies, and environmental law. Along with the equine studies lecture we took a quick trip down to the barn and met all the horses.

All 5 days of congress were busy and jam-packed with fun. The first night we had a Kick-Off BBQ. Throughout the week we played lots of games including my favorite, team charades. We even went to an Orioles game and rode there on coach buses with free Wi-Fi! Crazy!

I very much enjoyed my week at Maryland 4-H Congress. I made many new friends that I continue to keep in contact with. I hope to come back next year to explore a different track!

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Caroline/Dorchester County Fair -Thanks & Results

The 2017 Caroline/Dorchester County Fair was a big success! We had great weather and help from many Dorchester 4-H families and friends. Thank you to all the members, leaders, volunteers, parents, families, and friends who helped with Fair set-up, helped during the Fair (working in the ice cream booth, working in the kitchen, preparing for the nightly Fair dinners, assisted with the various shows and Fair events, helped in the 4-H indoor exhibit area, helped with clean-up) and so much more. We appreciate and thank all of you who helped in some way!

Congratulations to all our members on your achievements! We are very proud of you. Check out the Dorchester 4-H achievements:

4-H Indoor Exhibits: Rilynn Blake - Champion Intermediate, House Plants, Dish Gardens & Terrariums Kaitlyn Bradley - Champion Intermediate, Home Environment - Champion Intermediate, Cookies - Res. Champion Intermediate, Decorated Cakes - Res. Champion Intermediate, Art - Champion Intermediate, Hay Grace Brinsfield - Res. Champion Senior, Decorated Cakes - Champion Senior, Pies Natalee Emerson - Res. Champion Junior, Clothing - Champion Junior, Crafts Emma Lehmann - Champion Junior, Art - Res. Champion Junior, Crafts Ali Todd - Res. Champion Intermediate, House Plants, Dish Gardens & Terrariums Madalyn Wagner - Res. Champion Intermediate, Cookies Rachel Widmaier - Champion Intermediate, Quick Breads - Champion Intermediate, Decorated Cakes - Champion Intermediate, Food Pres.

- Champion Intermediate, Photography - Champion Intermediate, Art - Champion Intermediate, Crafts - Champion Intermediate, Poster Art Trailblazers 4-H Club - Champion, Club Scrapbook

Horse Shows:

Speed Show

Rilynn Blake - Barrels, Participant - Pole Bending, Participant - Key Hole, Participant - Mystery, Participant - Egg & Spoon Race, Participant - Ribbon Race, 5th - Dollar Bareback, Participant

Ali Todd - Barrels, 3rd - Pole Bending, 3rd - Key Hole, 2nd - Dollar Bareback, Participant

Chloe Turner - Barrels, Participant - Pole Bending, 3rd - Key Hole, 5th - Mystery, 6th - Dollar Bareback, Participant

Madalyn Wagner - Key Hole, Participant

Rachel Widmaier - Barrels, 6th - Pole Bending, Participant - Key Hole, 4th - Mystery, Participant - Egg & Spoon Race, Participant - Dollar Bareback, 6th Caroline Wilson - Barrels, Participant - Pole Bending, Participant

Dave Wilson - Barrels, 2nd - Pole Bending, 1st - Key Hole, 5th - Dollar Bareback, Participant

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English & Western Show

Rilynn Blake - Halter Gelding, Participant - Showmanship 12-18, Participant - Western Pleasure Walk/Jog 12-18, 6th - Western Pleasure Walk/Jog/Lope 12–18, 5th - Western Horsemanship Walk/Jog 12-18, 5th - Western Horsemanship Walk/Jog/Lope 12-18, 4th - Trail 12–18, 3rd - Junior Equitation Walk/Trot, 4th - Junior Equitation Walk/Trot/Canter, 3rd - Hunter Walk/Trot, 4th - Hunter Walk/Trot/Canter, Participant

Kaitlyn Bradley - Halter Gelding, Participant - Showmanship 12–18, 5th - Open Walk, 4th

Ali Todd - Halter Gelding, Participant - Halter Pony, 2nd - Showmanship 11 & Under, 5th - Western Horsemanship 11 & Under, 4th - Trail 11 & Under, 4th & 6th - Short Stirrup Walk/Trot, 3rd - Short Stirrup Walk/Trot/Canter, 3rd - Short Stirrup Over Fences, 2nd - English Pleasure Walk/Trot, Participant - English Pleasure Walk/Trot/Canter, 4th

- English Pleasure Over Fences, 2nd - Hunter Walk/Trot, 6th - Hunter Walk/Trot/Canter, 4th - Hunter Over Fences, 1st - Overall Hunter Reserve Champion

Chloe Turner - Halter Mare, Participant - Showmanship 12–18, 2nd - Western Pleasure Walk/Jog 12–18, 5th - Western Pleasure Walk/Jog/Lope 12-18, 6th - Western Horsemanship Walk/Jog 12-18, 4th - Western Horsemanship Walk/Jog/Lope 12-18, 2nd - Trail 12–18, 4th

Madalyn Wagner - Halter Mare, 6th - Showmanship 12–18, Participant - Western Pleasure Walk/Jog 12–18, Participant - Western Pleasure Walk/Jog/Lope 12–18, Part. - Western Horsemanship Walk/Jog 12-18, 6th - Western Horsemanship Walk/Jog/Lope 12-18, 5th - Trail 12–18, 6th

Rachel Widmaier - Junior Equitation Walk/Trot, 1st - Junior Equitation Walk/Trot/Canter, 1st - Junior Equitation Over Fences, 1st - Hunter Walk/Trot, 5th - Hunter Walk/Trot/Canter, 3rd - Hunter Over Fences, 3rd - Overall Junior Equitation Champion

Additional Fair results, including livestock shows, will be included in the next newsletter...

Maryland State Fair Results Congratulations to the following 4-Hers/4-H Club for their participation and achievements at MSF:

4-H Leprechauns - 4-H promo booth, Participation

Kaitlyn Bradley - Color photo - Digitally altered, 7th - Color photo - People, 5th - Color photo - Flowers, Participation - Color photo - Landscape, Participation - Child care book, 2nd - Holiday ornament, Participation - Jewelry, Participation - Loom weaving, 10th - Clay craft - molded, Participation

Emma Lehmann - Acrylic painting, 4th - Decorative painting, 8th - Tie-Dye, Participation - Color photo - Animal, Participation - Color photo - Landscape, 10th

Rachel Widmaier - Color pencil drawing, Participation - Pencil drawing, 1st; Pen & Ink drawing, 3rd - Charcoal drawing, 4th; Mixed media, 5th - B & W photo - Maryland, 1st - B & W photo - Animal, 3rd - Color photo - Animal, 3rd - Color photo - Flowers, 5th - Decorative painting, 6th - Clay sculpture, 3rd; String art, 5th - Decorative wreath, 4th; Quilling, 1st - Pickled Beets, 1st

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4-H Club News The 4-H Robotics Afterschool Club is back in action. The club will meet every Friday from 4:15-5:30 pm at the Cambridge Library. The program is for youth in grades K-4, but will be expanding to include older youth in grades 5-8.

Members work together to build and program robots of all shapes, sizes, and abilities using Legos and programming software on laptops and iPads. Come join the fun! Contact club leader, John Dabney, at jdabney@dorchesterlibrary.org for more information.

4-H in Action Newspaper - Submissions Needed

Maryland 4-H creates and prints a 4-H in Action Newspaper; it is a supplement for The Delmarva Farmer . The goal of the supplement is to be written by 4-H members across the state, covering Maryland geographically, 4-H participation, and diverse projects.

4-H members can write stories, editorials, testimonials, columns and submit pictures to the paper. We encourage 4-H youth to reflect on the activities of their club, county and state in the past year.

Submissions are due September 25th. Please send all submissions to: sean@americanfarm.com.

Here are the details:

a. News Story- this is an article about an event/happening/experience/person written in the 3rd point of view. About 500 words. Example: a reporter interviewing the state 4-H communications winner and then writing the story about the contest and the winner.

b. Editorial- the newspaper's opinion on a topic or issue, supported with facts. Example: 4-H members opinion on the power of 4-H on youth.

c. Column- a story from the first person point of view. Example: My experience traveling to National 4-H Congress

d. Briefs- short article announcing event, workshop, small news. Covers the basic who, what, when, where, why. 100-200 words. Example: New Club formed in your county

e. Feature Photo-picture with longer caption. Caption has 3-5 sentences explaining picture and giving context.

National 4-H Week will be here soon and it’s time to consider how you and your club can promote 4-H. Some suggestions include: making posters to hang in businesses, libraries, schools; wearing 4-H shirts to work, school, and activities; writing and submitting an article about 4-H/your club to local newspapers; and having a fundraiser at a local store/site. It is also a great time to say thank you and recognize your club volunteers and leaders for their continued leadership and support.

We can provide poster board and other supplies so let us know how we can help you celebrate National 4-H Week. If your club does something special to celebrate, please email a photo to Navonne at nowen@umd.edu.

4-H Booth at Hurlock Fall Festival

Dorchester 4-H will have a booth at the annual town of Hurlock Fall Festival on Saturday, October 7th from 9 am to 4 pm (rain date is October 8th).

The Fall Festival is a yearly event featuring a parade, train rides, vendors, kids activities, great food, fireworks, and much more.

We are in need of 4-H members of all ages, parents, and volunteers to assist in the 4-H booth for a one hour shift. Tasks will include:

hand out 4-H promotional materials

run the prize wheel & give out prizes

assist with children’s activities

Please email Navonne or Missy to sign-up for a one hour shift by October 1st.

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4-H Record Book Reminder

Now that the Fair is over, don’t forget to keep working on your 2017 4-H record book. Make sure you record your accomplishments, experiences, and achievements.

Members who still need 4-H record book information, covers, forms, etc. can email Navonne at nowen@umd.edu for materials. Or, visit https://extension.umd.edu/4-h/youth-families/documents for the 4-H summary record and 4-H project records you need for the record book.

Record keeping is an important piece of our daily lives and keeping records in 4-H helps you keep track of what you have learned, experienced, and accomplished over a year. If you need assistance, please let the office know.

2017 4-H Record Books will be due at the end of January 2018.

Senior Portfolios & Applications for 4-H Conference

Did you know?!? Senior level 4-Hers (ages 14-18 as of

January 1st) complete a senior portfolio, consisting of a

resume and an essay, in place of a traditional record book.

Also, Senior level 4-Hers are eligible to apply for a chance

to be selected and attend one of many out-of-state 4-H

trips. In order to apply, senior level 4-Hers must complete

and turn in a 4-H portfolio, fill out an application for the

trip they wish to take, and then participate in an interview.

The out-of-state trips include National 4-H Congress in

Atlanta, Georgia, National 4-H Conference in Washington

D.C., Camp Miniwanca in Michigan, West Virginia 4-H

Camp, and Virginia 4-H Congress.

Portfolios and applications for National 4-H

Conference are due October 15th. Portfolios and

applications for all other trips are due January 15th.

Please visit https://extension.umd.edu/4-h/youth-families/

awards-recognition for portfolio program information, trip

applications, and sample resumes and essays.

State 4-H Council The Maryland State 4-H Council is the premier 4-H

leadership opportunity in Maryland .

Are you 13-18 years old and passionate about

growing the Maryland 4-H program and

developing your own leadership and life skills?

Then you should consider applying to join the

State 4-H Council. Applications are due

December 1st and the materials will be available

soon. Let us know if you are interested or want to

know more. Dorchester County currently has one

representative and we can and should have more,

so we encourage interested teens to apply.

Save the Dates:

• Mid-Shore STEM Festival - Saturday, November 4th

(see flyer for details)

• Christmas in Caroline - annual holiday fundraiser to

benefit the county Fair - Saturday, December 2nd &

Sunday, December 3rd (details will be in next newsletter)

• Dorchester 4-H Family Night - Friday, December 8th

(details will be in next newsletter)

• 4-H Fair Prep Workshop - Tuesday, December 19th

(details will be in next newsletter)

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Maryland 4-H Teen & Volunteer Forum*

*Don’t let the name fool you - there are activities & workshops for 5-11 year olds too! The 2017 4-H Teen & Volunteer Forum will take place November 17th to 19th at the Clarion Inn in Frederick. This weekend event is designed to unite volunteers and teens from around Maryland for engaging training and networking opportunities. Whether you come for a day or stay for the weekend, we hope you come to Learn by Doing in order to help the Maryland 4-H Program make the best better!

The whole family is welcome to come and learning tracks are provided for youth from 5-11 in the Clover, Junior and Intermediate tracks which will easily allow parents to attend the training tracks that span the breadth of 4-H programming; from Agriculture to Camp, Clubs to S.T.E.M. activities. There is something for everyone!

Save the date and plan to join us in Frederick County for a great fall weekend of learning and growing with 4-H youth and volunteers from across the state. We (Navonne & Missy) are both teaching engaging and hands-on workshops and we would love for you to join us.

Registration materials and information will be available soon and sent out via email.

Scholarship monies are available to offset cost of registration for youth and volunteers. Hotel reservations and hotel costs are on your own.

Inquire with Navonne if interested in attending and would like a scholarship toward registration costs.

On the evenings of October 5th, November 2nd, and December 7th, three National 4-H Volunteer e-Forums will be held. The e-Forum is designed for volunteers to come to a central meeting location where they will hear from presenters located across the country and participate in hands-on activities. A variety of speakers, activities, and networking will be provided during each session. Volunteers will gain new ideas, tips, and resources that can be used/shared at the local level. The Caroline County Extension Office will serve as a host site for each of the dates. The e-Forums start at 7 pm. To register for one of the dates, please email Wendi at wpotter@umd.edu.

Information for Club Leaders

Club leaders will be receiving a club financial packet in the mail soon. Please review the

information and be aware of the deadlines.

The following items are due soon:

Annual club financial summary form— due October 15th

990N tax form—must be submitted to IRS online by November 15th (a copy and proof

of submission must be turned in to the Extension Office)

If you have any questions, reach out to Navonne. Thanks for your assistance in getting these

important required forms and items completed by the deadlines.

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