Litchfield County 4-H News and Notes (May-June 2007)

Litchfield County 4-H

Litchfield County 4-H News and Notes

May-June 2007

Litchfield County 4-H Foundation Scholarships

The office has already mailed out scholarship applications to senior 4-H’ers and those in college, but if we missed you, call us! We will get an application out to you. They are due by the end of May, with interviews in June.

4-H Summer Program Assistants Start

Welcome to Katherine Houk and Meagan Scott, both of Litchfield, this year’s summer 4-H program staff. They are both 4-H alumni, Katherine was active in the Litchfield County 4-H Beef Club and Meagan in the Laurel Riders 4-H Clube. They started the last week of May and will be working until the week following the 4-H Fair. They have an exciting line-up of programs planned for the recreation sites and will be in about eight different communities in Litchfield County. Their final couple of weeks will involve working on the 4-H Fair.

The 4-H Fair Turns 75 In 2007!

We are planning to come up with a history of the fair and 4-H Clubs, especially since the 50^th Fair. Please help us out. We are requesting each 4-H club write a club history It is our goal to compile an historical overview of clubs here in the county. It can be as detailed or as simple as you would like. Please do it today!

A Quilt is in the works for the 75^th

4-H Fair – Actually 3 quilts- 25 years depicted on each - courtesy of Becky Petro, Martha and Chris Burr. But we still need HELP! Do you know anyone who has a collection of old Litchfield County 4-H Fair Books? Somehow, the 4-H office does not have fair books from 1952, 1968, 1972, 1973. And we really would like to have them for the official historical collection. Also the Fair Book covers are the main feature of the quilts.

Did you know that this year we will be celebrating the 75^th annual 4-H fair? The First Annual Exhibition of the Litchfield County 4-H Fair Association was held Wednesday Aug. 30, 1933 at the American Legion Hall in Goshen CT In 1939 the Exhibition moved to the State Park, Lake Waramaug. 1941 the Exhibition moved to the Goshen Fairgrounds. During 1942-1945 the Association discontinued its own fair during the War years. In 1944 &1945 the Goshen Agricultural Society invited Litchfield County 4-Hers to hold a county wide exhibition in conjunction with their fair on Labor day. In 1946 the Fair Association extended a hearty welcome to all 4-H club members to attend the 12^th annual fair at the

Harwinton Fair grounds. 1949-1968 the Fair was a t the 4-H Center in Warren. 1967-69 saw a split 4-H fair, the Livestock show was separate from the Home show. Since 1969 the 4-H Fair has been held at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen. We are hoping to compile a club history booklet , so many clubs have had a rich and interesting history. Won’t you record and share your club history?

Brush up on fair facts and trivia for the fair. Do you have an interesting piece of trivia to share? Write it down and give it to Jann. We will be asking trivia all weekend at the fair.

2007 CT Livestock Regulations for Fairs and Shows

According to State Veterinarian Dr. Mary Jane Lis, the 2007 regulations from the Connecticut Department of Agriculture will remain the same as 2006. Changes are being made which have had to go through the legislative process and which will be effective next year.

A copy of the 2006/2007 regulations is enclosed. Please look at the requirements for all species you show. “In-state” refers to Connecticut animals going to Connecticut fairs. “Out-of-state” refers to animals from other states coming into Connecticut. If you plan to show your animals in another state (including Massachusetts if going to Eastern States Exposition), you need to contact that state to find out what their requirements are.

Poultry need to have leg bands and be tested for Salmonella pullorum and

Avian Influenza within 1 year of a show date. Waterfowl, pigeons and doves must also be banded. Please call Mary Joaquin at the CT Department of Agriculture, 860-713-2504 or 860-713-2540 to arrange for banding and testing by CT Department of Agriculture personnel. There is just a $1 per bird fee for the pullorum test. Allow a minimum of 2 weeks before your first show.

All sheep and goats must have official USDA-approved identification. If you have any questions about the state regulations, call the State Department of Agriculture at

860-713-2504.

Superintendents are required to check your livestock health papers at any show you attend. State inspectors come to fairs to verify compliance.

Camperships Available

Litchfield County 4-H’ers who are attending any of the CT 4-H camps this summer can apply for camperships from the Litchfield County 4-H Foundation. Call the 4-H office to request an application.

Remember- You can go online and access 4-H Record books, Enrollment forms, Animal Verification Forms and information on upcoming statewide 4-H events.

www.canr.uconn.edu/fourh

GOOD JOB! YOU DID IT! 2007 Friend of 4-H and Fairbook Ad Campaign

Thank you to the following 4-Hers who brought in just under $6000 for the 2007 Friend of 4-H and Ad campaign. Two 4-Hers brought in over $1000 and won jackets, congratulations to Meg Tanner and Rene Boardman. Bringing in over $250 and winning sweatshirts are: Tess Kalin, Melisa Magini, Gaby Grela ,Matt McEachern, Kelea Flynn, and Danny Flynn. And winning T-Shirts for bringing in over $100 are: Kara Gabriel, Chrissy Zagurski, Kathleen Carey, Mallory Scott, Codi Deakin, Katie LeClrec, and Jake Magini.

Also contributing were, Alex Sauer, Melinda Pilbin, Mikayla Elwell, Shelby Elwell, Jenifer Bailey, Joe Perry, Chelsie Girolumo, Jesse Miller, Chelsea Mangan, Jenny Cappello, and Dylan Thorpe. Good job all, and thanks again. This is what helps to pay for 4-H fair expenses.

BIG E OPPORTUNITY FOR

4-H CLUBS

Connecticut 4-H clubs are invited to present an activity booth at the Eastern States Exposition in the New England Center on Sunday September 30, 2007. An activity booth is defined as an ongoing educational presentation involving one or two people that demonstrates to the public something learned in 4-H. The most successful activity booths are organized so that the fairgoer can participate in the process (makes something and/or contributes to a larger process) The presentation or

process is repeated over and over. Admission and parking passes are provided after the participation request is received. It takes at least 6 participants- 2 or 3 rotating shifts to keep a booth operating. Adults are not allowed to work in the booth. There is also an opportunity to participate in the daily parade. Cost of materials, within reason, will be reimbursed upon submission of the necessary receipts.

For complete information and Participation Request please contact the 4-H office.

Litchfield County was well Represented at the 2007 State

4-H Day

Congratulations to all of the ribbon winners. In Fashion Revue Colleen McCurdy earned a spot in the State Court of Honor. Visual Presentations: Hilary Wiles LaFayette was the State Contest winner. Peter Hill won the Junior Photography Contest. Public Speaking: Kalea Flynn represented Litchfield County.

Other contestants: Art Contest - Mikala Adams, Ally Hill, Kelly Sprague, Caroline Sullivan, Emily Sullivan, Margaret. Photography Contest: Mikala Adams, Gabrielle Grela, Victoria Havens, Ally Hill , Tessa Kalin, Rachel Scott, Kelly Sprague. Textile Arts Contest: Jennifer Cappello

State 4-H Citizenship Day- April 18- A Success!

Highlights of the day included:

*keynote remarks by Representative Kenneth Green, Hartford

*expert panel on the issue of teen violence, including Senator Coleman, Representative Lawlor, City of Hartford Social Worker Mr. Cummings,

Fatherhood program coordinators Mr. Moye and Mr. Delgado, CT Against Gun Violence co-director Mr. Pintero, Rev. Lane and former gang member and current volunteer with youth Mr. Hardy.

*teen members of the planning committee leading activities and discussion/planning groups and serving as emcees or moderators

*personal tour of the State Senate with Senator Edith Prague

*Capitol tours

*4-H displays and informal discussion with legislators

*4-H delegates’ discussion group presentations in the Legislative Office Building Hearing Room

*4-H participants from all over Connecticut including Jennifer Owsiany, Garret Thorn and Lyndon Thorn from Litchfield County.

All of these components added up to a great day for 4-H! Congratulations to the State 4-H Citizenship Day Planning Committee. Want to get involved in the next Citizenship Day planning committee? Look for future announcements in the newsletter after September.

Tri-County Fashion Revue and Northern District Food Show

Congratulations to all of the 4-Hers from Litchfiel d County that participated in the Fas hion Revue on March 10^th:

Chelsie Giroloamo, Kirby Bunnell, and Breanna Berg, from the Litchfield Speedy Stitchers. Jessie LeClerc, Olivia Fitzgerald, Katie LeClerc, Colleen McCurdy, and Olivia Ballou from the Bethlehem Busy Stitchers.

Jessie and Colleen were selected to the Court of Honor. Wow!

Litchfield County also was well represented in the district Food Show that was held in January. 4-H’ers participating were: Chelsie Girolamo, Errin Bartomioli, Jenny Cappello, Jess Rubin, Kirby Bunnell, Martina Sprague, Mikala Elwell, Natalie Allyn, Shelby Elwell, Tyler Stebben, and Nicole Mueller.

It’s great to see 4-H’ers trying different projects and activities!

Public Speaking Contests

Congratulations to everyone who participated in the 2007 CT Horse Communications Contests. In Jr. Team Demonstration Gabrielle Grela and Shelby Elwell placed second. In Sr. Team Demonstration Sarah McEachern and Megean Scott placed first. In Sr. Public Speaking Rachael Scott was first. In Jr public speaking there were 15 entries and Mikaila Adams placed first, Kelea Flynn was second, and Panagiota Togridis was fifth. Codi Deakin, Amber Nogiec, Martina Sprague and Caroline Sulllivan also participated and did well. Sr. individual demonstrations had 8 contestants and Hilary Wiles –LaFayette placed third and Violet Stewart was 7^th. That’s awesome! Keep up the good work!

In the Northern District Public Presentations Contest Kelea Flynn was first and Lisa Dauten was second in the Public Speaking section. Hilary Wiles –LaFayette placed first in Visual Presentations section. Great job!

Washington DC Bound for Citizenship Washington Focus are Lisa Dauten, Jenifer Owsiany, Rachel Scott, Garret Thorn, Lyndon Thorn and Chrissy Zagurski. They will attend the week long Washington Citizenship Focus program at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in July. We will look forward to their presentations about their trip upon their return.

Notes from our clubs….

Litchfield County Reptile, Animal, & Organics 4-H Club

April Meeting Notes:

Members Johnny, Drew, Cameron and Reece were present. Meeting started at 6:53 pm. Johnny started with the pledge of allegiance and the 4H pledge.
Banner and Posters for the Fair -
We need a banner for the Fair that is larger than last year. It should be 10-15 feet long. Looking for a dragon kite to use as the banner. Posters- have a Tomato and an Herb poster. Each person will then make an informational poster on whatever they are bringing to the
fair. It should be a free-standing poster.
Need to think about games for the Fair.
Also, we should fill out appropriate animal verification forms/project records sent from UCONN.
Field Trip to the Beardsley Zoo - thinking about mid to late June.
Loraine will get more details.
The New York Reptile Expo is this Sunday, April 22nd from 10am-4pm.
There will be another show in NY in July and a smaller show in New
Hampshire around October.
We will be sending our meeting minutes to Laura Marek at UCONN.
There is a web page for each 4H group where we can post info about
our group. Glenn is finding out more information. Glenn gave a handout on the Red-Eyed Tree Frog.
T-shirts- Apryl is looking into the cost of having a design on the
front and back of a t-shirt. We will go with a green t-shirt and white lettering. The group chose the dragon for the front of the shirt. It will be small and placed on the left. The back will be the dragon, snake, chicken and tomato around the 4H clover. It will be a large design.
Next Meeting – June 19, 2007

Critters and Crafts 4-H Club – Highlighting their Community Service and Club Activities for the Current

4-H Year.

2006: October- Corn maze trip to White Hollow Farm. November- Met at our 4-H leader’s house to assemble tool boxes which were previously cut out by Robert Mueller, one of our members’ dad. November & December- Drive for supplies for troops & packing and shipping of supplies, cookie packing, delivery by horse drawn wagon and singing at Wangum village. Reading and singing to residents at Geer village in the Alzheimers unit.

2007: January- Decorating and assembling lamps at Beads and Beyond. Members Caroline Sullivan, & Martina Sprague participated in State Equine public speaking contest. February- Member Kelly Sprague entered photographs and art in the state 4-H art contest. Members Natalie Allyn, Erin Bartamioli, Nicole Mueller, Tyler Sebben and Martina Sprague participated in the food demonstration with the help of Paul Bartamioli.

Activities Planned: March - CPR class held in Canaan at the ambulance core with the help of Robert Mueller. April- Mosiac tray or planter to be done at our leaders house with the help of Beth Miller a local artist. Members Martina Sprague, Kelly Sprague, Caroline Sullivan and Natalie Allyn participate in the Equine Quiz bowl. May - Horsemanship clinic to be given by Pam Carlson and Bobbi Anderson. Clinic given by Farrier Keith Werner on the horses hoof. August - 4-H Fair

Fund raisers: Can and bottle drive possible once a month and bake sales, to raise money for members to attend 4-H camp. Canaan Railroad Days sale of hotdogs, chips and soda. Funds to be used for activities, cost for materials and or trips

Past community service:

Nov. 25 - Dec. 8, 2006 Critters and Crafts did a local drive for donations of supplies to be sent to the young men and women that are enlisted in the military.

Dec 8th we gathered the supplies from the drop off points and the group put together 8 large boxes to be sent to 6 enlisted men. All the members wrote letters to be included in the boxes. At this point we have received three letters in reply sent directly to the club and one sent directly to a 4-H member.

Dec. 10, 2006: All 18 members of Critters and Crafts 4-H club baked 50 cookies and met at our 4-H leaders house where there were 40 plates to be filled with the cookies. After filling the plates we headed out to a local retirement village, where we delivered the cookies by horse drawn wagon singing Christmas carols to the residents. The children delivered the cookies and helped anyone who wanted a ride on the wagon out to the wagon where the 4-H fathers helped everyone climb aboard.

Dec 21, 2006: Critters and Crafts 4-H group met at Geer Village, a semi full care nursing home, where we read "T'was the Night Before Christmas" and sang Christmas carols to the residents in the Alzheimers unit...

These are the ones we have done.

Up coming community services that are being set up and done now are: More letters to the troops and another drive for supplies. A once a month read/game night at Wangum Village (retirement community), Geer Village and Geer Nursing Home (full time nursing home) These dates are being set up now and will be presented at our next meeting.

We started last year with helping our Chamber of Commerce to run "kid’s night" during the town of Canaan's two week long celebration of Railroad Days. We show up at the location to help set up the game booths, run the games (2 children at each game) for the full 3 hours then help take the games down and put them away for next year. This is a community service that we have done in the past and have already planned to do this year with the Chamber of Commerce. The date is to be determined. The children are happy and look forward to these events and so far ALL have shown up to participate .. Couldn't ask for more!

Would you like to see your club featured in an upcoming newsletter? Email the 4-H Office with what you have been doing. We know there is a lot going on in the county, why not share your experiences with everyone?

DO NOT FORGET TO SEND IN VERIFICATION FORMS

DUE JUNE 1^st

Verification Forms and Records have been mailed to all 4-Hers who have enrolled in animal projects for 2007. If anyone needs records or additional copies you can get them from the Connecticut 4-H web site www.canr.uconn.edu/fourh

National 4-H Policies

If you ever want to research national policies and guidelines visit the National 4-H Headquarters web page – Policies and Regulations:

http:///www.national4hheadquarters.gov/library/4h_polregs

Dates to Add to Your Calendar

June 1 All animal verification forms (except Dairy cattle) are due into the 4-H office, signed and completed.

June 4 "4-H Is More Than You Imagined!" 4-H Conversation, Monday, Tolland County Extension Center, 24 Hyde Avenue, Vernon. 5:30-8:30 p.m. Complete information has been mailed to leaders.

June 6 4-H Fair Association Meeting, 7:30 PM at the 4-H Office. Decide on special contests for the fair - Ag Olympics contest.

July 11 Last Minute Fair details! 7:00 PM at the 4-H Office. Hotdogs and Hamburgers provided tonight, bring chips or a dessert.

Aug 8 Set up Night for the fair at the Goshen Fairgrounds, 6 PM on…

Aug 10 Exhibits due in Home Show building between 4 and 7 PM.

Home Show exhibits judged 7:30 PM until done.

August 11- 12, 2007 75^th Annual Litchfield County 4-H Fair!

Aug 13 & 14 Fair Clean-up at the Goshen Fairground 10 AM until done.

Newsletter prepared by: Jann Carmody-Tanner Laura A. Marek

4-H Program Assistant Cooperative Extension 4-H Educator

An equal opportunity employer and program provider. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, Stop Code 9410, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-910 or call 202.720.5964