[Image: Clover Clippings graphic]The Rapides Parish 4-H Clover Clippings newsletters provide information to parish 4-H members and contain activities, events and deadlines occurring monthly.
September 2009
4-H Lagniappe
September 28th is the early-bird deadline for 2009-10 4-H club dues to be paid to the parish 4-H office. Dues for all school-based membership is $4.00 per member PLUS any additional fees requested by the local school 4-H club. Local dues should be used to fund club-level activities and events. Please issue one SCHOOL-BASED check for your total membership’s dues and send it to the parish 4-H Office along with the enrollment forms by September 28th. All clubs meeting this earlybird deadline will be eligible for a drawing for a gift certificate to a local business.
ENROLLMENT—please help conserve 4-H project workbooks by requesting ones you will actually complete. 4th-6th grade members will receive one project book; all other grades must select a book or they won’t receive any. Clubs submitting enrollment cards by Sept. 28th will have project workbooks delivered at the October club meeting. **There is now a $3.00 charge for any additional 4-H project workbooks or resource books.**
Parish Fair Rule Books and entry tags/numbers-Get your items ready for entry into the Parish Fair! Rule books will be available from your 4-H agent, your club sponsor or the parish 4-H Office. .
Club officers should all be elected/selected no later than October 1st! Workshops for officers are held in late October and planning for the year should be underway now! We can start judging your October 4-H meeting if you have officers!
4-H Record Book Covers are $3.00 per cover.The parish 4-H Office will NOT offer these covers for sale to 4-H clubs. (Clubs should purchase from the National 4-H Mall.) Individual 4-H’ers may purchase one from their school club or this office.
Dates to Remember/Parish Opportunities
September
Daily Enrollment continues all month
28 Early Bird Deadline-Dues/Enrollment
October
4-10 National 4-H Week
13-18 Rapides Parish Fair
18-24 Character Counts! Week
17-25 Red Ribbon Week
26 Final Deadline, required club reports
27 4-H Officers’ Training Workshop
26-31 State Fair of Louisiana (Shreveport)
November
1-8 State Fair continues
4-H Officer Training
4-H’ers- - -become leaders! You can improve your leadership skills by becoming an officer. Club officers should attend the annual Officers Training on Tuesday, October 27th, 4:30 P.M. at Huddle Elementary on Texas Avenue. Training sessions will be held for President, Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, Reporter/ Publicity, Health Chairman, Safety Chairman, Community Service Chairman, and Character Ed Chairman. Clubs may elect/select other officers (example-Historian) but there will not be a session for those officers. Parents and Club Leaders are encouraged to attend the Parent/Leader Orientation Seminar held the same day.
4-H Teens—Taking it Outside
Do you like working at the Alexandria Zoo? Have you always wanted to work in the 4-H Barnyard Nursery? What about helping with a food drive or ringing a bell for the Red Kettle Drive? Doing clean ups? Riding in a parade? If you like these types of service projects and want to get involved then check out two leadership clubs for 4-H teens.
4-H Teens In Action Club- - -open to 7th & 8th grade 4-H’ers who want to make a difference in the community while having fun with other young teens. Membership in this club is in addition to membership in your school 4-H club. Club activities include meetings, social time and volunteer work.
4-H Teen Leader Club- - - open to high school 4-H members. Members elect their own officers, plan their service-learning projects and create their own awards system. This group meets 4-6 times a year for business and then works on projects each month all over the parish. Of course, there are a lot of times when we meet just to eat, play and have fun!
Membership in either of these clubs is in addition to membership in your school 4-H club. Dues are $15.00 for the year; applications are available by request. Contact the parish 4-H Office at 767-3968 for enrollment materials.
4-H. . .The Original Green
During October, 4-H’ers across Rapides Parish and Louisiana will celebrate 4-H with a special week of activities. This celebration, set for October 4th -10th, is known as National 4-H Week. Help promote the development of your head, heart, hands and health by planning fun activities in your school to showcase 4-H. Our parish focus is the environment and how 4-H has always has always been “green in its mission” - - -in Louisiana, it’s since 1908! We want clubs to get messages out locally about 4-H and its benefits. Here are ideas: green/white day, morning announcements, teacher treats, art/coloring contests, prize giveaways, and more! Call the 4-H office at 767-3968 for more ideas & to report club activities.
Shooting Sports
If you like the outdoors and want to learn about firearm safety and improve your marksmanship you need to join the 4-H Shooting Sports Club. 4-H’ers can participate in workshops and contest related to archery, rifle, rifle, shotgun and pistol. Call the 4-H Office for more information or obtain an entry form from the 4-H agent at your club meeting. Any parent wants to get certified to assist with the shooting sports program please contact Mr. Rodney about attending the training Lake Charles on October 3rd.
The Fair is Coming
The annual Rapides Parish Fair will be held October 13th-18th at the Rapides Parish Coliseum & fairgrounds in Alexandria. All items for competition must be entered on October 13th between the hours of 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the Rapides Parish Exhibition Hall.
All non-livestock items will be judged on Wednesday, October 14th except 4-H Baking which must be entered on Thursday, October 15th from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. 4-H Baking items will be judged on Friday morning.
Livestock is due on Wednesday, Oct. 14th-see the Fair book for a complete schedule. Fair books will soon be available at the 4-H office.
4-H Kids for Character:
Making your school, community and world a better place is one of the responsibilities of a 4-H club member. But the first place to start working on character is within you. Become a 4-H Kid of Character and you’ll be a “TRRFCC” (terrific) kid if you focus on these traits: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship.
Look here each month for tips on developing your character. We will also sponsor some art contests related to character education with some great prizes, so don’t miss out!!
Clovers To...
All 4-H Graduates – We salute you as you begin a new journey in your life. Good luck!
4-H’ers who participated in the annual 4-H Day at the Capitol in Baton Rouge. We had a wonderful time visiting our Legislature, the Capitol, and the LSU campus. Special thanks to all the parent volunteers, too!
Mrs. Liz Pace, Country Day 4-H Sponsor: Mrs. Becky Hartley, parent volunteer; Mr. Chris Soileau, Shooting Sports instructor; and Mrs. Tracy Flynn, Menard/OLPS volunteer, who chaperoned 4-H “U”. You are super chaperones and we appreciate you!
Local parish officials with the Rapides Parish School, Rapides Parish Jury, and the Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office who help sponsor and support our 4-H Youth Development Program. Thanks for being our partners!
Mrs. Tammy Lloid, Mrs. Vickie Clark, Mrs. Alice LeJeune, Mrs. Elaine Woods, Ms. Karen Murray – for participating in the annual Volunteer Leader Training for the Central Region. They learned a lot, picked up great ideas, and had a grand time interacting with other 4-H sponsors from Central Louisiana.
Grace Price, Pineville High; Catherine Brister, Bolton High; and Regina Price, LSMS; for their participation in the 1st Central Region Jr. Leader Retreat. They made some great plans and met lots of other teens at this end-of-summer event.
Mrs. Tammy Lloid, Mrs. Regina Cates and Junior Leader, Carly Knowles for a “super job” assisting with the 4-H Summer Sewing Workshop.
Livestock News
Poultry Testing
All poultry entered for Parish/State Fair must be tested for typhoid/ pullorum. FREE testing will be done on September 19th at the C. Woodrow Dewitt Livestock Facility, 9:00 a.m. to Noon.
Junior Beef Grazing Project
This project consists of grazing a 4-calf pen on 2 ½ acres of winter pasture. Points are awarded for weight increase after a 150-day period starting in December. Finish is on pasture only, no fee. Deadline to notify the parish 4-H Office for this project is October 2, 2009.
Spring Livestock Show
The possession date for spring livestock show will be November 7, 2009 for beef breeding, commercial heifers, market lambs, breeding goats and dairy animals. All market and commercial animals will be validated and tagged on November 7, 2009 at the Dewitt Livestock Facility from 9:00 a.m. until noon. (Validation and tagging is mandatory).
Possession date for market hogs will be December 5, 2009 and all market hogs must be tagged and validated at the DeWitt Livestock Facility on December 5, 2009 from 9:00 a.m. till noon. For more information contact Mr. Rodney at 767-3968 and to get your name on the livestock mailing list.
4-H U –“Rush” Into College
Thirty-seven teens attended 4-H “U” in June at LSU-BR. Some attended Clover College sessions; others competed in state contests.
Congratulations to:
Spencer Dorsey (Peabody)-2nd, 4-H Has Talent; Sarah Munsen (at lg)- 4th, Fashion Revue; Justin Barrett (Menard) & Steven Breithaupt (Buckeye)- Blue Ribbon, Compact Tractor; Khloee Gough (Oak Hill) & Adrianne Vallee (ACDS)-4th, Ag Demo; Regina Price (at lg)-Blue Ribbon, Soybean Talk; Benjamin Fontenot (PHS)-Blue Ribbon, ATV; Catherine Brister (Bolton)-5th, Child Development; Hannah Munsen (at lg)-5th, Fashion Revue; Cameron Wilson (CCHSA) & TJ Brown (ASH)- Blue Ribbon, Ind. Outdoor Skills; Mary Alice Nugent & Megan Nugent (Menard)-5th , Consumer Decision Making; Katelyn Pace (Bolton), Cameron Wilson (CCHSA) & Jacob Chicola (Buckeye)-5th, Team Outdoor Skills. Special “congrats”—Heather Fontenot-(PHS) State 4-H scholarship winner; Hannah Munsen (at lg)-2nd yr State Fashion Board member; and Sarah Munsen (at lg)- State Food & Fitness Board member.
4-H Record Books Give Great Awards!!!
4-H’ers sometimes must complete paper-based reports that aren’t so fun and require more effort than just attending meetings. 4-H Record Books are one of those, but…it proves to be worth the effort for 4-H’ers named winners in State Records! Congratulations to the following:
Catherine Brister, Bolton---State Winner,4-H Citizenship Record; TJ Brown, ASH –-State Winner, 7th/8th Grade Achievement Records; Haley Williams, Buckeye High—Blue Ribbon Winner, 7th/8th Grade Achievement Records and Blue Ribbon winner, Livestock Record; and Christopher Solieau, Northwood - recognized as a participant in State Records competition. Catherine will receive a trip to National 4-H Club Congress in Atlanta, Georgia and TJ will travel to Baton Rouge/New Orleans on the La.4-H Educational trip. These trips are their rewards for placing 1st on the State Levels and are free to these 4-H members through sponsors. FANTASTIC!
Adult volunteers received top honors at State Records competition, too! Congrats to Mrs. Liz Pace, state winner in the “4-H Salute to Excellence” and Blue Ribbon winner in the Adult Leader category. She will now compete for Regional and National honors. Additional congrats to Mr. Chris Soileau who is the 1st Alternate winner in the “4-H Salute to Excellence” leader program. Mr. Ronald Williams, a livestock parent, has been named the “4-H Alumni Winner”.
4-H LOST Camp
A number of 4-H’ers had the experience of participating in the annual L.O.S.T. camp! LOST camp is an adventure where 7th/8th graders get a chance to learn forensics and robotics, study the wetlands, experience outdoor skills such as GPS, shoot air pistols and much more! This year’s campers having a blast at LOST camp were: Haley Williams, Hannah Boudreaux, Melody Hartley, Jasmine Roger, Alyssa Lloid, TJ Brown, Jacob Chicola, and Steven Breithupt. “KUDOS” to Mrs. Becky Hartley, our volunteer leader at this camp.
Summer 4-H Camp:
“It will grow on you”!
About 96 4-H’ers from Rapides Parish had a blast at summer 4-H camp. Campers participated in classes ranging from Outdoor Skills to Nature to Technology to Drama to Nutrition. They also swam, canoed, danced and played while making new friends. Special thank-you’s to the teens counselors: Heather Fontenot, Katelyn Pace, Catherine Brister, Ian Williams, Justin Johnson, and Benjamin Fontenot. They were awesome! Thanks also to Mrs. Liz Pace and Colt Brister (Collegiate 4-H) who served as additional chaperones. You each represented 4-H so well!
PLEASE NOTE: If you have a disability, which requires special assistance for your participation in any 4-H activity, please contact one of the 4-H agents at 767-3968.
All 4-H programs are open to members regardless of race, color, creed, sex, religion, national origin or handicap.
Rapides Parish Extension Office
300 Grady Britt Drive
Alexandria, Louisiana 71302
(318) 767-3968
(318)767-3971(Fax)
Your 4-H Agents are: Mrs. Ophelia Allen, Mrs. Lois Brister & Mr. Rodney Johnson