Star Party

   

Star Gazing on the street

We are so lucky to have so many partnerships in our community.  Tonight I was part of the annual Star Party which is a partnership between the Robeson County Planetarium, the Partnership for Children, Robeson Community College and of Course Robeson County 4-H.  

Cotton Candy Space Ship

Enjoying some Popcorn

    Each year we close down the street between Exploration Station and the Public Library and have Robot Wars in the street, a telescope, a presentation from Ken Brandt who is the director of the planetarium, free resources about space, fun time in Exploration station and of course popcorn and the most unique cotton candy you can find anywhere.

  About 75 folks from around the county came out and enjoyed the event and learned a little more about the stars, moon, and Artemis II.   

Robot demonstration collecting 
balls.

Dirty Dozen are Aiming to Start Up

 

We are excited to announce that the Dirty Dozen 4-H Club is getting ready to kick off again and this is your invitation to join the club.  Joe Forcier and Josh Woodall are freshly back from 4-H Shooting Sports certification and ready to get our youth inspired and competition ready for rifles. We are thrilled for the opportunity to start this club back up and can't wait to see what our 4-H Volunteers have in store for the kids.

The first meeting will be an interest meeting on May 16th at the 4-H office in Lumberton.  At that meeting you will learn the rules and regulations of the club for the safe and responsible hadnling of firearms.  You will learn about appropriate dress for the range and how things will be run.  We have safety gear for our 4-H members and firearms will be provided at the club meeting so everyone had equal opportunities.  If you are interested in having your child as a part of this club focusing on safety, responsibility, etc please register them through this Eventbrie link.  All youth must be actively enrolled in 4-H Online for 2026 to be part of this meeting.  

Youth Opportunity

 North Carolina Farm Bureau is announcing it's 2025 4-H and FFA Youth Safety Video Contest. We have increased the dollar value of the prizes for this year’s contest to help provide financial incentive for those Chapters and Clubs who participate. Who doesn’t love a little extra cash to go along with promoting safety?

 

Here is a link to the application that has all of our rules and details for submission. https://forms.gle/rFNLZWJLmzgCvm9f9 Everything is ready to share with Advisors, Agents, and Volunteers.

 

This year’s theme is SUN Safety. We hope that by advertising the contest earlier, we can receive more applicants. Last year, we had 25 submissions.

 

1. This contest is for active 4-H Clubs and FFA Chapters, collegiate organizations are not eligible.

2. Record a 30 second TikTok style video focusing on Sun Safety. Be creative - this is your opportunity to shine! Please record your video vertically.

3. Videos must be submitted by 5 pm on September 1st, 2025. A TeamWork link will be provided upon submission of this Google Form to upload your video.

4. Videos that feature, encourage, or highlight unsafe behavior or attitudes will be disqualified.

5. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025 on NCFB Social Media Platforms - Facebook, Instagram, X, and TikTok.

6. Prizes will be awarded to the Top 3 videos: 1st place - $500 for the club or chapter + swag bags for the video production team, 2nd place - $250 for the club or chapter + swag bags for the video production team, 3rd place - $150 for the club or chapter + swag bags for the video production team

Club Meetings for May

 

If you are looking for Club meetings going on in May Check these out and feel free to click the link to learn more about each meeting and register if you would like to attend.  These are also on our app under clubs.

Art Hub 4-H Club-Meeting on Saturday, May 10 at 10am:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/art-hub-club-meeting-tickets-1345774470669?aff=oddtdtcreator

Dirty Rascals 4-H Club Meeting on Tuesday, May 13 at 5:30pm:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jmg-may-meeting-tickets-1342066700629?aff=oddtdtcreator

Titans 4-H Club meeting on May 5, at 6:00pm:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1342082207009?aff=oddtdtcreator

Young Leaders 4-H Club Meeting on Tuesday, May 27 at 6:30pm:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1342066991499?aff=oddtdtcreator

Kicking Off the Club Meetings

   

Young Leaders 4-H Club, the county's longest standing club, kicked off our club meetings this week with their first meeting of 2025.  The group met at the Extension office to start making plans for County Activity Day.  Youth talked plans for college, upcoming activities, and club meetings.  Some of the other programs that they asked about included; Food Science Night at X8 Labs.  This will be a fun interactive night for the entire family and dinner is included.  Registration is available on the app.    

We also talked about the Apple Grant and programs we can do in the club with the technology we have at the office.  Stay tuned as we get that scheduled for Young Leaders and have some fun with those programs.

 

Last but not least our new 4-H Mascot, Trifolium, attended the meeting and was able to interact with the club members and volunteers.  We have been talking to everyone about ways for Trifolium to share his adventures and that lead to an interative talk about social media.  Young Leaders felt like Instagram was the best way for our mascot to showcase his adventures and we want to know what you think.  If you have our app downloaded please go to the survey section and answer two questions so we can share our Trifolium adventures with the world.

Young Leaders

   

Young Leaders 4-H Club has their schedule for the year and registration is open to attend their club meetings.  To learn more you can go to our app under clubs and scroll to Young Leaders and click on the register for club meetings box.  You can also go to:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/4-h-young-leaders-2025-meetings-tickets-1258692576379?aff=oddtdtcreator

Something A Little Different

 

Folks we are going to try something a little different.  It might take a moment to get used to it but we think you will like it.  Due to the fact that we had so many programs last year, and that we allowed for our 4-H clubs to register for meetings at one link for the entire year, we had a great challenge.  We had too many programs on our app (under programs) and had to make frequent adjustments, which meant some programs and or club meetings were only up for a matter of days for registration.  So we are going to shake things up and change that.

Starting this year (as a matter of fact today) as club schedules are turned in by our club leaders we will post club meeting registration on the app under clubs.  Then all you need to do is find the club you are looking for and click the registration link to see the schedule and register for the meetings you plan on attending.  Sounds simple, Right?  We will leave the link there until the last meeting is over so you can sign up as you go if you like.  Please note to register and attend the meetings you must be actively registered in 4-H Online.

Deadline to register for the meetings is one week prior to the meeting date.  Please note registration is important so that our 4-H Volunteer Club leaders can have enough supplies and possibly snacks for their club meeting participants.

So we hope you like this update.  Let us know your thoughts by shooting us a quick email at jade_mcneill@ncsu.edu or shea_ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu.

JMG Celebration

   

There was a challenge and the challenge was accepted.  Dirty Rascal Junior Master Gardener Leaders said if the youth planted sunflowers and they won at the fair there would be a club party added to the meetings at the end of the year.  Guess what happened?  

   Multiple first place wins for the JMG's so club members mark your calendar and register for your end of the year celebration!  You won't want to miss it.  Also don't forget to register on Eventbrite for all the fun.  Must be a member of the JMGs to register and actively registered in 4-H Online to attend.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dirty-rascals-jmg-celebration-tickets-1077716461949?aff=oddtdtcreator

Upcoming 4-H Club Meetings

 

Our clubs are hitting the ground running.  We currently have registrations up and coming for our Arts Exploration 4-H Club, Dirty Rascals JMG Gardeners, and Young Leaders.  

Arts Exploration explores the arts.  There is still time to register for their last meeting of the winter.  It will take place on March 21 at Givens Performing Arts Center.  The group will travel to learn about the integration of classical insturments in popular music and enjoy a performance of Chicago's Music.  To register for this meeting you can register on the app under programs or by clicking this link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/arts-exploration-4-h-spin-club-tickets-776596199137?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Dirty Rascals Jr. Master Gardener 4-H Club as set their meetings for the year.  They will have 4 meetings starting March 12 and each meeting is action packed.  To register for any of these meeting please go to the app and click on programs, and click on the registration button under Dirty Rascals JMG 4-H Club.  Or you can click on the following link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dirty-rascals-jr-master-gardener-club-meetings-2024-tickets-818405401587?aff=oddtdtcreator

Young Leaders 4-H Club meets the 4th Tuesday of each month.  The group will be focusing on preparing for County Activity Day in March and look forward to a lot of great 4-H meetings the rest of the year.  To register for any of these meeting please go to the app and click on programs, and click on the registration button under Young Leaders 4-H Club.  Or you can click on the following link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/young-leaders-4-h-club-meetings-2024-tickets-852929293477

4-H Clubs

 

Folks 2024 is going wild and our 4-H club leaders are finishing up paperwork and getting ready to rock and roll with this year's meetings.

Our first 4-H club of 2024 meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 27 starting at 6:30 pm.  This will be the organizational meeting for Young Leaders 4-H Club.  Members will meet to set their calendar, talk about officers, and have an activity.  If you are a member or interested in becoming a member of this club please attend their club meeting on February 27.  You can register on our app under programs or by clicking on this link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/young-leaders-4-h-club-organizational-meeting-tickets-818402613247?aff=oddtdtcreator

We will have registration information soon for Dirty Rascals Jr. Master Gardeners and Titans 4-H Club.  So check back to the blog soon.

Upcoming 4-H Club Meetings in September

Trying something new with our upcoming club meetings.  Let us know if you like a menu of upcoming club opportunities. 

Dirty Rascals Jr. Master Gardener Meeting will take place at the 4-H Office (455 Catonn Road, Lumberton 28360) at 5:30pm on September 12.  This month members will get a chance to select the club sunflower for compeitition at the fair and make a craft to enter in Artastic.  To register for the meeting please click on this link or register on our app under programs.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dirty-rascals-jmg-4-h-club-meeting-september-tickets-713039579577?aff=oddtdtcreator

Teen Leads is our new club for our 13-18 year old members.  This club is meant to introduce our teens to new opportunities available to them through 4-H as teens as well as introduce them to leadership skills, and other skills they will need to be successful as adults.  This will be a fun club that our teens will take responsibility for the schedule and programing.  Our first meeting will be virtual via Zoom and we will give an introduction to all the great things ahead of them.  We will meet on Thursday, September 14 at 6 pm.  A link will be emailed prior to 5 pm to those registered.  This is the eventbrite link you can click to register or register on our app under programs:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/teen-leads-4-h-club-meeting-tickets-713064183167?aff=oddtdtcreator

Bee 4-H Club-This meeting is for our 4-H members who want to know what the buzz is about with our bees. This is the first meeting of our 4-H bee club and you will get a chance to meet our volunteers, learn about the different bee programs and see what bee keeping is all about. Want to learn about honey, bees wax, supers? This is the club for you.  Our first informational meeting will be virtual via zoom on September 21 from 6 to 7 pm. A link will be sent to those who register for the meeting. Trust us, you won't want to miss this!  To register you can click the following link or go to the app under programs and register there.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bee-4-h-club-september-interest-meeting-tickets-713065236317?aff=oddtdtcreator

Young Leaders 4-H Club- This is the announcement for the regularly scheduled meeting of the Young Leaders 4-H Club.  Currently the club is scheduled to meet in person at the 4-H office on September 26 starting at 6:30pm.  Please register using the link below or you can register for the meeting on our 4-H App under programs.  Hope to see you there. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/young-leaders-4-h-club-meeting-september-tickets-713040351887?aff=oddtdtcreator

If you have any questions about the club meeting please conteact Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Extension Agent at (910) 671-3276 or sadejarn@ncsu.edu.

Dirty Rascals JMG March Meeting Registration

Dirty Rascals-time to register for your next meeting.  It will be held at the 4-H office on Tuesday, March 14 starting at 5:30 pm.  We will do a follow up from the seed project last month.  Mr. mack needs to talk with you about the garden.  Ms. Tanya also has a great edible and timely arts and crafts project for you.  It will be lots of fun and a little silly so make sure to sign up so you can take part.

To register for the meeting please click this link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dirty-rascals-jmg-4-h-club-meeting-march-tickets-569771390567

Please remember all youth must be actively registered in 4-H Online to take part in club meetings.

It's a Family Thing

   This article was written for the Robesonian by our own Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Extension Agent.  It can also be found on our website.

    An interesting trend has developed since the pandemic – we have noticed we are all super busy again and headed in a million directions, and parents are more involved in extracurricular activities. It seems at every 4-H meeting since we came back to primarily in-person sessions has had youth with parents as part of their experience. In the past, parent (not all, but most) dropped kids off and ran errands, coming back to pick them up so they could have their own experience. Now parents are involved in their experiences, which is wonderful; however, those experiences were meant for youth exploration and discover. What we saw happening was parents taking over projects, so youth grabbed the nearest electronic device and checked out while their parents did their projects. 

    Noticing that trend and realizing 4-H can be a great family experience, we have started 4-H Family SPIN Clubs. These experiences are meant for the entire family. In some cases, the family works together on a project and other times everyone has their own project, but it is time together where everyone is working, not on devices, and hopefully communicating and making memories while learning something new. Our 4-H Family Holiday Craft Club is an example of that. Six families registered for this club. Our thought was a gift from the heart that is handmade is truly a gift of time and talent that is appreciated. During our first meeting, we made ornaments three different ways. Some took to one type more than another, and what was great was each family member had a favorite type they made multiples of. Everyone was busy learning, creating, and sharing, which created fun memories. 

    During our second meeting, one of our 4-H families shared a favorite craft, making ornaments with perler beads. Our youth volunteer taught the youth, and adults learned from the parent. Although we were in one room, adults and youth sat at different tables. What was amazing to me was that the youth often got up to check on their parents progress while the adults were focused on their projects. Everyone had at least one, if not multiple projects to take home, and the youth inspired each other and enjoyed socializing while the adults were focused on their projects. Everyone just had fun. 

    We announced our last meeting would be this week and everyone was upset. This final meeting focuses on gifts made with food, so mixes they can put in a jar, jams, and even things folks won’t eat, like gingerbread play dough. Our overall goal with this club was to show them how to craft and talk about the cost of crafting (in case they get the bug and want to be entrepreneurial and start their own business), encouraging them to head out to the Very Local Holiday Festival at the Farmers Market on December 2 to see what it takes to sell what you make. 

    All along we have been talking about more family clubs, and our families love the idea. So next year, we are planning family cooking clubs, a seed club, bee club, animal science, and more. We will still continue just-youth activities and clubs as well, but adding families in just seems like the natural thing to do. So families out there, don’t forget 4-H can be your thing. Come check us out. 

    For more information, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, 4-H Youth Development agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by email at Shea_Ann_DeJarnette@ncsu.edu, or visit our website.

Young Leaders 4-H Club

   

    Young Leaders is excited to announce that registration is open for their next club meeting.  The meeting will take place on November 22, starting at 6:30 pm.  The meeting will take place at the 4-H office at 455 Caton Road, Lumberton, NC 28360.  This meeting is for actively enrolled 4-H members.  The meeting will focus on holiday activities.  To register please go to our app under programs or you can use this link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/young-leaders-4-h-club-november-meeting-tickets-469079729097

Young Leaders 4-H Club Meeting

 Good morning everyone.  Ms. Marilyn Merriett has let us know that Young Leaders 4-H Club will be having their meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27 at the 4-H office at 6 pm.  To register for that meeting please click on this link or you can register from the 4-H App under programs.  

Pruning, Trees, and Paper...How Do They Go Together?

   

February seemed like the perfect month to show our Extension Office landscape some love, teach our youth the importance of trees and pruning, and throw in a couple of more fun things.  This was our first meeting of the 2022 for our clubs and our Dirty Rascal Jr Master Gardeners did a great job of kicking things off.

   While the sun was still up our JMG's went outside with Mr. Mack to learn about pruning.  Sometimes it is important to cut growth back on a tree because it can encourage growth in another direction and it keeps limbs from being broken which can lead to disease in a tree.  The JMG's worked on pruning the JMG crepe myrtle at the office to keep it healthy and encourage growth and a beautiful canopy in the spring.  The youth also learned about river birch trees, which we have two of at the office.  These are pretty trees but shed like no other tree in existence.  The JMG's thought it would be a great community service project to pick up all the limbs and create a brush pile to make it easier for it to be hauled off and make the office landscape look so much better.

  At this point it was time to head inside and learn more facts about the importance of trees.  Did you know trees make paper?  We learned how trees go from the field to the plants and are processed into paper.  Our youth got a chance to recycle some office paper by shredding it, adding water, and putting it in a blender to make pulp.  They used the pulp to make paper or seed cards that they will give as Valentine's Day gifts. to family and/or friends.  To see all of our 4-H fun this night you can check out our photos by clicking here. 

  Our JMG's went  home with a little homework assignment to think about what we will plant in our raised bed garden at the office.  When we meet in March we will talk seeds. plants, and food.  Now that is something everyone is interested in.

  For more information about this club please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Associate at (910) 671-3276 or wrmaynor@ncsu.edu. 

Hooks & Needles 4-H Club

   Talk about a fast and furious SPIN club.  Our youth met over the course of 2 weeks in just 4 days with about an hour and a half per meeting (did you catch all of that?) to learn how to knit, crochet, loom knit, and hand knit.  In that time they all completed at least one project, worked on a hand knitted blanket that will be donated, and had some fun while they tried it all.

  These types of activities are great for eye hand coordination, help build arm and hand muscles, as well as work on problem solving skills.  Knitting and crocheting have been shown to help alleviate symptoms of arthritis because these activities actually build cartilage in your fingers.  Also recent studies show that having your mind focused on activities such as this actually relieve symptoms of stress and anxiety.  So it is good for your overall health.  

  Our crochet learners learned how to make chains, as well as single, double, and triple crochet.  With these skills down they can learn how to make just about anything they want.  

  Our loom knitters made hats, and ear warmers.  Most of our youth said this was the easiest to learn and they liked that it didn't take long to actually finish a project.

 

  

 Our hand knitting was centered around making a big blanket.  Everyone, youth, parents, and volunteers, were able to do one or more rows on the blanket making it something truly created with love.  The blanket will be donated to a local nonprofit that helps folks who are taking care of families with extended stays in the hospital.

Our knitters focused on getting stitches and making a coaster.  Go a little longer and this could have been a dishcloth or a scarf.   The neat thing about this club is that everyone had the chance to try something new and gain skills they can use forever.  To see more of what our youth did as part of this club please check out our photo album by clicking this link.

Special thanks to our first time club volunteers who took their time and talents to lead this SPIN Club, Kareis Brit, Margaret Crites, and Shae Davis.  If this is a club that you would be interested in taking part of in the future please let us know by contacting Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Associate at wrmaynor@ncsu.edu.

  

Cha-Ching 4-H SPIN Club

 

This club is for youth wanting to learn more about handling club finances.  Each meeting will have a lesson and practice time to implement the lesson.  The club will meet from 7-8:15 pm for the course of five weeks starting September 14.  

This will not be your typical zoom club meeting.  This statewide club will have lots of hands on and be lots of fun with members from across the state participating.

For more information contact Wendy Maynor at wrmaynor@ncsu.edu.  To register you can go to programs on our app or click on this link.

Welcome Home Dirty Rascals

 It is official!  We had our first Hybrid 4-H Club meeting tonight.  What does that mean?  It means that the members of the club that wanted to meet face to face, were able to gather at our office (following COVID procedures such as wearing a mask) and those who are not quite ready to meet face to face, met with everyone online.  It was the first time this has happened since we went all virtual in March of 2020.

  The club talked about changes that had happened since last year and discussed the upcoming fair.  Then it was time to dive into the evening's project.  The group is partnering with the Master gardeners to paint totem poles.  This is for an educational herbal medicine wheel that will be built at the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fairgrounds.

  Also the club is sending positive thoughts and prayers to Club member Nolan who was bitten by a copperhead snake last night.  According to his mom he is in the hospital and doing well.

  The club may meet prior to their next meeting date to finish the totem poles for the Master Gardeners.  Club members stay tuned for meeting information.

The photos from this club meeting can be found here.  For questions about this or any of our 4-H Club opportunities please contact Wendy Maynor at wrmaynor@ncsu.edu.

Sew & So's 4-H Sewing SPIN Club

   

We are so excited to announce the return of our sewing SPIN club!  the Sew & So's will meet August 18 and 19.  There will be two sessions each day.  The morning session will be from 9-12 for our beginning level sewers.  The meeting from 4:30-7:30 will be for our intermediate sewers.  Both sessions are open to Robeson County 4-H members who are actively enrolled in 4-H Online.  The club meetings are free and we will provide snacks for both groups and a boxed dinner for our intermediates.  Please note all current COVID protocols will be followed at the time of the meetings which may include social distancing, wearing masks and eating outside, etc.  We will email families closer to that time to let them know what the protocols will be at that time.  

  Both sessions will work on different projects and be able to complete their projects and a project record book by the end of the club meetings.  Due to the number of machines available there is limited spacing for both sessions.  However waitlists are available in case someone should drop out.   For more information about this club please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Associate at wrmaynor@ncsu.edu.

  Registration is available on our 4-H app as well as through these Eventbrite Links:

Morning beginners sesssion:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sew-sos-4-h-sewing-spin-club-for-beginners-tickets-161012441547

Afternoon intermediate session:   https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sew-sos-4-h-sewing-spin-club-for-intermediates-tickets-161012525799