Riding Tall in the Saddle at District

 

                                 

  Its not often that we field 4-H members for the District Horse show.  It's tough enough when our members know what to expect but competing this year in a new district was an even greater challenge.  Leave it up to the St. Paul's 4-H Pony Club to step up to the challenge.  Club members Chasity McClay and Megan Butler went all out and entered in the Gaming Division.  They competed in Jr. Poles, Jr. Stake Race, Jr. Barrels, Jr. Texas Barrels, Jr. Flag Race.  The competition was held in Williamston, NC which was quite a haul for our competitors and their horses.  None the less they arrived early to get everything ready and whatever the magic formula it must have worked.

When they got done both had placed first and second in each of the categories taking the show by storm.  Chasity was named champion, and Megan was runner up.  Both qualified for State competition and will in Raleigh representing Robeson County and the District on July 10th.  Congratulations to both Chasity and Megan on a job well done!!!!

Making the Best Better with a BANG!

                                               

It's probably not surprising that there would be a bang or two associated with the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club meeting.  As a matter of fact you might expect it.  But this month the bang was bigger than usual.  Club President Dillon McCartney called the meeting to order and the members talked about their community service projects, upcoming programs, and range expansion.

Range expansion?  you ask.  Yes.  Club leader Larry Russ with the help of club parents Tony Bullard and Mike Herndon have been working to expand the current range so they can incorporate an archery range and expand the club's shooting opportunities.  Even during the meeting construction was going on as Mike used his auger to drill holes in areas that were too difficult for a shovel to get through.  As part of this expansion telephone poles were cut and placed to mark out where the new range would be, separate the shooting range, and designate a parking area.

As part of the master plan, club member Anthony Bullard is work on erecting two shelters as part of his Eagle Scout Project that would allow the parents and members to get out of the sun during meetings.
   Besides range construction the group practiced with their rifles, then got to try something really new, shooting black powder.  Black powder is a throw back to the pioneer days of actually learning how to measure black powder and load a lead ball into the barrel of the firearm.  This was the first time for all the members to shoot a black powder rifle and they had a lot of fun.  Although they did admit it took an awful lot of time to load the weapon for one shot and can see why modern conveniences have been created.

Working on the same principal of the black powder rifle, club leader Larry Russ had a special surprise for the group, a cannon.  Built by hand this cannon didn't shoot cannon balls but wads of paper and glitter to give a loud boom and sparkly effect.  The cannon made an appearance at this club meeting for more than a giant lesson in black powder.  It was there to help us shoot our county video for 4-H Congress.
  For those of you not familiar with Congress it is a state 4-H leadership opportunity that happens on N.C. State University's campus and is the culmination of 4-H events state wide.  As part of this event youth representing their county bring their flags in as part of the flag ceremony.  Instead of walking the flag in this year the state officers asked each county to send in a video.  The video had to be less than 15 seconds, include the county name, include the phrase "we are 4-H", and everyone in the video had to wear some sort of 4-H attire.  The members of the Dirty Dozen 4-H Shooting Sports Club were kind enough to shoot our video for us that will be played at Congress this year.
  The club's next meting will be held in June.  For more information about this club or other club opportunities please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

Our Volunteers are Cream of the Crop

  They are more than the cream, they are the whipped cream of our 4-H program!  In case you can't tell by the title of this post, 4-H Volunteers are special people.  They come from all walks of life and have a variety of skills and experiences they are willing to share with our youth.  As part of being an active 4-H volunteer our adults agree to take part in at least two hours of training a year and many take part in more.  We also offer volunteers the opportunity to take part in the ACE Master Volunteer Program.  Volunteers work to achieve different benchmarks in training and application to receive different levels of certification.  To encourage more volunteers to do this we offered as part of our 4 County 4-H Volunteer Revolution an opportunity for our volunteers to work toward their bronze certification this year.
  Tonight marked the third in a series of four trainings (and a fifth meeting to assemble notebooks) designed to let volunteers reach their bronze certification. The topic of the training?  Etiquette for Today's 4-H Volunteer.  Unlike other etiquette trainings we had done this one had nothing to do with table manners and more to do with looking at the 4-H Volunteer Standards of Behavior.  It is a code that guides our adult volunteers while they serve in our program.  After a brief presentation we put our knowledge to work talking about scenarios that have and might come up and how they as volunteers would handle them and how 4-H Agents would need to handle them.

This training was hosted by Robeson County 4-H thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Development Fund.  Participants enjoyed dinner (and just desserts) prepared by the 4-H staff and volunteers.  According to evaluations they walked away with greater knowledge, feeling better prepared to handle conflicts among their peers, and better prepared to serve in their roles.  The next workshop will be held in Hoke County on August 20, starting at 6;30 pm.  If you would like more information about this training opportunity or becoming a 4-H volunteer please call the Robeson County 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

Educating with a New Partner

                             

It was a Saturday like any other in Robeson County with one exception...a new business in Lumberton created an awesome opportunity for Robeson County 4-H one that has the chance to grow into a great partnership.

Tractor Supply Company opened a new store in Lumberton at the end of March, just in time to take part in the company's 4-H paper clover campaign.  The national company holds a campaign from May 8-19 offering customers a paper clover that they can write their names on for a dollar or five dollar donation at the register.  There is a complicated splitting of the funds but essentially the funds go to National 4-H, to the two land grant universities in our state (N. C. State and A&T University), State 4-H, and a portion of what is raised in this store will come back to our local county program.  The paper clover campaign happens twice a year and is a great way to not only fundraiser but market our 4-H program.

Being the first time out the staff of the local store asked if we would come out and raise awareness for the campaign and our program by conducting an activity at the store.  We must say thank you to the members and volunteers of the All Around All Stars, Titans, Dirty Dozen, Dirty Rascals, Doin' it Big, Inspirational Youth Leaders, and Young Leaders 4-H Clubs for coming out to help.  Also County Council Officers Shabreya Vample, Dillion McCartney, and Alexus Jones for helping lead the activity during the day.  In keeping with our hands on educational teaching method we decided to conduct a plant people activity with each of the you who came out to the store.  Each child made their own person with the help of the officers and members who were there while the adults talked with the parents about the 4-H and overall Extension Program.  

The benefits of the day are long ranging.  Yes, paper clovers were sold but even more importantly we were able to teach youth about plant science, introduce hem to 4-H, and members were even recruited for some of the clubs.  Clubs who had representation at the event for a two hour shift will be able to claim this as a community service project.  Parents are now familiar with Extension and 4-H and we had a great time while we were there.  The staff of Tractor Supply could not have been nicer and took great care of all of us.  We are looking forward to working them again with a mutual partnership that benefits not only their business but our program and ultimately the community.  

Again thank you to everyone who came out and made this day a great success!

Things are Getting A Little Buggy Around Here

                             

The second Tuesday of the month means its time for the Dirty Rascals to get together for their monthly Junior Master Gardener 4-H meeting.  This month their meeting was a little creepy with various crawlies.  Mack Johnson, the Horticulture Extension Agent with Robeson County Cooperative Extension office worked with the youth and talked with them all about bugs.

  They got to see all different sorts of bugs in a display that the Extension office uses.  They also learned interesting facts about bugs; for example did you know that only 1% of the 100,000 species of insects in America are harmful?  How about the fact that butterflies range in size from 1/8 of an inch to up to 12 inches?  Have you ever seen where praying mantises come from?  Well this group did when they played bug detective.

   After learning all about these creatures the members got to make some sticky ones of their own.  Using glitter glue and a pattern they made their own creative glittery bugs.  Some had supper powers like leaping tall buildings while other bugs liked to eat lobster.  When the glue bugs dry on the wax paper that they were created on the youth will be able to peel them off and play with them sticking them in all sorts of places, kind of like real bugs.  

  The Dirty Rascals will take June and July off and plan to meet again in August, just in time to plan their fair booth for the Robeson Regional Agricultural Fair.  If you would like more information on this, or other, 4-H Clubs please contact the Ribeson County 4-H office at (910) 671-3276.

Doing the Bunny Hop, The Funky Chicken, and Something About a Goat?

                            

  No we weren't learning new dances, though looking at the topics we can see how you might be confused.  Actually we were learning all about animals.  May marks our annual 4-H Animal Science animal training and animal give out.  Youth and parents come to learn about taking care of their animals for their projects and get introduced to other animals as well.

  The day started with introductions, a layout of the facility, and information about project records.  Each youth who registers for animal science is required to complete an animal science project record.  This is a written record of what thy have done a learned in this project.  The forms for a project record can be found on the state 4-H page as well as on our own Robeson County Extension Website.

 

Then it was time to hit a workshop.  We offered workshops for goats, pigs, heifers, rabbits, and poultry.  The workshops rotated every half hour so youth got a chance to experience a variety of animals.  

A special thanks to the group who came from Richmond County to teach our goat workshop.  Lead by 4-H Agent Laura Grier and Livestock Agent Tiffanee Conrad-Acuna, volunteer Jessica Hamilton and daughters Brianna and Abbigail taught a hands on workshop.  Youth learned about looking for worms, deworming, grooming, and general care.  Youth had a blast filing horns, and shaving the goats.  Several youth said they want to raise a goat next year.

 

Benjamin Herndon returned to teach poultry.  He spoke about laying hens, broilers, and raising turkeys.  He showed the youth how to handle their birds, talked about feeding them and creating a home for them.  Youth got to practice holding mature birds and learned about the barred rock hens they would be receiving.

  Anthony Bullard and his father Tony as handled our rabbit workshop again this year.  The rabbits are one of our most popular selections because youth who live in cities can still raise these animals,  youth got tips on building pens, cleaning them, feeding their rabbit and ensuring that they stay happy and healthy.  They even got tips such as freezing water in a two liter bottle and putting it in the pen as an air conditioning unit for the rabbit.

  After the training we answered questions, completed evaluations and washed our hands and enjoyed lunch cooked on the grill by one of our volunteers.  After lunch we distributed animals and everyone went home getting ready to jump on their animal science projects.  The culmination of this project will take place at the Robeson County Fair October 4-12.

  If you would like to know more about the animal science program please contact the Robeson County 4-H Staff at 910-671-3276.

Live United

                           

The United Way Day of Caring is an annual tradition for Robeson County 4-H and this year was no

different.  This years event focused on one major project, a canned food drive.  Pulling from all corners of the county a goal of 20,000 pounds of food was set.  The day before the official day the county employee donation was weighed and came in at just under 13,000 pounds.  Inspirational Youth Leaders 4-H clubs donation came in right at 60 pounds of food.  Food was collected from a variety of sites, donated from Campbell's Soup, and was picked up by postal workers the day after the official day of caring.  Overall the goal was reached and surpassed.  All the food donated will go to the Robeson County Church and Community Center where it will be distributed to local families in need.

In addition to the canned food drive the third annual knit in took place at the Robeson County Church and Community Center.  More than 50 items were created that day.  Some of the items will be donated to patients at the Gibson Cancer Center, others will be donated to the hospital for new born babies.

 
Of course our favorite part of the day is the annual flower planting at Southeastern Hospice House.  The Dirty Rascal Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club members plant Ann area each year with flowers to brighten the lives of patients and their families in an outdoor garden area. This year an anonymous donor gave the flowers that were planted.  With the help of Master Gardeners it was quick work and a lot of fun that we hope will brighten the days of those who deserve some sunshine.  Once again showing that Robeson County 4-H lives united by caring about our community.

This News is Cracking Us Up!

The excitement is more than we could bear this week as we watched chick after chick hatch as part of Embryology.  Embryology is the study of the embryo and in 4-H we conduct this curriculum in second and third grade class rooms.  May is the second round in which 18 classrooms took part in the experiment this go around.  We offer the teachers training and curriculum not to mention an incubated and fertile eggs to make this science experiment possible.

  Teachers have reported hatching going o around the county and we are very excited to say that we had 23 eggs hatch at our office.  If you would like to be part of our embryology program we will set eggs again in September to hatch at the Robeson County Fair.  Come by the livestock building in October to to see the chicks hatching.

Getting Down to Business

  The first Monday of the month means it's time to get down to business and attend the Doin' It Big 4-H Entrepreneurial Club meeting.  Members and leaders were on hand to hold a business meeeting and determine upcoming dates for field trips.  Knowing that business and government go hand in hand club leader, Rhonda Drye, set up two trips one to the Lumberton Fire Station and the other to the Board of Elections.  Many would be small business owners don't think about the need for different types of insurance and how various regulations can affect their businesses.

  After talking about the upcoming field trips the group reviewed the information from their last meeting and started talking about their upcoming fair booth and encouraged members to get ideas for their award winning booth.

  If you would like to know more about this club please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.

All Around Fun Blooms

                             

                         

There was something blooming in the air thanks to paper and craftiness at the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club.  Continuing their work from their April meeting the club members grew their skill sets into something new and exciting.

  Lead by parent Anna Marie Hatcher the club members learned about quilling.  Quilling is an art form where strips of paper are rolled, cut, glued, to form different shapes such as flowers, animals, and objects.  By placing several of the roles together designs and intricate patterns can be developed.  The designs can be placed on paper to create 3-D art designs, invitations, thank you notes, as well as stand alone designs for play and display.
  Youth learned that this is an art form that takes patience and creative thought to make happen.Youth and volunteers learned to make daisies, roses, and other unique flowers.  The goal is to make enough flowers to fill the painted pots they made at the last meeting.  The flowers will be secured using plaster of paris and given to shut ins, the sick, and elderly to brighten their days.  The youth had fun making the new flowers and will be spending more time with this creativity project to fill them up.the club's next meeting will be June 6, at the 4-H office.  For more information please contact the 4-H staff at (910) 671-3276.