The Mane Event?

Want to stay up to date on the latest in the 4-H horse world?  Here is your chance.  Just click on the link and read the latest issue of the NC 4-H Horse Program Newsletter.

It's Time to Think Summer!

I realize it is a little chilly outside still but that is no reason not to think ahead to the warmth and incredible opportunities of Summer.  I say all of this to let you know that the 4-H Summer Fun Brochure is available.  You can click on the link in the previous section or you can locate it on our website at robeson.ces.ncsu.edu.  We have a lot of great opportunities available, some of which are highlighted below.

New this year is a teen tour camp for our 14-18 year olds.  This camp is going to be quite an adventure.  Youth will meet at the office on Monday and go through expectations and more.  We will leave early Tuesday morning to travel to Raleigh to tour NCSU's campus and have lunch.  Then we will travel to Greenville and do a quick tour of ECU.  We will get back in the van and head to Williamsburg VA where we will spend the next few night.  Wednesday will be spent at Colonial Williamsburg and a tour at William and Mary College.  Thursday will be a physics lesson at Busch Gardens (one they will never forget) while Friday they will take a quick dip at Water Country USA before heading back early afternoon on Friday.  It will be fun and learning packed in there together.  The cost of the camp includes all hotel accommodations, meals, transportation, and passes to parks.

We are very thrilled that our Junior Master Gardener is back on the schedule this year.  This is a week long camp that includes more than a 100 activities.  By the end of the camp the youth will be certified as Junior Master Gardeners which is now an international certification.  This week long day camp also includes two trips one to the zoo to see plant life from around the world, but also to the Durham life sciences museum where youth can explore weather systems, butterflies, wind patterns and much much more.  The price of this camp includes curriculum, supplies, lunch, snacks, transportation, and admittance to each of the places we will visit.

Millstone day camp is back on the calendar this year for four days since it is on a holiday week.  Our youth will do all the traditional camp things like swimming, canoeing, archery, and more.  Cost of the camp includes daily transportation, lunch, and snacks.

Betsy-Jeff Penn 4-H Overnight Camp is our weeklong adventure.  We travel up on Sunday, move into our cabins, meet the counselors and start making friends.  It is a wonderful week of swimming, canoeing, rock wall climbing, horseback riding, archery, and much more.  Cost of the camp includes transportation, lodging, meals, camp store, and a camp t-shirt.  It is a great opportunity for youth to spread their wings in a safe and nurturing environment.

Jr. Chef Academy is a continuation of our very popular cooking camp.  This year our youth will learn new kitchen skills, practice new recipes, and see new things in the culinary career world.  We will also get a chance to do some food science this year. Guaranteed to be a fun time for all.  Cost of the camp includes lunch, snacks, travel, supplies, and culinary fun.

Electric Congress is a wonderful event for youth who serve as delegates, enter electric projects, and teach others how to complete them.  This year 4-H Electric Congress will be held on the UNC-Asheville Campus and will have a great deal to offer youth attending.  To learn more about the electric program contact us at the 4-H office.

Biotech Day Camp is BACK!  What will this year hold?  Well we don't want to give the details away quite yet but there are always several trips, fun, and accidental learning along the way.  We are thrilled to be offering this jam packed camp again this year and we know it will fill up fast.  Cost of the camp includes, snacks, lunch, transportation, and admission costs.

Congress is open to our 14-18 year olds.  The youth will spend four days living at NCSU, attending workshops, eating on campus, doing volunteer activities, and much more.  This is a great opportunity to meet with 4-H members from around the state, take part in officer elections, and create that network that will last a lifetime.  Cost of the event includes, lodging, transportation and meals.

Cloverbud day camp is for our youngest 4-H members those 5-8 year olds who are getting back into the swing of school.  Set up on school hours from 8:30 to 3:30 our youth will have a fun filled theme day (things like mad science, cooking up fun, animal day, arts and crafts) with a break for lunch and somewhere in there learning to make their own snacks this is the greatest adventure for our youngest youth.  Price for the camp includes meals, snacks, and all supplies.

New Opportunities to Lead

  The newest 4-H Club Explore NC Together met Tuesday, February 9th. We conducted out business meeting and officers were elected. Our new first club officers will be:
Laci Rozier - President

Nyasia Gerald – Vice President

Brooke Canady – Secretary/Reporter

Taylor Stone – Treasure

The club learned some interesting facts about Valentine’s Day. We made Valentine’s Day crafts that the club will deliver on Friday to a local nursing home. The club will meet again on Thursday, March 3, 2016 to work on County Activity Day speeches and presentations.
Respectfully submitted,
Brooke Canady

Planning to Plant

  You might think February is a little early to start planning that garden, but for our Dirty Rascal Jr. Master Gardeners (JMG) it was a plan that is just in the nick of time.  This month the group worked on planning what will go in their raised bed garden and where it will go.  The Master Gardeners have agreed to help out with this project, and a new raised bed will be constructed at the Extension office for the JMGs to plant and help tend to.  The bed will be four foot by eight foot (or 32 square feet, as they learned to calculate last night), so the youth had to decide what to plant, where to plant it, and in some cases get creative on how it would be arranged.
  To help make the plan we created a two dimensional garden that is the exact size our raised bed garden will be.  Using the information from seed catalogs, a seasonal growing chart and the information on the seed packets our youth determined what and where to plant their items.  On the list of things that will be planted are cucumbers, tomatoes, bell peppers, radishes, potatoes, and pop corn.   The youth then used yard sticks and a little adult help from Mr. Mack and Mr. Larry to section off their garden and figure out how it will be planted.  At the south end of the raised bed they will plant six cucumber plants that will grow up string trellises,  that way they have more planting room and their cucumbers should grow straighter.  Next they will plant between 6 and eight tomato plants.  They are still deciding if they will have small or large tomatoes or perhaps both.  Around the tomatoes they plan to plant radishes that can grow in the space between plants and will be harvested before the tomatoes get to big and need the extra room.  Next to that they will plant six to eight bell pepper plants.  Then the coup de gras will be four popcorn plants that they hope will be producing close to seven ears of popcorn per plant (that way they can enter it in the fair and try some right out of the garden).   Now if you are looking at the original list and thinking something might be missing, well you might be right.  It turns out there was not enough room left in the garden for the potatoes.  So they are going to use old tires and grow the potatoes in the tires and see how they do.

At this meeting the group also welcomed a new member Treyson Lowry to the club.  Treyson seemed to have a good time helping plan and decorate our two dimensional garden and we hope he will be back next month.
  March's meeting will be held at the Extension office on March 8 beginning at 5:30 pm.  The youth will have club elections, and work with the Master Gardeners building their raised bed garden.  This will also be when the group starts their seeds in the AeroGarden that will be transplanted into the raised bed sometime in April.  For more information about this or any 4-H club please contact Wendy Maynor at Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu or (910) 671-3276.

Committment

This article was written by our own Wendy Maynor for publication in the Robesonian and Robeson Journal.

If you think about it, we have many commitments in our lives.  Some are more pleasant than others.  For example, hopefully, marriage is more pleasant than taxes; both are commitments we work hard to follow through on.  Where did we learn to follow through on our commitments?  Probably at an early age, with our parents teaching us to put our toys away or following through on an extra curricular activity we may not have liked.  Many youth learn life skills from informal learning methods like extracurricular activities. These are commitments that are not mandatory but require the responsibility and maturity level to abide by the commitment of joining. Have you noticed that it seems we stretch ourselves so thin that we cannot meet the necessary obligations required?

I was having a conversation with one of our volunteers, and she brought up a good point.  As we grew up, our parents made us follow through; we did not have a choice. Today, children are given many choices.  Do you think they will choose something that isn’t shiny and fun?  Teaching youth to be responsible and stick with a commitment is crucial in their success as youth and as adults. Joining a club, organization, or sports team requires a commitment. Being responsible entails being punctual, polite, respectful, engaging, and, most of all, attending meetings or events you have committed to by joining. The quality of involvement is more important than the number of activities and organizations you are involved in.

Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development shows that 4-H members excel beyond their peers. Members of 4-H are four times more likely to contribute to their communities; two times more likely to be civically active; two times more likely to make healthier choices; and two times more likely to participate in science, engineering, and computer technology programs during free time.

Robeson County 4-H is an excellent program for children to join. Youth have fun while learning in a safe environment. Clubs are run by trained adult volunteers, meet regularly, and provide age-appropriate activities. Youth learn life skills, leadership, responsibility, commitment, independence, and social skills, which leads to higher self-esteem. Participation in 4-H activities teaches youth how to balance academics with other aspects of their lives. Balance is important to becoming well-rounded.

Here is the kicker, club membership is FREE and open to youth ages 5 through 18. There are several community clubs throughout Robeson County as well as specialty clubs, such as Junior Master Gardeners, Shooting Sports, Arts and Crafts, Animal Science, a Horse Club, and our newest specialty club, Explore N.C. Together 4-H Club.  If you are looking for a variety of opportunities for your child within one organization, 4-H may be for you.  To find out, join us for a 4-H Family Game Night and Membership Drive on Monday, April 18, 2016, at 6 p.m. All youth must be accompanied by an adult. You will have the opportunity to meet the 4-H staff, club leaders, volunteers, 4-H members, and learn more about the 4-H program.  Think about committing to 4-H.

For more information, please contact Wendy Maynor, Extension 4-H Program Assistant with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 671-3276, by E-mail at Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu, or visit our website at//robeson.ces.ncsu.edu/.  North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.

From the Dirt Up

  That was the theme for this year's NC 4-H Volunteer Leaders' Conference.  Our Robeson County delegation to advantage of all the opportunities offered.  This year in attendance were Katherine, Kenneth, and Laura Bethea; Emma Hill, Marilyn Merritt, Aggie Rogers, Larry Russ and our own 4-H Agent, Shea Ann DeJarnette.  Volunteers had the opportunity to attend workshops that includes camps, electric projects, horse programs, legos, leather crafting, Health Rocks!, Parliamentary Procedure, Plant propagation and sooooo much more!  In between all the workshops and learning fun were meetings, fellowship, making new friends, shopping, fundraising and so much more packed into two fun filled days.
 

So many people ask, "Why go to a 2 day conference in Raleigh?  What could be so special?"  Well really it's all about the people who are there.  Everyone in attendance is connected to 4-H as a staff member or volunteer.  That means you have the opportunity to meet folks from around the state who share the same passion for youth and youth programming as you do.  This is a group of people who have a great amount of wisdom, problem solving skills, and are so organized that they have their own association.  That means besides the fact that you can meet new and interesting folks in 4-H you can also learn about great programs and activities, take what you learn home, and even strengthen your own leadership skills.
  Since this is the annual business meeting for the NC 4-H Volunteer Leaders' meetings and elections are also conducted on the district and state levels.  This year in the Southeast District our own Aggie Rogers was elected President, Paula Woodall was elected President-Elect, Page Redmon was also elected as Vice President, Gwindy Stewart will be Treasurer, Rose Lee will be secretary.  Kim Lackey will move into the Past President's role and will serve as our state Vice President.
  While everyone is there it seemed like a good time to do a couple of fundraisers for the association as well.  The South Central District hosted a basket Raffle and the Southeast District was in charge of the Country Store and silent auction.  Together both fundraisers raised about $2,500 for the organization.
 At the end of Saturday night a banquet was held.  Volunteers received awards, were recognized for their achievements, and had the opportunity to hear from the state staff.    Dr. A. Richard Bonanno, who began in his new role on Monday as Director of Extension was on hand to give thanks to the volunteers for all that they do.
We met back at the McKimmon Center on Sunday morning for two more workshops on duct tape crafts and t-shirt quilts.  After all the fun it was time to install the officers and finish the closing meeting.  Dr. Mike Yoder, the 4-H Program Leader talked with the volunteers and expressed how much he appreciates their efforts.  When it was all said and done we headed back to Robeson County with new friends, lots of ideas, and a new appreciation for our North Carolina Clover.
 

Folding Up the Loose Ends

  Actually it was the February meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club, and they folded everything up into a neat little package.
Their hearts were in their hands, on the tables, and then given to someone else.  Sounds like the plot to a romance novel or romantic comedy movie doesn't it?
  Led by club member Alex Evans the club learned how to make origami hearts, just in time for Valentine's Day.  A few of our staff members were even fortunate enough to receive some of their  hard work, which now adorns our offices.  If you would like to try your hand at making an origami heart just click this link and it will take you to directions for this perfect February craft.
  The next meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts Club will be March 3, beginning at 5:30 pm.  The club meets at the O. P. Owens Agricultural Center in Lumberton.  For more information about this or any Robeson County 4-H Club please contact Wendy Maynor, 4-H Program Assistant at (910) 671-3276 or Wendy_Maynor@ncsu.edu.

Grow Paper: The Fun Way to Recycle

This article was written by our own Shea Ann DeJarnette for an upcoming edition of Robeson Living Magazine.

When I was a child, I remember cutting strips of newspaper to soak in a chunky flour, water, and glue mixture that I never quite understood.  I would end up making a mess and had no idea what it was I was making.  To top it off, if it made it home intact from the journey on the school bus, my parents always found a “special place” for it that made sure no one ever had to see it again.

Today, we have a ton of options for things we can make.  Back in the day, one of the purposes of utilizing old newspaper in crafts was that it was cheap, available, and repurposed something we were throwing away.  That still holds true today.  Now we can actually have a little fun and make something that will benefit the earth while giving our children an education in environmental sciences they will be interested in.  Sound to good to be true?  Well, hang in there and read on.

I have always known paper was made from trees.  “How” was a little beyond my educational level before I started working with youth.  To teach them about paper making, recycling, plant science, and community service, we have a neat project we do in 4-H called making grow cards.  The idea is simple.  By utilizing paper you are going to recycle (newspaper, printer paper, construction paper), you can make paper pulp and then add flower seeds to make grow cards that can be given as gifts, to someone who might need a smile, and so much more.

First, have your child shred the used paper product into tiny pieces or put it through a paper shredder.  The smaller the paper shreds, the better, because the next step is to put the paper with water in a blender to pulverize it together and make a mushy mess.  This mushy mess is your paper pulp.  You can make it a certain color by the type of paper you use.  Construction paper can add colorful flecks to grey (newspaper) or white (copy/printer paper).  If you use one color of construction paper, you can make some brightly colored cards; just remember, the point of this is to recycle. 

The next step is even more fun.  Place a window screen over a bucket or plastic container.  If you want to make a sheet of paper, pour the pulp onto the screen and press it into the rectangular shape until it is very thin.  What works better, especially for youth, is to place cookie cutters on the screen over the bucket and poor the pulp into the cookie cutters.  Have your child press it into place making sure the pulp touches all the edges of the cookie cutter, so it will have that shape.  Press as much water out as possible before removing the cookie cutter.  Let the pulp dry on the screen for about 30 minutes to one hour before pressing flower seeds (sunflower seeds or some kind of seed that will not immediately sprout from the water) in the grow card.  Let the card dry overnight or longer depending on the amount of water that was in it.  Once dry, the cards can be handed out to friends or family.  You can punch a hole in it and tie it to a present as an added gift.

Once receiving one of these cards, all the person has to do is plant it and water it.  The card is biodegradable, and the paper will act like a mulch to the seed, eventually dissolving back into the dirt.  The seeds will sprout and grow, and the person who received it will be impressed with this environmentally responsible gift that keeps giving.  Personally, I like it much better than my Paper Mache creations, which eventually also got planted (at the landfill), because this one brings joy no matter what it looks like.

            For more information, please contact Shea Ann DeJarnette, Extension 4-H Youth Development Agent with North Carolina  Cooperative  Extension, Robeson  County  Center, at  910-671-3276  or by  E-mail at shea_ann_dejarnette@ncsu.edu. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.

Earth Day

This article was written by Mack Johnson, Horticulture Extension Agent, for an upcoming edition of Robeson Living Magazine.

I was taught from early childhood not to waste, to make good use of my resources, and to not just flippantly discard refuse. Not realizing until years later these early principles would influence me in ways that now resemble earth friendly practices.  As a result, I now appreciate events that help raise awareness of the state of this home called earth. I know we are purposed to be good stewards of what we have been entrusted.  

The first Earth Day was the result of ongoing discussion for several years prior to actually declaring an Earth Day. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin is accredited for the first Earth Day held in 1970.  The event was planned on a Wednesday, which happened to be April 22.  They wanted a day where most people would be at work, so it would be more impactful.  The current estimate is that nearly 20 million people participated on this first day, walking out of their offices into the streets. They gathered in parks, streets, and auditoriums to demonstrate a need for our country to address environmental issues. The unique rarity of this event was how the protestors encompassed every facet of America.  This group included democrats, republicans, rich, poor, city residents, and farmers uniting on this one issue.  Most likely, in response to this surprisingly enormous turnout, the Environmental Protection Agency was created in 1970. Earth Day has continued to be observed every year since.  Being born in America, Earth Day is now celebrated in over 257 countries - it is now a worldwide event with an estimated one billion people participating.

Saying all that brings me to the point I would like to share. Tanya Underwood, Special Events Coordinator for the City of Lumberton, and I are planning an Earth Day Celebration, “Bein’ Green in 2016.”  The date for the celebration has been set for Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The location has been selected but not yet confirmed.  Check the Cooperative Extension website (robeson.ces.ncsu.edu) at a later date for a confirmed location. We plan to focus on earth-friendly activities and offer educational booths or areas hosted by agencies that offer good stewardship practices and ideas. There will be something for all ages, from the young to the young at heart. 

There are endless ways we can each incorporate small changes in our daily lives that will have a positive influence on the world around us.  We can turn the light off when we leave the room. Even better, we can transition to replacing our bulbs with LED (light emitting diode) or CFL (compact fluorescent lights) bulbs that use a fraction of the energy.  What if we take the stairs instead of an elevator?  We can walk or ride a bike on a short trip instead of driving everywhere.  Is it possible to turn the water off while you brush your teeth?  The water we remove from an underground aquifer will be years, if not decades, before it can be recharged into the aquifer. I hope you plan to join us, but if you can’t, please consider taking a green pledge in 2016 to adopt environmentally sustainable practices that will make our world a little “greener.”

For more information, please contact Mack Johnson, Extension Horticultural Agent with North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Robeson County Center, at 910-671-3276 or by E-mail at mack_johnson@ncsu.edu. North Carolina State University and North Carolina A&T State University commit themselves to positive action to secure equal opportunity regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.  In addition, the two Universities welcome all persons without regard to sexual orientation.