The University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), the home organization for 4-H, maintains its directive to cancel, postpone or conduct online all meetings, events, and gatherings statewide; the date extended to May 3, 2020 (and may be extended again).

Our offices are closed to the public and staff are working remotely. During this time, staff, 4-H volunteers, and youth members also may not represent U.C. or 4-H at in-person meetings, events, or gatherings.

4-H meetings either cancelled or held virtually

Please connect with your 4-H club leader, project leader, and/or camp directors to see what they are doing with April meetings: cancelling or holding virtually. UCCE staff have access to paid zoom.us account and can set up meeting rooms for 4-H volunteer leaders to use. But in some cases, holding a virtual meeting is not practical or realistic, so some meetings will be canceled. We also recognize people have other serious priorities; 4-H participation may not be a priority at this time. We also understand not everyone has a home Internet connection and may not be able to participate virtually. Our goal is to do the best we can in maintaining some normalcy and continuing the learning experiences for as many of our youth as possible, honoring the work they have put in over this program year and be able to bring projects to completion. To explore virtual meeting options, please contact us to discuss. You might consider Skype, Google Hangouts, or ZOOM. UCCE has a zoom.us account and we can setup individual meeting rooms. Contact Diego Mariscal at damariscal@ucanr.edu; or Michelle Nozzari at mnozzari@ucanr.edu.

Hello 4-H,

This letter is so different from last month. A month ago I was talking about Fashion Revue and Chickenque, and now life is online.

I want to encourage all of you. Life is dance of change and more change. We can choose to shy away or use our 4-H pledge to rise up during a time that our community needs us, our head, our heart, our hands, and our health. I hope you are safe and well and can find new ways to be community. 

I know Fashion Revue and sewing groups have made over 200 masks, an Emerald Star project to help with online elections, and food being collected all over the county. What are ways your club is helping? Please email Michelle or Diego so they can share the news.

Plan on Zoom meetings for almost everything.

Stay sheltered and be amazing, just as you are,

-Naomi

There are 41 participants signed up for this year's Sonoma County Fashion Revue. These members will have the opportunity to participate in Sonoma County Fashion Revue, but it will definitely be different from past years! Unfortunately, many of their entries are unable to be completed until the members can safely shop for their supplies and meet with their leaders for help. Meanwhile, the participants are busy finishing the entries that they can complete. At this point, there are no deadlines for when the entries need to be completed. Hopefully members will be able to complete their entries within about a month of when the shelter-in-place is lifted, but we will be as flexible as possible. The participants should be updating their entry status survey with their current entry status. This is the best way to communicate to the committee about how you are progressing with your entries and how much more time you require. The committee is creating an online method of evaluating the entries and will be contacting potential evaluators when this is completed.

Sewing leaders : please contact your members who entered to see if they need help and ask them to update their entry status survey. We need to know how many members require shopping and/or help before they can complete their entries.

See the State Fashion Revue website for information about a  state level mask making community service :

  https://ucanr.edu/sites/sfd/Competitions/State_Fashion_Revue/

Any 4-H member  can participate in this service activity and receive state community service credit for their record book!

Dear Potential Sonoma County Fair Market Steer Exhibitor,

 

In a precautionary effort to further mitigate the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) the March 22 Steer Pre-Weigh has been cancelled. Market Steer exhibitors will need to pre-register their steers through an online form found here: https://forms.gle/LRmEQGGRfWGe7LCeA . Tagging and final breed determination will occur after arrival at the fair. 

 

For the next few weeks Entry Office staff will be telecommuting and will not have regular access to the phone system. The easiest way to communicate with the office will be through email. As updates are available they can be found at http://sonomacountyfair.com/ . (At this point in time, the May 16 Market Lamb/Goat Tagging day will take place.)

 

Please email livestock@sonomacountyfair.com with any questions. We're looking forward to a great 2020 Fair!

 

Sincerely,

Heather Borck

Exhibits Coordinator

Sonoma County Fair

We're all adjusting to new things in terms of school, friends, work, family and more. It's a challenge, but hang in there, stay healthy and don't forget to laugh every day.

We understand the importance of keeping our community safe and felt the best option was to cancel the traditional Chicken Que, but we had to find a way not to lose all those fundraising dollars that support 4-H programs across the county. Chicken Que raised $23,000 last year...where will that money come from this year?

First , we are selling virtual Chicken Que tickets! Sadly, there are no chicken dinners, but you can get either a limited edition event t-shirt or a hat with each ticket. We would prefer all ticket purchases be made on the website  sonomacountychickenque.com . If you already received paper tickets from your Club Rep, no worries! Contact your Rep or Club Leader to order your shirt or hat. 

Please help raise additional funds by asking members to ask friends and family if they will purchase a "ticket" as well. If every family sells 4 tickets, we could raise $35,000! Those funds go directly to supporting programs, events, awards, scholarships and more. Have them go online at  sonomacountychickenque.com  . They can place an order for a shirt or hat when they purchase online.

Then , on Friday, May 1 from 9am - noon there will be a Chicken Que Radiothon on 93.7 The Bull! We are excited about this event! The station will be pre-recording interviews over the phone with 4-H members, playing good music, encouraging people and businesses to donate to Chicken Que, telling the story of 4-H and why youth programs are important to our communities.  

Please help us identify people of all ages to be part of the recorded radio interviews.   Who do you know who has been an important part of 4-H? What families in your club have been involved for generations? Who in your club puts in extra effort? Who in your club is an inspiration to the kids? Who always picks up the slack and takes on extra projects/events? What youth shine in your club? What youth are good mentors for other members? Please email contact information for anyone you think would do an interview to  Nell Western . Interviews will be recorded over the phone. It would be great to have people from different decades. We are getting a list together and will contact people with instructions for the interviews by the end of this week. Interviews will be recorded April 20-23 with Justin at The Bull.

Not comfortable with a recorded interview? We still want to hear from you! Go to  sonomacountychickenque.com  , scroll down and leave a comment about what 4-H means to you and your family. How has being part of 4-H impacted your life? Your comment could be read on air during the event! 

Finally , as we have a better idea of what the summer and fall look like, we'll be planning other events and opportunities for clubs and members to come together, have fun and support 4-H.

If you have any questions, please email  chickenque@yahoo.com .  

Thanks and take care,

2020 Chicken Que Committee

 

State 4-H Fashion Revue Canceled

& New Service Project

The SFR Committee regrets to announce that 2020 State Fashion Revue, scheduled for May 30, will not be taking place. The committee plans to assemble a virtual fashion show featuring all County Winners. This would be a showcase, without evaluation or awards. Our hope is that members can complete their outfits once meetings and shopping trips are allowed, and counties will reschedule local fashion revues. County Winners will submit information via the UC survey system. Watch for more in the next Updates!

 

We want to recognize the members and leaders on the SFR committee for their hard work on this year’s event. A big thank you to the 14 counties who sent contributions; those funds will be saved for 2021. The 2021 SFR committee could really use more volunteers! Contact Sue at  2moores.sue@gmail.com  with questions or to volunteer.

 

There is an urgent need in California for face masks. If you have basic sewing skills, you can make these washable masks. It’s a great way to use up your stash of woven cotton fabric. Call your local hospital, care facility or fabric store to drop off the finished masks or give them to your family, friends, and neighbors. One yard of fabric plus ½ yard of interfacing is enough for 12 masks. See the  State Fashion Revue webpage  for complete instructions and links to the videos.

Registrations for the 2020 Washington Focus trips are now open. Dates, costs, and links to more information and registration can be found online by clicking the image of each trip.

Taking applications for Washington Focus Chaperones

Want to make a difference in the life of a CA 4-H'er? Apply to be a chaperone for either the Citizenship or Leadership Washington Focus Trip. For more information on the requirements and how to apply please see the Chaperone Information page under Events