We hope that you have had the opportunity to make the most of this summer, as best you can under the circumstances. As we begin to turn our attention to the new 4-H program year, we realize that COVID-19 will continue to impact 4-H programming. 4-H clubs and projects will need to meet virtually for the remainder of 2020 and perhaps into 2021. Our 4-H programs will look different this year, outside our familiar routines, and require us to adapt to new technologies and modalities of learning.
We hope to see many of you at the 4-H club leader meeting on August 28. We are developing resources to support 4-H club leaders and 4-H project leaders adapt to virtual meetings.
- How to strengthen interactivity during the business, educational, and social components of a virtual 4-H club meeting.
- How to hold small in-person meetings safely (when allowed by Public Health Officers), or how to adapt a project to meet remotely/virtually.
UC 4-H is committed to creating and maintaining socially and environmentally safe opportunities for learning, while continuing to provide high quality programming. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing new realities for delivering 4-H events.
- The State 4-H Office will not will not implement the following over-night events (alternative opportunities are being considered for development): Mindfulness Retreat, Youth Leadership Summits, and 2021 Cal Focus.
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California 4-H will not participate in any face-to-face multi-state or national events including, but not limited to: National 4-H Conference, Citizenship Washington Focus, Leadership Washington Focus, National Competitions (western round-up, animal science, shooting sports, fashion revue, etc.).
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4-H Office Hours: 8 am-noon (walk-ins) & 1-4 pm (by appointment)
*New procedure for visiting the office:
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Masks are required when inside the building
- The front door is locked. Ring the doorbell labeled "UCCE" outside the office.
- A staff person will escort you inside
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August
🍀 TBA: 4-H Camp Staff Applications Available
🍀 Complete Financials & hold peer review meeting
🍀 Plan club activities for year: hold parent meeting
🍀 9: State 4-H Scholarships Due
🍀 9: 4-H Golden Clover Award Due
🍀 22: Virtual event
🍀 28: Record Books due to county office
🍀 28: Send all financial forms to the County office
🍀 28: Officer books due to county office
🍀 28 @ 6PM: Club Leader Orientation
🍀 28 @ 8PM: eXtension Training for Returning
🍀 Volunteers via Zoom
🍀 31 Club Officers Training via Zoom
September
🍀 7: Labor Day (UCCE closed)
🍀 1 @ 7pm: County Council Meeting
🍀 8: Virtual eXtension Training for New Volunteers
🍀 TBD @ 6pm Record Book Judging
🍀 15: Virtual eXtension Training for New Volunteers
🍀 22: Virtual eXtension Training for Returning Volunteers
🍀 29: Window Display Contest Applications Due
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From the 4-H Office & 4-H Council |
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August? Wow.
It doesn’t seem real that time is moving forward to quickly and we are about to have our 2020-2021 Annual Leader Training, we are collecting all of the “end of the year” paperwork already, and gearing up for record book evaluations! And all of it in some electronic format! Kudos to all of you who are just rolling with it, taking it in stride and continuing to persevere. If there is any organization that can help provide some sense of normalcy to our local youth, it is Sonoma County 4-H!
I had an opportunity to hear the most recent YAL Foundation Scholarship recipients speak last week and I am so proud of how our program supports youth to become the leaders of our future. These young people are doing amazing things, and I can’t wait to see what continues to be accomplished by them and those behind them.
I was so impressed with the continued generosity of our community that I witnessed watching the Sonoma County Fair Virtual Junior Livestock Auction on August 3rd. I know there was much uncertainty leading up to the auction, and I want to thank the fair board and staff for providing an opportunity for so many youth to finish out their livestock projects despite the many unforeseen challenges we have faced as a community. I have to be honest, though, I hope we don’t find ourselves in this same situation a year from now. If we do, though, I am confident that Sonoma County will show up, bigger and better than ever, to support our youth and keep making the best better. Did you go to any of the drive thru fair food events each fairground provided? Or the drive-in movies? Super fun stuff going on, just remember socially distant interactions for everyone’s safety!
Usually, we are all wiped out right about now from the frenzy of fairs, back to school, returns from vacations, and scrambling to get the new 4-H year going…my guess is we’re all still pretty wiped out despite the differences 2020 has provided, but I am just as excited about the 4-H year as ever. What great opportunities we have in store for finding new and innovative ways to meet, gather, teach and learn. I am so grateful for every single volunteer who keeps coming back or signs up for the first time to help support our youth as they become leaders, teachers and doers themselves. I recently had the chance to collaborate with a 4-H Leader who lives in Oregon, where we shared ideas for embracing 4-H with the limitations of COVID-19 and gave each other insights into how we are trying to keep kids engaged in the program despite the circumstances. She shared with me how 4-H “saved” her daughter, and it got me to thinking how, no matter how we do it, no matter where we are, we are each playing a part in making a difference in a young person’s life and experience. So thank you for the part you play!
We are looking forward to Annual Leader Training on Friday August 28 via Zoom. If you have any burning questions you want addressed that evening, please send them to Diego, Michelle or me so we can be sure to provide you as comprehensive a program as possible. All end of the year documents, record books, treasurer books and secretary books, as well as pin order forms, club awards applications and state-required forms are due to be uploaded electronically to their respective Google files by that date. The difference this year is mainly that we are asking the clubs to upload these documents themselves. If you do not have access or the ability to scan and upload, please reach out to the office staff as soon as possible for assistance. Please check the county website for the link, CCLs will need access to the folders in order to upload all of the documents. Access is granted by starting at that link. Also coming up is our Virtual Youth Officer Training on Monday August 31 from 6-8 pm (also via Zoom) so if your officers haven’t signed up yet, it’s not too late. This is a great opportunity for the kids to meet officers from other counties, as it is a joint event with Marin and Napa County youth involved as well.
Your Sonoma County All Star Team are gearing up and figuring out how to create Achievement Night or something similar. Wish them luck and watch them shine as they use all their creative ideas to continue the tradition as best as we can.
Please reach out to any member of Council if you have any questions or concerns or if you are looking for ideas or have ideas to share. We are all in this together, still striving to provide the best program and experiences possible to our 4-H community and participants. So let’s stick together, and keep making the best better! Let us know how we can support you and help you support each other and our youth members.
Stay safe, wash your hands, wear your mask, and don’t touch your face!
All the best,
Sara
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Michelle Nozzari
4-H Administrative Aide
(707) 565-2621
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Diego Mariscal
4-H Program Coordinator
(707) 565-3027
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Steven Worker, PhD
4-H Youth Development Advisor
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🍀🍀🍀 2020 Youth 4-H Club Officer Training 🍀🍀🍀
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Tentative Agenda
6:00 – 6:30pm: What It Means to Be a Club Officer – Suzanne Amaral
(officer expectations, club bylaws, annual program planning guide)
6:30 – 7:00pm: 4-H club meetings: business, social, and educational. Tips for making virtual meetings interactive and engaging. – Steven Worker & Diego Mariscal
7:00 – 8:00pm: Officer specific training
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Virtual Horse Show hosted by Marin 4-H |
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🐎 Class Registration due by Aug 20
🍀Video Submissions due by Sept 1
🥇Awards are Sept 13
💲 Class fees: $10/ class.
Proceeds help support Marin 4-H
Open to the public- youth & adults
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THE SHOW MUST GO ON! This virtual Horse 🐎 Show allows 4-Hers and non-4-Hers- across the county, state, and country to participate! This is a FUN event that allows you to PRACTICE SKILLS, and get you on HORSEBACK in times when being together for events is not possible. Tell your friends and encourage them- to get into the arena and show his/her/their skills!
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📢Attn: Disease Detectives! 🔎
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The Virtual 4-H Disease Detectives Project will help youth learn about disease outbreaks, virus transmissions, public health investigations and how protective actions like hand washing, wearing masks, vaccinations, and herd immunity help manage negative public health outcomes. This project is designed for virtual delivery to 4-H members that are at least 12 years old.
Interested in leading an epidemiology project? Know someone who would be? Take this survey!
Contact Anne Iaccopucci at amiaccopucci@ucanr.edu with any questions.
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2020 Virtual Junior Livestock Auction By Kiley Andersen
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For many, the year of 2020 has probably been the opposite of what they expected, but for livestock exhibitors with close to year long projects, it was devastating. Thanks to the staff at the Sonoma County Fair, the exhibitors of the fair received a virtual Junior Livestock Auction. It was held on Saturday August 1st and was an online & live auction format. It was very successful and gave exhibitors a chance to display and sell their projects that they worked extremely hard on all year. In the auction, there were a total of 65 steers, with a high price of $15,750 and a low of $5,000. There were 9 goats with a high price of $3,300 and a low of $1,100. There were 61 lambs with the high being $4,000 and the low was $1,100. With the highest number of market animals sold, hogs had a total of 160 and the high price was $5,000 and a low of $1,300. Buyers were given the same options as past years (custom, resale, donate), and add-ons were also allowed. On behalf of every exhibitor from the 2020 Sonoma County Fair Junior Livestock Auction, we would like to thank Les Schwab Tire Center for their generous add on that was given to every member selling an animal. Thank you to the solicitors who worked so finding support and coordinating most of the bids. We would also like to thank the buyers for their continuous support of our projects, and the fair staff and everyone involved in making this virtual livestock auction possible in such hard and unprecedented times. Although it is disappointing that nothing is normal this year, watching the sale in the format that was utilized, turned out to be fun and more normal than I thought it would be. The money I have received at the junior livestock auction every year for my projects, goes straight into a college account that I will start using in the Fall of 2021. I am so grateful to have been able to add to that account again this year, as I’m sure so many other exhibitors were. |
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2020 Sonoma County 4-H Fashion Revue
By Heidi Lavell
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Due to the Covid-19 Shelter-in-Place and rules against groups of people getting together, the 2020 Sonoma County 4-H Fashion Revue was held completely online. Members submitted photos and answered written online questions about their entries. The evaluators reviewed the submitted information with the photos for each entry and filled out online scorecards.
There were 27 wonderful entries submitted by 13 artistic 4-H members. The members made many cozy comfort items such as quilts and pajamas. There were many creative examples of recycling or using scrap fabric, for example: using feed bags to create shopping bags and using fabric remnants to create accessories, quilts, and bags. For about half of the group, this was their first year participating in Fashion Revue! Congratulations to everyone who participated!
High Point Awards:
Junior 🍀 Nick Kelley, Two Rock 4-H
Intermediate 🍀 Hannah Campanile, Two Rock 4-H
Senior 🍀Emily Lavell, Lytton Springs 4-H
A huge THANK YOU to our online evaluators: Ann Pitts, Diana Hampton, Emily Manners, Heidi Lavell, Karen Giovannini, Mary Engebreth, Mary Lavell, Rosie Wu, Satleen Gill, Siegrid Vosseler
Also, thank you to the parents of the entrants and the 4-H leaders from Harvest, Independence, Liberty, Lytton Springs, and Two Rock for their support to the entrants and their patience and perseverance while we transitioned to a virtual Fashion Revue format.
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Youth Agriculture Leadership Center Event |
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YAL Virtual Auction & Wine Sale Fundraiser
🍀🍀 August 22 - 29, 2020 🍀🍀
The first ever Virtual Fundraiser kicks off with a "happy hour" hosted by Board Director Fred Frey and Executive Director Felicia Rush Lukins. We will talk about our mission, the featured auction lots and hear from our donors!
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State Fashion Revue 2020 Virtual State Fashion Show |
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State Fashion Revue invites all 2020 Fashion Revue County Winners to participate in the 2020 State Fashion Show.
Entry is with photographs and commentary. The SFR Committee will produce the video fashion show featuring your outfits, with no evaluation or awards.
For this special fashion show, Junior, intermediate, and Senior County Winners in state and local categories may participate, as long as you entered a complete outfit for evaluation (excluding quilts, modeling, accessories, etc.).
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If you are the County Winner in 2 categories, you can submit 2 separate entries. All outfit items in the two categories must be different.
Entry deadline is August 31, 2020
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Be a Winner with Wool
Enter the 2020 Contest
The California Make it With Wool Contest will be held in mid-November 2020 in Contra Costa County.
The competition promotes creativity and the beauty and versatility of sewing, knitting, and crocheting using wool fabrics and yarns. The contest has a long, colorful history with the first contest being held in 1947 to foster an interest in sewing with wool. The contest has since encouraged personal creativity and exceptional workmanship while showcasing thousands of awe-inspiring woolen garments from all over the US, many handcrafted by 4-H Clothing and Textile members.
The California MIWW Contest will offer the categories of Pre-Teen 12 years and under, Junior 13-16, Senior 17-24 and Adult 25 and older. All garments must be made from fabric or yarn with a minimum of 60% wool. Specific contest rules, age requirements, previous contest photographs, and judging criteria may be found on the MIWW website. www.makeitwithwool.com
Junior, Senior and Adult California winners can sew, knit, or crochet, their way to the National Finals in Denver, Colorado January 2021! For information contact the California Director April Ward.
California Entry Deadline- Oct. 24, 2020
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4-H Virtual Hippology Contest
Aug. 22, 2020 | 11:00 am- 3:00 pm PDT
Hippology is an activity that can make learning fun for 4-H members by letting them exhibit their knowledge and understanding of equine science and husbandry in a friendly yet competitive setting.
The Virtual Hippology Contest has three (3) different phases:
- Examination Phase
- Station Phase
- Judging Phase
This year's Hippology Contest is being held in partnership with Purdue University. The virtual format and content for this contest was created with Horse Extension Specialists in Indiana, Michigan and Oklahoma.
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Purdue University will conduct the contest through the eXtension Learning Management System.
Please note there is a required Practice Session led by Purdue. (choose one)
August 19, 2020; 5pm - 7pm PDT
August 20, 2020 from 5pm-7pm PDT
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Equine Public Speaking Contest
Sept. 12-Juniors (ages 9-13)
Sept. 13-Seniors (ages 14-19)
The California State 4-H Virtual Equine public speaking contest will be held on September 12 for juniors and September 13 for seniors, with 3 different time blocks.
Registration closes at 5:00 pm on September 1, 2020.
3 Contests
- Prepared Public Speaking
- Individual Demonstrations
- Team Demonstrations
Contest is open to all enrolled 4-H members.
Senior division is 14 years and up
Juniors is 13 years and under.
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The top 4 Seniors will have the opportunity to represent California at the virtual Western National Roundup in January 2021.
*The subject matter must pertain to the horse industry, speeches not appropriately related to the horse industry will be disqualified at the discretion of judges.
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Horse Classic
September 26-27, 2020
English, Western and Ranch styles
38 classes with Junior, Senior and Novice levels
More detail and registration is coming soon!
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National 4-H Week is October 4-10. Tune in to learn about this year's National 4-H Week theme, Opportunity4All, and access tools and resources you can use to celebrate this important time of year. |
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SOLAR OVEN S'MORES ON STEM LAB
Check out the newest activity on STEM Lab to make Solar Oven S'mores, sponsored by HughesNet. Share this activity with your clubs to introduce kids ages 8-10 to the power of solar energy. This tasty treat will have them coming back for more!
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4-H AT HOME: GARDENING & PLANT SCIENCE
It's harvesting season! Now is a perfect time to teach kids about gardening and plant science, explored in this week’s collection of 4‑H at Home activities.
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COMMITTING TO YOUNG PEOPLE IS MORE CRITICAL NOW THAN EVER BEFORE
Hear from Dana Bolden, Chief Communications Officer of Corteva Agriscience, about listening to our nation's young people and the importance of continuing to support them and the youth organizations who are providing essential resources for kids now when they need the most.
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A CONVERSATION WITH JENNIFER NETTLES ON ELIMINATING THE OPPORTUNITY GAP
Georgia 4-H'ers, Kalani and Sophia, lead a conversation on equity, social justice, and eliminating the opportunity gap with Grammy Award Winning Singer-Songwriter, 4-H Alumna and National 4-H Celebrity Spokesperson, Jennifer Nettles.
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ACTRESS SOPHIA BUSH SHARES HER MENTAL HEALTH EXPERIENCES
Join us LIVE on Facebook for a discussion on youth mental health and coping mechanisms with actress and California 4-H alumna, Sophia Bush and Texas 4-H'er & 4-H Youth in Action recipient, Micah Palacios. Tune in on Thursday, August 20 at 12 PM EDT!
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STEM CHALLENGE WEBINAR SERIES BEGINS TODAY
Join us for two virtual training opportunities to learn more about the 4-H STEM Challenge kit and how to adapt activities to accommodate for both in-person and virtual learning. The first overview training is available to watch on-demand and the second training on adapting programming for virtual and hybrid delivery will take place on September 10 at 1PM ET. Learn more and register today!
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Greetings 4-H rabbit project members,
I am interested in getting a pet rabbit my son. I was hoping to purchase one from the fair this year,and while that didn't go as expected- I am still hoping to support 4-H. I am looking for Dutch or Netherland Dwarf rabbits. If you have any for sale please call me at (541) 760-8938 or email me at jetamoroso@gmail.com.
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