Silver Bow County

Located in Southwest Montana along the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains, you will find the “Richest Hill on Earth”. Known for its vast history as a mining town, rich in its Irish heritage, and recognized by the “Our Lady of the Rockies” stature and the Berkley Pit, Silver Bow County is unique in many ways. It is one of two counties in Montana with a combined city-county government, run by a Chief Executive and 12 county commissioners. There is a county population of 34,400 with a land area of just over 718 square miles, making it the smallest land-mass county in the state. The county’s economy is driven by health care, education, mining and tourism. The MSU Extension Office is staffed by 4-H Youth Development and Family Consumer Science Agent, Kellie Kahtani, and SNAP-Ed Instructor, Jen Friedberg.

Food and fitness become focus for Family and Consumer Science programs

Youth and adults alike have shown an increased interest for food and fitness programs in Silver Bow County. Harvest of the month, a school-based program in Butte, has been a highlight of teaching this year. This program has been brought to over 700 students in 4 elementary schools. Students in grades 3-6 at all schools have been introduced to beets and chickpeas, with students at West Elementary also participating in lessons on summer squash. The 2024 school year kicked off with lessons on brassicas. Each lesson includes the Harvest of the Month video, an activity, and a tasting. Over 50% of students district-wide have further asked for the recipe associated with the tasting. The best part of this program is going back into the school and hearing about students taking the recipe home and making it with a parent! MSU Extension has also partnered with other community organizations to offer programs for adults. We have started a new partnership with the Butte Public Library to offer weekly cooking experiences. The “Cooking in the Books” program has Kellie Kahtani, MSU Extension Agent, offering a cooking basics class on the third Thursday of each month, introducing new ways to revitalize recipes and bring more vegetables into the diet. Class topics have include tastings/demonstrations on cooking a veggie scramble, stuffed bell peppers, and skillet meals. One participant in the class expressed that a household member struggles with Type 2 Diabetes, and participation in these classes have given her an increased confidence in cooking healthier dishes with more vegetables. There is also a continued partnership with the Butte-Silver Bow County Health Department to offer Walk with Ease. With added interest in this program, we increased the number of classes offered throughout the year, adding a fall program instead of just a spring and winter program. During the spring class, we also participated in a promotional event that will be shared state-wide to increase involvement and awareness of the program.

Caption: Roasted chickpeas as a tasting for Harvest of the Month

Credit: Kellie Kahtani

Dinosaurs bring 4-H Members to 4-H Camp

Silver Bow County and Madison-Jefferson Counties 4-H programs joined together for the 2024 Multi-County 4-H Camp at Loon Lake the last weekend of June. It was the largest camp for Silver Bow County in 8 years, with 32 members and 6 adults in attendance. Teen leaders from Silver Bow County 4-H planned the 4-day event with the help of MSU Extension Agent, Kellie Kahtani, and 4-H volunteers, Denise Smith and RuthAnne Shope. The theme of “Dinosaurs” was chosen from multiple options, with planning starting in February. Workshops included arts and crafts, STEM, recreation, cooking, and leadership with the camp planning youth members leading each of the workshops throughout the camp. Youth members were grouped in teams with a teen leader/counselor, given a dinosaur to keep the teams organized, and worked their way through workshops and team building for 3 hours each morning, followed by group activities and recreation for the afternoons, and capping off each day with games at the campfire. What set the camp apart from previous years were the number of campers, the communities represented, and the dynamics of the group. The record group included 15 first time campers from three counties! The dynamic was different this year with 20 campers being boys, marking the first time the boys cabins outnumbered the girls cabins. The teen leaders and camp planning committee did an amazing job of planning an action-packed camp that kept kids moving and learning the entire time!

Caption: 4-H campers participating in an ice breaker at the start of camp

Credit: Kellie Kahtani

Youth Outdoor Day brings new partnerships

In its second year, the Youth Outdoor Day brought over 200 participants and 13 partnering organization activities to McGruff Park in Butte to celebrate outdoor education and partnerships with the Silver Bow County 4-H program. This showed an increase from 7 partnerships in the first year. Following the success of our first Youth Outdoor Day, the 4-H shooting sports committee decided to host a second event, highlighting new and existing programs within the environmental and natural sciences projects. Invitations to partnering organization, such as Montana FWP and Montana 4-H, along with new organizations from Butte and beyond. New partnerships came from Montana Wild, 15-90 Search and Rescue, Butte Cares, AgriCorps, and Master Gardeners. Youth learned about bears, fish, knot tying, tracking, compass orienteering, forest stewardship, survival, firearm safety, and more thanks to the partnering organizations in a fun, interactive manner. They also received a free lunch, thanks in part to donations from TDS Fiber, Harrington Pepsi, Walmart, and MeatEater. Not only has this program increased partnerships and provided an impactful community service, but we have also increased 4-H membership by bringing more community awareness to programs available through 4-H. Highlighting some of the lesser-known projects outside of livestock has increased participation in shooting sports, wildlife, and sport fishing this year. Based on the excitement brought by Youth Outdoor Day, we were able to add a hunting/wildlife project through shooting sports, a sport fishing project with an added interest in fly tying, and increase our volunteer base from community members in 4-H.

Caption: Danielle Oyler, Wildlife Stewarship Outreach Specialist for FWP, teaching kids to be "bear aware" at Outdoor Day

Credit: Kellie Kahtani

Contact

305 W Mercury St, Suite 303
Butte, MT 59701
406-723-0217
https://www.montana.edu/extension/silverbow/