PDF of Newsletter

December 2024

 

A Letter From the Extension Agent

This is the first in a series on parliamentary procedure with tips to make your club meetings run smoothly.  Whether you are a new member or experienced, you have a duty to play an active role at club meetings.  Parliamentary procedure is a decision-making process where all voices are heard, and decisions are made by the majority.

Most business meetings follow a basic outline called the Order of Business which generally goes in this order:

1.       Call to Order

2.       Pledges

3.       Roll Call

4.       Secretary’s Report

5.       Correspondence

6.       Treasurer’s Report

7.       Committee Reports

8.       Unfinished Business

9.       New Business

10.   Announcements

11.   Adjourn 

12.   Program

Sincerely,

Allison Kosto, Extension Agent -MSU Extension Broadwater County

 


Greytak Calendars

Greytak calendars are available to purchase from the office. The calendars are beautiful hand drawings by Montana artist, Don Greytak.  Calendars are $15.00 each and make great Christmas gifts! Exact cash or checks made out to 4-H Council please.

 

Christmas Tree Fundraiser

Each year, the 4-H Council conducts a Christmas Tree Fundraiser at Rocky Mountain Supply. The next cutting date will be Friday, December 6th. Cutting location and meeting point will be determined. Contact your club leader if your family is able to bring a trailer and/or a chainsaw. The proceeds from the sales benefit the entire county 4-H program including project work, awards and activities. Cleaning and stocking of the tree lot assignments is as follows:

·         Rocky Mountain Rough Hands: December 1-7th

·         Winston: December 8-14th

·         Toston: December 15-21st

·         Old Baldy and Elkhorn: December 22-25

·         Radersburg: Clean Up December 26th

 
MANDATORY- Beef Tagging and Weigh-in
This event is Saturday, December 28th at Noon at GaLor Genetics (8393 US Hwy 287, Townsend).  To respect our host, please be on time and not too early. All market beef animals are required to attend. If you can’t be there, you must make arrangements for your animal(s) to be there. Breeding animals are welcome to get weighed but are not required to attend. It is recommended to bring your brand inspection paperwork for the inspector to look over and provide guidance on what needs to be done prior to Fair. Be prepared to share information about your animal including breed, breeder and birthdate.  If you have any questions about the beef project, contact John Ferrat at 406.949.7911 or Samantha Ferrat at 406.949.0869.  If you run into issues on tagging day, contact Allison at 406-439-8863.

Multi-County 4-H Camp - Camp Counselors Needed!

Applications for Camp Counselors are due Monday, December 16 to the Extension Office. Camp is June 3-6 at Camp Rotary near Monarch. Applicants must be in grades 9-12 at the time of application. Counselors are required to come to camp on June 2nd and attend the entire camp in addition to a training in the spring. The application process can be highly competitive, so complete and timely applications make the best impression!. If you need help building a resume which is part of the application join us for the Resume Workshop.  Details on page 2.

 

Read about Spencer Braaten’s experience at 4-H Fall Leadership Training on page 5!

 

Stay Connected with Sports You!

We are trying something new by offering members and parents to join us with Sports You. Sports You is a data-secure, school-safe, US owned and operated messaging platform. It can be used via a web browser or an app. We intend to use this to push out reminders and post documents. It is not mandatory to join, but if you think this will help your family stay connected with what is happening county wide, then please do! See the attachment with this email for instructions on how to join.

 
4-H Directory

Attached along with the newsletter is the 2024-2025 4-H Directory.  This is your resource list of 4-H leaders in our county.  It includes contact information for club leaders, committee members and project leaders.  We are continuing to recruit leaders and will send out updated lists as needed.  We suggest printing the directory, so you have it handy.  The individuals on this list are great resources for many of your 4-H questions so don’t hesitate to contact them in addition to the office.  

 

4-H Resume Workshop

There is an online Resume Building Workshop on Sunday, December 8th at 4:00 pm hosted by the Wheatland County Extension Office and the 4-H Camp Planning Committee.  The workshop is geared towards teens who are ready to start their first resume or finetune one that they have started.  The link will be emailed out this week.

 

County 4-H Leaders Training

Save the date for Monday, January 27th at 6:00 pm for the annual countywide 4-H Leaders Training.  Dinner is provided.  Please RSVP by January 21st.  All types of leaders are invited including club, projects, committee and activity coordinators.  The topic of the night is conflict management, and more details will be coming out soon.  

 

Countywide 4-H Activities

 

Committee & Council Meetings
4-H COUNCIL: The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February 25 at 7:00 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). There will be no meetings in December or January.  Contact Karen at 406.949.4852 if you have any questions or agenda items. Agenda items must be submitted by noon the Friday prior to the meeting.

INDOOR COMMITTEE: The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 25 at 6:00 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). Contact Karen at 406.949.4852 if you have any questions or agenda items. Agenda items must be submitted by noon the Friday prior to the meeting.

LIVESTOCK COMMITTEE: The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 7th at 7:00 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). There will be no meetings in December or January.  If you have any questions or agenda items, please contact Jason Noyes at 406.949.4851. Agenda items must be submitted by noon the Friday prior to the meeting.  

HORSE COMMITTEE: There is currently no meeting scheduled.  If you have any questions, please contact Jan Finn at [email protected] or phone (406) 266-4992 - home phone or (406) 521-0001 - cell phone.

INTERSTATE EXCHANGE CLUB: The next meeting is scheduled for Monday December 30th at 6:30pm at the Extension Office. If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Beatty at 406.490.1362 or Todd Beatty at 406.490.1361.

 

4-H Animal Project Opportunities

 

Beef

We will see everyone at the weigh in on December 28th! (Details on page 1 of the newsletter). Save the date for our January Beef workshop which will be on Sunday January 26th. Details will be shared in the January newsletter. If you have any questions about the beef project, contact John Ferrat at 406.949.7911 or Samantha Ferrat at 406.949.0869.

 

Rabbit

The next rabbit workshop will be held on Sunday, January 5th at 3:30 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend).  Rabbit workshops are planned to be held monthly on the first Sundays at 3:30 pm. If you have any questions, please contact Dannielle Douglas at 406.465.3318.

 

Dairy Goat

The next dairy goat meeting will be held Saturday, January 4th at 5:30 pm -location TBD. Meetings are planned to be held monthly on the first Saturday at 5:30pm. Locations will change throughout the year. These meetings are also open to Meat Goat members. If you have any questions, please contact Danyel Henke at 406.980.0995.

 

4-H Non-Animal Project Activities

 

Cloverbuds

The Cloverbuds will be meeting on Sunday January 19th at 3:00 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). These meetings are planned for third Sundays at 3:00 pm January-May 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Jessica Lancello at 406.860.5355.

 

Sewing

The next sewing workshop will be Saturday, January 11th (NO WORKSHOP IN DECEMBER!) at 9:30 am at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). If you are planning on participating in the sewing project next year, please attend! Sewing workshops are planned for the second Saturday of the month until April. If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Holland at 406.266.3473

 

.22 Rifle

Keep an eye out for workshop dates! The plan is to start weekly workshops around mid-January. Exact days of the week are still to be determined, depending on the schedule at the Broadwater Rod and Gun Club. If you have any questions, please contact John Pavao at 406.422.9590.

 

Cake Decorating

Cake decorating workshops are scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Fridays in January, February and March. The first workshop will be on Friday, January 10th at 5:30pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). If you have any questions, please contact Roxanne Six at 406.980.1204.

 

Archery

Archery workshops will be starting on Tuesday, December 3rd at 6:00 pm at the 4-H Building at the Fairgrounds (189 US HWY 12 E, Townsend). Archery workshops will be every Tuesday until March 11th. There will be no workshops on December 24 and 31st. If you have any questions, please contact Jason Noyes at 406.949,4851

 

Statewide 4-H Opportunities

 

Shooting Sports Leaders Trainings

Did you know that shooting sports leaders must go through extra trainings in order to become certified? Anyone interested in becoming a shooting sports leader, please reach out to the office. There are some training courses coming up this fall, so now is a good time to start the process! Once certified, leaders only have to recertify every seven years.

Here is the list of trainings scheduled for the remainder of  2024.  

·         Kalispell – December 6-7, 2024.  We will offer Coordinator, Archery, Rifle, Pistol, Muzzleloader, Hunting Skills, and Shotgun.

·         Belgrade – December 13-14, 2024.  We will offer Coordinator, Archery, Rifle, Pistol, and Shotgun.

·         Malta  - January 10-11, 2025. We will offer Archery, Rifle and Pistol.

·         Havre and CircleTBD.  We will offer Archery, Rifle, and Pistol.

 
For a listing of statewide Shooting Sports events, make sure to check out the Montana 4-H Shooting Sports page regularly!

 

Important Upcoming Dates
·         Leadership Academy - Sundays at 3:00 PM​

o    December 15, 2024​

o    January 12, 2025​

o    February 9, 2025​

o    March 16, 2025​

·         Citizenship Seminar – January 19-21, 2025​

·         Legislative Breakfast – January 20-21, 2025​

·         Montana State Shooting Sports Event – March 7-9, 2025

·         Youth State Award Deadline – May 1, 2025​

·         Montana 4-H Congress (Pre-Congress) - July 6-8 and 8-11, 2025

 

Monthly Online Leadership Academy 

Join the Montana 4-H Leadership Academy workshop series on Sunday afternoons in the 2024-2025 4-H year. Each month, the Ambassador Officer Team will present a different workshop topic that they have found to be important as they have developed their own leadership abilities. This workshop can be paired with a local county leadership meeting to work on skill building, planning, and mentorship. The leadership academy is for Montana 4-H members interested in exploring and developing their own leadership skills while serving their county 4-H program in new ways. The workshop content is considered beginner level for emerging leaders. Members with more leadership experience may find this to be a review and should consider mentoring younger members just starting out in leadership activities before or after these workshops. Visit the Montana 4-H website to register for the workshop series and receive the Zoom link. Following Sunday Trainings at 3:00 PM: 

December 15, 2024 January 12, 2025 February 9, 2025 March 16, 2025

 

Summer 2025 Outbound Programs Application

States’ 4-H Summer Outbound programs provide American 4-H youth with the opportunity to travel to foreign countries for a month-long cultural immersion experience. Delegates live with volunteer host families and engage in experiential learning about a new way of life. Delegates experience aspects of daily life that allow them to more deeply understand both their host culture and their own culture. Our network of like-minded international partners recruit host families and plan enrichment activities.

Visit the Montana 4-H website to learn more about 2025 Outbound programs.

 

January 8-11, 2025: Western National 4-H Roundup in Denver, CO

The Western National Roundup is a yearly conference for 4-H members that is held each January in Denver, Colorado. Events include national contests, workshops, educational tours, entertainment, and a trip to the National Western Stock Show.

Visit the COlorado 4-H website to learn more about Western 4-H Roundup.

 

2025 Citizenship Seminar

Registration for the 2025 Citizenship Seminar event opens Friday November 29, 2025.Get ready to connect with 4-Hers from across the state at the 2025 Montana 4-H Citizenship Seminar! This unique experience offers an inside look at democratic government and the chance to engage with program highlights that make it unforgettable. While everyone may feel a mix of excitement and curiosity, you'll find yourself growing alongside peers and adults alike. Don’t miss the opportunity to meet elected officials and leave a memorable impression as a proud representative of 4-H!

The 2025 Montana 4-H Citizenship Seminar will take place from January 19-21, 2025, in Helena, Montana. This event is designed to educate Montana youth about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the legislative process through fun and interactive format. Participants will interact with each other during a mock legislative process, using bills they have written and submitted.  

When: The seminar will begin on Sunday, January 19 at 3:00 p.m and ends on Tuesday, January 21 sometime in the early afternoon. 

Where: Helena, Montana – Seminar activities will take place at the Delta Colonial Hotel, the Bill Hamilton 4-H Building at the Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds and the Montana capitol complex. 

Eligibility: 4-H members must be 13 years of age by October 1, 2024. Citizenship Seminar youth and adult participants will also attend the Legislative Breakfast on Tuesday, January 21st and the practice dinner on Monday January 20th.  

Accommodations: Each individual/county must make their own guest room reservations.  A block of rooms is reserved at the Delta Colonial Hotel (2301 Colonial Drive, Helena) under Montana 4-H Legislative Breakfast by calling (406) 443-2100. The block will be open from November 25, 2024 - January 1, 2025. The rate is $132 per room plus tax. 

Fee: There is a $95 registration fee per youth and adult to offset the seminar program costs. The program fee includes all meals for both Montana Citizenship Seminar and the Legislative Breakfast. 

Registration: Youth and adults log into your ZSuite Profile and register under Events starting November 29, 2024 – January 8, 2025. Please check with your county office to confirm the amount before paying. Registration for Citizenship Seminar includes registration to Legislative Breakfast. Participants attending Citizenship Seminar do not need to register separately for Legislative Breakfast. 

 Transportation: Transportation to and from the seminar and shuttling youth between activities is the county/ chaperone's responsibility. 

Legislative Bill: Each delegate is expected to sponsor one “bill” suitable for the 4-H Legislature. Delegates will receive a link via email to upload their bill after registration is completed in ZSuites. Here are the links to the Bill Template and How to write a bill document.  The deadline to upload bills to the link is January 8th. Bills will be reviewed and grouped by topic area into committees prior to the event. Please see the template included with this email and in the ZSuite registration for information on how to write a bill. 

Service Project: Each delegate and county will have the opportunity to contribute to a service project that is yet to be determined. 

History Bowl: Each delegate will have the opportunity to compete in the Montana History Bowl. The first round of the History Bowl will be a written form given on Sunday, January 19 during the seminar's check-in to determine the participants who will compete in the second and final rounds throughout the event. 

Checklist: Please complete the following by the January 8, 2025 deadline 

•              Reserve your hotel room by January 1, 2025 or earlier. After January 1 the room block will no longer be available.  

•              Registration through ZSuite by January 8, 2025 or earlier  

•              Check with your county office to confirm amount before paying 

•              Upload mock legislative bill to by January 8, 2025 or earlier 

 

We look forward to a fun event full of civic engagement opportunities and experiences! 

Contact: Tracey Robecker, [email protected] (406) 994-3502 or Brett Schomer, [email protected](406) 994-1721.

 

Report on 4-H Fall Leadership Training


Every year, there is a statewide opportunity for a Fall Leadership training. This is a chance for teens to get together with other 4-H teens form across the state and work on their leadership skills. This year, Spencer Braaten of the Toston Blue Ribbon 4-H Club attended the training and here is what he had to share from it:

 

In November, I took the opportunity to attend the 4-H Fall Leadership training in Billings, MT. I had a lot of fun and learned lots of things through the workshops. We did a few team building activities and ice breakers with groups of people which were a lot of fun and I got to meet some really cool people and make a lot of new friends. Even the workshops were fun. 

My favorite part of the workshops is that they were hands on and gave us the chance to learn so much to help in the future. We learned how to dress for certain occasions and how to make first impressions. One of my favorite things that I learned which I feel will be very beneficial for me in my future is the different types of people and personalities and how to communicate with them more clearly and understandably. 

On the last day we did a community service project where we made dog and cat toys for the local animal shelter. Overall I had a lot of fun getting to go and seeing my friends and make new friends and learn lots of things. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend that you go to the Fall Leadership training because it was a lot of fun and overall a great experience. ~ Spencer Braaten

 

Other Opportunities
 

People Partner Grants - Montana 4-H Foundation

These grants, up to $500, provide incentives and financial support to 4-H clubs, groups and individuals for programs that enhance the quality of living for people in their communities. Applications should meet the following criteria:

•    Youth should be involved in determining, planning, conducting, and evaluating the project.

•    The project will make it possible for people to accomplish something educational and worthwhile that helps them reach a higher quality of life.

•    There is community support and acceptance of the project, as evidenced by “partners” listed in the grant application, additional funding sources, and resource persons and agencies involved.

•    The project has lasting benefits.

Applications can be found on the Montana 4-H Foundation website and must be postmarked by February 1.

 

Future Rural Educator’s Club

Are you interested in going to college to become a teacher? MSU’s Rural Pathways Program helps future educators transition from high school to post-secondary through their Bridge to College program! The program uses an online learning community with monthly virtual meetings to both help build skills and prepare you to transition into college! For more information visit the Future Rural Educator’s website. Also see the flier attached to the newsletter email.