4-H Newsletter - January 2024
Click here for a PDF of the newsletter.
A Letter From the Extension Agent
What does leadership mean to you? In my opinion, leadership is not a single skill
but a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes that help a person project a
leadership quality. It is a destiny that is constantly changing and shaping to be
better.
I got my first experience with leadership skill development as a young person in 4-H. There are many opportunities in 4-H to learn and practice leadership skills in a safe supportive environment. One example is through designing and implementing a teen leadership project. This is only the beginning though. You can also become a 4-H camp counselor, attend state and national leadership development events, be a club officer, mentor younger members and so much more.
Stretch your leadership skills this year and take advantage of a new opportunity. There are many listed in the newsletter!
Sincerely, Allison Kosto- Extension Agent, MSU Extension Broadwater County
Beef Tagging and Weigh-in
This MANDATORY event is on Saturday, December 30th at Noon at GaLor Genetics (8393
US Hwy 287, Townsend). To respect our host, please try to 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 welcomed
to get weighed but are not required to attend. Please bring your bill of sale or
brand inspection for the inspector to look at and provide guidance on what needs to
be done prior to Fair. Also be prepared to share information about your animal including
breed, breeder and birthdate. If you have any questions, contact John Ferrat at 406.949.7911
or Samantha Ferrat at 406.949.0869. If you run into issues on tagging day, contact
Allison Kosto at 406.439.8863.
Record Book Survey
The Montana Curriculum Advisory Team is requesting feedback from parents and members
on 4-H record books and their format. This is your opportunity to share your love
or frustrations with the books to help guide the future of their development. Take the survey!
4-H Scholarships Now Open
Calling all highs school seniors as well as current college students! The Montana
4-H Foundation has opened up the 2024 Scholarships. You can see all of the available scholarships on the Montana 4-H Foundation website. Applications are done online through this online form. . You will need two letters of reference and a copy of your transcript. Please keep
in mind that one of the reference letters must be form your Extension Agent. Think
ahead and talk with Allison about this early, so she has plenty of time to get these
letters written. Scholarship application deadline is February 14th, 2024.
Annual Ag Appreciation Dinner
The Ag Appreciation Dinner will be held on Saturday, February 24, 2024 at the Watson
Event Center. We would like to have 4-H and FFA members who are 12 and over serve
dinner. Please wear white button down shirt and black pants and arrive at the event
center by 5:30pm. If members are interested please contact Jemma Loughery 406.314.3403
by February 15th.
Countywide 4-H Activities
4-H Leaders Training
Save the date for the annual 4-H Leaders Training on Tuesday, March 26th at 6:00 pm
at the Extension Office. This will replace the monthly Indoor Committee and Council
meeting that month. The training is open to all leaders (club, project and others)
or parents. The focus of the training is conflict management. There will also be a
taco dinner. Please RSVP to the office by Friday, March 22 to ensure we have enough
food. Contact Allison in the office at 406.266.9242.
Committee & Council Meetings
4-H COUNCIL: The next meeting will be Monday, January 22nd at 7:00 pm at the Extension
Office (Flynn Building, 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.
INDOOR COMMITTEE: The next meeting will be Monday, January 22nd at 6:30 pm at the Extension Office (Flynn Building, 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 2nd at 7:00 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). 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.
TEEN CLUB: The next Teen Club meeting will be Monday, January 29th at 6:30pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). Teen Club is open to all Middle or High School aged members. If you are not currently in Teen Club, but want to find out what it is about, please come to a meeting! Please RSVP to Karen Noyes at 406.949.4852.
COUNTY CONTEST COMMITTEE:
There will be a planning meeting for the county 4-H contest on Tuesday, January 16th at 6:30 pm in the backroom of the Extension Office (Flynn Building, 416 Broadway, Townsend). If you volunteered to be a part of this committee, please attend this meeting. Items to discuss are date and theme ideas. If you have any questions, please contact the office.
4-H Animal Project Activities
Beef Workshop
Please join Jeff Klompien and Kayla McDonald on Sunday, January 14th at noon for our
workshop on our ranch during calving season! Jeff and I are putting together a workshop
during calving season. We would like to invite you to my family’s ranch to experience
calving season on our ranch. We will be covering newborn care and perhaps even experience
delivery. We ask that you please wear the cleanest pair of shoes to prevent sicknesses
into our facility and dress for the weather. If you can carpool with others, that
would be great but not required. The easiest way to find our corrals is come to our
driveway at 83 Dry Hollow RD Townsend MT 59644 then you will go 2.7 miles past our
house, over 2 cattle guards. You will keep going until you see our corrals on the
right-hand side. Please feel free to call myself, Kayla McDonald (406)570-0904 or
my mom Pam McDonald at (406)580-3499
Dairy Goat
The next workshop will be on Saturday, January 6th at 5:30pm at the Extension Office
(416 Broadway, Townsend). Meat goat members are welcome as well. Any member wanting
to do a demonstration at one of the meetings is welcome to do so. If you have any
questions, please contact Danyel Henke at 406.980.0995
Rabbit
The next rabbit project meeting will be Sunday, January 7th at 3:30pm at the Extension
Office (416 Broadway, Townsend) If you have any questions, please contact Dannielle
Douglas at 406.465.3318.
Poultry
There will be a poultry meeting on Saturday, January 20th at 4:30pm at the Extension
Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). Topics covered will be choosing your market animal,
a poultry quiz, and parts of chickens, ducks and turkeys. The next Poultry meeting
will be on Saturday February 24th. If you have a questions, please contact Alice Kroeger
at 406.547.4343.
4-H Non-Animal Project Activities
Cloverbuds
The first Cloverbuds meeting will be held on Sunday January 21st at 3:00pm at the
Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). Cloverbuds is the project for our 4-H members
age 5-7. 4-H members who are 8 can choose to take Cloverbuds as their project or to
be a full 4-H member and take any of the other 4-H projects available. If you have
any questions or concerns, please contact Jessica Lancello at 406.860.5355.
Sewing
The next sewing workshop will be Saturday, January 13th at 9:30 am at the Extension
Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). Sewing workshops are planned for the second Saturday
of the month until April 2024. There is no December workshop! If you have any questions
or concerns, please contact Sarah Holland at 406.266.3473
Baking and Cooking
There are workshops scheduled for Thursdays in January. The next workshop will be
on Thursday, January 4th at 6:30pm at the Trailhead Church (20 Trailhead View Dr,
Townsend). If you have any questions, please contact Jennifer Beatty at 406.490.1362.
Cake Decorating
Cake decorating workshops are scheduled for Fridays, January 12th and 26th at 5:30
pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). Watch for more information in
the January newsletter. There will also be workshops on February 9th and 23rd and
March 8th and 22nd. If you have any questions, please contact Roxanne Six at 406.980.1204.
Visual Arts
There will be a workshop on Monday, January 8th at 5:30pm at the Extension Office
(416 Broadway, Townsend). This workshop will be painting with tempera paints. There
is another Visual Arts workshop scheduled for January 24th- working with chalk pastels
(bring your own chalk and chalk paper if you have it). If you have any questions about
this workshop, please contact Renee Kockler at 406.220.2820
Hunting/Wildlife
The next workshop will be Saturday, January 6th at 3:00pm at the Extension Office
(416 Broadway, Townsend). Topics will be cold weather hunting, hunter orange, mapping
your hunt, ballistics and many more. If you have any questions, please contact Brandon
Henke at 406.980.0992
Archery
Archery workshops will be held on Tuesdays from 6:00-8:00 pm in the 4-H Building at
the Fairgrounds (189 US Hwy 12E, Townsend) until March 5th. If you have any questions,
please contact Jason Noyes at 406.949.4851.
Photography
There will be a 4-H Photography workshop on Sunday, January 21st at 1:00 pm at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). The workshop will be taught by 4-H alumni, Bailey Taves. Contact Karen Noyes at 406.949.4852 with any questions.
Statewide 4-H Opportunities
Shooting Sports Leaders Training Opportunities
There are shooting sports leaders trainings planned for this fall and winter. Any
adult interested in becoming a Shooting Sports Leader must complete training in that
particular discipline in addition to becoming a certified volunteer. The training
includes four online training modules and an in-person training portion. The 4-H
Council has traditionally helped with some of the financial costs of the training.
New instructions are needed in all disciplines. Trainings will be held on the following
dates:
· Basic and Advanced Trainings for Western Heritage, Muzzleloader, and Hunting Skills will be held later in the Spring of 2024.
Leadership Academy Monthly Workshops
Join the Montana 4-H Leadership Academy workshop on Sunday afternoons. The leadership
academy is a network of Montana 4-H members interested in exploring and developing
their own leadership skills while serving their county 4-H program in new ways. Each
month the officer team members will present a different workshop topic that they have
found to be important as they have grown their own leadership abilities through a
virtual platform.
The workshops are on Sunday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:00pm. The dates are: January 14, February 11 and March 10. Registration is done online at the Montana 4-H website.. Click on the blue ‘register now’ button. Once registered, the zoom links will be shared monthly.
Custer County 4-H Shooting Sports Invitational
Registration for the Custer County Invitational is available now. The meet is scheduled
for January 13th and 14th, 2024, with registrations due by January 10th. This is an
opportunity for Archery members. If you would like more information, please contact
the office.
Lewis and Clark County 4-H Archery – Helena Invitational Shoot
Registration for the Helena Invitational on January 6 is now OPEN. The price is $15
per event. Please use the links below to sign up. The tournament will be held at the
Lewis and Clark Fairgrounds in Helena. If you have questions, please call Sam Allen
at 406-461-8583
2024 4-H National Shooting Sports Quiz Bowl
The 2024 4-H Shooting Sports National Quiz Bowl registration portal is now open. Quizzes
this year are comprised of 50 new questions for Intermediate/Seniors and 25 new questions
for Juniors as a mix of General 4-H, STEM, Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Archery, Hunting
Skills and Western Heritage - hosted on a brand new, exciting, hopefully trouble free,
platform.
Quiz Bowl registration price is the same as last year, $10 for individuals and $40 for teams. Team members are automatically scored as individuals and receive individual awards/recognition as well as team awards/recognition.
Upon registration you will be provided a link to the study materials and a personal quiz link.
The Quiz may be taken anytime between January 15-19, 2024. You will only have one chance to take the quiz. Quiz scores are based on the number of correct answers and the amount of time remaining in the quiz.
REGISTRATION LINKS
Intermediate and Senior Individual (ages 12-19)
Teams (ages 9-19, uses oldest team member's age)
2024 REC LAB April 19-21 – Save the Date!
What is Rec Lab? It sounds like a funny name for a 4-H event. Rec Lab stands for Recreation
Lab and means that everything is hands-on and fun! This event is a 4-H member favorite:
It provides an opportunity for youth and adults to enhance their leadership, communication,
and team building skills in an action-packed and interactive setting. Rec Lab programming
provides participants with tips and tricks for being a better club, camp, and community
leader. This event is ideal for younger senior members to attend as a first-time state
event. It allows them to form relationships with 4-H peers from across the state,
broaden their skills, and widen their network. Youth participants must be 13+ as
of October 1, 2023. Adult chaperones must be as least 21 years of age.Registration
will be done through Zsuites. Watch for more information on when registration will
be live!
4-H Congress July 9 – 12 – Save the Date!
Montana 4-H invites all members 4-H age 13 and older to the 2024 Montana 4-H Congress
event on the Bozeman campus of MSU. Congress provides youth from cross the state an
opportunity to come together on campus in Bozeman for four days and participate in
an event like no other. Congress offers both youth and adults a venue in which to
learn, be challenged, and most of all, have a great time with their peers. Montana
4-H'ers have been attending an event like Congress for decades. Congress has become
an important tradition and is the signature event for the Montana 4-H Program. Congress'
purpose is to provide a safe and fun environment for youth to experience all that
4-H Congress has to offer including contests, workshops, entertainment, social events,
and much more. Watch for more information in the spring!
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.
National 4-H Opportunities
CITIZENSHIP WASHINGTON FOCUS (CWF): A Leadership Summit Through the Lens of American
Democracy
CWF is the civic engagement event for teens to learn leadership and communication skills through history, democracy, and our amendments in Washington D.C.
Who: open to 4-Hers ages 14-19 at the time of the program
When: Week 1: June 15–22, 2024 or Week 2: June 20–27, 2024
Note: The MT 4-H delegation will participate in 1 of the 2 week options – whichever week works best for the majority and/or chaperone(s) availability.
Where: Hyatt Regency – Bethesda, Maryland
Approximate Cost: $1,495/youth delegate for 7 nights double room occupancy includes program activities and most meals; cost of airfare/transportation is additional
For more information check out the CWF website.
*If interested in participating in the 2024 Citizenship Washington Focus (CWF), please indicate by completing this Citizenship Washington Focus Interest Form! Completing this form does not commit you to participate in the program - it helps our state office plan.
NATIONAL 4-H CONFERENCE: Calling All Change Agents!
National 4 H Conference is the pinnacle experience in 4 H Civic Engagement for teens.
At the conference, delegates will have the opportunity to participate in round table
discussions and present to federal partner agencies as well as engage in service-learning.
Who: open to 4-Hers ages 15-19 at the time of the program, geared for juniors & seniors in high school
When: April 19-24, 2024
Where: Hyatt Regency - Crystal City, Arlington, VirginiaApproximate Cost: ~$810/youth delegate (cost based on 2023 registration) for Apr 19-23 double room occupancy includes program activities and most meals; cost of airfare/transportation is additional
For more information check out the National 4-H Conference website.
*If interested in potentially participating in the 2024 National 4-H Conference, please indicate by completing this National 4-H Conference Interest Form! Completing this form does not commit you to participate in the program - it helps our state office plan.
Other Opportunities
Fair Board is Asking for Fair Theme Ideas!
The Broadwater County Fair Board is charged with coming up with the annual Fair themes.
The board likes to gather ideas and decide on themes for the next few years at once.
We are looking to decide on our themes for fair 2025-2030!
We are reaching out to 4-H’ers to submit ideas for possible themes for us to choose from. Ideas can be submitted to our fair email address: [email protected] or dropped off at the Extension Office (416 Broadway, Townsend). We will collect ideas until January 31, 2024!!
