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A Letter From the Extension Agent

I say this every year, but can you believe that the new 4-H year is here?!  There are already many activities starting, so I encourage you to re-enroll quickly. Enrollment is an annual process to let us know that you plan to do another year in 4-H.  It’s also your opportunity to start fresh with new projects and goals.  I encourage you to think about trying a new 4-H project this year.  Have you ever wanted to learn to quilt?  Tie a fly?  Decorate a cake?  Now is your chance!

It's also important for leaders to let us know if you plan to continue.  We’ll be evaluating our volunteer needs in the upcoming months to fill potential holes. We already know we’ll need leaders for Swine, Visual Arts, Photography and Indoor Committee.  If you are interested in volunteering, I’d love to talk to you!  

Sincerely, Allison Kosto- Extension Agent, MSU Extension Broadwater County

 

Re-Enrollment

The New 4-H year starts October 1st.  Instructions on how to enroll are attached to this newsletter! Pick up your new 4-H Clover Project Selection Guide from your club leader.  This year’s Clover Project Selection Guide is now good for two years, so please make sure to save it for next year.  Also remember, if you plan on taking a 4-H project to fair, you must be enrolled in that project.  If you know anyone interested in joining 4-H, have them contact the Extension Office.

 
Financial Reports

All Treasurer’s (including Council, Livestock, Exchange, Teen Club and Archery) are required to complete the Yearend Financial Report.  Financial records need to be reviewed after September’s bank statement is received and will be due Tuesday, October 22nd to the office. The form is available on the website. We also emailed the form out to all treasurers with instructions in September. Please turn in COMPLETED forms, which means they have been reviewed and signed by two people already!

 

4-H Achievement Night

The annual Achievement Night has been set for Sunday, November 17th at the 4-H Building at the Fairgrounds.  We will be celebrating with a taco bar at 6:00 pm and the program will start at 6:30 pm.  Come to receive your awards and celebrate our achievements. New members are invited also! Come and watch and see what you have to look forward to at the end of the year!

 

New 4-H Family Night

New to 4-H?  Been enrolled for a couple of years but still have questions?!  Then join us for a family night on Tuesday, November 19th at 6:30 pm at the Methodist Church in Townsend. This is a great time to learn more about the 4-H program, expectations, meet others and ask questions.  The evening features games, presentations and an opportunity to meet leaders and ask questions.  It will cover general expectations of the 4-H program and discuss key components including projects, record books and 4-H activities. Hope to see you there!

 

 
The office will be closed on Monday October 14th for observance of Columbus Day.
 

 

Old Baldy Extends an Invite to Edgewater Corn Maze

The Old Baldy 4-H Club would like to extend an invitation to all 4-H members in the county to meet them at the maze again this year! The date is Saturday, October 12th at 5:30pm. The Old Baldy club pays for their own members to enter. Talk with your clubs about making this a club activity as well!

 
National 4-H Week

Help celebrate the 81st National 4-H Week October 6th-12th! This is a great time to tell your friends about 4-H.  Each club is encouraged to find a way to celebrate!  Here are a few ideas:

·            Put something “4-H” on every bulletin board around town or school.

·         Make a 4-H promotional video.

·         Do a service learning activity.

·         Hang 4-H flags along main street.

·         Organize a “green day” at school.

·         Do a radio PSA.

·         Announce the “4-H Club of the Day” during school announcements along with highlights and achievements of that club.

Make sure to check out the window displays during 4-H Week this year! The Horse project, as well as a few clubs will be decorating some business windows to help celebrate the week!

 

Support Exchange at Fall Fest

The 4-H Interstate Exchange group is excited to enter into the second year of their exchange with Bradford County, Pennsylvania. The group of 15 members and 2 chaperones from Broadwater County will be traveling to Pennsylvania in the summer of 2025. With that in mind, they continue to fundraise. Previous fundraising was used to cover expenses associated with hosting the PA group and showing them Montana. This year, funds raised will be used to cover expenses primarily associated with the cost of airline tickets. Exchange’s first fundraiser will be the weekend of Townsend’s Fall Fest on October 4-5. Exchange will have a booth selling Italian sodas and raffle tickets for big ticket items. Please swing by for a delicious Italian soda or to buy a raffle ticket. Exchange members value your support!

 

Stay Connected with Sports You!

We are trying something new with the upcoming 4-H year 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 website or an app. We invite both parents and members to join the group in order to stay connected. We envision using this to push out reminders 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! After you re-enroll through Zsuites, the office will email you an invite with our group code to join our group.

 

Countywide 4-H Activities
 

Committee & Council Meetings

4-H COUNCIL:  The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 22nd at 7:00 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.

 

INDOOR COMMITTEE: The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 22nd 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, November 5th 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.  

 

HORSE COMMITTEE: There is not a meeting scheduled as of now.  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 Friday, October 25th at 10:30am 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

There will be a market & breeding beef workshop on Sunday, October 27 from 1:00-3:00pm in the 4-H Building at the Townsend Fairgrounds. This workshop will focus on cattle nutrition and feeding programs for market steers and replacement heifers. We will also continue assisting members with creating purposeful and attainable goals for the new 4-H project year. Please bring your records books and/or a notebook. Also, please RSVP to Samantha Ferrat, text/call/email, so we can be prepared with adequate materials and set up for this workshop. RSVP to (406) 949-0869 [email protected]

 

4-H Non-Animal Project Activities

Sewing

The next sewing workshop will be Saturday, October 12th 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

 

Statewide 4-H Opportunities

 

4-H Fall Leadership Training for Teen Leaders 

Fall Leadership Training is the annual leadership development retreat for Montana 4-H Ambassadors and Teen Leaders on November 1-3 in Billings. The event is planned, implemented, and evaluated by the State Ambassador Officer Team. Youth will leave the weekend prepared and excited to take the knowledge and skills they have gained and apply them in their counties. It is also a great place to have youth leaders exchange ideas and create a statewide network of resources.

Learn more at the Fall Leadership Training webpage.

 

The Montana McDonald’s and Montana 4-H Fundraising Event

McDonalds across the state are partnering with local 4-H groups on Tuesday October 8th. They will donate 20% of the digital sales made during that time to 4-H. If you are out and about traveling, swing in to McDonalds to help support the local 4-H groups in that area!

 

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.

•              Havre, Circle, and Malta.  TBD.  We will offer Archery, Rifle, and Pistol.

 

Other Opportunities

 

Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast

This event is scheduled for Thursday, October 17th at 6:30 am at the Watson Event Center (290 Litening Barn Rd, Townsend). This is a great opportunity for the older 4-H members to perform a community service and help them set up and clean up after the event. Please RSVP to Paul Kroeger at 406.439.1042.

 
Montana Make It With Wool Contest

It is time to start preparing for the Make It With Wool contest to be held this Fall. Get out your favorite pattern and start hunting for that perfect wool fabric. Wouldn’t it be great to make a wool outfit for the contest and then already have an outfit finished for your sewing project next 4-H year?  Entry forms are due by October 1. There is also a Quilt/Applique Project/Afghan Contest this year. The fabric or yarn needs to be at least 60% wool. Contact the office for more information.

 

Montana Hereford Associations Heifer Grant

The Montana Hereford Association is giving out one $1,000 grant to help 4-H and FFA members in Montana start their herd. Current 4-H or FFA members between the ages of 9-17 are eligible to apply. The application can be found on the Montana Hereford website. The deadline has been extended to October 1. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Amanda Romine at 307-629-0654 (call or text) or [email protected].

 

Important Upcoming Dates
·         October 1 – New 4-H year begins (2024/2025)​

·         October 18 – State Registration deadline for Fall Training, Zsuite​

·         November 1-3, 2024 – Fall Leadership Training Billings​

·         Leadership Academy - Sundays at 3:00 PM​

o    November 17, 2024​

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​

·         Youth State Award Deadline – May 1, 2025​

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

 

Re-Enrollment Reminders!

 Your 4-H age is calculated by how old you are on 10/1/2024 and does not change for the whole 4-H year!

 Years in 4-H are automatically updated in zsuites. When a member transitions from a Cloverbud to a traditional 4-H member, the years start over again at 1.

 Cloverbuds are members 4-H age 5-8. ‘Cloverbuds’ is the only project they can enroll in.

 Members who are 4-H age 8, can either be a Cloverbud or a traditional member.

 Members must be 4-H age 9 to enroll into Shooting Sports projects (except for BB Gun Safety).

 Members must be 4-H age 10 to enroll into Market Beef.

 For Market and Breeding livestock projects, the member must ALSO enroll into a project level for that species. (Ex. If you are enrolling into market swine you must add both ‘Market Swine’ AND ‘Swine Level 1, 2, or 3’.

 For DOG- You must enroll into a “Dog Level 1,2 or 3’ project. IF you also want to do agility or obedience at Fair, you must also add ‘Dog Agility’ or ‘Dog Obedience’, or both.

  Project Books- please indicate in zsuites whether or not you need a project book. Check with your club leaders on how your club handles book orders. But zsuites is our back up for book lists, so please make it accurate. Rember the project level books are required, however the resource manuals are not.

 

Enrollment deadline is November 1st. At that point, only enrolled families will receive reminders and newsletters.