4-H Newsletter October

MSU Extension Office Information

Custer County Extension Office 1010 Main St. Miles City, MT 59301 

Phone: 406-874-3370 Fax: 406-874-3454 [email protected] Website: https://custer.msuextension.org/  

MSU Extension Agents: Jackie Rumph and Mike Schuldt  

Extension Administrative Assistant Jessica Blakenship  

Welcome to the 4-H New Year 

We are excited to start the new 4-H year with you!  

4-H Enrollment  

Members and leaders will enroll themselves through the ZSuite program.  Instructions for enrollment can be found on the state 4-H website at  http://www.montana4h.org/resources/4henrollment/index.html.  Should you have questions, please use the ZSuite Live Chat Support found in the lower righthand portion of the screen.  Remember to pay your enrollment fees to Your Club! 

4-H Website and Facebook Pages for Custer County 

Jessica and Jackie are working to bring our 4-H information to our Custer County website https://custer.msuextension.org/,  

Keep our MSU Extension Custer County Facebook Page updated here https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063626438417  

Please don’t hesitate to send us club happenings as well, it is great to see what clubs are doing in our community and be able to share it.   

If you have not visited this page and clicked “Like”, please do so soon! Please know that we do not utilize Facebook messenger for professional communication, please use our phone, email or stop by to see us.   

Attention All 4-H Clubs: Advice for Starting the New 4-H Year Off Right 

Plan your year (give guidance but let the kids make choices-don’t forget to have fun!)  Recruit help!  Elect new officers!   

• Community Service (Choose at least 1 project per club.)  Ask the 4-H office for ideas. 
• Field Trips (learn & have fun) 
• Guest speakers (informative & fun)- Mike and I would love to visit your club!  
• Club Demonstrations (relaxed atmosphere-have each member do one; prepare for Communication Day.) 

Return Used 4-H Project Books to Extension 

If you have any 4-H project books that are not being used and have not been written in, PLEASE return them to the Extension Office.  We re-use them to keep costs down. 

4-H Club Officers & Roles and Responsibilities 

The officer and committee systems are a good way of dividing jobs and responsibilities among club members in an orderly way. The number of officers needed is determined by the size and type of club. Club officers are usually elected annually, near the beginning of the 4-H year.  One of the Leaders or parents should be responsible for helping officers carry out their responsibilities.  Encourage the officers to attend officer training when it is offered at the county or state level. 

President: Prepares the agenda with other officers and Leaders and presides at club meetings. 

Vice-President: Assumes duties of President in their absence. Has responsibility to see that committees are working on assigned tasks. 

Secretary: Keeps complete and accurate records/minutes of each club meeting. Writes all club correspondence. Keeps club attendance and all other club records up to date. 

Treasurer: Handles all club money. Keeps accurate and up to date financial records. All checks should be co-signed by the club treasurer and an additional account signer. 

Historian: Maintains and updates the club’s history book to preserve information for future club members. 

Reporter: Writes news stories about meetings and special events for the local newspaper. 

The Extension Office has project materials for these offices. Ask your leader to pick one up or stop by the office yourself. 

Shooting Sports  

Kids must be 9 years old by October 1st to begin Shooting sports, there is a $25 fee per kid. Shooting sports will be starting soon and an email will be sent out. The disciplines offered this year will be air rifle, air pistol, archery, shotgun, and smallbore pistol. There will be a shooting sports leader training in Miles City December 8th-10th. 

New Family Orientation  

New family orientation will be on January 23rd, 2024, at 6pm at the 4-H building. 

Leader Training 

Leaders, if you have not done so already, please make sure that you have completed the leader training on Zsuites. You need this training completed to be an organizational leader. 

How to start a new club 

If this is something you are interested in, here is the link with all of the information.4-H club resources.   

Achievement Night 

October 21st at 530pm located in the Home Show Building. Main dish will be provided by Busy Bees.  

A-M Family last names please bring salads. 

N-Z Family last names please bring desserts.  

 Clubs, please bring a silent auction item or basket. All proceeds from the silent auction go to Erin’s Hope project. 

Livestock projects- enrollment ages. 

All ages are the age the member must turn during the 4H year Starting October 1 and ending September 30) 

Yearling to 5-year-old                         12 yrs 

Horsemanship                                      9 yrs 

Beef/Dairy                                             10 yrs 

Feeder Stocker project                        9 yrs 

All other Livestock                                9 yrs 

2023-2024 4-H Building Cleaning Schedule 

September 2023– Busy Bees 

October-2023 Crow Rock 

November 2023– Powderville Pioneers 

December 2023– Busy Bees 

January 2024 – Crow Rock 

February 2024 - Rough Riders 

March 2024 – Pine Ridge 

April 2024 – Prairie Wranglers 

May 2024 – Powderville Pioneers 

June 2024 – Kinsey 

July 2024 – Pine Ridge  

August 2024 - Pre Fair Set Up- Powderville Pioneers  

- Post Fair- Kinsey 

September- 2024 Crow Rock  

October – 2024 Prairie Wranglers  

 2023-2024 County Event Calendar

Calendar of Events  

October 1-7 National 4-H week  

October 9- MSU Extension Office Closed (Courthouse Closed)  

October 21- Achievement Night 5:30  

November 10- MSU Extension Office Closed (Courthouse Closed) 

November 24- MSU Extension Office Closed 

November 28- 6:00 PM Council Meeting