April County Council Report

-Submitted by Kay H.

Dear 4-H Members,
At this past County Council meeting, officer elections were held. The final decisions were made as follows:
President: Mary B
Vice President: Amber Y
Secretary/Community Service chairperson: Tori B
Treasurer/Fundraising chairperson: Tiffany B
Reporter/Publicity chairpersons: Jeffrey K and Kay H
Historian: Sophie P
Recreation: Laura M
District V Delegates: Tori B, Kay H, Jeffrey K, and Mary B
Formal officer installations will be held at the 4-H Awards Program on May 3rd, 6:00 pm, at Living Faith Fellowship.

4-H has some other exciting events coming up! Quickly approaching is 4-H County Events Day this weekend, on April 19th, 8:30 am. It will be held at Creekside Community Church, and 4-H members from around the county will be giving speeches, demonstrations, and illustrated talks in their various project areas. There will also be a talent show and a fashion revue. A concession stand will be available, and he proceeds will go to the Heifer International project. Don’t forget to bring your spare change, as this is the last opportunity to donate to the cow banks and support this worthwhile service project. Hope to see you there!

Also coming up is Jr. Congress, which will be held May 9-10 at Mid. Florida Baptist Assembly. Jr. Congress is an event where 4-H members aged 8-13 years old can attend workshops in various areas, and have fun learning new things. This will give you a taste of what overnight camping is like! The cost is $30.00, and the Registration Deadline is May 2nd. For a brochure, please email Mr. Terry at eterry@ufl.edu

We are looking for Youth Fair non-livestock committee members. If you would like to be involved in making Youth Fair decisions and planning for next year‘s fair, then feel free to join. Youth members and adults are welcome. Contact Mr. Terry for more information.
Please be aware that the Standards of Excellence paperwork deadline is April 25th.
Our next County Council meeting will be held on May 20th, immediately following the 4-H Volunteer Dinner. Please join us to learn more about County Council and how you can become involved!

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Clover Country CD

National 4-H Council and EMI Music are producing a country music compilation CD called Clover Country Songs From Famous 4-H Alumni. This innovative project, never before seen in 4-H's history, includes 11 hit songs from confirmed 4-H alumni who are all country music superstars. Artists include: Alabama, Luke Bryan, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Dolly Parton, Sugarland, and Grammy-award winning songwriter Hillary Lindsey---who recently recorded her new song The Clown just for Clover Country!

The CD was released March 25 and will be available in select retail outlets, through the Purchase Now button on www.clovercountrycd.com.

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Cool News!

The National 4-H Council has partnered with Blue Bell Ice Cream to create 4-H Centennial Cupcake Ice Cream! The timing could not be better, as we prepare for our own Florida 4-H Centennial in 2009. We will be working with Dairy Farmers Inc. as well as marketers for Blue Bell products across the state to get the message out about this unique opportunity to consume a 4-H product, featuring green clover sprinkles. Look out for the launch of this celebratory 4-H ice cream in your local Blue Bell ice cream distributor over the coming weeks, and be sure to share the news with your own 4-H family, friends, and community. Some of the proceeds from the ice cream will benefit 4-H.

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Farm and Forest Festival

The Farm and Forest Festival will be held at Morningside Nature Center April 24-27. April 24-25 are school days and April 26-27 are open to everyone. See the flyer for more information.

Service Opportunity available at the Farm and Forest Festival. Ag. Ed/Nature booth/area desired with small animals, poultry, rabbits and displays. They would really like 4-H members there to present for School tours on the 24 and 25th. Youth volunteers are requested to dress in show dress. Contact Sally Wazny, Morningside Nature Center director, at 334-2170 for questions.

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Alachua/Baker County 4-H Officer Training

June 30, 2008 - Hold this date on your calendar!

Agents Ernie Terry, Alachua County, & Renee Gore, Baker County, are planning a club and county officers training to be held in Gainesville. We would like to have break out sessions for different offices and have experienced officers teach or help. Does anyone know of a good location that we could use for free or cleaning fees? I hope that we can have 50 to 75 or more in attendance, so we need a place with at least 5 or 6 meeting rooms. Call Mr. Terry if you can help.

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Syngenta Crop Protection scholarship

4-H seniors can apply for a scholarship from Syngenta Crop Protection. Applications can be found here or contact Mr. Ernie.

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District V 4-H Council Officer Elections

District V 4-H Council Officer Elections will be held at the 1st Christian Church Fellowship Hall in Lake Butler on Monday April 21 at 5:00 PM.

Agents / Volunteers...it would be nice to have a full slate of officers next year. Please seriously consider this opportunity. Youth, please be prepared to speak with the group if you have aspirations for these offices.

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State Officer Applications due

If you have any youth who would like to run for a State Officer position or be considered for Presidential Appointment, you can find the applications here. Please let Mr. Ernie know if you would like to run. He will need to fill out recommendation forms for you.

ALL APPLICATION PACKETS MUST COME FROM THE EXTENSION OFFICE, NO YOUTH WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR OFFICE IF THEY DO NOT APPLY THROUGH THEIR COUNTY AGENT.

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Gary Brinen's Retirement Reception

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Florida 4-H Volunteer Forum

The Florida 4-H Volunteer Association welcomes you to join us at Camp Cloverleaf, June 20-22, 2008 for the State Volunteer Forum.

There will be plenty of workshops to peak your interests, good food and loads of fun.

During the weekend we will have a Florida 4-H Volunteer Association Meeting where we will be holding elections for new officers and the swearing in of those officers. We will also be taking applications for new members. Now is the time to find out exactly what the Florida 4-H Volunteer Association is about and become a part of it.

We will have a Silent Auction to raise funds to support the Association. We are requesting donated items to be sold in the Silent Auction and that each county bring a door prize basket to be given away during the weekend.

Registration information and workshop descriptions are attached. We are looking forward to having a great weekend on tap and hope that you can join us.

Regards,

Karen Kirkendall
President
Florida 4-H Volunteer Association


Forum Invitation Letter

Workshop Descriptions

2008 Florida 4-H Volunteer Forum Registration Form
To save this file for yourself, click the file drop down menu and click download file as..., then select Word. This will save the registration form on your computer as a word document that you can enter your information on to.

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April Calendar of Events

1 Alachua County Youth Fair last day Fairgrounds
5 State 4-H / FFA Livestock Judging Contest Gainesville
7–11 ACSB Spring Break
11 Registration Deadline for County Events CEO 4:00 PM
10 Youth Fair Board CEO 7:30 PM
12 State 4-H / FFA Horse Judging Contest Gainesville
12 State 4-H Forest Ecology Judging Contest Austin Carey Forest Gainesville
14 4-H Advisory Committee CEO 11:00 AM
15 County Council (Officer Elections) CEO 6:30 PM
19 County Events (registration begins at 8:30 a.m.) TBA 9am – done
19 Horse Proj Clinic; Karen Iverson UF Horse Teaching Unit 9 AM- 3PM
20 Horse Proj Clinic; Jim Skidmore UF Horse Teaching Unit 9 AM- 3PM
19 Alachua County Youth Fair Livestock Awards Mebane 6:00 PM
21 District V 4-H Council Elections Lake Butler ? 5:00 PM
23 Horse Committee CEO 6:30 PM
24-27 Farm & Forest Festival Morningside Nature Center
25–26 Area B Horse Show Clay County Fairgrounds

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Spring is here!

It's time to break out those trowels and garden gloves - spring is here! Gardening is a great activity to do with your 4-H members. It's fun and easy and a great experiential teaching tool. April is National Garden Month, so it's a great time to get started. Here are some more gardening with kids resources:

Florida School Garden Competition
Junior Master Gardener program
Kids Gardening (National Gardening Association)

Get started now and enjoy the benefits!

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