Old Magazines Wanted for BGC Art Project

Our friends at the Boys & Girls Club of Orange are looking for old magazines to be used in an art project. If you're looking to recycle magazines you've already read, please considering donating. You can drop them by the club (at old Prospect) or the Extension Office. Thanks in advance!

Hunter Skills Workshop Offered May 13-15 at Holiday Lake

Holiday Lake 4-H Center is offering a great new Hunter Skills Weekend workshop May 13-15, 2010 in Appomattox. Visit http://www.holidaylake4h.com/vahunterweekend.php for more information. The event is for everyone ages 11 and up (adults, too!) and will feature workshops on game processing, muzzle loading, tree stand safety and more!!! It sounds like a great event. Registrations are due by April 30th.

State Office Requests Portfolios for National 4-H Congress Applicants

Attending National 4-H Congress is a wonderful opportunity for our senior 4-H members. In order to be considered by the Virginia selection committee, you need to put together a resume and portfolio of 4-H accomplishments. Entries are due April 30, and then a committee will review all applicants and select some for interviews.

National 4-H Congress is held in Atlanta, GA, November 26-30, 2010. Orange County has not sent a delegate in YEARS--why don't you be the first one to go?!? :) Meet 4-H'ers from all over the country. The trip costs you only $20 for a Virginia 4-H polo shirt--all other expenses are paid. Don't let this one get away!!!

Scholarship Available!

Culpeper Soil & Water Conservation District is accepting applications for college scholarships. Students must be full time and majoring in a subject related to soil and water conservation including but not limited to agriculture, environmental science, biology, forestry and chemistry. Priority will be given to current high school seniors but undergraduate and graduate students may be considered. Applications are available at www.culpeper.vaswcd.org. For more information call Stephanie DeNicola at 540-825-8591. Applications must be postmarked by April 9, 2010. Scholarships are available to residents of Culpeper, Greene, Madison, Orange and Rappahannock.

Eco-Ventures Club Invites You to Bike Ride With Them

Members of the Eco-Ventures club will be hosting a bike ride at Montpelier on Monday, March 29, at 5:00 p.m. Other 4-H'ers are invited to join them. All participants must wear a helmet and provide their own bike. Call the Extension Office to take advantage of this fun outdoor activity!

Fundraising Ideas for Clubs

Clubs looking to raise money for projects may consider Applebee's or T.G.I.Fridays for pancake breakfasts. Charitable groups must supply 2-3 adults, about 15 teens (some 16 or older to work in kitchen), and the orange juice and milk, which you may be able to get donated. Tickets are generally $5 and weekend mornings are selected.

Greene County's 4-H Teen Club is doing this fundraiser April 18th from 7:30-10:00 a.m. at Hollymead Town Center if anyone wants to support their cause and/or attend to get ideas. Contact Greene 4-H Agent Kathy Alstat at 434-985-5236 for more info.

Horse Camp Offered at NOVA 4-H Center

Horse enthusiasts, this one's for you! Our 4-H Center in Front Royal is offering a Horse Camp August 8-12, 2010, for you and your horse. There will be lots to do and lots to learn. Juniors ages 9-13 are invited, and you must bring your own horse. All activities are hands-on. The camp is limited to 35 campers, and the early-bird registration fee is $325 for the week. Don't delay! Visit http://sites.ext.vt.edu/4hcenter/northern/youthprograms.html for more info and registration materials.

Northern District Show for Four Species

Beef, Dairy, Sheep, and Swine project members are invited to compete in the Northern District Livestock Show on Saturday, May 22, 2010, in Culpeper. Entry forms are available from the Extension Office and must be completed and returned by April 16th. This one-day show is for multiple counties and is great practice for summer shows!

Beef Expo Entries Due April 1st

Any youth planning to show at the Virginia Beef Expo need to make sure your entries are mailed by April 1st. Visit http://www.4-h.ext.vt.edu/programs/anscience/Livestock/Events/Beef_Expo/beef_expo.html for the forms, a schedule, and more.

2010 Beef Queen Contest

The Extension Office received an application packet for the 2010 Virginia Beef Queen contest, to be held in April at the Virginia Beef Expo. If you would like more information, please contact us.

Show Lambs and Pigs Available

Several buyers and sellers have contacted us about 4-H project pigs and lambs.

Horace Garth, Greene County, has plenty of show pigs available for Orange 4-H'ers. Please call 434-981-7600.

4-H'ers Robert and Elizabeth Nixon are selling market lambs. They can be reached at 540-672-7396.

The Goughs in Culpeper/Rapidan have lambs and pigs. Their number is 540-672-5013.

Therapy Animal Visits Crazy Pets Club

Submitted by: Susan Schmidtke, Crazy Pets Club Leader

Our 4-H Crazy Pets Club is off to an exciting 2010! While we missed getting together in February due to the snow, January's meeting was fantastic! Our guest Sally works with Therapy and Service animals and came out to talk with us about all things related. We learned the differences between what it takes to be a Therapy Animal which includes behavioral components and a Service Animal which includes many different task abilities. For example, a Therapy Dog must be very tolerant of noise, touch, and excitement within an environment in order to travel to schools, homes and clinics. Any breed works well provided it has the correct temperament.
A Service Dog must perform the physical tasks a person is unable to do for themselves such as open a door or switch off a light. Certain breeds work better than other due to their size, strength and natural 'dog job' ability.

It was all so interesting! And she brought her own Therapy dog Willoughby! The older members got to talk with Sally about volunteer opportunities in working with people and Therapy animals this summer. The younger members got to take turns reading to Willoughby! What fun! And what a terrific learning experience for our members.

March brought our very own Kaci to our meeting. Kaci is always enthusiastic and has lots of cool games for the members to play. Kaci not only explained to the group what the many opportunities our local 4-H offers, but what they can do on State and National levels as well. Kaci infused the group with her excitement and helped brainstorm objectives for the year. Top of the list? A field trip to the Luray Zoo! Thank you Kaci from all of the Crazy Pets members!

Hope to see you on April 6th when we will be learning about the stages of chickens from chick to hen or rooster including various feather types and lots of different breeds. With live chickens of course! Email tag@thealpacagarden for more info or directions.

Your Window to the World

Four European 4-H'ers are looking for host families in Virginia this summer! Won't you consider hosting? Hosting is an excellent way to make new lifelong friends, and learn about other countries without ever leaving the U.S. Contact the Extension Office for more information about the incoming delegates. There are three females and one male, most in their early twenties, looking for a host family.

Ashley and Kaci have both hosted before, and it's a great experience! Hope to hear from you soon :).

4-H Congress Information Has Been Released

Senior 4-H'ers (ages 14-18 as of 9/30/10) are encouraged to attend State 4-H Congress, June 14-17 at Virginia Tech! Information is now available and registrations are open. Please contact the Extension Office for a packet.

Congress is for teens only; we will need at least one adult chaperone from Orange (possibly more depending on numbers). You live in the college dorms, attend cool hands-on workshops, have a career fair, observe the All Star tapping ceremony, and much more. There are dances in the evenings, midnight pizza, and very entertaining and informative keynote and capnote speakers.

Congress is a lot of fun! Also consider running for a Cabinet position and be part of the leadership team that plans next year's Congress! See Kaci for more details.

Bit & Bridle Members Will Advance to States

Autumn Smith, Kaci Meads, Charlotte Manvell, Delaney O'Donnell and Brooke Bowers represented the Bit & Bridle 4-H Club at the Northern District Horse Weekend this past weekend. Their junior horse bowl team placed fourth overall and earned the right to compete at the state contest in April. Their hippology team placed eighth overall.

Individually, Charlotte Manvell was 6th overall in horse judging. Delaney O'Donnell was 1st overall in horse judging, 2nd individual in horse bowl, and first overall, first in stations, and first in test for Hippology.

Good job, everyone!!! Many thanks to Sarah Barlow, 4-H alumna from Louisa, for coaching the girls in horse judging. :)

Ramey Accepted into Virginia Intermont Honors Program

Congratulations to 4-H HoofMates member Ashleigh Ramey on being accepted into the Honors Program at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol for this coming fall!

Cowan Shares Speech with Livestock Club

Gordon Cowan, a member of the 4-H Livestock Club, presented the following speech during his club's public speaking competition last week. We're happy he was willing to share!
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Being successful in the Orange County 4-H Livestock Club is not as hard as you may think, in fact there are many ways to go by being successful in our club. This club is not just about the Orange County Fair and showing animals, its about having fun and taking good care of your animals throughout the year. I have been in the 4-H for five years now, and I will remember all that I have learned for years to come. It is time to pass on part of this information but before I begin let me remind you all that I have shown only one cow and am mostly familiar with hogs. There are three main ways that you can be successful in 4-H. Care, be friendly, and most of all have fun, I follow these three things to the best of my ability and so far I have been successful for five whole years.

Care not only for your animals but for your 4-H. When you are in a meeting you do not have to take notes, but pay attention. For example if you have hogs and the president announces that hog weigh in is May first and you are not paying attention, you could end up missing weigh in and having to either find your own scale or not being able to show. When poinsettia sales come around, try to get some sales and help out the 4-H's savings, every sale counts. Animal care is also important. Make sure that your animals are happy, well fed, and well watered as these are the keys to caring for your animal. Don't think that not spending time with your animals will help you with your show. If you are selling it is best to not get too attached but you should still have the animal know who you are and how you act around it. Keeping a hog happy should include plenty of fresh water, feed, and shade along with the occasional mud-puddle. Caring for your club and your animal is the simplet, most essential part of being in the livestock club and is the absolute least you can do to be successful, but to improve this you can be friendly.

What I mean by this is not having a lot of friends. What I mean is that if there is someone in the 4-H who needs help and you are available and ready to help, you should help them. I learned this my first year with all of the help I received showing my heifer. If you help others, they will help others, and eventually you will find them returning the favor. Having friends is good, but helping them when they need help is even better. Without helping people and receiving the help that I have gotten in my five years of 4-H I may not have been as successful as I have been in this club. Trouble at the fair for me has run anywhere from needing shavings to something as severe as having a friend cut part of his finger cut off. In both situations I would not have made it without help. But the true icing on the cake to being in this club, is having fun.

Having fun is key because the more fun you have with your animals, the more time you will spend with them and thus the better you will show them. Having fun is what makes being in 4-H worthwhile. The more you follow my first two keys, the easier the fun will come to you. My personal favorite part of the 4-H year is the Orange County Fair. Months of work on our animals and we finally get to show them. The Fair week is all about fun in the sun, talking with friends, and spending time with the animals that you have spent all year raising.

The 4-H experience is one that I will never forget. I know it has been five years but it seems like only one. With these three keys you will be able to successfully be a member of the Orange County 4-H Livestock Club. They are simple rules to rely on when trying to be as good of a member as you can. You should remember to always do as much as you can to help out your 4-H, if you are someone who cannot be at many 4-H related functions or excel at selling poinsettias, then you should do something extra at the things you can do. If someone needs help at the fair and you are not busy, help them. It seems nearly impossible to me to be able to go a 4-H year without help, so you should return the favor to those who need it. Support your club, be friendly to all, and remember the most important thing throughout all of this, have fun.

State 4-H Office Posts Updated 2010 Events Calendar

Please visit http://www.4-h.ext.vt.edu/2010mastercalendar.pdf for the most recent listing of statewide 4-H events.