Cloverbud Camp 2013

Cloverbud Camp was held at the Northern Piedmont Center July 15-18 from 9-12 each morning.  The theme for camp this year was Wacky Science and each day was spent doing everything from science experiments, playing with bubbles, and making gak!  We had a bubble day where campers were able to make their own bubble solution, make bubble art, make bubble snakes, and experiment with giant bubbles.  On science experiment day, we made bubbling lava lamps, made a balloon get sucked into a water bottle, and had fun with milk, food coloring, and dish soap.  We also had a candy day at camp where we did the mentos and diet coke experiment, looked at what candy bars sink and which ones float, dissolved gummy worms, watched the letters float off of M and Ms and skittles, and then made gak.  Our last day was a water themed day of camp where we experimented with what dissolves,making water "walk", water color drawings and paintings, made ice cream in a bag, and then had fun with a water hose and water games!  We want to thank both our adult and teen volunteers who came and helped make camp a success!

Teen Leadership Opportunity

Mark your calendars and spread the word for the First 4-H Teen Leadership Retreat held at the Northern VA 4-H Educational Center in Front Royal Friday, November 8^th – Sunday, November 10^th.  This year’s theme, Igniting Your Fire, will focus on leadership basics, characteristics of effective leaders, and motivating yourself and others.

The activities begin at 6:30 pm on Friday, November 8^th with a motivational assembly and guest speaker, campfire, and organized meet-and-greet. Saturday’s program involves workshops, teambuilding sessions, a service project, and the formation of a teen leadership committee for those interested, followed by an evening dance, and campfire. The weekend retreat concludes after breakfast with a final ceremony and guest speaker.

The Leadership Retreat fee of $95.00 includes meals, snacks, lodging, workshops, and a retreat T-shirt. Additionally, we are asking for a donation of 2 (or more!) canned food items from each retreat participant that will be donated to the Warren County Food Bank. The Retreat is open to non-4-H members.

For more information, or to register, please contact Win Iden (ciden@vt.edu) or Avery Born (aaborn@vt.edu) at 540-635-7171.

"Virginia 4-H Makes Me Happy, Happy, Happy" T-shirts for Sale

The State 4-H Office is selling maroon T-shirts with this slogan.  Shirts are $12 each and payment and orders go to Blacksburg.  We will figure out how to get them to Orange for you.  Shirts are available in sizes Youth Medium to Adult 3XL.  Orders are due September 12.

Summer Workshop Updates!

Where has the summer gone?  We can't believe it's already August- it's been quite the busy summer here in the extension office!  We have had tons of summer workshops and camps and we are finally able to update you on some of them!

Directors Wanted: We had a workshop where we made iMovies- we took the iPads and went around the town of Orange, visited the grounds of Montpelier, Four County Players play house, Barboursville Ruins, and the town of Gordonsville taking pictures.  We then turned those pictures into movies and showed them on the TV in the office! 

Floral Arranging: The very generous ladies from the Rapid Ann Garden Club spent two mornings putting on an awesome non-traditional floral arranging workshop.  They taught the participants about different types of arrangements, different ways to make arrangements, various odds-and-ends that you can make arrangements out of and more!  The ladies brought beautiful flowers out of their home gardens that they shared with the youth participating in the workshop.  Everyone who made arrangements was able to take them home!

In The News:  We did some career exploration one day this summer and went to Charlottesville to visit CBS 19/ABC 16/ Fox 27 and see where they do all of the news, went to visit Country 99.7, and then came back to Orange to visit the Orange Review.  We met with Stephanie Satchell, who is originally from Orange, and she showed us around the studio.  We learned how stories are thought of, the process that a story goes through from start to finish, looked in the "bays" to see how the news stories are produced, got to see where they film the news every day, and even got to watch weatherman Travis Koshko film his noon weather update! We then went and visited the Free Speech Monument on the downtown mall.  Everyone had an opportunity to write something on the wall that they wanted!

After lunch we visited with Pam Garrison and Steve Walker at the HitKicker studios.  They recorded an interview with everyone who attended, we saw their equipment and how they broadcast on the radio, and then they gave us awesome treats to bring home!

We stopped at the Orange Review on the way back and talked with Jeff Poole about how he makes the newspaper each week.  We talked about how he finds his stories, and how his process is different from the TV and radio stations.  He explained how a newspaper runs and what he does each week.

Learn Home Canning: Last week, youth had the opportunity to test their skills and learn new skills in the kitchen as they learned all about home canning.  The first day of the workshop was spent taking a field trip to the Market at Grelen Nursery where they were able to pick their own blackberries.  They then came back to the office and made their own blackberry jam.  The second day of the workshop was spent making salsa and pickles.  All youth were able to take home what they made to enjoy with their families!

We still have two more workshops and camps planned for this summer- Speak, Monkey, Speak August 15 at the Wilderness Library and August 16 at the Gordonsville Library; and Camp Millionaire August 20-22 at the Taylor Education Complex.  There are still open spots for all of these- come join the fun!

Service Project: Think of Others and Their School Supply Needs as You Shop!

This weekend is tax-free shopping, so as you purchase school supplies for your own families, please consider purchasing extras to benefit children in need in our area.  The Orange Office on Youth will place a donation tub in our office and we welcome 4-H families to help fill it!  Paper, glue, scissors, hand sanitizer, calculators, pencils, zip-type plastic bags are all examples of supplies that are needed.  Thank you in advance for your help!