Holiday Office Closure

The 4-H office will be closed December 24, 2012 through January 1, 2013.  We will reopen on January 2^nd.

Holiday Food and Toy Drive

The UC Cooperative Extension Office and Merced County 4-H are participating in the Merced County Sheriff’s toy collection drive and Merced County Rescue Mission’s Holiday food drive.  Please bring in food and toy donations to fill our barrels.    We have already filled up four toy barrels, help us fill up another one.  We would like to give a special thanks to Los Banos Community, Merced River, Lancers and Lander 4-H for your awesome food and toy donations. These clubs have brought in over 240 toys plus school supplies for our barrel.

2013 4-H Film Making Statewide Project, supported by BestBuy

http://www.ca4h.org/Projects/SET/Tech/CTLT/Film/

For 4-H members (age 13-19), volunteers, and staff to learn how to produce films. The goal of the 4-H Film Making Project is to enhance technological literacy of 4-H members by helping them learn the basics of film production including storyboarding, filming, and editing. Our goal is to have 4-H members produce films that feature how 4-H is impacting their community (for example, 4-H Revolution of Responsibility projects) and recording 4-H alumni and creating films featuring the "Voices of 4-H History" for the CA 4-H Centennial.

The project is coordinated by the 4-H Technology Leadership Team,

• Hosting four-hour video production workshops around California using the National 4-H Film Making Curriculum (workshops limited to 30 people)
• Lending video equipment kits to counties
• Showcasing completed videos at the State 4-H Film Festival and on various websites

Learn more and register for a workshop at http://www.ca4h.org/Projects/SET/Tech/CTLT/Film/

All Star and Emerald Star Projects

It is that time of year to start planning All Star and Emerald Star projects.  If you are in 8^th grade or older you may do an Emerald Star project, if you are in 9^th grade or older you may do an All Star Project.  If you have an idea or know you want to do a project but are not sure what to do please call me at 385-7418.

37^th Annual Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Field Day on March 1^st and 2^nd

The UC Davis CA&ES Field Day is the 2013 California 4-H State Qualifier for Poultry, Dairy and Livestock judging. Visit http://www.ca4h.org/Projects/SET/Animal/SLJC/  for state qualifying guidelines.

To register, go to: <http://calaged.csuchico.edu/registration/>

Select the event (2013 U.C. Davis Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Field Day). Choose thelink “Get Access Code”. Complete the information on the form and click the register button. Please include 4-H next to your club name on the registration form. On the following page save the registration code and register later or simply continue with the registration at this point. Note that you may only register once so be prepared to complete the registration or contact us if you have any changes.  After your club is registered, we request that you submit a printed copy of your online registration along with your payment. Checks should be made payable to “UC Regents” and mailed to:

Attn: Francesca Ross

College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences

One Shields Avenue

Davis, CA 95616

Deadlines:

November 14: Registration opened

February 10: AgriScience Fair and Job Interview materials due

February 10: Registration closed

February 17: Payments must be postmarked – We are now enforcing a $25 late fee for payments

postmarked after the 17th.

For questions email fieldday@ucdavis.edu or visit http://caes.ucdavis.edu/fieldday 

Save the Date: 4-H CA Focus

CA Focus will be June 14-18, 2013. Registration will be available on December 30, 2012. For questions, contact Jenna Colburn, jcolburn@ucanr.edu.

4-H State Leadership Conference 2013 – July 25-28, 2013 at UC Davis

http://www.ca4h.org/Programs/Conferences/SLC/

The 4-H State Leadership Conference brings together high school youth from across California in a four-day leadership training, networking, and learning experience. More information will be released in January 2013.

JOIN The Revolution of Responsibility! $1,000 is available to 4-H Clubs and Groups

Due November 15

http://ucanr.org/join/

To JOIN the revolution, 4-H members, with the help of an adult 4-H volunteer mentor, should follow these steps to plan a project.

1. Identify an issue or problem in your community.
2. Find community organizations to collaborate with.
3. Plan the project: form goals, outline tasks, list needed resources, and prepare a budget
4. Prepare ways to document and record your project to share with others.
5. JOIN the revolution at http://ucanr.org/join/

A toolkit of tips, templates, links, and suggested guidelines has been developed to support your projects. From the initial work to identify a compelling community issue to the final celebration of its completion, use this toolkit to help you carry out the important steps necessary to ensure success. http://www.ca4h.org/Support/RofR/Toolkit/    

California State 4-H Shooting Sports

• Leader Meeting, December 8 & 9, 2012, Visalia, CA
• All California 4-H shooting sports leaders are invited to attend a state meeting to be held on:
• Saturday, December 8, 2012 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
• Sunday, December 9, 2012 8:30 a.m. – 12:00 noon
• The meetings will be held in Visalia, CA at the Visalia Police Association Range Facility. There is no fee to attend. Camping will be allowed on site. Hotel/motel arrangements are available in Visalia which is approximately 5 miles from the meeting site. There will be presentations of information regarding the project, guest speakers, and hands-on activities for all participants. More details will follow regarding registration and the agenda. The point of contact is John Borba at: jaborba@ucdavis.edu

The State 4-H Fashion Revue committee announces categories and service projects for 2013 SFR! Entry categories will be Traditional, Consumer Science Purchased, Wearable Art-Embellished, 2 Yard Wonder, and Duct Tape Challenge.

• Traditional: new this year, the entry must be sewn by the member as part of his/her 4-H Clothing and Textile project.
• Consumer Science Purchased has a $19.99 limit, shoes and sales tax not included. Receipts for all items showing except shoes are required, with purchases made during the 2012-2013 4-H year. The $100 CS Purchased category will not be offered.
• The Wearable Art – Embellished entry must start with a purchased garment. Duct tape entries are not eligible for WA-Embellished.
• 2 Yard Wonder is a Challenge category: using 2 yards of 100% cotton fabric, sew a garment and an accessory. Additional garments to complete the outfit may be sewn or purchased.  There is no specific pattern requirement. The entry must be sewn by the member as part of his/her 4-H Clothing & Textiles project.
• Duct Tape Challenge: Create a wearable garment out of duct tape such as a jacket, shirt, pants, skirt or dress. The member may choose to begin with a purchased garment or not. Additional garments, accessories, fabric and materials may be added.
• For all entries, the outfit must be produced and modeled by the individual member. The outfit must meet SFR modesty guidelines.
• A member may only qualify to enter one outfit at SFR. To reduce confusion, counties are encouraged to adopt this policy: At county fashion revues where a member may enter more than one outfit, the garments, accessories, and shoes for each outfit must be distinctly different. An item in one outfit may not also be used as part of another outfit.
• Counties may offer additional categories that do not advance to SFR.

State Fashion Revue is coordinating two service projects. he first is a sewn teddy bear or doll. The second is a drawstring bag. Patterns and instructions will be posted on the SFR website. SFR will continue to accept quilts for troops to pass on. If you, your project, or your county would like more information about SFR, these categories and service projects, or would like to join the committee, please visit http://www.ca4h.org/Programs/Events/SFR/

I am attaching a flyer about the drawstring bag challenge.

Announcing the New Highest California 4-H Youth Award!

The Incentives and Recognition Advisory Committee is pleased to announce the launch of the California 4-H Diamond Clover Award. The Diamond Clover is awarded to the highest achieving 4-H youth members through an application and essay process. All youth who achieve the qualifications are eligible for this award. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year and while a young person is between 17 and 19 years of age. Each quarter, applications are reviewed by the Incentives and Recognition Advisory Committee and awards are given. Awardees are announced annually at the State Leadership Conference. Applications are available now for submission beginning July 1, 2012 at http://www.ca4h.org/Administration/Advisory_Committees/IR/

Rationale:  Most youth serving organizations have a highest honor—Boy Scouts have Eagle Scouts, Girl Scouts have the Gold Award, Camp Fire USA has the WoHeLo Award. While the 4-H State Ambassador Program is a very high honor, it is a working honor and is prohibitive to many who may be deserving of a highest youth award.