Ohio State University Extension Auglaize County Top of Ohio EERA 208 South Blackhoof St Wapakoneta, OH 45895-1902 419-739-6580 Phone 419-739-6581 Fax January 2017 www.auglaize.osu.edu Advisor Child Protection Training V.I.P. NEWS Dear Volunteers: All returning volunteers need to complete the Policy 1.50 Child Protection training through 4-H Online or by attending a child protection training on one of the following dates: February 9-7:00 p.m. - Fairgrounds March 21-10:00 a.m. - Extension Office Happy 2017!! As we start the new year, let us remember that we are here to educate young people. Our purpose is for children to learn, feel good about themselves and others and have fun. I'd like to update you on a few items. If you have any questions or concerns, give me a call or email. March 21-7:00 p.m. - Fairgrounds Sincerely, Advisor Re-enrollment Forms Beth Miller Every advisor must complete an advisor reenrollment form, including signing a current Volunteer Standards of Behavior by April 15, 2017 to be a volunteer in 2017. These forms are included in the club binders along with member re-enrollment forms. Elizabeth M. Miller Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development County Extension Director Auglaize County, Top of Ohio EERA cc 4-H Committee Membership Requirements Eligibility begins when a child has reached age 5 and is enrolled in kindergarten as of January 1 of the current year (Cloverbuds); membership to the 4-H club program begins when a child is at least age 8 and enrolled in 3rd grade as of January 1 of the current year. Ohio 4-H membership ends December 31 of the year in which an individual attains the age of 19. PAGE 1 Remember if you are using the 4-H Online option you must complete the course and the quiz. We cannot make you active on the database until we have your re-enrollment form and child protection training is complete. Organizational Volunteer Training There will be a meeting for organizational advisors (or their representative) on Thursday, March 16, 7:00 p.m. in the Assembly Room, second floor of the Auglaize Co. Administration Building (across the street from our office). There will be important updates shared this is not a child protection training!
4-H Committee Parent Rep The 4-H Advisory Committee is looking for parent representation. There is one parent representative per district. Parent representatives may not be advisors, and must have children enrolled in the program. They are elected by ballot at the banquet like all other committee reps. Parents must be nominated by an advisor of the club in which their child is enrolled. If you are in District I and have a parent who you feel would be a good representative, please contact them and ask to have their name placed on the ballot. All names should be submitted to me by February 10th. You have some great parents out there, ask them to become involved! New Advisors If you have new advisors, they must complete an application, BCI screening, schedule an interview and attend child protection training. This process must be complete by April 15 for them to appear on your club roster for 2017. This is at least a 6-8 week process to complete so please submit applications soon! New Member Recruitment We will be contacting all 3rd and 4th graders about joining 4-H through informational flyers distributed through the schools. We will have potential new members contact you as they come to us. It helps us to know how many new members you are willing to accept. Organizational advisors, please be sure to return the club survey by February 15th. 4-H Recognition Banquet The banquet will be held Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 p.m. at the fairgrounds. The banquet is sponsored by the 4-H Committee. Please see the invitation for details, reservations due by February 20. Please observe the deadline so that we can turn in an accurate count. Thanks for your cooperation. Annual Financial Reports and Club Charters A reminder that your club must submit an annual audit and budget reports and equipment inventory by January 31 and charter applications by April 15. Calendars and Family Guides The 4-H calendars and Family Guides are in the club mailboxes. We have allotted one per family of both. Officer books can be picked up at the office or printed from the state 4-H website. The advisor handbooks will be ready by the 4-H banquet. Organizational advisors will receive the revised pages of the handbook. All other advisors will need to access the handbook from our website. Each family will receive the project requirements - section 7 by email or hard copy IF email is not accessible. Ohio 4-H Project Central! Members and project helpers can preview project books AND share feedback about their project experiences on a new website called Ohio 4-H Project Central. Check out the website now at www.ohio4h.org/ projectcentral for easy instructions and a direct link. 4-H Volunteer Handbook The Ohio 4-H Volunteer Handbook has been revised and is now available at http://www.ohio4h.org/volunteers/ volunteers/club-leaders/ohio-4-h-volunteer-handbook PAGE 2
Food Safety Program If your club does fund raising with food products, advisors must be certified in Food Safety. Certification is required every 5 years. The course is online, contact the office for information. 4-H Camp 4-H camp will be held June 20-24. A reminder that 4-H members, ages 8 (and in 3rd grade) - 15 as of January 1, are eligible to attend camp as campers. Older teens must be accepted as counselors-in-training or counselors to attend. A reminder that the counselor application age is 15 as of January 1, 2017. Counselor applications are due February 1. Horse Safety Program The horse safety program is required for all new horse members. Clubs will be conducting these sessions. If you are not a horse club but have horse members, you will either need to offer the program or arrange for your members to go to another club s training. Weather Note Please listen to WCSM or call the office before 4:30 p.m. for weather cancellations. Cancellations will also be posted on our website during the week. For weekend events, we will notify the radio station and try to get it posted on our website and WLIO, Lima. We will post information of our 4-H Facebook page as well. If it is a committee meeting and we can make the decision early in the day, we may try to send an email out to the group. I do not hesitate to cancel meetings when the road conditions are questionable, especially meetings that involve youth. Cloverbud Clubs A few reminders about cloverbud club guidelines: 1. Cloverbud clubs are to teach lessons from the new revised Cloverbud curriculum, which can be purchased from our office. There is also a cloverbud horse curriculum. Have you returned your Advisor Interest Sheet? If not, please do!! Don t keep us guessing regarding your plans for 2017. 2. Cloverbud lessons are designed to be active and group oriented. Group implies that more than one child is to be enrolled in your cloverbud club. 3. Any club having cloverbuds must designate a minimum of one volunteer that specifically works with the cloverbuds. That is not to say other advisors don t jump in occasionally but you must have an approved cloverbud leader. It is suggested you have 1 volunteer for every 6-7 youth but parents can help fill this role. 4-H Conference The Ohio 4-H Conference and Bob Evans Farms 4-H Recognition Luncheon will be on Saturday, March 11 at the Columbus Convention Center. If you are interested, please contact me for the registration packet. The registration booklet/registration form is also located at: www.ohio4h.org/volunteerconference. There are sessions for both adult volunteers and teens. PAGE 3
Auglaize Co. Fair - July 30 - August 5 2017 Fair Changes Check your fair book for complete details. See March Gazette for any additions or changes to this information. Quality Assurance Reminder: First year QA members ages 8 to 11 as of January 1, must have a parent attend a quality assurance program. First year QA members 12 and over are not required to have a parent attend and may choose the test out option or program attendance. *If a parent is required to attend a quality assurance with their first year member and they attend an out of county program - written proof from the sponsor must be submitted by the parent as proof of attendance. The following dates and times have been set for the Junior Fair Building: Sessions - all at 7:00 p.m. - Monday, February 27, Thursday, March 23, Thursday, June 29. Testing - Saturday, February 11, 8:30 a.m., Friday, April 7, 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday, May 16-7:00 p.m. Test Out Option: Members, ages 12-14, can test out of Quality Assurance for up to three years. This means a child who passes the QA test would not have to take the test again until they reach the 15-18 age division. Members, ages 15-18, can test out of QA permanently. A member must take the test at the scheduled time and achieve a score of 70% or higher to test out of the program. Members failing to test out of QA participation will be required to attend a QA program for that year. They may attempt to test out of the program again the following year. There is no testing option for members ages 8 to 11. Livestock rules changes for all species: Market animal weight limits: there will be no upper weight limits for show for any market species. Minimum weight limits are still in place for all species. Sale order: sale order for all species will be determined by random computer sort, not by tag number. Arrival times: livestock may arrive on the fairgrounds between 6:00 p.m. Friday and 8:00 a.m. Saturday. REMINDER FOR LIVESTOCK: Exhibitors must care for their animals until they are loaded off the fairgrounds. For market animals, if it is determined at load out that the animal has lacked food and/or water, a penalty will be deducted from the value of the animal: $25.00 for steers, lambs, goats and hogs, $10.00 for rabbits and poultry. This decision will be made by the packer and representatives from the Sale Committee. For breeding animals, if it is determined that the animal has lacked food and/or water, the exhibitor will not receive a fair pass the following year. This will be the decision of the Junior and Senior Fair Board superintendents of the department. Please stress to your members - care of their animals is never optional!! PAGE 4
Department Changes: Beef : added plaques for 3-5 overall champion dairy steers. Booth release: projects and booth decorations may be removed from the Exhibit Building on Sunday after the fair between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. only. The Exhibit Building will close at 10:00 p.m. Saturday, last night of fair. This release time was reviewed by the Ag Society recently and stands as the policy, no exceptions. Clothing: discontinue judging circles - members will be judged individually by a number system (similar to special interest judging). Members will attach fabric samples and a picture of themselves in their clothing project to their judging sheet. Dog: rally classes discontinued. Exploring other show options due to lack of enrollment in the dog projects. Goat: market show will be held on Monday of fair beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the new show arena. Discontinued kinder classes (can show in other breed category). Wire cannot be used for securing tags on goats without ears. Horse: split Ranch Pleasure into junior (8-13) and senior (14-18). Grades will be assigned in presentation classes. Nutrition: cost per serving will be required for advanced level projects only. Exploring moving to skillathons rather than food preparation for 2018 project year. Poultry: one show day only - Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m. Show order: Showmanship, Market and Breeding. Rabbits: added Polish and Florida White breed classes. Sheep: shavings only may be used, no mulch. Straw may be used if prior permission given by sheep dept. chair and is properly disposed of in designated locations. Show order: breeding, showmanship, market lambs. Swine: weight divisions will be done on a ten pound break (not 5 pounds as in the past). No light division plaque will be given. PAGE 5
Volunteer s 4-H Pledge I pledge my Head to give children the information I can, to help them see things clearly and to make wise decisions. I pledge my Heart to encourage and support children no matter whether they have successes or disappointments. I pledge my Hands to help children s groups; if I cannot be a leader, I can help in many equally important ways. I pledge my Health to keep children strong and will for a better world through 4-H, for children s groups, our community, our country, and our world. FEBRUARY Calendar of Events MARCH 1 - J. L. Interest Sheets & Counselor Apps Due 2 - Junior Fair Board - 7:30 p.m., Fairgrounds 2 - Junior Fair Board - 7:30 p.m., Fairgrounds 6-4-H Banquet - 7:00 p.m., Fairgrounds 8 - Sale Committee - 7:00 p.m. - Fairgrounds 9-4-H Committee - 7:00 p.m., Ext. Office 9 - Child Protection Training - 7:00 p.m. - Fairgrounds 11 - State 4-H Conference - Columbus 11 - Quality Assurance Testing - 8:30 a.m., Fairgrounds 13 - CARTEENS - 7:00 p.m. 13 - CARTEENS - 7:00 p.m. 14 - Counselor Training - 7:00-9:00 p.m., Ext. Office 20 - Camp Counselor Interviews - Ext. Office 16 - Organizational Advisor Meeting - 7:00 p.m. - 27 - Quality Assurance -7:00 p.m. - Fairgrounds Co. Admin. Building 21 - Child Protection Training - 10:00 a.m., Ext. Office 21 - Child Protection Training - 7:00 p.m. - Fairgrounds 23 - Quality Assurance -7:00 p.m. Fairgrounds 30 - Counselor Training - 7:00-9:00 p.m., Ext. Office PAGE 6