When staff and volunteers plan, organize and put time into offering events for Douglas County 4-H'ers and families, registering for that event and paying for that event (if there is a cost) in a timely manner is so important for the following reasons:

• Purchasing supplies- staff need lead time to purchase and organize the supplies
• Recruit enough youth and adult volunteers-many times youth and adults need to rearrange their work schedule or plans to help us at various events.
• Dietary, abilities and health considerations-staff need time to plan for any youth who have special requests or dietary needs, and for youth who may need special accommodations. If we don’t know who is coming, we are not able to plan for those accommodations and needs.
• We typically have a minimum number of participants to hold the event, and many times we have a maximum number of participants due to space limitations or the content of the program. We realize that everyone is busy and making plans can be challenging, but please do the best you can to sign up ahead of time and secure your spot
• Events do fill up, so please don’t wait until the last minute. Sometimes we fill up and then need to close the event prior to the deadline.
• Payment can be made in our office or there is a drop box located on the south side of the courthouse for after hours. Please label the envelope with Extension and the name of the event before putting it in the drop box.

If you haven't checked out SmugMug you're missing out! 4-H photos are downloaded to this site for 4-H families to access and save photos of their 4-H'er. You might find photos to include in your 4-H record! We're still in the process of downloading so if you don't see what you're looking for, check back later as we continue to download new photos.

Project Bowl is a long-standing program in Minnesota 4-H and is the second most attended event of the year. In Project Bowl, teams of 3-6 youth members build skills working and thinking together while testing their knowledge in these 4-H areas: dairy, dog, general livestock, horse, llama-alpaca, plant science, poultry and rabbit. This happens in a quiz bowl type setting with buzzers and two rounds of questions. There are teams for youth 3rd grade and up. Practice usually begins at the end of December or beginning of January.

In the previous year, we had teams in general livestock and dog. Douglas County 4-H has coaches and teams for dog, and general livestock. If you are interested, please contact the office ASAP at mnext-douglas@umn.edu!

The next Douglas county horse activity is our winter project day on Sunday, February 23. This will be an engaging and hands on workshop. Watch for more details to come.

The Extension office will be closed for the holidays these dates:

• November 28 -29 (Thanksgiving)
• December 24-25 (Christmas)
• January 1 (New Year's Day)
• January 20 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
• February 17 (Presidents Day)

It can be confusing as to what is available to do or learn about in the many different project areas that Minnesota 4-H offers, and how that might connect to creating an exhibit for the county fair to showcase what you learned. To discover more about a specific category check out the Douglas County 4-H project guide to learn more.

All of us from the Douglas County Extension office wish you the best this holiday season! We look forward to the New Year and all the exciting opportunities to come.

Jodi Hintzen, Extension Educator, hintz010@umn.edu

Jackie Kokett, Extension Educator, jkokett@umn.edu

Douglas County Extension

Email: mnext-douglas@umn.edu

Website: extension.umn.edu/douglas

Address: 305 8th Ave W, Alexandria, MN 56308 (Courthouse, 2nd floor)

Phone: 320-762-3890

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MNDouglasCounty4H/

Twitter: @UMNExt

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