Hall County 4-H Newsletter

New and returning 4-H families may now enroll at https://v2.4honline.com. (Returning 4-H families, please enroll under the same email login that was used the previous year; do not create a new account.) Enrollment fees remain $10 per youth. Fees may be paid online during the 4-H enrollment process or by check/cash at the Hall County Extension Office.

Reminders for 4-H Project Selection:

• Project selection in 4-H Online is optional (with the exception of projects listed below).
• Horse and shooting sports projects will continue to require project enrollment due to the parental consent required to participate in these projects.
• Youth are only eligible to exhibit in a specific project area or contest in a single county.

Adult Volunteer Enrollment: This enrollment is meant for volunteers who are club leaders, project leaders or workshop facilitators who work directly with youth. All other volunteers, such as 4-H Council members, Fair Superintendents or workshop/event helpers DO NOT need to enroll in 4-H Online.

If you have any questions regarding the enrollment process, please call the Extension Office at 308-385-5088. We are here to help!

If you are a youth 4-H member and did not get a Hall County Fair t-shirt this year, please stop by the office to get your shirt! We also have a few navy 4-H shirts (from 2023) in various sizes left. If you outgrew your previous 4-H shirt or need a replacement, please stop by the Extension Office and pick one up!

Ever wonder how biomedical engineers revolutionize the medical world? They create cutting-edge tools that make surgeries less invasive, safer, and speed up recovery! Now it’s YOUR turn to step into their shoes.

Join us for an exciting STEM Challenge for those in grades 3-8, where you’ll design and use your tools to tackle “laparoscopic” surgical tasks. Can you rise to the challenge and save the day?

Details:

• January 2, 2025, 1:00–3:00 pm
• Extension Office Meeting Room #1
• Cost: $5 per participant

We need at least 6 participants to make this session happen, so grab your spot today! Call the Extension Office at 308-385-5088 to sign up by December 31st at noon. Don’t miss this chance to unleash your inner problem-solver and explore the amazing world of biomedical engineering!

Check out a STEM Backpack for your family for the Holiday Break! Each of the backpacks contains theme-based books, activity sheets & materials, and a step-by-step lesson plan for adults. Most of the lessons are also available in Spanish.

Go to go.unl.edu/4-h-backpacks for more information & to find out how to check out one of these 4-H STEM Activity Backpacks from the Hall County Extension Office!

• Who: Any youth interested in sewing, ages 5-18.
• When: Saturday, December 14, 2024
• Where: Hall County Extension meeting room
• What Time: 1:00-4:00 pm
• December Project: Collage/reverse applique, and finish community service project.
  

Club Leaders: Annette Schimmer and Barb Hovie

• Annette 308-379-7191 | netterz95@gmail.com
• Barb 308-379-5208 | barbarahovie@gmail.com

PLEASE contact Annette or Barb if you plan to attend, or if you have questions. A list of supplies needed will be sent via email before the meeting.

Kountryside Kids 4-H Club, in partnership with Grand Island Public Schools, is currently sponsoring a Little Free Pantry at Lincoln Elementary School. The club is inviting 4-H families and clubs to join them in keeping the pantry filled with food, hygiene, seasonal needs, and home essentials. If your family or club are able to contribute to the pantry, sign up for a week (or more) in 2024-25, by following this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45ABA72DA7FBCF8-45801707-lincoln.

The Little Free Pantry is supported by Hall County 4-H, the Nutrition Education Program (NEP), and UNL Extension. If you have any questions, call the Extension Office at 308-385-5088 or email LaDonna at ladonna.obermiller@unl.edu. For ideas of items to put in the Little Free Pantry, click Little Free Food Pantry Food Safety Information | UNL Food.

The 2025 plant will be Goldie Husk Cherry. Learn more about the Special Garden Project and how to get started at 4h.unl.edu/sgp.

To reserve your Special Garden Project seeds,

1. Enroll in 4-H at v2.4honline.com.
2. Complete the following google form: go.unl.edu/hallcosgporder by February 1, 2025.

We're excited to provide YQCA training over the holiday break again! What a great time to complete this required training and check it off your to-do list!

Dates/Times Offered:

• Monday, December 30th, 2-4 pm
• Monday, December 30th, 6-8 pm

Location: Hall County Extension meeting room

*Remember, YQCA Training is REQUIRED for all youth (4-H age 8-18) planning to show beef, swine, sheep, goats, bucket calves, dairy, poultry & rabbits at County and/or State Fair. Clover Kids are not required to take the course.

*New for 2024-25: 4-H members showing bucket calves will now be required to take Quality Assurance training.

Great news! Attending the face-to-face training costs only $3 per youth (compared to $12 for the online course) and it takes less time than the online training. Important! Youth must be enrolled in 4-H Online for the upcoming 4-H year before completing YQCA training.

Follow these steps:

1. Enroll in 4-H Online at v2.4honline.com (remember to use your same login information from last year if you are a returning 4-H member).
2. Visit yqcaprogram.org/ and sign in with your same login information from last year, unless this is your first time taking the course.
3. Find the training session you will attend on the list and register. Be sure you select the correct date, time, location, and trainer Megan Knuth.
4. Pay the $3 fee with a credit card.
5. Please contact the office to let us know which session you are attending.
6. Complete the pretest prior to the training - located on the “Enrolled Trainings” page.
7. Attend the training.
8. Following the training take the post survey and print your certificate.

If the above dates/times do not work for you, there are other opportunities for face-to-face YQCA trainings in nearby counties. Call the Extension Office for more information at 308-385-5088.

The 4-H Market Beef Weigh-In will be held Saturday, January 4th at Platte Valley Vet Clinic in Alda from 8-11 am. If you plan to show market beef at County Fair or State Fair, you need to weigh in at this time. In order for market beef to be eligible for State Fair, they must have an EID tag and DNA must be pulled at weigh-in.

There are opportunities to weigh calves in surrounding counties; however, if you plan on showing animals at the Hall County Fair, we prefer that you weigh your animals at our weigh-in on the 4th. If you have questions about livestock weigh-in day, contact Megan or Crystal.

• DNA cost is $7 per animal (paid later during the online nominations at showstockmgr.com)
• The cost of the ear tags will be covered by Friends of 4-H.

Check out Third City Archers indoor youth league! This will be at the indoor facility located at 317 N Elm Street in Grand Island. See practice dates in the attached photo. Please email thirdcityarchersgi@gmail.com for more information.

FYI: There will be a NEW Hall County 4-H INDOOR Archery Competition this year (more information to come), so the youth league offers lots of opportunities for practice!

Go to 4h.unl.edu/shooting-sports for more information about the Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports program & to view the calendar of upcoming statewide shooting sports competitions!

In order to run a club, county, or multi-county 4-H shootings sports program, leaders and instructors must be certified by Nebraska 4-H. Volunteers must attend a Leader Certification Workshop designed to cover the needed knowledge and guidelines to become a Certified 4-H Shooting Sports Leader/Instructor. Go to 4h.unl.edu/shooting-sports/instructor for information regarding upcoming leader certification workshops & updates. If you are interested in becoming a certified shooting sports instructor for Hall County 4-H, please contact LaDonna Obermiller at 308-385-5088.

The Nebraska 4-H Fed Steer Challenge is an opportunity for youth interested in learning more about the cattle industry and is designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders in the Nebraska cattle industry. The goal of the Fed Steer Challenge is to enhance the educational value of the traditional 4-H beef projects by providing an affordable option that rewards production merit and carcass value of the market animal, along with accurate and complete record-keeping, industry knowledge, and producer engagement by the 4-H member.

Applications are open and due December 15, 2024 for the 2025 program year. For more information regarding the Fed Steer Challenge, or to apply to participate in 2025, visit https://4h.unl.edu/fed-steer-challenge.

Nebraska 4-H is excited to participate in the 2025 Omaha Fashion Week Student Night!

4-H members ages 8-18 are invited to apply for the 4-H Collection to be shown at the Omaha Design Center on February 26, 2025. Garments must have been exhibited at the County Fair in 2024 and should be fashion-forward, runway appropriate, and display high-quality construction.

To apply, complete the online application by December 20th. Visit https://go.unl.edu/25ofw for event details and application process.

Do you have questions regarding the college decision process or a desire to learn more about CASNR (UNL College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources) academic programs?

If so, check out the webinar series called “Zoom In To CASNR”, geared toward prospective college students (middle/high school) or current CASNR students. Go to https://go.unl.edu/vb2s to sign up.

A Farrowed and Owned Breeding and Market Swine division for youth interested in learning more about the swine industry is available for youth statewide in 2025! The Nebraska 4-H Farrowed and Owned Swine Cohort is designed to enhance the traditional 4-H swine project and cultivate the next generation of leaders in the swine industry by providing opportunities focusing on swine production as a goal of the 4-H member's project, along with accurate and complete record-keeping, industry knowledge, and engagement by the 4-H member. In order to participate, youth must be 4-H age 8-18 as of January 1, 2025, complete YQCA, farrowed their project animal(s) and participate in monthly virtual educational meetings. For more information, go to 4h.unl.edu/farrowed-owned.

State achievement applications are due January 5th! These applications are used to select National 4-H Congress delegates, National 4-H Conference delegates, and Nebraska 4-H Foundation scholarship recipients. Learn more at 4h.unl.edu/achievement-application.

The Nebraska 4-H Foundation offers 4-H members the opportunity to apply for scholarships. The Nebraska 4-H Foundation awards up to $22,000 worth of scholarships each year to 4-H’ers from across the state. All scholarship applications must be submitted via the Annual Achievement Application and are due January 5, 2025. For guidelines and more information, go to the Nebraska 4-H Foundation website: ne4hfoundation.org/scholarships.

The Nebraska Women Involved in Farm Economics (WIFE) is pleased to offer the Cynthia Thomsen Scholarship. Nebraska WIFE is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving profitability in production agriculture. The one-year $2000 scholarship is available to any woman who lives in Nebraska who will begin her FIRST year in a University/Technical/Trade/Community College in a field related to agriculture and must be postmarked by March 15, 2025. The scholarship may be used at the school of the recipient’s choice in Nebraska. The application can be found here: Cynthia Thomsen Scholarship Application Final.pdf

Club Leaders, it’s time to fill out the annual treasurer’s report. Even if your club does not handle money, if your club has an EIN# the form still needs to be signed & turned in to the Extension office.

NEW: There is a Club Inventory Report and Club Information Sheet that must be filled out as well.

Forms will be sent via email. Reports are due to the Extension office by January 31st. If you have any questions, call Joyce at (308) 385-5088 or email jkrolikowski2@unl.edu.

Nebraska 4-H has made some changes to the volunteer screening policy and procedures. Beginning October 2024, all 4-H volunteers serving in a direct volunteer role, such as a club leader, project leader, or workshop presenter, will screen every five years based on their anniversary date. With this change, ALL volunteers serving in a direct role will screen during the 2024-2025 program year.

When enrolling in 4-H Online, volunteers will be redirected to the new screening vender, Sterling Volunteers. The new screening is a criminal background history check and will take approximately 5 minutes to complete. The cost of the screening is $16 and is paid during the screening process online. Volunteers must successfully pass their screening in order to serve in a 4-H volunteer role. All returning volunteers need to re-screen by March 15, 2025.

These changes were made to ensure all youth and volunteers are protected through increased volunteer screening level and enhanced user experience.

Important Notes:

• If you completed the Volunteer Orientation piece (40 minute video) last year, you do NOT have to complete the Orientation again this year.
• If you have a current Nebraska Conceal & Carry permit, you may NOT have to complete the screening/background check. We will need a copy of your permit for review.
• If the $16 fee for screening is a hardship, please contact Crystal at the Extension Office.

Raising Nebraska is the ideal space for 4-H, providing an engaging and flexible learning environment.

• Utilize one of the numerous spaces within our 25,000 square foot exhibit hall.
• Youth can explore more than a dozen interactive educational exhibits about agriculture and natural resources.
• Spaces come with state-of-the-art technology to support meetings and presentations.
• No rental fee for 4-H groups.
• Conveniently located on the State Fairgrounds at Fonner Park in Grand Island.

Contact Mandy Sullivan at (308) 385-3967 or mandy@RaisingNebraska.net for more information.

Hall County 4-H will continue using the Remind app (in addition to email & social media) to communicate important 4-H news, events & deadlines to 4-H families. Get information for Hall County 4-H right on your phone! Two-way text messaging makes it more convenient for families to receive important information. Plus, it’s free and easy to use!

Options to sign up for Remind:

• Option 1 - Click the link to sign up, https://www.remind.com/join/4h-hall.
• Option 2 - Text the message @4h-hall to the number 81010.

See the attached pdf below.

Please call Crystal at 308-385-5088 for assistance.

• December 4 - Extension Board meeting, 4:30 pm at the Extension Office.

• December 24 - Christmas Eve; Extension Office will close at 12 pm.

• December 25 - Christmas Day; Extension Office is closed.

• December 30 - YQCA Training, 2 pm and 6 pm at the Extension Office.

• January 1 - New Year's Day; Extension Office is closed.

• January 2 - STEM Challenge, 1-3 pm at the Extension Office.

• January 4 - Market Beef Weigh-In, 8-11 am at Platte Valley Vet Clinic in Alda.

Email: hall-county@unl.edu
Website: hall.unl.edu
Location: 3180 W Hwy 34, College Park, Grand Island, Nebraska, USA
Phone: 308-385-5088
Facebook: facebook.com/HallCounty4HNebraska
Twitter: @4HHoopla

<a href="https://www.vecteezy.com/free-photos/thanksgiving">Thanksgiving Stock photos by Vecteezy</a>