Growing News

See below for the latest updates!

The Buddy Show is still in need of 11 more 4-hers to be mentors!

What does being a mentor mean? You will be paired up with one of the buddies and will meet them at 4 pm the Thursday of our fair. You will take them to introduce them to their animal that they will be “showing”. You’ll tell them the animal’s name, what you feed them and how you prepare for a show. Maybe let them comb or brush on the animal. We will start the buddy show at 5 pm. At this time you will assist the buddy walking the animal through the ring. We will have one class for sheep, one class for pigs and one class for goats. You don’t need to have one of these animals at the fair to be a mentor. We can partner you up with a 4-her who has an animal. Please let me know if you would be interested in being a mentor!!

NEW in 2023! All Club Shifts will be signed up for using Sign Up Genius. Please see the links below. Links will be open for each club to fill until August 7. After August 7, anyone may sign up for any shift they are available to work.

Note: All job descriptions can be found in food stand handbook. Make sure you are filling jobs with appropriately aged youth or adult volunteers. Please note that some jobs will be dependent on which shift you are working. For example, a club working on Saturday will need more Order Takers than a club working on Thursday during the day.

• Burbank Feeders: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood

• Clay County Flyers: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood2

• Jolly JJ’s: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood1

• Meckling Livestock: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood3

• Clay County Cubs: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood4

• POW/Dog/Member at Large: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood5

• Lucky Trailblazers: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood6

• Saturday (Derby) Night: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0449A5AB2AA1FD0-4hfood7

  • All Clubs will need to provide the following number of workers for the Derby:

    • Burbank Feeders: 2 workers

    • Clay County Cubs: 2 workers

    • Dog/Lucky Trailblazers: 2 workers

    • Jolly JJ’s: 2 workers

    • Pride of Wakonda: 3 workers

    • Meckling Livestock: 3 workers

Each county champion for livestock will be eligible to attend the Best of the West, a SD County Showcase. The following counties will be participating for 2023.

Aurora, Clay, Hughes/Stanley, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brule, Hand, Union, Tripp, Jerauld/Buffalo, Sanborn, and Hyde.

The committee has some great prizes lined up. If your animal is selected champion you will be given a golden ticket. This is your invitation to the show and each youth must bring with them to exhibit their animal. In the case of a child not being able to attend they can select another 4-H youth to exhibit their champion animal. If the champion animal is not able to attend, the youth may give their ticket to the reserve champion in that division from your county achievement days.

Huge way to go to Clay County 4-H! This county rocked the Statewide community service project this year and was able to donate over 210 pet items to local animals shelters! Pictured below is just one of many trips taken! The office gathered the supplies here and divided them out to be donated to both Yankton and Sioux City Humane Society's. During the State Fair Awards ceremony they will announce the county with the most, stay tuned to see how we did!

If you are entering photography exhibits at county fair, we have the foam board in the office. Cost is $1.00/board for either black or white. Checks should be made payable to Clay County 4-H Leaders Association or bring the correct amount of cash.

Please note that currently this meeting is for Clay County 4-H and Fair Board members! We want your feedback and discussion, since these buildings and activities serve you! A more public session may be held later this fall/winter.

August 2nd is our final Wednesday drawing before we move to the Clay County Fair for the final two drawings. Stop down to the Char Bar on Wednesday for some pizza and get your tickets!

Can't make it, stop by the office from 1-5 pm on Wednesday or Venmo sdclaycountyfair to get your name in the drawing. You won't have a chance to draw a card at the finale unless you are a weekly winner! The countdown is on....6 more winners to go.

Calling all CHAMPIONS of 4-H! No, not purple ribbon recipients, but teens that want to promote the 4-H program and continue to see it grow and flourish in their county! If this sounds like you, consider applying to be a State 4-H Ambassador during the 2023-24 4-H year. The application period is open now until August 15th. Roles of a State 4-H Ambassador are:

• Serve to support the 4-H program through public relations

• Function as a positive role model for youth in South Dakota

• Continually strive for improvement by serving as an agent of change

• Promote inclusion and respect for diversity across 4-H

• Utilize skills and knowledge gained through 4-H to engage youth in educational activities

• Pro-actively engage in youth-adult partnerships

Find more information about the opportunities of a State 4-H Ambassador by viewing the position description attached or visiting: https://extension.sdstate.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/MC-03055-03.pdf

More holistic details about the program can be accessed at: https://extension.sdstate.edu/state-4-h-ambassador-program.

WIth a change in State staff, SDSU Extension's 4-H program will host the 2023 State 4-H Dog Shows at three sites—Lennox, Mitchell, and Rapid City. See the contestant packet for event details. The registration deadline for each competition is August 8 via FairEntry.

https://extension.sdstate.edu/state-dog-show

Record Books and Journals will be due to club leaders October 1st.

Award applications are also due with your books. There are a variety of awards to apply for. Call or stop in the office to if you need help deciding which awards you are eligible for.

Remember– no record book or journal submitted mean no premium money paid.

Mark your calendars 2023 4-H Recognition Event will be held Sunday November 19th at 2pm at the Clay County 4-H Center!

August 1 - Deadline for Paws for a Cause

August 7 — County Fair Set up Night

August 8—Open Class Entry

August 8 – Deadline to register for State Fair & State Dog Shows in FairEntry

August 8 – Deadline to enter companion animals in 4-HOnline

August 9 — 4-H Project Entry

August 10-12 — Clay County Fair

August 13 — Clean up day

August 19 - State Dog Show: Eastern Championships- Lennox

August 23 - Future of the Fairgrounds Meeting 7pm

August 25 - OWLS Applications Due

August 26 - State Dog Show: Central Championships - Mitchell

August 28 - Fair Projects due back to the office for State Fair

August 30—September 4 — South Dakota State Fair

August 31 – End Match 5 – Shooting Sports

September 1 – Deadline to register for Fall State Shoot

September 7 - Deadline to register for State Livestock Judging & Skill-a-thon

September 8-10 – Fall State Shoot – Mitchell

September 12 - Joint Fair Board/Leaders Assoc. Meeting

September 15 - State 4-H Livestock Skill-a-thon - SDSU, Brookings

September 16 - State 4-H Livestock Judging Contest - SDSU, Brookings

September 23 - Sate Dog Show: Western Championship - Rapid City

October 1 - New 4-H Year begins, Re-enroll in 4-HOnline!

October 1 - Record Books Due to Club Leaders

October 3 - Leaders Assoc. Awards Meeting

November 19 - Recognition Event 2pm 4-H Center

Calling All 4-H Photographers! South Dakota Farmers Union 2023 Photo Contest has a category designed to highlight the work of South Dakota 4-H’ers. Division winner receives $100! Visit www.SDFU.org and click on the Photo Contest link under News & Events tab to learn more. (You can also visit this link:

https://sdfu.org/news-events/ photo-contest/) The contest is

open July 1 - October 1, 2023

The 4-H Livestock Integrity Pledge takes the refreshing approach of operating from a place of trust. We trust that our parents want 4-H to serve as a place for their youth to develop into contributing members of society -builders not takers. We trust that our youth want to be true 4-H’ers -desiring a fair exhibition experience and willing to demonstrate personal responsibility. This pledge is a component of the annual Youth Livestock Literacy training requirement that will be implemented in 2023. The annual paper-based agreements must be completed by each 4-H member to be eligible to exhibit beef, swine, dairy, poultry, rabbits or goats at the local and/or state level. In addition, exhibitors competing at State Fair will complete an electronic acknowledgement annually during FairEntry enrollment. Prior to agreeing, please read, consider, and fully adopt the Livestock Integrity Pledge’s principles in your livestock management plan. Upon completion, please return the signed form to the county office by August 8th.

The 2023 South Dakota 4-H State Fair Book has been released and is located on the SDSU Extension Website! Youth-In-Action Contestant Packets and Handbooks have also been updated. In addition, the Food Preservation Entry Form and Score Sheet has been updated. Please pay special attention to pages 5-7 for changes and to the animal species pages for changes from last year. https://extension.sdstate.edu/sites/default/files/2023-03/MC-02914.pdf

Raven Jensen

Secretary

Lauren Hollenbeck

4-H Youth Program Advisor

Email: clay.county@sdstate.edu
Website: https://www.claycountysd.org/extensionoffice4h.cfm
Location: 515 High Street, Vermillion, SD, USA
Phone: 605-677-7111
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/332499696769521