Sibley County 4-H Newsletter
February 2024
Once again Sibley County 4-H will be selling fruit! Every 4-H Family is to sell $150.00 worth of fruit. A better goal would be to have EVERY 4-H’er sell $150.00 worth of fruit. The money is used to pay the program fee for State Fair, State Dog Show, State Shoot, State Horse Show, afterschool programs, reduce the programming costs of 4-H, and provide scholarships for youth who attend county, regional, and state events. ALL club members are required to sell fruit because EVERY 4-H member in Sibley County is a recipient of the money raised. If a family chooses to not sell $150.00 worth of fruit, the Federation will not pay for their Program Fee for the above-listed activities.
You should have received your club fruit sales information packet in the mail. Forms and information were mailed on Tuesday, January 23 to Sibley County 4-H Families. If you have not received it, please contact our office at 507-237-4100 or email Connie at rettm001@umn.edu or email Joleen at jdose@umn.edu. Once again this year fruit sales are offered online. All orders will need to be entered online. Look for more information in your fruit sales packet.
ALL paper fruit sales will need to be entered ONLINE into your family’s account. Orders must be entered into myfruitsale.com by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 1. Then you must get a printed copy of your family’s order and any money you collected into your Fruit Sales Coordinator. The Fruit Sales Coordinator must turn everything into our office by MONDAY, MARCH 4. If you are not sure who your Fruit Sales Coordinator is, please check with your Key Leader. The fruit will be delivered on Wednesday, March 27 starting approximately at 8:30 a.m. We will be looking for volunteers to help unload the fruit (three to four from each club). Please let your Key Leader know if you can help out that day. Fruit will be delivered to the Sibley County Highway Department/Sheriff's Shed on Highway 19 in Gaylord.
Please make sure you get out there and SELL, SELL, SELL! This is our only fundraiser for the year and we need it to be successful! Selling fruit is one of the easiest things to sell. Just get out there and ask people to support 4-H! Good luck!
Congratulations to the Sibley County Senior Quiz Bowl team for competing at the National Quiz Bowl Competition at the Western National Roundup in Denver on January 5. The team competed in several matches that day and received 4th place. They have put in many hours of studying over the years, and we were excited for them to achieve the honor of participating at a national competition. Thank you to Marilee and all of the coaches for instilling so much knowledge to all of our quiz bowl members.
Upcoming meetings
The Auction Committee will be meeting on Monday, February 12 at 6:00 p.m. at the Sibley County Service Center. If you have any ideas and would like to be part of the committee, please join us!
The Animal PDC Committee (Beef, Dairy, Dog, Goat, Horse, Lama, Poultry, Rabbit, Sheep and Swine) will be meeting to discuss these project areas on Monday, February 12 starting at 7:00 p.m. If you have any ideas and would like to be part of the committee, please join us!
Events through 4-H Online
There are many great events coming up that you can register for through 4-H online. Just log into your family profile and click on events. Scroll through all the options, I am sure there is something that you may be interested in. Remember if there is a cost to the event, that the Sibley County Federation has scholarships available to reimburse a portion of the cost.
Winter Weather Check
It is again that time of year. Inclement weather is upon us! If the weather causes cancellations or postponements of 4-H events, listen to one of the following local radio stations: KDUZ - Hutchinson 320-587-2140 and KNUJ - New Ulm 507-359-2921. If any of the county schools are canceled or have an early out due to weather, the evening county-wide 4-H events will be canceled.
Looking for a County-Wide Cloverbud Leaders
Do you enjoy working with youth K - 2rd grade? Would you like to volunteer your time to create youth learning opportunities and do some great 4-H programming? We have an opportunity for someone to create some Cloverbud Activity Days (once every other month). Our office would provide supplies and help with the programming activities. If you would like more information, please contact Connie at 507-237-4100 or rettm001@umn.edu.
Wildlife Wednesdays
If you are a Shooting Sports member planning on going to the state shoot in September, you will need 8 hours of wild life training. These online classes will count towards those hours.
Discover the wonderful world of wildlife around you with Wildlife Wednesdays! Join us as we explore and uncover the fascinating lives of wildlife with wildlife experts, biologists, and Master Naturalists. This series of wonder and wander will promote conservation knowledge and spark lifelong respect for the environment around us!
4-H Explores in Ag
Youth in grades 6-8 are invited to join us as we explore agriculture around the world. A kick-off event will be held via Zoom on Monday, Feb. 19 at 8 p.m. From there, you’ll be given access to a Google site to explore a country each week. A guide will be provided to help you explore a farming practice within each country. 4-H Ag Ambassadors will check in weekly to discuss what you’re learning along the way. This year guest speakers will share more about agriculture in the countries participants are exploring. Registration deadline is February 12.
Share the Fun and Performing Arts is scheduled for Monday, July 15, 2024 at The Warehouse in Winthrop. Now is the time to start discussing, planning and working on club skits.
Divisions: Share the Fun Club Acts or Individual Performing Arts Performances (judged by age level: Beginner, Intermediate or Senior).
Share the Fun Rules: Only one club act per club is allowed. Club acts should set a goal of being 6 minutes long, which is a State Rule. At the county level, any club that goes over 7 minutes will not be allowed to receive 1st or 2nd place or advance to the MN State Fair. Club acts over 7 minutes will be allowed to place 3rd and will still be eligible for Best Costume/Most Creative Set, Most Humorous Skit or Talent Award and Club with Largest Percentage of Participants.
Performing Arts Information: If you are performing an individual act and would like to use it as a 4-H project, sign up for the Performing Arts Project in Fairy Entry when you enter all your other fair projects.
Exhibit Requirements: Exhibit can be either a performance or an exhibit that shows a member’s involvement or interest in the performing arts. To be eligible for State Fair, the member must be able to discuss the process of selecting, planning, performing and reflection on their project work. If the exhibit is an actual performance, the performance cannot last longer than 10 minutes.
Exhibit Suggestions: Poster or display about your involvement or interest in the performing arts. A puppet and script made and created by member. Create and perform a short story, show, music selection, etc., and include a write-up about it. A journal or scrapbook (with written statements) of current performing arts experiences. An educational display of some aspect of music, drama, or performing.
Please call the Extension Office if you need further information.