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Sioux County Newsletter
October 2020
Calendar of Events
National 4-H Week – October 4th – 10th
Oct. 12 – 4-H Council Meeting at 6 pm
Oct. 14 – Reverse Canvas workshop at 12:30 pm at Bank Basement
Oct. 18 – Achievement Banquet at Fire Hall at 4 pm
Oct. 23 – Leather Workshop at 2 pm at Bank Basement
Achievement Banquet
The annual Achievement Banquet will be held on Sunday, October 18th at the Fire Hall starting at 4 pm. A meal will be provided for families from the 4-H Council. Youth and volunteers will be recognized along and celebrated at this wonderful event. Due to COVID, there will not be additional activities for the youth. Families are encouraged to distance themselves. Masks are recommended but not required. Please RSVP to the Extension Office by calling 308-668-2428.
National 4-H Week
Members are encouraged to show their 4-H spirt this week by wearing green and telling their friends about 4-H. Members will also be able to see 4-H displays in business windows throughout the month of October.
Reverse Canvas Workshop
Come join us for a Reverse Canvas workshop at the Security First Bank on October 14th starting at 12:30 pm. The workshop will finish by 2:30 pm. The youth will utilize a Cricut machine to design their own artwork to place on a canvas they have reversed. The fee for this workshop is $5. Please register by contacting the Extension Office at 308-668-2428 or Melissa Mracek at mmracek2@unl.edu by October 7th.
Leather Workshop
Bill Riggs is back again for another highly requested leather workshop. This time youth will learn the basics of carving leather. This will be the first of two leather workshops Bill is hosting this 4-H year. The first workshop will be held on Friday, October 23rd at the Security First Bank Basement starting at 2:00 pm until 4 pm. The fee for this workshop is $5. Please register for this workshop by October 16th by contacting the Extension Office at 308-668-2428 or emailing Melissa Mracek at mmracek2@unl.edu.
LOG N to your Next Chapter of Life
Nebraska 4-H staff are providing a unique opportunity to help youth think about their Next Chapter while meeting others from across the Panhandle and Sandhills of Nebraska while participate in fun activities. There will be exciting opportunities for the youth starting the summer before their 6th and 7th grade year and continuing through their Senior year. The first opportunity will be this fall with 8th grade students. On November 7th, the youth will discover some of their future possibilities at Camp Norwesca, south of Chadron near Chadron State Park. The day starts at 9 am, it will include interactive activities like a teambuilding course as well as archery, before concluding at 3 pm. The cost for this event is $40 and includes lunch. Besides the knowledge youth will gain from this program, they also will get a trip to visit the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL) as a Sophomore and will get their admission application fees waived to UNL when they complete the program. If youth cannot attend all the sessions or start as a 10th grader or above, there will be opportunities to catch up online. There is a limit of 40 participants to attend this retreat. To register visit the Extension Office or go online to https://go.unl.edu/logn8 before October 30th. For questions please contact Melissa Mracek at mmracek2@unl.edu, Sarah Paisley at spaisley3@unl.edu, Michelle Garwood at mgarwood3@unl.edu, or Ashley Fenning at astevens4@unl.edu.
**Please feel free to utilize your camp scholarships for this event!
Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports Leader Certification Workshop Offered in Scottsbluff
A Nebraska 4-H Shooting Sports Leader Certification Workshop is scheduled for early November. It will be held November 7-8 at the Panhandle Research & Extension Center in Scottsbluff. The early bird registration deadline is October 28th.
Volunteers will have the opportunity to become certified as an adult (21 years and older) or apprentice (14-20 years old) leader. Six project areas will be offered at the workshop - rifle, pistol, archery, shotgun, hunting skills, and coordinator.
Coordinators will explore and learn more about the different disciplines in 4-H Shooting Sports, how to support the different types of coaches, structuring a budget, designing a fund-raising plan, building an overall plan focused on Positive Youth Development, practice handling conflict, discover how to manage and recruit volunteers, best practices for managing events and competitions, teaching more than just “shooting” with science and healthy lifestyles, and working within your county’s 4-H structure.
There is a minimum number of participants needed to offer these disciplines at the workshop. Workshop participants will learn under expert instruction from members of the Nebraska State
4-H Shooting Sports Training Team.
The registration fee is $110.00 per person for initial certification and those individuals adding an additional discipline except for Apprentice Instructors. The registration fee for Apprentice Instructors (14 to 20 years of age) is $90 for this workshop. This fee includes meals, supplies and program materials. Participants must make their own lodging arrangements. Registration on Saturday runs from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Participants are requested to bring their own mask and hand sanitizer. Face coverings are recommended to be worn. Please maintain a distance of 6 feet from the next person, if possible. If you feel sick at all, please stay home.
Please share this information with volunteers in your county. For more workshop information and registration link, go to the 4-H Shooting Sports web page. Or contact your local Nebraska Extension Office or Steve Pritchard at (402)395-2158 or (308)536-2691. Registration is available only online at the link provided in the brochure or they can register directly by clicking HERE.
National Western Stock Show Catch-a-Calf Program
The program is open to youth that are ages 12 to 18, as of December 31st, 2020. Youth must be an enrolled 4-H member and resident of the states of CO, WY, KS or NE. To apply for the program they will go to https://nationalwestern.com/catch-a-calf-program/ and complete the online application. There is also a mandatory form that they will need to print off and complete. The application must be submitted by December 1st.
Youth sign-up to catch at a rodeo performance during the Stock Show. Youth that are successful will then receive their steer in May. The purchase price of the steer is covered by a sponsor. Youth will write monthly letters to their sponsors. They will also complete a monthly progress form that then goes in their final record book. They will return to the Stock Show the following January to exhibit their steer, along with completing an interview and turning in their record book. The overall grand and reserve grand champion of the program are allotted a spot in the Junior Livestock Auction. Other youth will receive market value for their steer, along with a portion of what the two steers in the sale make.
Become a 4-H Youth Leadership Ambassador!
Hey High School Age Youth!
We are so excited that you are interested in becoming a part of the NEW Nebraska 4-H Youth Leadership Ambassador Team.
As a part of this group we hope you can be a voice on the youth perspective, develop & practice leadership skills that you can take back to your communities, and collaborate with Extension Staff and 4-Hers across the state to plan & implement a 4-H Youth Leadership Conference!
The deadline for applications for the Ambassador team is Friday, October 9th, 2020! Apply here: https://go.unl.edu/rcoe
If selected our first meeting will be Sunday, November 1st, 2020 at 4-6pm CT. From there we'll meet monthly to create an amazing experience for you and other high schoolers across the state!
The 4-H Youth Leadership Conference will be held July 1st-3rd, 2021 at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp in Halsey, NE!
If you have questions or would like to know more please contact Julie Kreikemeier (julia.kreikemeier@unl.edu) or Stacey Keys (stacey.keys@unl.edu)!
NU for NE
From Oct. 1 to Oct. 18, you can apply to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for free. Nebraska will waive the $45 application fee for all resident first-time freshmen and transfer students who wish to apply for the Fall 2021 term. To apply to Nebraska for free, you should enter NUforNE in the Application Fee Waiver Code field at the end of Nebraska’s application at go.unl.edu/apply-now. This year, we know that it may be difficult for you to take the ACT or SAT because of public health concerns. To support students, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is test-optional for both university admission and scholarships.
Don’t wait to move your future forward—take the next step toward creating your future by completing your application at go.unl.edu/apply-now. We’re excited to see what you’ll discover, what you’ll create and who you’ll become as a Husker.
Living Room Learning
Living Room Learning offers free and live hands-on virtually guided activities for youth. Each session focuses on a new activity that can be done with materials found at home. Living Room Learning activities are perfect for youth in K-5th grades. Each session is recorded and made available for on-demand viewing. Youth do not need to be 4-H members to participate. Click this link to register: https://4h.unl.edu/living-room-learning
Fall dates and descriptions for Living Room Learning are as follows at 1:00pm MT / 2:00pm CT:
October 6th: Steak Science
Learn what happens when an environment changes – even if the environment is FOOD! We’ll learn about meat tenderness and how it relates to science by using things you can find in your pantry.
October 20th: Physics of Medieval Tools
This activity uses principles of physics and engineering to build a simple min-trebuchet and a simple catapult for comparison of their mechanics!
November 3rd: Citizenship- Voting!
**More information for this session will be shared in October.
November 17th: Healthy Life, Happy Life
Make snack with us! We’ll talk about the importance of healthy living and what it actually means. Get ready to move – physical activity is also included!
2020 Make It With Wool Contest
Enter the Make It With Wool Contest! The object of the contest is to promote the beauty and versatility of wool fabrics and yarns; to encourage personal creations in sewing, knitting, crocheting, spinning and weaving of wool fabrics and yarns; and to recognize creative skills.
The 2020 State Make It With Wool Contest will be November 21 at the Dawson County Extension Office in Lexington, NE beginning at 9:00 a.m. Everyone is invited to the public Fashion Show at 1:00 p.m.
The divisions determined by age as of January 1, 2020 (national rule), are as follows: Preteen – age 12 and under, Junior – age 13 to 16, Senior – age 17 to 24, Adult – age 25 and over, and Made For Others.
For more information, contact the Nebraska State Director: Andrea Nisley, P.O. Box 757, Lexington NE 68850 (phone 308-324-5501) anisley1@unl.edu or the district directors. District directors include: District I – Doris Rush of Scottsbluff, 308-635-0156 and Rosalene Tollman of Marsland, 308-665-2415; District II – Crystal Fangmeier of Hebron, 402-768-4183; and District III – Sarah Purcell of Syracuse, 402-269-2301.
The entry form, state brochure and national wool contest guidelines are posted on the website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/dawson/. Entry forms, fees, wool samples and wool testing fees are due October 15, 2020 to Andrea Nisley. The fabrics/yarns used for the wool contest must be 100% wool or wool blend (minimum 60% wool or specialty wool fiber) for each fashion fabric or yarn used. Specialty wool fibers include alpaca, angora, camel, cashmere, llama, mohair, and vicuna.
More information is available on the National Make It With Wool website: www.makeitwithwool.com.
Earlier this year, the 2019 state contest winners competed at the 2020 National Contest in Scottsdale, Arizona where Saidi Ringenberg of Lexington placed in the top ten in the Junior Division and Arlene Soria of Kearney also placed in the top ten in the Senior Division.
The National Make It With Wool Contest also has a Fashion Design Competition for college students who are currently enrolled in a college-level fashion or apparel design program. Entry deadline is November 1 for Fashion Design Competition. Information, criteria, how to enter and deadline information is given on the National Make It With Wool website.
Nebraska Extension Sioux County Office
Email: mmracek2@unl.edu
Website: go.unl.edu/siouxcofair
Location: PO Box 277 Harrison, NE 69346
Phone: (308) 668-2428
Facebook: facebook.com/UNLSiouxCounty