"Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" – Abraham Lincoln

We choose our happiness and our attitude. We have all had things go wrong. It is how we deal with the situation that defines us. Wayne Dyer, one of my favorite speakers, says "there are two kinds of people in this world: ducks and eagles." We've all known ducks that quack constantly and complain about their position in life, but think how refreshing it is to meet an eagle who goes about their business and soars above the crowd.

Your present situation and your future will not happen by accident. Your destiny is in your actions and your thoughts. It is very important to have a good Plan A, but sometimes you need to switch to Plan B. Thomas Edison holds the world record for patents (1,093) but he wasn't always successful. Every time he failed to light the light bulb, he figured he had not failed, only that he had discovered another way that would not work. As Walt Disney once said, "the difference between winning or losing is most often not quitting."

I know the rumors have been circling, so it is time to enlighten you on my new job responsibilities. I had several options presented and the one I chose and feel will be able to use my talents, is working 50% of the time as a youth educator for the Operation Military Kids (OMK) program at the state level and 50% of my time continuing as the youth development educator in Grundy County. The local office, through its many donors, including the Friends of Extension, has made it possible for me to continue to provide leadership experience for Grundy County youth. For the most part, you will not see a lot of changes. However, since I will only be devoting 50% of my time here, the office will need the help of more volunteers. This has been one of the most generous groups of people I have ever been associated with. You have always given freely from your wallets. Now is the time to offer your talents and time.

I am looking forward to keeping Grundy County as one of the best areas in the state for youth and family programs.

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cordially,

John Davis, Youth Development Educator

University of Illinois Extension

Grundy County Unit

- John Davis

Calendar

All meetings will be held at the Extension Office unless otherwise noted. If meetings need to be canceled or rescheduled for any reason, listen to WJDK-FM 95.7 or WCSJ-FM 103.1

November

3 4-H Federation – 7:00 p.m.

7 Officer & Leader Training Meeting – 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

9 Flower Arranging Workshop – 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

10 Environmental Fair Committee Meeting – 8:30 a.m.

10 4-H Recognition Event – 6:30 p.m. at First Christian Church; 455 W. Southmor Rd.; Morris

13 Heifer Contest Essays due to Extension Office by 4:30 p.m.

14 Ag day at U of I

18 Livestock Committee – 7:00 p.m.

19 County Government TeleNet Program: "Legislative Update" 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. $10 registration per person

20 HCE Book Club – 9:00 a.m.

20 HCE Board Meeting – 10:00 a.m.

21-22 Chicagoland Equestrian Lifestyle Expo – Lake County Fairgrounds.

21 Open Horse Show – 9:00 a.m. at Coyote Junction Equestrian Center

26-27 Thanksgiving Holiday – Extension Office closed

December

8 HCE Lesson "Talking About Tough Topics" – 10:00 a.m. – Extension Educator GiGi Grumbach

9 4-H Association Annual Meeting – 7:00 p.m.

10 Environmental Fair Committee Meeting – 8:30 a.m. Note Change of Day to Thursday this month

11 Expansion & Review Committee Meeting – noon

12 Candymaking Workshop – 9:00 to noon presented by Cindy Pecka

18 HCE Book Club – 9:00 a.m.

18 HCE Board Meeting – 10:00 a.m.

24-

Jan 1 Extension Office Closed

January 2010

4 Extension Office re-opens at 8:00 a.m.

4 Livestock enrollments due (Beef, Sheep, Swine, Horse, Beef & Sheep Rate-of-Gain, Beef, Sheep & Swine Carcass by 4:30 p.m.

12 Environmental Fair Committee – 8:30 a.m.

Note: If a deadline date falls on a holiday or weekend when the office is not open, you will have until the next business day by 4:30 p.m. to get your paperwork turned in. We recommend you turn in things BEFORE the deadline dates to avoid any confusion and/or penalties.

There will be a $20 per year 4-H program fee applied to all members of community clubs, Cloverbuds, and special interest groups. $14 will stay locally and be used by our program to help support 4-H costs. $6 will be forwarded to the State 4-H program to provide educational, technical, and logistical support to maintain the 4-H program on all levels. Please contact the extension office (815) 942-2725 if you have questions about this new policy.

The 4-H Awards & Recognition Night will be held November 10^th at 6:30 p.m. at the First Christian Church, 455 W. Southmor Rd. in Morris. Invitations have been sent and reservations plus $2 per person are required by November 6^th. Each 4-H club is responsible for bringing a dessert that will serve at least 12 people.

Grundy County 4-H Association Annual Meeting will be held Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at the Extension Office starting at 7:00 p.m. All members, leaders, and volunteers are invited to attend. Meeting agenda items will include 2009 fair evaluation, dates for 2010 and directors for the 2009-10 program year. All fair evaluations should be turned in prior to this meeting. If you need another evaluation form, contact the Extension Office at 942-2725. We hope to see many of you there.

Each 4-H club should have a copy of a program book or calendar of scheduled meetings and activities on file at the Extension Office for the 2009-10 program year. If you haven't turned one in yet, please do so as soon as possible.

08-09 4-H club publication costs are due to the Extension Office by November 1^st. If you haven't paid for those publications yet, your club needs to do so as soon as possible, since our account has been charged. If you have any questions, call the Extension Office at 942-2725.

Please keep the following things in mind to help make the enrollment process go smoother:

· Enrollments for livestock projects – beef, sheep, swine, horse, beef and sheep rate-of-gain, and carcass (beef, sheep & swine) are due January 1^st. (Since January 1^st is a holiday these enrollments will be due by January 4^th at 4:30 p.m.). Delays will result in the exclusion of members from the livestock auction, premium monies and awards for these projects. Members will receive a Participation ribbon only if this requirement is not met.

· No member can be enrolled in 4-H without at least one project selected and the $20 program fee per member turned in at the time of enrollment. Be sure both forms (individual enrollment form & project selection form) are turned in together with all information complete! Enrollments will not be processed unless they are complete.

· Make sure that members who are Cloverbuds (age 5-7 by September 1, 2009) are enrolled in the appropriate Cloverbud projects. They are not to enroll in any other projects except Cloverbud

designated ones. See the Cloverbud section of the Illinois Clover.

· A parent must sign the individual enrollment form and check the appropriate response for the photo/video release.

· 4-H members must sign the individual enrollment form so that they understand the Youth Guidelines set forth on the individual enrollment form.

As always, if you have questions, contact the Extension Office at 942-2725.

We had five 4-H clubs participate in the annual window display contest. They were: Homes Cool Kids, Highland Ag., Coal City Community, Wauponsee Ag., and Saratoga Ag. This year's theme was: "Meet the Future". Ribbons and prizes will be presented at the 4-H Recognition Event on November 10^th. Great Displays!

Thanks to Alex Valentine, Kaitlyn Wilkinson, Perry Harlow, Taggert & Patti Tesdal, Margo Lewandowski, Ryanne Kenney for taping radio spots for National 4-H Week.

4-H members wishing to participate in the 2009-10 Beef Rate-of-Gain Program must purchase their own animals, and be enrolled in the beef project & beef rate-of-gain class by January 1, 2010. Animals must be brought to weigh-in and tattooing on the county date TBA (in the past it has been held the first Saturday in February). Watch future newsletters for the date.

The Environmental Fair committee is in the process of planning the 2010 Environmental Fair that will be held March 6^th at a Minooka Community High School South Campus (pending approval) from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you would like to volunteer for this committee, plan to attend the next meeting on Tuesday, November 10^th at 8:30 a.m. at the Extension Office. The committee will meet again on Thursday (Note different day) December 10^th at 8:30 a.m., same location.

4-H members will be needed to man the Extension booths, help exhibitors unload before the fair, and load up at the conclusion of the fair. More details will follow. If you are interested in helping, contact the Extension Office at 942-2725. Assisting at the Environmental Fair, means that your community service standard will have been met for the 09-10 program year.

Contact County Director, Debra Jo Kinsella 815-942-2725 if you need a letter for community service hours.

Horsemen's Council of Illinois is bringing its successful Equestrian Lifestyle Expo November 21-222, 2009 to the new Lake County Fairgrounds Expo Center in Grayslake, IL.

The all breed equestrian trade show will present products and services for current horse owners. Vendors will have English and Western tack and clothing, feed, supplements, health care products; and facilities, equipment and stable supplies, such as barns, stalls, fencing, generators and gators. There will not be horses on site, but they will have a large educational component, featuring leading clinicians, nutritionists, veterinary specialists and researchers in the forefront of equine understanding.

Information will be posted as it becomes available at www.horsemenscouncil.org.

Horsemen's Council of Illinois, voice of the horse industry in Illinois, is affiliated with the American Horse Council and is the statewide association of equine organizations and individuals working to provide centralized leadership for Illinois's 77,000 horse owners, 213,000 horses and it $3.8 billion industry which provides full-time employment for more than 15,000 people.

Saratoga Ag. – September 13, 2009

President Trent Zelko recapped State Fair. Julia Petterson talked about Entomology.

Workshop: Taggert and Tucker Tesdal talk about flying at Morris Airport Kid's Day.

September 20 4-H Kick off

September 26 Meat Auction

Cody Kinsella talked about Pond Shock at Rod and Gun Club.

New mandatory $20.00 fee per 4-H member.

Elections were held:

President: Trent Zelko

Vice-President: Taggert Tesdal

Secretary: Julia Petterson

Treasurer: Tony Bernhard

Submitted by Cody Kinsella

Want to make a nice arrangement for your home? Then you need to come to the University of Illinois Extension office on November 9^th at 7:00 PM. John Davis and Kaitlyn Harlow will work with you to make 2 simple round arrangements. You get to take one home and the other will become a centerpiece for the recognition event. The cost for materials will be $3 and we will be done by about 8:00 PM. You will need to RSVP to the office by November 6^th. This is a good opportunity to get basic floral design skills and junior leader recognition.

If you've been by the office on Sunday nights lately and wondered about the full parking lot, it's because horse bowl time is back. The 2009-10 horse bowl team has started practices once again. Last year's team did very well and most of the youth are returning. Lisa Leach is in charge of this year's team again and would welcome more youth interested in expanding their horse knowledge. The group meets at 6:00 p.m. on Sunday nights at the Grundy County Farm Bureau Building. You don't have to be an expert to begin, only someone who wants to learn more about horses. Lisa would also welcome adult volunteers to help with the teaching. There are about 30 youth currently practicing. Last year's junior team was state champs and is gung ho about defending their title. For more info, call the office at 942-2725

This committee is responsible for reviewing programs, identifying new program needs, and volunteer needs for Grundy County. It meets approximately 2 times per year. The next meeting will be December 11^th at 12:00 noon at the Extension Office. New committee members are always welcome. Potential candidates include 4-H youth, alumni, parents and other interested adults. Contact John at the Extension Office if you'd like to serve on this committee.

The University of Illinois Extension Office would like to challenge all the 4-H clubs to help brighten the holidays for the military troops serving overseas this year. Most of you have extra cards at home or maybe you would like to make up your own personal card from your club. We are asking each club to do 25 or more cards with a personal comment inside each card telling the soldier a little about what is happening in your life and a comment thanking them for their work in serving our country. If you desire, you can put your return address inside the card or use the office address. We will mail them from the office. In order to get them to the troops in a timely manner, please get them to the office by December 4^th.

We would also like the names of any local soldiers serving overseas. Call the office 942-2725 with the names and mailing address so we can ship more cards off. We will be contacting local units that are deployed and since my sons know of several troops deployed to Afghanistan & Iraq, they will provide us contact addresses. Call the office if you have any questions and don't delay since the mail must go out by early December. Please do this at your next meeting.

Through the annual Agricultural Education Benefit two scholarships have been awarded for 2009 for the first time. This year's recipients are: Sara Brockman, who was awarded the William B. Norton Scholarship and Jim Stahler, who was awarded the William J. Rodosky Scholarship. Congratulations to both of you!

Details for the Illinois trip to the 2010 Citizenship Washington Focus have been finalized. Trip dates will be July 10-17, 2010. Delegates must be 4-H members or Extension-affiliated youth, ages 14-18 by May 1, 2010. This includes youth reached through Extension programming including after school, Operation Military Kids, community groups, etc. Currently the cost for the trip is $1,050, but may increase if enough registrations are not received. It may also decrease if additional funding becomes available. A $350 deposit will be included with registration and registration deadline is December 15. Payment must be received via credit card on-line or a check payment within one-week of your registration (unless you do it on-line) or your name will be removed from the list. Applications are available on-line only by visiting https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/default.cfm?RegistrationID=3650. 2 registrations per county will initially be accepted.

An Open Horse Show will be offered on November 21^st at Coyote Junction Equestrian Center located on Kinsman Road in Morris. Start time will be 9:00 a.m. For more information contact Bob at (815) 357-6040 or Lisa Leach at (815) 941-4220. Stall rental is available.

We've all been in this situation: You have to bring up a difficult topic. Emotions are high, much is at stake, and you're worried about how to "say it right". How can every walk away from the conversation satisfied?

Many people are reluctant to talk about uncomfortable topics out of fear that they will hurt someone's feelings. Some may worry that the other person will retaliate in a negative way. Others are concerned that the conversation will go back and forth seemingly forever, and nothing will get accomplished. However, the rewards for initiating an important conversation and completing it with every feeling heard are huge.

Find out what makes conversations emotionally-charged, identify barriers to effective communication, and learn strategies for facilitating positive interactions during "Talking About Tough Topics" at 10:00 a.m. on December 8, 2009 at the University of Illinois Extension Office in Grundy County. This program will be presented by Gisela Grumbach, Extension Educator, Family Life from the Matteson center through the University Teleconference system. Registration fee is $5 for non-HCE members. Deadline to register is December 4^th to (815) 942-2725.

If you need reasonable accommodations to participate in the program, please make the request when registering.

Friends of Grundy County Extension have purchased a limited number of these cookbooks for sale at $15 per copy. If you would like a copy, stop by the Extension Office today to purchase one. Checks are to be made payable to "Friends of Grundy County Extension".

The dates and locations for the 2009 Illinois Farm Economics Summit have been announced. They are as follows:

December 14 Champaign – I Hotel

December 15 Bloomington – Interstate Center

December 15 Galesburg – Best Western Prairie Inn

December 17 Rochelle – Hickory Grove

December 18 Mt. Vernon – Holiday Inn

For more information visit: http://www.farmdoc.uiuc.edu/IFES/2009/ann_locations.html

Crop Sciences is an exciting field that uses knowledge about agriculture, biology, biotechnology, genetics, and other disciplines to improve plants and their products. The U of I offers a broad range of study opportunities ranging from cropping systems, plant breeding and pest management to biometry, molecular genetics and bioinformatics. Crop Sciences will continue to play a vital role in feeding the people of the world. Degree programs tailored to your specific interests will prepare you for a stimulating and enriching career.

Students majoring in Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois choose among six concentrations: Crops, Crop Agri-business, Agro-ecology, Plant Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Biological Sciences and Integrated Pest Management.

For information about the Department of Crop Sciences and our undergraduate programs visit the department website at http://www.cropsci.uiuc.edu/

And click on the drop down menu AAcademics@.

Job placement has been very strong from their programs. Most graduates seek employment after receiving their B.S. degree and have at least two job offers, and the average starting salary for those graduates last year was over $42,000. Many graduates of Crop Sciences continue their education for advanced degrees. Scholarships are available through the College of ACES and the Department of Crop Sciences. To learn more about majoring in Crop Sciences contact the Department of Crop Sciences; 1102 S. Goodwin Ave.; Urbana, IL. 61801. Telephone: (217) 333-4256 or e-mail cropsci@uiuc.edu or visit the website above.

Even though the Thanksgiving cooking is a few weeks away, you can start planning your meal and even buy some of the supplies.

Start off by planning your guest list and menu, suggests Shirley Camp, University of Illinois Extension nutrition and wellness educator. Knowing what you will be serving can help with your food budget because you can take advantage of any specials that are offered over the next few weeks. You can also spread your spending over time and not end up with a huge grocery bill that breaks your budget! If turkey is going to be the main dish, do you want a fresh or frozen bird? If you buy frozen, do you have freezer space to store it?

If fresh turkey is your choice, Camp recommends purchasing it only one or two days ahead of time. For food safety, fresh turkeys should not be pre-stuffed. How much turkey should you buy? If you want a whole bird, purchase 1 pound per person. For a boneless breast of turkey, you will need 1/2 pound per person, and for a breast with bone, you will need 3/4 pound of turkey per person. If you buy a pre-stuffed frozen turkey, buy 1-1/4 pounds per person and keep it frozen until you are ready to cook it. In other words, do NOT thaw it before cooking.

For a turkey that is frozen, use a safe thawing method. If you plan to thaw a turkey in the refrigerator, place the frozen bird in the original wrapping in the refrigerator at 40 degrees F or below. Allow about 24 hours per 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. So if you have a small bird of 4 to 12 pounds, it will take one to three days to thaw; a 16- to 20-pound bird will take four to five days to thaw. After thawing, the bird can be kept refrigerated for one to two days.

If you forget to thaw the turkey in the refrigerator or do not have enough refrigerator space, you can submerge the bird in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes. Allow about 30 minutes per pound to defrost a turkey in cold water. A 4- to 12-pound turkey will take two to six hours using this method; a 16- to 20-pound bird will take eight to 10 hours.

If you have a small turkey, you could thaw it in the microwave oven. Check your microwave instruction book to see whether thawing a turkey in the microwave is recommended and how large a bird can be thawed. Turkey thawed in the microwave should be cooked immediately after the thawing process.

If you have questions about holiday food cooking, contact your local University of Illinois Extension office, www.extension.uiuc.edu.

Operation: Military Kids (OMK) is a program providing ongoing community support for the children of service members in the National Guard and the Army Reserves. When families such as these live in civilian communities and have a parent deployed, additional supports are needed but are often inadequate or unavailable. Special challenges occur pre-deployment and post-deployment as well, and OMK is here to assist throughout these transitions.

We are a coalition of organizations that have come together with our various skills and resources to form OMK. The organizations represented in Illinois OMK are: University of Illinois Extension and 4-H, Boys and Girls Clubs, The American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary, The Illinois National Guard, The Army Reserves, Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, and the Supporters of Military Kids Foundation.

Our mission: Provide a state and local community support network, which delivers a wide range of recreational, social, and educational programs for military youth living in civilian communities, and to educate the public on the impact of being military.

Our vision: Make Life Better for Military Youth, One Family at a Time.

Don't forget to save your old cell phones and printer cartridges so they can be recycled into cash to support General Extension Program funding. Every bit helps and you get your chance to recycle.

Grundy County Friends of Extension is now on Facebook. Visit us at http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=gr&init=quick#/pages/Grundy-County-Friends-of-Extension/100030387133?ref=ts or type in Grundy County Friends of Extension in the search line.

Candymaking and Cookie Decorating Workshop

Led by Cindy Pecka

Saturday, December 12, 2009

9-12 pm

Grundy County Extension Office

in the Farm Bureau basement 4004 N Division St. Morris

Ages 7 and Up

Cost: $8.00 for supplies and lunch

Call the Extension office for registration by December 4

Phone number 815-942-2725

Please let us know of any dietary or allergies restrictions at registration.

We will be using recipes from our Candymaking Project so this may be an opportunity to try some of the recipes in advance of the 4-H Fair. There will also be extra recipes not from the project book. Bring a cooked 6 in. cookie in a plastic bag.