The Register Mail 4-H Club Feature Article Due Dates Reminder . . .

November 6 - 4-H Spinners

December 4 – Robotics Teams

Articles are due to John Pulliam at The Register Mail! If you send your article to John via email, please ask that he respond back to you and also send a copy to me. Their filter sometimes does not allow it to go through. We've had several times now where emails did not arrive. Thanks!

Please mark Thursday, November 19 at 6:30 p.m. on your calendar to learn more about Risk Management with Sheri Seibold, Extension 4-H Specialist. Sheri is so knowledgeable about this you will want to attend. She works closely with Risk Management on campus and will explain the new forms as well as how to put together a risk management plan for your club's events.

Please let us know by November 12 if you can attend. Also, it will be great to meet leaders from Henderson, Mercer and Warren counties. Oh, and it's at Coldbrook Christian Church, past Farm King on old 34 or Route 164.

Hope you are planning to attend the 4-H Recognition for Excellence program on November 5^th. We'll hang the club banners around the room. I'll try to remember masking tape this year or bring something along that you think will work better. The Federation Board will be presenting the awards, providing refreshments and having fabulous door prizes.

We have a very enthusiastic group of men working on the shooting sports program. In order to offer the various aspects of it, volunteers had to attend a 3 day training. Right now three have been trained and two are going back in November to be trained in another area. Looks like archery and air rifle may be the easiest to implement most likely in the early spring. It's a very new program with still some unanswered questions on how to implement it at the county level. The next meeting date is in the HILITE and anyone is welcome to attend.

As I reviewed the 4-H Treasurer books this year, I found several things that need to be addressed within clubs.

Several clubs did not list American Income Life as an expense. It is a must that your club purchase this insurance ($1 per member). From the accounts reviewed I don't think it is from lack of funds, so please let me know if you need a brochure.

Also, several clubs did not start with the ending balance from last year so it is difficult to see the full year of activities. This may lead to the next issue where several clubs did not list their donation from Riverland FS. Obviously I am not an accountant, but I could not explain why it was not listed.

All clubs also have FEIN (Federal Employment Identification Numbers). The contact information for the club should be the Extension office since club leadership can change.

If your club has a savings and checking account, then a record of club finances should be for each account in the treasurer's book.

Audits: The checking/savings account is to be audited annually. A committee should be appointed to audit the financial records of the club/group. The committee should consist of three individuals who are not involved in the expenditure of funds. The individuals on the audit committee shall not be signatories on the bank account, nor shall they be related to those with signature authority. If there are not three individuals who fit this criteria, the club/group should work out an alternative arrangement with the local Extension Office to have their financial records audited. The suggested make-up of this group is that one person be a member, one a leader, and one a parent. The financial report in the Treasurer's handbook should be prepared by the treasurer, signed by the audit committee and submitted to the Extension Office for review. This must be done before the club/group may be re-enrolled for the new year. We have two clubs who still need to turn in their treasurer's book. We cannot process their re-enrollments until the books have been reviewed and turned in.

Two signatures are required on all checks for clubs. Please be sure your signature cards are updated. If you would like the full procedures for 4-H fiscal accounts it's posted on our 4-H web site under "Leader Opportunities". If you have any questions, please give me a call!

For about three years now, Knox County 4-H has had a Face book account that we started on our own. Now we have an official account. Just search for Knox County 4-H at www.facebook.com and become a fan. Be sure to get the Illinois site. It's interesting to see who are fans! Updates will be posted to the web site and a link is on our 4-H youth development page with the University. Next – we have to conquer Twitter. Maybe Santa will bring me a Blackberry for the holiday! Ha!

Committees can improve the effectiveness of the local 4-H club. Committees can help to get everyone involved. Some individuals who will not accept responsibility alone may be willing to work with others on a committee.

Serving on a committee can give members a chance to "grow into" responsibility that will help them develop leadership skills.

For large clubs committees are an excellent way to get all members involved and to help them get to know each other. In addition, the club business meeting can be shortened because the committees have done all the "leg work" and bring recommendations to the full club for a vote.

Here's the web site for fact sheets, role descriptions, etc.: urbanext.illinois.edu/committees/index.cfm