November

9—4-H Ambassadors

9—4-H Secretary Training

23—ACHIEVEMENT NIGHT!

26-27—Extension Office Closed for Holiday

30—4-H Crop Show

December

7—Livestock Judging Club First Meeting

24-31—Extension Office Closed for Holiday

January

1—Extension Office Closed For Holiday

2—Extension Office Re-opens for the New Year

16—State Talent Show in Springfield

Hi Everyone,

LOTS of information and exciting opportunities await you as you read through this latest newsletter. There are so many workshops, leadership events, learning programs and news to share that I can't possibly get to all of them here in this small space. Take it from me, don't miss one page of this newsletter or you may miss out on an experience that you will be sorry you missed.

Just to highlight a few of the topics you can find in the next few pages, you will find an Achievement Night reminder, secretary training, livestock judging, the 4-H Crop Show, 4-H Ambassador news, information on the new shooting sports program, conferences and information on new projects as well as some old projects that have been improved.

Be sure and visit our county website at extension.uiuc.edu/livingston and the state 4-H website at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state4h/

SEE YOU ALL AT ACHIEVEMENT NIGHT!

- Nancy Flessner

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

PONTIAC BIBLE CHURCH

Achievement Night @ 7:00 p.m.

Bring the whole

Family!

The 2009 Livingston County 4-H Crop Show has been scheduled on Monday, November 30 at the Livingston County Extension office at 1412 S. Locust Street in Pontiac and is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. Details were printed in the last newsletter. To pre-register, call the Extension office at 815/844-3622.

In order to encourage and assist the 4-H Club secretaries in the proper taking of club minutes, a clinic will be offered on Monday, November 9, 2009, at the Extension office in Pontiac. Leaders, parents and any 4-H member who is interested in becoming or assisting their club secretary is welcome to attend. Please bring your secretary book, paper and pencil or pen to the clinic. The clinic will be presented by the Livingston County Ag Fair Board secretary, Bonnie Bolen. Pre-registration is encouraged but not required. For more information or to register, please contact Bonnie at doubleb10@verizon.net or 815-998-2168.

Are you interested in learning more about livestock judging? How about going to some judging events as a Livingston County Livestock Team? Jesse Faber, from Pontiac Township High School, will be directing a new livestock judging club for us soon. Anyone interested in joining the club and learning more about livestock judging is encouraged to come to our first meeting on December 7th at 7:00 p.m. at the Extension office. Tammy Johns will be helping to organize the group along with Jesse. For more information, contact Nancy.

What did you do on your day off from school on Columbus Day?

Well, this smiley group of 4-H Ambassadors spent part of their afternoon helping over 20 residents from Evenglow Inn brighten up and scare up the Inn by painting pumpkins and sharing snacks and stories. This was the 4-H Ambassador kick-off for the new 4-H year so since we are just getting started, how about coming out and joining in the fun, leadership and community service activities that we have planned. Our next meeting will be on November 9th at 5:30 p.m. at the Extension office. SEE YOU THEN!

When the 4-H Ambassadors met last month they made some tentative plans for the coming year. Below are some of the ideas they have decided they would like to try.

November Achievement Night Program

December Shopping for the Daily Leader Kids

Christmas Boxes for Our Troops

Possible Trip to Chicago to a Museum

January Lock-In

February 4-H Open House to Promote 4-H Projects

March Chili Cook-Off

April Easter Egg Hunt at Evenglow Inn

May Graduation Party for Senior & 8th Grade

June Fair Activities

July 4-H Fair!

These are some great ideas to spread the word about 4-H, learn leadership skills, do community service and have fun as a group. Things are always changing, plans are always in the works, new members are coming every month and the fun never stops with our Ambassador group. Join soon so you don't miss out on any of the activities for the new year!

4-H Premier LCP Award

The 4-H Premier LCP Award is sponsored for older 4-H members in Illinois to reward members exhibiting outstanding leadership, citizenship, cooperation, and professionalism during the past 4-H program year. Applicants must be at least 17 years of age by December 1, 2009. Application deadline is December 15, 2009. For more information and an award application, see your 4-H leader or download the information from our website.

Prudential Financial Spirit of Community Award

The Prudential Financial Spirit of Community Award is given in recognition for youth participation in outstanding volunteer community service. Application deadline is November 9, 2009 and information and applications can be found on our website.

2010 Citizen Washington Focus

Citizen Washington Focus dates for 2010 are July 10-17. Information can be found on our website and the deadline for applications is December 15, 2009. Paper applications will not be accepted this year, so all applications can be found and submitted by visiting https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/registration/default.cfm?Registrations ID=3650.

2010 Salute to Excellence Program Awards

Nominations are being sought for the 2010 Salute to Excellence Awards for Outstanding Lifetime Volunteer and Volunteer of the Year sponsored by National 4-H Council. Nominations should be turned into the local Extension office by Nov. 10, 2009. One winner in each category will be selected for each of the five Illinois Extension regions. Then one Illinois state winner in each category will be selected in December and forwarded on to National 4-H Council by the State 4-H Office. National winners will be announced in early spring 2010. For more information, follow the link on our website.

Speaking for Illinois 4-H

The purpose of the Speaking for Illinois 4-H program is to provide 4-H members with advanced training in public presentations so they may effectively promote the University of Illinois Extension 4-H Youth Development Program to various audiences, including elected officials on local, state, and national level; potential donors; and civic groups. Youth are selected on a Extension Unit level, and then provided training on a regional or state level by the Illinois State 4-H State Youth Leadership Team. The First training is scheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the Springfield Extension Center on the state fairgrounds. Check out the details on our website.

International Travel

If you are a 4-H member between the ages of 12—18 years old, how would you like to travel to Australia, Costa Rica, Finland or Japan? 4-H members have the opportunity to learn and understand cultural differences and they learn acceptance of others by participating in the 4-H International Exchange programs. By traveling or hosting exchange students, individuals and families learn about different cultures and gain a better understanding of their own culture. For more information on the 4-H Exchange program see our website.

New Projects for 2010

Have you had a chance to look at the new Clovers? If you have, you have seen the new projects for the year. You will also have found that there are some websites listed by some of the projects that will be of help when you are working on your projects. Here is a listing of the new projects that you may find interesting.

· Bicycle 1: Bicycling for Fun

· Bicycle 2: Wheels in Motion

· 4-H Cooking 301

· Vegetable Gardening A—See Them Sprout

· Vegetable Gardening B—Let's Get Growing

· Vegetable Gardening C—Take Your Pick

· Vegetable Gardening D—Growing Profits

· Leadership Skills You Never Outgrow for grades 3-6

· Veterinary Science 1—From Airedales to Zebras

· Veterinary Science 2—All Systems Go

· Veterinary Science 3—On the Cutting Edge

· Filmmaking—Available on line only

· Power of the Wind

There are leader guides available for these projects. Some of these projects are replacing older projects that are no longer available, so please check to see that you are signing up for the projects that you are interested in.

www.n4hccs.org is a great place to start looking before picking out your 4-H projects for the year. Click on "Projects Online" and you will find more than 40 4-H projects that have additional activities, interactive games, background information and links to other websites. This is a great resource when you are trying to find out more about a specific 4-H project.

Illinois 4-H is offering a Shooting Sports program for the 2010

4-H year. This is a project that was offered in the past, but had been dropped and is now being brought back with some specific requirements. Livingston County is in need of a few good volunteers to take the training and to help get this project off the ground. As of today, we do not have anyone who has volunteered to help out with this new endeavor. If you or someone you know would be willing to help out with this project, I know that many Livingston County youth would be very grateful. For more information on how you can help to get this project rolling, please call the Extension office.

Congratulations to Zack Ehlers from the Charlotte Plan-Its 4-H Club on being selected to be part of the 2010 Illini Summer Academy planning committee. Zach had such a great time attending the academy last year that he volunteered and was selected to be on the planning committee for this year. If you are interested in the academy or have any questions I know that Zach will be happy to fill you in on all the details. Just contact the Extension Office for his email address!

February 20-21, 2010 is the date for the Illinois 4-H Jr. Leadership Conference for 4-H members who are in the 7th or 8th grade. While learning new things to take back to your club, delegates also have a great time meeting other junior high 4-H members from across the state. Workshops, special activities, a speaker, and loads of fun will keep participants happy and motivated to go home and try all the things you will learn. For more information, visit the State 4-H website.

February 12-13, 2009 are the dates for the Great 4-H Debate in Springfield. Last year four of our 4-H members attended the event and learned first hand what it is like to debate a bill in the Illinois House of Representatives. This is a great hands-on opportunity to find out how government works and what it takes to pass a bill into law. For more information, visit the Illinois State 4-H Website.