Saturday, May 30, 2009 • 8:00 a.m. to ?

(NOTE DATE CHANGE FROM INFO RELEASED EARLIER)

Mason County 4-H Federation will be having a Yard Sale and Cook Out on Saturday, May 30 in the Extension Office parking lot at 133 S. High Street in Havana during the Havana all town yard sale. Funds earned from this event will go to help support 4-H events and Federation activities.

Federation members will be accepting donations of yard sale items May 2-29 at the Extension Office. If you would like to make a donation of items, please bring them cleaned and priced.

Federation will be cooking out hot dogs and butterfly pork chops along with the yard sale.

Contact Christine at the Extension Office (309)543-3308 if you have any questions or would like to make a donation to the yard sale.

The next Federation meeting will be held on Saturday, May 2 at the Extension office from 1:00-3:00 p.m. to finalize plans for the event.

The Spoon River Valley Chapter of Farm Safety For Just Kids will hold its annual Farm Safety Day Camp on Friday, June 19, at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Lewistown, from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The program is jointly sponsored by University of Illinois Extension in Fulton and Mason Counties, Fulton County and Mason County Farm Bureaus, and Cargill.

Farm Safety Day Camp is for kids ages 6 and up. Lunch is provided. Topics this year include: weather, water, personal outdoor survival, heat, chemical fire, and farm equipment safety. There will also be a presentation on herd dogs.

There is no charge to attend, but pre-registration is required. A parent signature is required on all registrations. Youth who are pre-registered by June 9 will receive a free folding camp chair at the conclusion of the event. Click here to access a registration form online.

4-H members, families and friends filled the Paddlewheel Bowling Alley in Havana on Sunday, April 6. The Mason County 4-H Federation sponsored the second annual 4-H Bowling Party with an outstanding attendance of 85 plus 4-H members, families and friends taking part in the event.

Happy Handful 4-H club of Havana, the 4-H club with the highest percentage of members in attendance, received $30 in gift certificates from Casey's. Thank you to all who came out to have fun and support 4-H in Mason County.

4-H Federation members who helped plan and host the event are pictured: front row, left to right - Emma Fanter, Lauren Pierson, Abby Beck, Kayleigh Lane, Matt Montgomery (Mason County Extension Director), Katie Zeeck, and Zain Attebery; back row, left to right - Josh Fanter, Anna Oest, Christine Belless (Mason County Community Worker), and Willie Neuendorf.

4-H members are reminded to check with your club leader to make sure you are enrolled in the right projects.

May 1, 2009 is the deadline for making changes (except for those livestock projects which had a January deadline).

Young persons may join 4-H at any time of the year, but to be eligible to participate in the Mason County 4-H Shows and receive 4-H premiums and ribbons, they must be enrolled at the County Extension Office by May 1 of each year.

Many 4-H members remember making snickerdoodles, wheat bread, funny cake, and brownies when learning food skills as part of their 4-H project work. Over the years, the memories remained, but the recipes were lost. A new cookbook, Favorite Recipes of Illinois 4-H Through the Years, includes all of the most requested recipes from the past 60 years and is available from the Illinois 4-H Foundation.

More than 150 recipes from 4-H foods project books are included in the 8.5x11 inch spiral bound cookbook. Recipes are listed alphabetically, and by food category for easy reference.

The cookbook costs $15 plus shipping. Bundles of 10 cookbooks are also available for a slight discount. Order one online at http://www.4hfoundation.illinois.edu or by completing an order form available at the Mason County Extension office. Click here to access a printable order form.

University of Illinois Extension in Mason County is tasked with bringing the resources of the University of Illinois to the citizens of Mason County, and a significant emphasis of local Extension programming includes activities in youth development. Those research-based youth activities include the 4-H program – the program that Extension is best known for.

Roughly 4% of Mason County youth belong to a Mason County 4-H club, and our local clubs offer a wealth of fun activities that promote positive youth development. Various workshops, community service opportunities, and skill development programs are offered to area youth via that program each year. Our commitment to 4-H youth and families remains unwavering, and we are proud of what we have accomplished through the 4-H program in Mason County.

The Mason County Extension office wanted to take this oppor-tunity to inform 4-H members, their families, and the general public of a statewide decision that will impact the 4-H program locally.

Shrinking contributions from the Federal government and a stressed State budget have created a series of fiscal issues for U of I Extension. The most recent manifestation of this came last year when U of I Extension faced the possibility that it might not receive the state component of its budget, the portion that helps fund county-based offices. While a portion of that funding was received, state funding remains tenuous due to the present economic situation. This impacts Extension locally, and it impacts Extension at the state level.

This strain has led the University to make a significant change in how local offices approach the 4-H program, resulting in a minimum $20 per member 4-H programming fee effective September 1, 2009. That fee will be charged to every 4-H member in the state of Illinois. This fee applies to the members of traditional 4-H clubs, special-interest 4-H clubs, school-based clubs, and cloverbud members.

The University of Illinois will take a portion of this fee, $6 specifically, and will use those dollars to support educational, technical, and logistical support for our local program. Campus has asked local Extension offices to come up with a plan to cover that fee should a potential 4-H member not have the means to pay. They have asked each Extension office to make sure that no child will be denied the opportunity to join 4-H. No individual will be denied participation in 4-H due to an inability to pay.

In the months ahead, the Mason County Extension office and the Mason County Extension council will discuss how we should approach the fee with our local club leaders and will develop a plan to meet this new approach to 4-H programming.

We again thank the public for partnering with us and thank the public for supporting the vital work of U of I Extension in Mason County.