We are very excited to welcome this year's new summer assistants, Sara Earnest and Lindsey Scheider. In their excitement of their job at the Extension Office, they wanted to share a little about themselves and what they will be working hard on this year!

Sara Earnest Biography

Sara is a 4-H (Country Cuzins) and Federation alumni, and a four-year volunteer camp counselor at 4-H Camp White Eagle. Sara graduated from Dakota High School in 2005. In the fall of 2006 she will begin her sophomore year at Highland Community College, working towards her Associate of Arts degree. Her future plans include obtaining her Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Sign Language Interpretation from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. Sara enjoyed working with many 4-H projects throughout her 9 years of participation. Interior design and cats were her favorite projects. This summer Sara plans to stay busy working at Sullivan Foods and enjoying her new job at the Extension Office. Some of Sara's duties for this summer include: the Magic Waters trip, Day Camps, Little Sprouts Garden, General Project's Day, ribbons and trophies, State Fair, Dress Revue, and the Fair.

Lindsey Scheider Biography

Lindsey is a member of Snappy Snazzers 4-H Club and Federation. She is a four year 4-H camp counselor and recently graduated from Orangeville High School. Lindsey will be attending the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign next fall with a major in Psychology. Lindsey has enjoyed many 4-H activities. Her absolute favorite is 4-H Camp, but she has also enjoyed Federation Chicago Trip, 4-H Exchange trips, and all of her projects. Some of the projects that she has taken during her ten years as a 4-H'er include the following: electricity, small engines, interior design, breads and cereals, flower arranging, visual arts, and swine. This summer Lindsey will be working, working, and working some more. She will be working on such projects as, Little Sprouts Garden, Flower arranging and cake decorating contest, judges and recorders, the fair, and day camps.

Please welcome Sara and Lindsey when you stop into the office and they are sure to greet you with their bright and smiling faces. Welcome, girls! We're glad you're here!

In an effort to reach a goal of 500 4-H members in Stephenson County by the 2007-2008 4-H year, we gave each club an enrollment goal to reach this year. We are pleased to say that many reached their goals. The goals were set based on last year's enrollment, plus 5%. We then adjusted the enrollment goal by subtracting all youth that aged out of the 4-H program (age 18 or 19). The following is a listing of the clubs, their goals, and the actual enrollment number.

Club Goal Actual

Country Critters 9 7

Country Cuzins 54 44

Cool Kids 0 8

Davis Rockets 44 49

Florence Crickets 8 9

Freeport Fantastics 31 31

G.V. Golden Eagles 34 29

Harlem Helpers 25 18

Lena Live Wires 56 51

Lena Lucky Clovers 17 19

Lucky Lancers 11 3

Pearl City Hornets 66 73

Pearl Valley Rangers 14 11

Rainbow Rangers 9 8

Scouts for Success 0 5

Snappy Snazzers 42 36

The Flock 0 9

Whiz Kids 12 26

Winslow Clovers 13 11

Congratulations to all the clubs for their amazing effort to help increase our numbers in the 4-H Program! The clubs that met or exceeded their target enrollment will receive points toward the club of the year award.

If you or volunteers from your club are able to help out by making coffee cakes for Ag Breakfast, it would be greatly appreciated. See the recipe that was in last month's FOCUS, or contact the Extension Office and we will mail you another one. The coffee cakes need to be delivered to the Fairgrounds by Friday, June 23^rd by 4:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 24^th. Thank you for your help.

There are two shift times for workers: 5:30-8:00 a.m. and 8:00-10:30 a.m. Volunteers are needed for both shifts for the following positions:

Serving Line Worker:

(Eggs–Meat–Coffee Cake–Cheese)

Coffee Servers

Clearing Tables

Trash Collectors

Whip Eggs (cook tent)

Egg Cookers (adults cook tent)

Dish washers

Coffee Makers (adults cook tent)

Coffee Carriers (adults tents to pots)

Clean-Up Crew

It's time for the Dairy Promotion Poster Contest! The posters must promote dairy use. The poster size should be 11' x 14". There will be five age categories this year, they are as follows:

H Cloverbuds

H 8-11 years old

H 12-14 years old

H 15-19 years old

H 4-H Leaders

For each category, the public will select the best of show, while all other poster entries will receive a participation ribbon. ALL posters must include: name, age, address, and 4-H club on the back of the poster. Posters are due to the Extension Office by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, June 16^th.

The public will judge posters at the Stephenson County Ag Breakfast on June 24. Therefore, posters can be hung up in club windows before the Ag Breakfast to promote dairy to the public. Posters will be judged on how they promote dairy products, their originality, neatness, readability, and audience appeal.

Posters and ribbons may be picked up anytime after the Ag Breakfast at the Extension Office. Look for a list of winners in the July Focus!! Posters may also be displayed at the Stephenson County Fair in your club booth. If you have any questions about the contest, please contact Lindsey at the Extension Office at 235-4125. Good luck to everyone!

Do you like to grow things? Do you have a big garden with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables? Are you interested in making money? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then selling at the downtown Freeport Farmers' Market might be a great summer experience for you.

Starting in May, every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. local gardeners and farmers set up their tables to display their fresh produce, flowers and herbs, nuts and seeds, fresh eggs, homemade baked goods and crafts. People from all over the county wait for the Market to open so they can get the best of what the vendors have to offer.

When you are planting your garden, plant a little extra to sell at the Farmers' Market. When your produce is ready, call the U of I Extension Office at 235-4125 to reserve a space at the Market. Each space is 10 foot by 10 foot space and is enough room for a table and a shade tent. Vendors set up tables by 7:45 and sales begin only after the Market Manager has rung the bell at 8:00 a.m. If you reserve the space ahead of time, the cost is $5. If you come on Saturday morning, and a space is available, the charge is $6.

Before you can sell food to the public, you must register with the Illinois Department of Revenue so that you can collect a 1% sales tax. Call 217-785-3707 or visit the website www.revenue.state.il.us for more information. If you sell eggs you must be licensed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Contact Suzanne Moss at 217-524-1550 or visit the website www.agr.state.il.us/programs/consumer/foodinsp.html to learn more. You should also have your parents check to make sure that the homeowner's policy covers sales of food at a Farmers' Market. Most insurance companies charge only a small amount for this additional insurance coverage.

It's a lot of fun to sell what you've grown or made at a Farmers' Market. People are very friendly and really appreciate fresh food right from the garden. The Market will be open until October. Winter Markets will be held starting in November. If you want to learn more about selling at the Farmers' Market, call U of I Extension, 235-4125.

If anyone has tools they'd like to donate to the Little Sprouts Children's Garden, a project coordinated by University of Illinois Extension, Stephenson County Youth Staff, please call us!

We're also looking for children's gardening tools or children's books on the following topics:

·Five Senses

·Underwater

·Pioneers

·Sunflowers

·Death and Dying

·Butterflies

·Rainbows

·Friendship

·Pumpkins

·Gardening–general

·Vegetables/flowers

And, anyone interested in helping at Little Sprouts Garden Work Days, please contact the office as soon as possible!