On Wednesday, November 7^th the officers of many

4-H clubs across the county met for the 4-H officer's training session at Highland Community College. Each of the officer positions broke into groups to learn how to be a better officer. In the breakout session for the reporters, the group wrote a story and this is the story we wrote:

The members of the Baileyville Bandits worked together to find Daniel Obert's pet rabbit, Floppers, at the October meeting. Daniel discovered his rabbit, Floppers, was missing when he went to get him for his presentation on "How to groom a rabbit". Daniel was worried and started to look for Floppers. Then everyone else started looking too. Daniel looked at Flopper's carrier and saw that the handle was sticky. When Daniel told the other club members about the sticky handle, Jim Bennet noticed his little brother, Chris was missing. He noticed because he packed Chris a peanut better and jelly sandwich. Jim started looking for his brother. He found him in the other room crying. Jim's little brother told him that he had taken the rabbit out of the carrier to pet it, but the rabbit ran away and hid under the cabinet. Jim told Daniel and Daniel picked up Floppers, thanked his fellow members, and gave the presentation on "How to groom a rabbit". After Daniel's presentation the secretary told the club it needed $40 for it's November bonfire.

This was a great exercise to learn how to write a good story report on what happens at our monthly meetings and report it to the county newsletter. All members of our reporter team contributed to the story above. Cara Spoto from the Journal Standard presented tips and helped us write the story.

Daniel Obert

Club Reporter

Snappy Snazzers

By now most everyone should be through the 4-H re-enrollment process and moving full steam ahead with the 4-H year. Here are some tips for a successful 4-H year:

· Attend all of your club meetings;

· Get involved with your club activities;

· Carefully read each 4-H newsletter;

· Start early on your 4-H projects;

· Work on your 4-H records and award applications after each meeting.

Remember that your 4-H leader and the Extension staff are happy to answer your questions. Don't hesitate to stop by the Extension Office, or call 815-235-4125 with any questions or concerns that you may have.

Calling all 4-H'ers! It's time to come up with those creative Stephenson County 4-H Program Book cover ideas. The theme is "4-H...Something to Crow About!" We are looking for interesting, exciting, and fun designs! You may use a computer to assist you in your design. Please use the theme stated above when creating your design. Spend some time over Christmas Break working on your entry. The deadline for entries to the Extension Office is January 4, 2008. For reproduction reasons, all designs must be in one color, preferably black ink, very clean, free from wrinkles, and on 8 1/2" x 11" white paper. Please leave 1" margins on all sides. Your original will be used for reproduction. Please remember to place your name and club on the back of your entry. Do NOT use lined paper. Be creative!! We look forward to seeing many creative entries soon. Computers may be used to design entries, as long as the design and layout is the 4-H'ers own work. Parents, you may offer suggestions, but please don't do it for your child.

Definitely, if you plan to participate! We plan many workshops and activities and it would be too bad for you to miss them if you didn't thoroughly read your newsletter and respond. Be sure to sign up for all workshops and clinics BEFORE THE DEADLINE. Deadlines are set for a reason. If we don't have enough registered by the deadline, we will cancel. If you did not sign up for a workshop or clinic, do not assume you can just show up. There probably won't be enough supplies or places set up. If it was cancelled, we will only notify those that have signed up, since we don't have any way of knowing who was thinking of coming!

Please remember that 4-H manuals are free to 4-H'ers because the Extension Office pays for them. If you have unused project manuals, or manuals that can be reused by someone else, we encourage you to recycle them. You can either trade them between other members in your club by turning them in to your leader, or bring them to the Extension Office. This way, instead of ordering a new one, plus paying the additional shipping charges, we can just give the recycled manuals to other 4-H'ers to reuse them. It is something very simple that can make a big difference!!

Be sure to save your Cub Food Receipts and old cell phones and printer cartridges (both ink-jet and laser). We can recycle them and turn them into cash! Ask your friends and/or businesses you know to give you their printer cartridges and bring them to the Extension Office. Between all three "recycling efforts", we receive $500-$600 a year! Every bit helps, and you get a chance to help recycle!

Registered dairy goats. They have been a 4-H project for the past ten years, are a variety of ages, and reasonably priced!

Remember, the ownership date for dairy goat milking is January 1^st.

If interested, please call Laura Miller at (815) 449-2924.

Tune in to WFPS and WXXQ radio stations for bad weather cancellation notices regarding Extension and 4-H programs. In case of committee meetings, we will make every effort to personally contact each committee member. You may also call the Extension Office voicemail for info at

815-235-4125.

Office Closing

The Extension Office will close for the holidays Monday, December 24^th and will reopen on Wednesday, January 2, 2008. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season with his or her family and loved ones.

The enrollment deadline for previous 4-H members is March 1st. But, those who get all of their forms in by January 3rd will have their names put in the hat for a prize drawing!

New member enrollment deadline is April 1st.

The Peoria Rivermen hockey team will be

sponsoring a 4-H Night on Saturday, January 26^th. Special opportunities for 4-H'ers include a

pre-game "Hockey 101" clinic and ten 4-H

members chosen for the Rivermen Tunnel Crew.

Tickets are $11 for Upper Bowl and $16 for Lower Bowl. Ticket order deadline is January 14^th.The

order form can be downloaded from: http://www.4-h.uiuc.edu/events/08peoria_rivermen.pdf (also posted on the State 4-H Office website under events). For additional questions, contact Katie with the Rivermen at 309-680-3791.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our silent auction donors and buyers for the Lisa Woessner Silent Auctions that took place at Achievement Night and Volunteer Banquet. The silent auction at Volunteer Banquet brought in a total of $364.00 and the silent auction at Achievement Night brought in a total of $256.00 for a grand total of $620.00 to be donated to the Lisa Woessner Science and Technology Grant Fund. Thank you to everyone for your support and participation!

Are you a creative 4-H member–one who likes to

create photography, audio, video, or mixed media on the computer or using digital technology? Or, are you a 4-H'er who would like to learn more? If so, please visit

http://www.4hdmc.org. The Digital Mayhem Challenge (DMC) is an opportunity for youth to submit electronic materials that help promote 4-H, as well as tutorials to build technology skills and learn about the video,

audio, and graphic production process. Submissions will be added to the website continually, so check back often! Prizes go to winning entries quarterly.