Ohio State Fair Scholarship Info – due April 1, 2018

Ohio State Fair Applications will be available soon! The applicant must be a high school junior or senior, or a graduate continuing their education at an accredited institution. They must reside in the State of Ohio, and must have been both eligible to be a participant in the Junior Fair (not older than 19 years of age as of January 1, 2018) and must have served as an active participant in both the Ohio State Fair Junior Division and their local County Fair. (This scholarship is not just for livestock exhibitors! Think about all those miscellaneous projects that have been taken!).

Attached is the Ohio State Fair Scholarship information: rules, scholarships available, and application: OSF Scholarship Rules and Application. There will also be an online application; however the website has not been updated with the 2018 scholarship information as of this email. Once it is, the website to find this info is https://ohiostatefair.com/scholarships/.

All applications must be postmarked by April 1, or completed online by that date.

For questions, please contact Stacey French at S.French@expo.ohio.gov.

Ohio 4-H Night with the Columbus Blue Jackets!

Ohio 4-H will be partnering with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, March 22nd, 2018. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the puck drops at 7:00 p.m. Tickets start at $38 in the upper bowl and $65 in the lower bowl and for every ticket purchased, $10-$20 will be donated back to the Ohio 4-H Foundation to be used for 4-H Scholarships!

For more information, please review the informational flyer! What a great idea for a club social all while supporting Ohio 4-H! So many Fairfield County 4-H members have benefited from Ohio 4-H Foundation scholarships – let’s keep that going!

Ohio FFA Foundation Scholarships due March 13, 2018

This year the Ohio FFA Foundation is awarding more than $27,000 in scholarships to current FFA members through three different scholarship funds. One application for three scholarship opportunities!

  • Ohio State Fair Scholarship: Participation in the Ohio State Fair during the summer is required. This includes livestock showing and/or judging, sanctioned 4-H/FFA project judging, and participating in the livestock skillathon. Be prepared to list in detail how you have participated at the Ohio State Fair including areas of participation and year.
  • Growing America’s Farmer Scholarship: Recipient must be going into production agriculture. Planning to “go farm”.
  • HBPA Scholarship: This year, $25,000 in scholarships will be awarded through the Ohio FFA HBPA Scholarship program. Twenty-five (25) $1,000 scholarships will be awarded.

The application includes three essay questions (500 word maximum for each). Please have your essay responses prepared in another document to copy into the application as you cannot save your work and return later.

Applications are due March 13, 2018 and winners will be notified by April 20, 2018.

Click here to apply and to see the questions and other eligibility requirements.

Remember only one application is needed per student. When completing the application, you can select which scholarships you would like to apply for.

Questions can be directed to the Ohio FFA Foundation office at kmann@ohioffa.org.

Delta Theta Sigma College Scholarship Application – due March 20, 2018

The alumni and active members of Delta Theta Sigma fraternity on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University are proud to offer scholarships for incoming male freshmen students fall semester regardless of major. Over $10,000 will be offered in this program. Delta Theta Sigma is a professional agricultural fraternity. For more information and to fill out an application go to http://dtsalpha.com. Deadline is March 20, 2018.

Host Families Sought for 4-H Exchange Program!

Families thoughout Ohio have an opportunity to welcome students from the Japanese exchange program, Labo.

Looking for some new fun and educational excitement this summer? How about hosting a boy or girl from Japan in your home for 3½ weeks? The Ohio 4-H International Program is offering hosting opportunities to 75 families around the state, and Japanese youth on the other side of the world are anxiously waiting to learn who their new family might be! Host families should have their own child aged 10-15 who will serve as the main host sibling. Families will be matched with a Japanese youth of the same gender and approximate age. Special trips and activities are not required. The focus is on everyday family life. Host families provide lodging, meals, and any family activities. Medical insurance is provided. Youth bring money for personal spending (gifts, souvenirs, etc.) For more information, please visit www.ohio4h.org/youth/international or contact thalheimer.1@osu.edu

Read more about recruitment efforts in Mahoning, Columbiana and Trumbull county here.

Like taking pictures? Submit photos for Teen Leadership Council’s Calendar Fundraiser!

The Ohio State 4-H Teen Leadership Council is interested in doing a fundraising project that would consist of making custom calendars to sell within the state. In order to do so, we are asking for counties to submit pictures from their county 4-H programs.

Submissions can be made by 4-H staff and volunteers. If the county would like to include their members, they are welcome to do that as well. If any faces of 4-H members or volunteers are recognizable in the submitted photos, please ensure that these individuals have a photo release from your county enrollment records.

If you find a photo that you would like to submit, please email it to Allyson McCurdy at mccurdy.98@buckeyemail.osu.edu by March 1st. Please put the subject as “TLC calendar photos.”

Depending on the amount of the pictures we receive, each month will have an individual photo or a collage of many photos. These calendars would be sold throughout the state by TLC members at various events and hopefully in the individual counties. Thank you for considering participation in this fundraising effort!

Sincerely,

Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council, Fundraising Committee

State 4-H Leadership Camp Staff Applications – Now Available!

2018 State 4-H Leadership Camp Staff Applications are now available!! Interested individuals can view a letter with more information at: http://www.ohio4h.org/camp/leadership-camp titled “2018 Potential Leadership Camp Counselor/Staff Information and Application”. A link to the application is included in the letter.

Please forward this information along to anyone who you think might be interested!  Applications are due no later than April 20, 2018. If you have questions, please let me know!!

Here are some highlights about the opportunity:

  • Individuals 18+ prior to June 1, 2018 who are good leaders, past counselors, or interested in helping may apply
  • Must complete application, undergo selection, and attain background check
  • Applications due: April 20 (due to earlier camp dates)
  • Interviews: Week of April 30th
  • Staff Training Weekend (Camp Ohio): May 11-13, 2018.  Yes this is Mother’s Day weekend, but camp is so early this year, we needed to move training earlier so we could try to have everything ordered before camp!

Junior Market Beef Weigh-in is set for Saturday, March 3, 2018

It’s that time of year again when local youth officially begin the first livestock project that’s destined for the County Fair!

4-H and FFA youth who plan to exhibit a finished market beef animal in the 2018 Fairfield County Junior Market Beef Show must have their animals weighed in, tagged, and nose printed on Saturday, March 3rd at the Fairfield Cattle Company beginning at 8:30 a.m. The Fairfield Cattle Company is in Canal Winchester located on Bowen Road approximately ½ mile north of S.R. 33. Weigh-in will conclude at 11 a.m. that day, or whenever the animals in line at that time have been processed.

Exhibitors are also reminded that both steers and heifers are eligible to be exhibited as finished market beef animals. If five or more market heifers arrive and weigh-in at the Fair in October, a separate class for those heifers will be created. If less than five heifers are entered, they will be exhibited within their appropriate weight class along with market steers.

Again this year, to be eligible for the County Bred, Born and Raised (B,B & R) market beef class, the breeder and owner who sold the calf to the exhibitor must be a Fairfield County Cattlemen’s Association (FCCA) member. If the exhibitor has bred and raised their own calf, the exhibitor or their family must be FCCA members to be eligible. The exhibitor must present a signed B,B & R form at weigh-in on March 3. Find details on becoming an FCCA member linked here.

Following are a few additional reminders regarding beef projects:

  • Any youth exhibiting a beef animal must complete Quality Assurance (QA) by the June 30, 2018 deadline for Fairfield County, unless they have met the testing out requirements (contact OSU Extension at 740-652-7260 for details on testing out). There are 3 different ways to accomplish the required QA training. Those ways include attending a QA session hosted by a local 4-H club or FFA Chapter, attending one of the local county-wide QA trainings (May 6 and May 19 at the Fairgrounds), or by attending an approved QA training held in another county or location such as a BEST show or Ohio Beef Expo. If attending an out of county QA event the youth must receive pre-approval from the Fairfield County 4-H Educator, and “proof of attendance” provided by that event sponsor must be presented to the Fairfield County Extension office by the June 30 deadline.
  • A ‘Housing Form’ must be completed by any exhibitor that houses their project animal(s) on property other than where they reside. This form is due at weigh-in for market animals and must be turned in at that time, and is due to the Sr Fair office by July 1 for breeding beef, and by August 15 for feeder calves, also to the Sr. Fair office.
  • Commercial or ‘non-registered’ breeding beef projects must have nose prints submitted to the Senior Fair office on the Fairgrounds by July 15, 2018.
  • Exhibitors wishing to have a duplicate copy of the weigh-in form for their own records should bring two copies of the original with them on March 4 since there is not a copy machine available at the weigh-in site that day.
  • All animals must be free of any/all drugs on Fair weigh-in day in October.

Again this year the Jr Beef Show will be on Tuesday of the Fair, October 9, beginning at 10 a.m.

For additional information regarding the Jr Beef Show at the 2018 Fairfield County Fair, the new Junior Fair Beef rule book is linked here. Also, beef exhibitors should review the General Rules when they become available and posted on-line later, or they will also be found in the hard copy of the Junior Fair Rule Book when it is published.