State Horse Communications Contest Results

Congratulations to the Fairfield County Team on placing in the State Horse Communications Contest held on March 2, 2024!

Senior Individual Presentation

3rd place- Beau Cutright

4th place- Brianna Downey

5th place- Alayna Byrd

7th place- Riley Cain

Junior Individual Presentation

3rd place- Brenna Neff

Junior Team Presentation

6th place- Bella Champlin and Hallie Nicodemus

4-H Publications – Print or digital, the State 4-H Office wants to know!

Attention 4-H members and volunteers! We want to hear from you! Please take our survey before April 7 and tell us which format you prefer for 4-H project books—print or digital. It’s easy—just a few short questions and you’re finished. Take the survey today at go.osu.edu/4hprojectbooksurvey Thanks for helping us to make the best better!

New 4-H Families: Save the date, 4-H Day on March 2nd!

New 4-H families who need assistance with choosing projects and/or clubs are invited to attend 4-H Day on Saturday, March 2nd from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. at the AAA Building at the Fairfield County Fairgrounds. We ask that all prospective 4-H families complete our 4-H interest survey to pre-register for the event. This will assist us with club placement tracking on the day of the event.

4-H members will be set up with various 4-H project displays to share their experiences in the program. Additionally, 4-H advisors will be attending to assist with answering any questions and club placement. For more information, visit: u.osu.edu/fairfield4h/join4h

 

Join Fairfield County 4-H Shooting Sports

Have you ever wanted to join the Fairfield County 4-H Shooting Sports Program? There are still spots available in Shotgun, Rifle, Archery, and Living History for the 2024 Season. Please see additional information below:

The Shooting Sports Program is hosting one more Open House in order to get all members registered. If you are interested in joining shooting sports this year, please contact Aubry Fowler (Fowler.443@osu.edu) by Monday, January 15th to receive directions on how to enroll. If you have questions, contact our office at 740-653-5419.

Save the Dates: 2024 Summer Judging will be July 15 & 16

NEW for 2024, we will be having summer project judging on TWO days. The judging schedule will be as follows and project judging will take place at the Ed Sands Building at the Fairgrounds.

Monday, July 15, 2024

  • Food and Nutrition Projects
  • Creative Arts Projects
  • Family & Consumer Sciences Miscellaneous Projects
  • ALL Self-Determined Projects
  • Clothing/Sewing Projects
    • Details are still being worked out for the Style Revue.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

  • Leadership
  • Communications
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences

CANCELLED: 4-H Projects in the Parks Day (May 18th, 2024)

UPDATED AS OF 2/22/2024 – THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR 2024.

Please hold the date of May 18, 2024, for the 4-H Project Day in the Park at Deer Creek State Park, in Mount Sterling Ohio. Please watch for future information (marketing flyers) about this event for you to share with your families.

What is it? A partnership program between 4-H and ODNR to promote our State Parks and Careers in Natural Resources.

What will 4-H members get to do? 4-H members will have the opportunity to sign up for one or both 4-H project sessions. They will work with professionals in those fields and complete at least two activities in their 4-H Project books that day!

Cost? As of right now the event is free!

Time? Tentative schedule right now is from 9:45 am – 3:00 pm (See tentative schedule below, families can stay for two sessions or just come for one.)

Sponsor: Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Contact: Jordan Conner jordan.conner@dnr.ohio.gov

4-H MEMBERS BRING (Backpack Recommended)

  • Project book for selected workshop (NOTE: Forgot book? They can fill out responses at home)
  • Pencil(s)
  • Closed-toe shoes or boots.
  • Hat, sunglasses, sunscreen (If raining, raincoat)
  • Water bottle
  • Packed lunch
  • Items needed for specific workshops will be communicated in advanced.
  • NOTE: 4-H members and their parents will be informed that parental supervision is required.

ODNR PROVIDES

  • Workshop instruction
  • Workshop material and equipment, if applicable
  • Extra pencils
  • Snacks for participants who forget a packed lunch (Goldfish, fruit snacks)
  • Extra bottled water
  • First aid

 

Happy New Year! The 2024 Family Guide is available!

Cover of the 2024 Family Guide showing artwork from new projects

Flip Book Version: https://online.fliphtml5.com/bbwun/wygr/#p=1

Full Guide Download: https://ohio4h.org/sites/ohio4h/files/imce/books_resources/Curriculum/Family-Guide-24-2023-1228.pdf 

4-H Families who participated in 2023 will be receiving one Family Guide per household soon thanks to Kroger and the Ohio 4-H Foundation. Please save and do not throw away!

Please note these Changes/Corrections to the 2024 Family Guide

We like to avoid any changes to the family guide, and we sincerely apologize for these this year. They are based on program changes made after the 2024 Family Guide was printed.

  • Page 2: Add 551 Starting Up: Getting to Know Your Tractor, Level A to the list of discontinued titles.
  • Pages 13, 14, and 34: Change “TBD” to actual prices for three books. The Dog Resource Handbook is $19.50, the Rabbit Resource Handbook is $17.25, and the National Farm and Ranch Safety Leader’s Guide is $79.
  • Page 16: Under 182 Small Equine, delete the requirement for youth to complete 191R Horses, Safety, and You. This is the new sentence: Youth must complete 174 Beginning Horse Management before taking this project.
  • Page 17: Under 191R Horses, Safety, and You, change “This is required reading for all 4-H members” to “This is optional reading for all 4-H members.”
  • Page 33: Update the Tractor Series paragraph with new buying information. Instead of from Purdue, tractor project books are available only from shop4h.org for $9.95 each, plus shipping. Cross out the project book 551 Starting Up: Getting to Know Your Tractor, Level A, which is no longer available. Project 552 Tractor Operations: Gearing Up for Safety, Level B is now beginning-level and “may require significant project helper involvement.”
  • Page 45: Delete the row for 551 Starting Up: Getting to Know Your Tractor, Level A. Change the skill level of 552 Tractor Operations: Gearing Up for Safety, Level B to B, for beginning.

Tractor Maintenance 1st Meeting – January 8th

TRACTOR MAINTENANCE & SMALL ENGINES 4-H CLUB

The Tractor Maintenance & Small Engines 4-H Club is looking for new members! 4-H is a non-formal, educational youth development program for individuals age 8 and in 3rd grade or 9 years old through age 18, as of January 1, 2024.

This 4-H club is unique in that they focus on one specific topic – Small Engines and Big Tractors. This club meets on Monday nights from Jan – March. They also teach individuals how to work on small engines and tractors while visiting different businesses and agriculture shops throughout the county. No experience is necessary – This is a great opportunity to learn something new!

The club is also using a new curriculum that focuses on tractor safety and how to properly perform tractor maintenance. The Tractor Maintenance courses are available to members who have taken the small engine project books or have had previous experience working on machinery.

The club meets every Monday in January through Mid-March. The first meeting will be Monday, January 8, 2024 at 7:00p.m. at the Fairfield County Ag Center, 831 College Ave, Lancaster. Joining 4-H is relatively inexpensive – Members can participate in Tractor Maintenance for $18! All interested members are welcome to attend this first meeting to learn more and get registered! For more information, contact the Fairfield County Extension Office at 740-653-5419.

Pop Tab Contest – FINAL RESULTS

Congratulations to the top 3 clubs in the Pop Tab Club Contest:

1st Place: Champions

2nd Place: Thurston Future Farmers

3rd Place: Sewing Shefs

As a reminder the top 3 clubs will receive a ‘cash’ prize for winning. Aubry emailed advisors on 11/6/2023 on how they would like to receive their prize.

Thank you to those clubs who have been collecting metal pop tabs for the Fairfield County Junior Leaders Pop Tab Contest! We were able to collect 111.8 pounds of metal pop tabs that were donated to the statewide community service project organized by Barns & Buttons 4-H Club from Ashtabula County. All pop tabs are donated to Ronald McDonald house in Columbus to help pay the electric bill.

Curious how how much your club collected? Check out how many pounds your club turned in below:

Pop Tab Weigh In
Club Name TOTAL
Amanda Work & Win 23.1
Awesome Animals 21.1
Sewing Shefs 15.9
Fairfield County JFS Office 10.5
Clearcreek Showmen 9.3
Extension Office 7.5
Fairfield Cavy & Rabbit 6.2
Rough Riders 4.8
4.8
Champions 3
Carroll Country 1.7
Camelids Unlimited 1.3
Just Kiddin’ 1.2
Baltimore Blue Ribbons 0.7
Pickerington Clovers 0.7

4-H’ers Helping Neighbors Food Drive – Contest Update

4-H’ers Helping Neighbors Results for 2023 Food Drive in September 

Congratulations to the following groups for being the top in the food drive sponsored by Farm Credit-Mid America. These clubs will receive a cash prize for winning!

  • $100 – Top Club with the most items by weight
    • Camelids Unlimited – 217 lbs
  • $100 – Top Club with the most items by count
    • 4-Legged Friends – 132 Items
  • $50 – Clubs with the most items by weight OR count
    • Amanda Work & Win (96 lbs, 108 items)
    • Fairfield County Master Gardener Volunteers (55 lbs, 76 items)
    • Lithopolis Livestock (28 lbs, 29 items)
    • KKEZ (16 lbs, 20 items)

With September being National Hunger Awareness Month, Fairfield County 4-H Junior Leaders organized and encouraged local 4-H Clubs and the Fairfield County Master Gardeners to give back to community through a food drive. Ten 4-H Clubs donated 518 pounds of non-perishable food items and the Master Gardener donated 76 items too!! The Fairfield County Junior Leaders were able to split their 567 donated items between Maywood Mission, Columbus Blessing Boxes Project, and the Vineyard Church to help our neighbors in need. Special thanks to Farm Credit Mid-America for their generous support of this community giving project by donating cash prizes for those clubs donating the most total pounds of food.