Youth Opportunities

VIRTUAL Cloverbud Day at the Fair 2020

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Attention all Fairfield County Cloverbud Members!

In order to keep all Cloverbuds and their families safe, we have decided to make all fair activities virtual. The Fairfield County Senior Fair Board is trying to limit the number of people who attend the Junior Fair and are on the grounds, so we are creating virtual opportunities to celebrate our Cloverbud members.

Below is a list of the virtual opportunities you can take part in:

  • Cloverbud Graduation
    • We will be recognizing Cloverbud members who are ‘graduating’ from the Cloverbud program and will be traditional 4-H members in 2020.
    • Members should have received an email if this applies to them.
    • Cloverbud Graduates will receive a certificate of completion, graduation gift, and recognition. If you would like to be included, please complete the Cloverbud Graduate Survey at osu.edu/CloverbudGraduation by September 25, 2020.
  • Show-N-Tell
    • This is an opportunity for club members to tell about their year in 4-H. All participants will receive a ribbon.
    • If you’re interested in participating in Show-N-Tell, please submit a short video on Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/c91f2887). Please remember to be aware of what you’re wearing, what’s in the background, etc when recording your video – We want everyone’s videos to be 4-H Friendly. If you have questions about this just ask!
    • Include in your video:
      •  Name
      • Club
      • Talk about & Show your favorite activity from 4-H this year
    • All video submissions are due by October 5, 2020
  • Stuffed Animal Show
    • Members can select their favorite stuffed animal and “enter the ring”. Each member can share a fun fact about their animal, and have a mini experience of what it’s like to show at the fair. All participants will receive a ribbon.
    • If you’re interested in participating in Show-N-Tell, please submit a short video on Flipgrid (https://flipgrid.com/ab0bb1cb). Please remember to be aware of what you’re wearing, what’s in the background, etc when recording your video – We want everyone’s videos to be 4-H Friendly. If you have questions about this just ask!
    • Include in your video:
      • Name
      • Club
      • Stuffed Animal’s Name
      • Fun Fact about the Stuffed Animal
    • All video submissions are due by October 5, 2020

Just a reminder:

  • All virtual Cloverbud activities are optional
  • All participates who submit a video/photo will be recognized on the Fairfield County 4-H Facebook page, blog and during fair week.
  • Cloverbud events are non-competitive, learning experiences where each exhibitor will receive recognition and a prize for participating. Items of recognition do NOT have to be picked up at the fair in order to keep members and families safe, they can be picked up at the OSU Extension Office or their club advisor will receive them at the end of the year to pass out

If you have questions, please contact Aubry Fowler, Extension Educator, via email Fowler.443@osu.edu or phone 740-277-4626

Cloverbud Graduation – Deadline 9/25/2020

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CONGRATULATIONS!

Cloverbuds Class of 2020

 

We are so excited that you are a Cloverbud member in the Fairfield County 4-H program. Based on your age and grade in school, this will be your last fair as a Cloverbud and next year you will be in traditional 4-H.

We want to recognize all your hard work by inviting you to participate in Cloverbud Graduation! Due to current restrictions, Cloverbud Graduation will be held virtually this year.  Graduates will be recognized on the Fairfield County 4-H Facebook page, blog and during fair week.  This is optional, and only those who submit information will be included.

Please complete the Cloverbud Graduate Survey at go.osu.edu/CloverbudGraduation by September 25, 2020, so that we can compile the videos for sharing.

We look forward to hearing from you and can’t wait to celebrate your accomplishments!

Poultry Exhibitor Opportunity: Ohio National Poultry Show Goes Virtual in 2020

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Please pass the information below on to your poultry project members showing exhibition (fancy) poultry. Info is posted at: https://ohio4h.org/events/ohio-national-virtual-poultry-show and on the 4-H Animal Sciences Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Ohio4HAnimalSciences.

This year’s Ohio National Poultry Show, the largest poultry show in the nation, has gone virtual! This gives open and junior exhibitors a new way to compete and still be a part of the Ohio National. Information, including the catalog, can be found on their website at www.ohionational.org and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TheOhioNational.

The entry deadline is Saturday, October 17, with Class Champions announced Saturday, November 14 and the Show Champion announced Sunday, November 15. Show awards will be mailed the week after announcing the champions.  There is no cost to enter.

For Open Show questions contact Tim Johnson at tejpoultry@gmail.com or Newt Long at wnewtlong@gmail.com. For Junior Show questions contact Tim &  Mary Neviska at blackstumpfarm@aol.com or Clell Agler at cagler@columbus.rr.com.

Teen Tip: How to Address an Envelope…. actually, isn’t this a tip for all youth?!

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Teen Tip video “How to Address an Envelope”, is provided by Carroll County FCS Educator Bridget Britton.  Sometimes the art of simple things are lost on a paperless society, but are we truly paperless?  The skill of properly addressing an envelope is still an important skill for everyone to have.  Watch this week’s video to learn how to properly address an envelope.  Feel free to share this video with others.

2020 4-H//FFA Project Book Review – PLEASE READ!

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4-H members are required to complete a project or record book each year for each of the projects in which they are enrolled. In past years, advisors reviewed project books for livestock, horse, gardening/crop projects at the club level – unless members pursued the Premier Exhibitor Contest, where they turned in their project book at the fair to compete in the Project Book Contest.

Likewise, FFA members are required to complete project records for their Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects through AET. If FFA members chose to participate in Premier Exhibitor in the past, they also turned in a printed version of their project records from AET to be reviewed in the Project Book Contest.

In 2020, Skillathons returned to the Fairfield County Junior Fair and the Project Book Contest and Premier Exhibitor Test have been discontinued for the Premier Exhibitor Contests. Originally, our plan was to have project books reviewed as a station of in-person Skillathons. The books would have been quickly reviewed in person by a judge who also would have interviewed the exhibitors on what they have learned from their 4-H/FFA project(s). Due to COVID-19 and moving Skillathons virtually, this in-person book review could not take place and an alternative plan was established.

Our alternative plan to review project books this year will be a county level review. 4-H Project/Record Books will be reviewed by 4-H Staff at the Extension Office while FFA Record Books will be reviewed by each FFA Advisor in their respective chapters.

What do exhibitors need to do?

  • Each member will need to turn in a project book for each project you plan to bring to the fair. This includes: All Beef (breeding, market, feeders, dairy beef feeders), Hogs, Sheep (breeding, market), Goats (meat does, market wethers, dairy, pygmy), Poultry, Rabbits (breeding, market – NOT Pet Rabbits), Horses, Dairy (breeding), and Llamas/Alpacas.
  • Records should be completed through September 18th. We understand there are portions of your book(s) that cannot be finished until after fair (i.e. profit/loss statements). We also know that you could not do everything you normally could have done this year with regard to citizenship, leadership, and project activities – but please update these sections of your book(s) the best you can for what you were able to do this year. Complete as much of your book as possible through September 18th.
  • For project completion requirements for each species, please review the 4-H Project Guidelines for Fair Projects.
  • If more work does need to be completed in project books (i.e. a book is turned in with numerous pages not filled out), you should expect to get a phone call asking you to pick-up your book and work on it more in order for it to be complete and be eligible to show at the fair.
  • Remember: Exhibition at the fair is an option beyond completion of 4-H and FFA projects. It is a privilege, not a right. You must be a member in good standing with your 4-H Club/FFA Chapter in order to show at the fair. One of the requirements for both organizations is completed project/record books.
  • Families can choose to drop off books on their own but should communicate that with their club advisor(s).

What do 4-H advisors need to do?

  • Sign the front covers of the 4-H Project Books!
  • Help with book collection and drop off at the Extension Office.
  • Books can be dropped in a box/tote provided by the club at the front door of the Extension Office. Or, you may place books in tote that we will place outside the Extension Office. No appointments are needed for book drop-off only.
  • Families can choose to drop off books on their own but should communicate that with you.

Drop-off schedule:

  • Monday, September 21st from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  • Tuesday, September 22nd from 9:00 a.m. – 7:15 p.m.
  • Wednesday, September 23rd from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, September 24th from 9:00 a.m. – 7:15 p.m.
  • Friday, September 25th from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

How will 4-H Staff/FFA Advisors review books?

  • We will not be using a rubric.
  • We will be looking for current, up to date records for this year.
  • We expect the book to be completed for the projects that are taken.
  • We expect the front cover of the book to be completed and legible.
  • We expect members to complete their own project/record books.
  • A quick project/record book review will take place prior to fair. If more work needs to be done in a 4-H project/record book prior to fair (i.e. a book is turned in with numerous pages not filled out), we will contact the exhibitor to pickup their book(s) and to work on it more in order for it to be complete and be eligible to show at the fair.
  • We will keep books until after fair to allow for a more thorough review books and so we can provide feedback on how 4-H members can learn and make their books better. This is meant to be a learning process this year, much like learning how the Skillathons were going to be for the first time this year. Books will be returned in December when 4-H Advisors pick-up Livestock Sale Checks on behalf of the club.

Details on 4-H Project Books:

The newer 4-H livestock record books are designed to include records for all projects taken in that specie. Add additional pages if needed if you are keeping separate records (i.e. pygmy vs. dairy goats). If you are taking more than one project in a specie, you should fill out all information applicable for those projects in your 4-H record book (market, breeding, feeders, etc). Those projects that share ONE 4-H record book are as follows:

  • ONE (135) Project/Record Book should be turned in for all 4-H Goat Projects:
    • (135BD) Dairy Goats
    • (135BM) Breeding Meat Goats
    • (135M) Market Goats
    • (135PY) Pygmy Goats
  • ONE (117) Beef Project/ Record Book should be turned in for all 4-H Beef Projects:
    • (117B) Beef Breeding
    • (117DF) Dairy Beef Feeder
    • (117M) Market Beef
    • (117BF) Beef Feeder
  • ONE (150) Poultry Project and Record Book should be turned in for all 4-H Poultry Projects:
    • (150CE) Chicken, Exhibition
    • (150CM) Chicken, Market
    • (150CEP) Chicken, Egg Production: Hens and Pullets
    • (150DE) Duck, Exhibition
    • (150DM Duck, Market
    • (150GE) Goose, Exhibition
    • (150TE) Turkey, Exhibition
    • (150TM) Turkey, Market
    • (150H) Helmeted Guinea Fowl
  • ONE (190R) Equine Record Book for the following Horse Projects:
    • (174) Beginning Horse Management*
      • *First year members taking (174) Beginning Horse Management can turn in this book with completed records for their first year and do not need to turn in the (190R) Equine Record Book. For second year and up, members taking (174) Beginning Horse Management should turn in the (190R) Equine Record Book.
    • (175) Light Horse Selection
    • (177) Horse Training: How to Talk to Your Horse
    • (180) Learning to Jump
    • (181) Draft Horse
    • (182) Small Equine
    • (184) Standardbred Horses
    • (185) Equine Reproduction and Genetics
    • (188) Trail Riding
    • (189) Dressage
    • (762) Horse Nutrition

The 4-H livestock record books that have not been updated by Ohio 4-H in recent years have separate books for breeding and market. 4-H members taking both market and breeding should be completing a book for each project.

  • SEPARATE Record/Project Books should be turned in for (199) Sheep Breeding and (198) Market Lambs.
  • SEPARATE Record/Project Books should be turned in for (225) Breeding Rabbits and (226) Market Rabbits.
  • SEPARATE Record Books should be turned in for (122 ) Dairy Heifers and (126) Dairy Cows.

Additional books that should be completed for the following projects:

  • Market Hogs: (139) Market Hog Project and Record Book
  • Llama/Alpaca: (132) Llama and Alpaca Project and Record Book
  • Pigeons: (365.22) Self Determined Idea Starter: Pigeons

Book Drop-Off Exceptions:

  • You and Your Dog exhibitors will keep books and bring with them to Dog Judging at the fair on Sunday, October 11th.
  • Companion Animal (including 227 Pet Rabbit) exhibitors will keep books and bring with them to Companion Animal Judging at the fair on Sunday, October 11th.
  • 4-H Gardening/Crop Project exhibitors will keep books and bring with them when they drop off their fair display on Saturday, October 10th between 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. in the 4-H Display Barn.
  • Cakes/Pies/Candies exhibitors will keep books and bring with them to Cakes/Pies/Candies Judging at the fair on Monday, October 12th.

Additional questions can be addressed to Leslie Cooksey, 4-H Extension Educator, by email at cooksey.25@osu.edu. Additionally, feel free to listen to this recording of an interview with Connie Smith featured on 88.9 The Farm Page on Saturday, September 12th where 4-H and FFA project/record books are discussed: https://u.osu.edu/thenews/files/2020/09/LeslieBooks.2020.mp3

 For a printable version of this information, click here: 2020 Project Book Information

Buyer Poster Contest – Goes Digital, presented by the Fairfield County Jr. Fair Board

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Due to Covid-19, the Junior Fair Board has decided to host a Virtual Buyer Thank You Contest online. Digital posters should include: Name, Age, Club, Parental Contact information. All posters must be submitted as a pdf or a jpeg file. The deadline to submit digital posters is September 30th. Please submit entries to lexielouhyme@yahoo.com. All submissions will be shared on social media and during the Livestock Sales. Let’s show our Livestock Sale buyers how much we appreciate them! Contact: Lexie Hyme with questions by email.

2020 Guys & Gals Lead goes VIRTUAL! Entry deadline: October 7th, 2020.

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The Guys and Gals Sheep Lead show will be a VIRTUAL SHOW, shared on Wednesday, October 14th at 6:30 p.m. via YouTube. Please submit entries no later than October 7th, 2020. Late entries will not be accepted due to the nature of the show format this year.

To submit your entry, please fill out this form.

Next, please record a video of your entry that includes:
1) Passing by the camera for a right side view with your lamb
2) Turn and pass by the camera for a left side view
3) Have someone hold your lamb and then model your outfit in front of the camera, like you would on stage and have someone close to the camera / microphone share your outfit commentary as it is written for this form.

Please try to keep your video submission to around 2 minutes each, no more than 5 minutes if possible.

Once your text entry is received via this form, you will be emailed a link for a private dropbox folder to upload your video. You will need to utilize the app for dropbox.com.

We hope that with some donor support, we will be sending out favor boxes for each contestant who participates.

2020 has certainly posed its challenges and we appreciate your grace and patience as we adjust.

Direct questions to Trish Preston at 614-330-5955 or via email to theprestonfamilyfarm@gmail.com

 

Fair Update for Cloverbud Members

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In order to keep all Cloverbuds and their families safe, we have decided to make all activities virtual. The Fairfield County Senior Fair Board is trying to limit the number of people who attend the Junior Fair and are on the grounds, so we are creating virtual opportunities to celebrate our Cloverbud members.

Please provide the following updates to your members:

  • We are inviting Cloverbud Members to participate in the Fairfield County Skillathons. These are virtual this year and are just for completion for our traditional members. This is a great opportunity for Cloverbud members to test their knowledge about different animal species that show in Fairfield County. Cloverbud Members who participate will receive a certificate of completion. Links to all skillathons can be found here. The Skillathons are online September 1-21 and must be completed by 8 pm on September 21st.
  • Stuffed Animal Show & Show-N-Tell will be virtual this year. Details will be coming out soon on how members can participate in this activity. Members who participate in either of these events will receive a ribbon and their videos will be shared during Fair Week.
  • Cloverbud Graduation will be virtual this year as well. Eligible members will receive an email invitation to participate in the graduation. Keep an eye on your family email in the next few weeks for more details. Members who participate in graduation will receive a graduation ‘gift’ bag and certificate.
  • Take & Make It Bags and Thank You Notes:
    • If you have Cloverbud members who will be at the fair with siblings or families there will be Take & Make It Activity bags available for them to pick up thanks to the Junior Fair Board. These bags will have simple crafts for Cloverbud members to work on during shows to keep them busy. There will be activities from commodity groups for them to enjoy as well. Keep an eye out for registration details so that the JFB can plan for enough supplies
    • The Thank You Note Station will be available during the fair again this year and there will be Cloverbud Specific bags with postcards for members who want to write thank you notes to their advisors, award sponsors, etc.
  • There will be no peewee shows taking place at the 2020 Fairfield County Junior Fair.

As a reminder, all of these activities are optional, but we would love for your members to participate. Cloverbud members will receive recognition for participating in some form whether that is a certificate, ribbon, video played during fair week, or a photo featured on Fairfield County’s 4-H social media channels.

If you have any questions, please contact Aubry Fowler (fowler.443@osu.edu). We appreciate all your hard work and dedication to the Fairfield County 4-H Cloverbud Program, we truly could not do all of this without you!

Blast-off to Mars with Ohio 4-H and join the 4-H STEM Challenge!

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We’re launching a trip to Mars Base Camp and want to help you get there! The 2020 4-H STEM Challenge explores sending a mission to Mars and what it takes to sustain life in space. The Mars Base Camp kit includes activities that use STEM skills like mechanical engineering, physics, computer science, and agriculture.

We want Ohio 4-H families to join in and thanks to the Ohio 4-H Foundation and Google, you can receive an $8 discount on the Mars Base Camp family kit. The family kit is available at shop4-h.org for $15.95, plus shipping, but with the Ohio 4-H discount and the $5 discount available on their website, your final cost is just $7.80 + tax.

Want to learn more?

And to help you on your Martian journey, the Ohio 4-H STEM Team is hosting a week of virtual, space activities from Oct. 4-10. Details at https://ohio4h.org/statewide-programs/4-h-science/mars-base-camp-4-h-stem-challenge . Get ready to blast-off!

Last Call for Quality Assurance – Due Friday, September 4th!

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Quality Assurance Training is required for all 4-H and FFA members who will be exhibiting a livestock project at the Fairfield County Junior Fair. Quality Assurance must be completed this year by Friday, September 4th, 2020. This includes the following projects:

  • Beef (Breeding & Market)
  • Dairy Breeding & Dairy Feeders
  • Goats (Angora, Dairy, Meat, Market & Pygmy)
  • Poultry (Breeding & Market)
  • Sheep (Breeding & Market)
  • Swine
  • Rabbits (Breeding & Market)
  • Llamas & Alpacas (New for 2020)

4-H and FFA members must complete Quality Assurance this year by Friday, September 4th to meet this requirement. This deadline is for 2020 only.

Here are your options to complete the Quality Assurance requirement for 2020:

  1. Option 1: Complete Quality Assurance online through YQCA. This is the only approved online option. It does cost $12 per member annually. If you plan to show in other livestock shows this year outside of Ohio – I actually recommend completing QA in this way as some of the national stock shows actually will require YQCA to meet their Quality Assurance Requirement.
    • Visit http://yqca.org/ to complete QA if you choose this option.
    • Fairfield County 4-H Members should select “sign in with 4-HOnline”. It will prompt you to select a state and then enter your 4-HOnline account information. After successfully logging in, you will be given a list of active family members. Select the family member and start the account creation process.
    • Fairfield County FFA Members (who are not in 4-H) should select FFA & Independent Sign-In.
    • Make sure you work through the entire program until you see a certificate number.
    • For a complete list of directions visit: Getting Your YQCA Online Certification
    • Please email your certificate number to cooksey.25@osu.edu.
  2. Option 2: In-Person Club Quality Assurance Training. Talk to your club/chapter advisor. Some are trained to teach Quality Assurance. I know that they are still figuring out how their meetings will look now that in-person events can resume. If your advisor is planning to teach QA by September 4th, they are able to do this in-person with you.

Please reach out to Leslie Cooksey if you have any questions (email cooksey.25@osu.edu or phone 740-277-4625).