October 16, 2015 Ford-Iroquois
4-H Newsletter
Calendar of Events
October
17 State 4-H air rifle and .22 rifle contest
November
7-8 Live It Up conference at NIU
9 Ag Career Night at Ford-Iroquois Farm Bureau
21 4-H Foundation Auction at St. Paul’s Woodworth
December
24 office closed for the holidays until January 4, 2016
January 2016
6 enrollment forms due
30 Danville Dashers hockey game
February
13-14 NEW State Livestock Conference in Decatur
27-28 4-H Junior Leadership Conference in Champaign
Ag Career Night
Come join local agribusiness men and women and college representatives at our 4th annual Ag Career
Night. It will be held November 9 at the Ford-Iroquois Farm Bureau. From 5-6pm you can visit with
representatives from colleges across Illinois. 6-7:30pm local agribusiness members will present and
answer any questions. Afterwards you can spend more time talking with college representatives. This
opportunity is for students wishing to learn more about careers in agriculture.
Federation
Federation is for 4-H club members who are in high school and are interested in doing county-wide
activities with members from other clubs. Meetings are monthly and we will plan community service as
well as fun activities. All interested members in Iroquois County there will be a meeting Oct. 25th here at
the Extension office (time TBA). Jen will be setting a date next month to meet with interested Ford
County members.
4-H Foundation Auction
The Ford-Iroquois 4-H Foundation Auction will be Saturday, November 21, 2015 at St. Paul's Lutheran
School in Woodworth. It will begin with a meal and silent auction at 4 p.m. and live auction to follow at 5
p.m. Money raised from this event is used to cover member program fees for all members in both
counties. It is also used to provide scholarships for members attending 4-H events such as camp or
Junior Leadership Conference. We have many wonderful items for the auction already, but donations
are still being accepted at the office. Please consider asking a business in your community to help
support the local youth by making a donation. Thank you!
Shooting Sports
Good luck to our 3 rifle competitors: Josie P., Scott M., and David D. at the State 4-H Rifle shoot Oct. 17th
at the Central Illinois Precision Shooters (CIPS) indoor facility in Bloomington.
Congratulations to Jessica J. for finishing in 7th place overall at the State 4-H Archery contest Oct. 3 at
Bunker Hill! She’s practiced hard and it paid off, way to go Jessica!
New year of shooting sports has begun! All past members should have received their re-enrollment
papers in the mail if they did not attend the start-up meeting Oct. 3. You must turn these in to the
Extension office before you can participate in a shooting event. If anyone interested in joining the FordIroquois Sharpshooters please contact Jen at the Extension office for more information.
Live It Up!
Unit 2 (Boone, DeKalb & Ogle Counties) is once again offering their teen conference LIVE It Up! It will be
held on November 6 & 7 at the Northern Illinois University Holmes Student Center in DeKalb, IL and the
Center for Agriculture in Sycamore, IL. This conference is open to all youth ages 13 -18. For more
information go to: http://web.extension.illinois.edu/bdo/
Be your own researcher and earn $500
The Illinois Soybean Association and DuPont Pioneer Hi-Bred are offering $500 Clover Challenge Grants
to 4-H members who wish to challenge themselves in project areas that connect them with soybean,
corn, or small grain industries. This is not limited to only 4-H members enrolled in crops – it also
includes 4-H members involved in foods & nutrition projects. Research may relate to but is not limited to
production practices, processing, crop and/or crop-byproduct utilization (nutrition related exploration).
For example, 4-H members experimenting with using soybean flour to increase the protein content of
baked goods.
The Illinois Soybean Association will provide five $500 grants for youth interested in a topic related to
soybeans; while Pioneer Hi-Bred will provide five $500 grants for youth interested in exploration of corn
or small grains. Research may relate to but is not limited to production practices, processing, crop
and/or crop-byproduct utilization (nutrition related exploration).
In both grant opportunities, 4-H members, ages 15-18, are challenged to research a topic over the
course of the 4-H program year and design at least two different delivery methods to share their
findings. Youth should select delivery methods that best showcase their findings which may include, but
are not limited to an educational presentation, video, flyer, or brochure. Successful applicants will
select a mentor to work with during their study. The deadline for application submission is February
16, 2016 and projects must be completed by August 31, 2016. More information is available for the
Clover Challenge Grant opportunity at the Illinois 4-H Foundation website:
http://4hfoundation.illinois.edu/grants/clover If you have questions, please contact Pat McGlaughlin,
Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development, State 4-H Office, patm@illinois.edu
Road Trip!!! Join the Illinois delegation for 2016
Citizenship Washington Focus!
We are ecstatic that Illinois will be offering a trip to Washington, D.C. for the 2016 Citizenship
Washington Focus (CWF) program! Numbers permitting, this will be our third year in a row sending a
delegation of 14-18 year olds to this tremendous event focusing on the federal legislative process and
the impact youth voices can make.
Illinois will be travelling Saturday July 9 through Saturday, July 19, 2016. We travel by bus to
Washington, D.C., stopping at Gettysburg on the way. Delegates and chaperones stay at the National 4H Center during the week. Citizenship Washington Focus includes workshops, group discussions and
work, tours of memorials and museums throughout the D.C. area, and more. Illinois 4-H’ers must be 1418 years of age by May 1, 2016 in order to attend. An informational brochure for the 2016 trip is
currently available on the Illinois 4-H CWF website.
Through the generosity of the Illinois 4-H Foundation, we are able to offer this week’s full program,
transportation, Illinois CWF shirt, insurance and more for approximately $1,000. Members are
responsible for the trip to/from bus pick-up location(s), meals on the road, and 1-2 meals during the
week. Some counties offer partial fee scholarships to 4-Hers – check with your local Extension office for
more information regarding financial assistance.
On-line registration will open in mid-October via the Illinois 4-H CWF website:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h/events/citizenshipwashington.cfm A deposit of $250 will be
due at the time of initial registration. Registration will close December 1, 2015 OR when registration is
full, whichever occurs first. Other payments of $350 will be due January 15 and May 15.
At least one female chaperone will also be needed for the trip. If you are interested, check out the
information on the website and indicate your interest on the registration site by December 1.
‘Livestock on Ice’ NEW for 2016
If you enjoy learning more about the Illinois livestock industry, have dreams of being a veterinarian, or
just love exhibiting livestock, you will want to save the date for this NEW CONFERENCE which is focused
entirely on livestock! Tentatively, mark your calendars for February 13 & 14 in Decatur. More details will
be available soon! In the meantime… here are a few of the workshops we think you’ll enjoy:
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"In the Cooler" Step into the cooler and discover the world of meat science! During this session
participants will glove up and truly get a hands on experience revolving around meat
production. You will explore a variety of different meat cuts, along with what animal they
originate from. In a freezing cool finale, you will put their knowledge to the test in a competition
against their peers.
"Sledding through Shots and Sutures" Glove up and come explore the exciting world of
wounds, medicine, sutures and dissection! In this session we will go bananas as we learn more
about simple surgical procedures in livestock!
"Layer Up" Layer up and take your role as a hog farmer. Biosecurity is at the utmost importance,
but get ready to go hog wild! It is time to boot up and go to the breeding barn!
"How to Keep your Cool" How to keep your cool is a jam packed session about the proper way
to promote the livestock industry on social media sites and to the general public. You will leave
knowing how to answer the questions of families walking through the barn at the fair or local
news reporters. Learn the appropriate ways to use social media to promote not only the
industry as a whole, but also your individual farm.
"Brain Freeze" A fast and furious Livestock Quiz Bowl will keep everyone thinking on their feet!
For Leaders
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Fall meeting –Thank you to all leaders who attended the fall meeting.
Auction – Please keep working to solicit donations from businesses in your community. Foundation
is working had to make this evening a success but we need help from everyone.
Recognition items – As you go through your member recognition items (certificates, pins, etc)
please let us know of any errors you come across. Please understand that there is a lot of prep that
goes into these awards and we may make mistakes. Thanks!
Jen Odle & Larry Haigh
4-H Program Coordinators
Jamie Boas
4-H Youth Development Educator
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