By Kevin Tatum
4-H OFFICER’S TRAINING
4-H members who are elected or appointed to serve as an officer for their club are asked to attend the upcoming 4-H Officer’s Training Workshop on Monday, September 18th. The training will take place at the First Baptist Church in Douglas starting at 5:30 p.m. with dinner. Parents should drop their 4-H members off between 5:15 and 5:30 p.m. and plan to pick them up between 7:30 and 7:45 pm.
COUNTY GOAT SHOW
Coffee County’s 4-H and FFA members will be meeting up at the Coffee Middle School campus in the Billy Walker Livestock Facility on Saturday, September 23, to hold the 2017 County Meat Goat Show. Weigh-in will begin at 9 a.m. and show time is slated for 11 a.m. There is no admission fee, so please come out and support these kids (goats and humans) as they vie for top honors in this year’s goat show.
4-H HOLIDAY CARD CONTEST
All budding 4-H artists are encouraged to create a drawing for the Georgia 4-H Holiday Card Artwork Contest. Entries must be turned in to the 4-H office by 5 p.m on September 29th. The rules for the contest include: Drawing must be the student’s original work and drawn on an 8.5 x 5.5 inch (or 5.5 x 8.5 inch) sheet of white, unlined paper; it must include 4‑H in the theme; must be a universal holiday theme such as “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings”; it must be colorful; and it must be accompanied by an official entry form available from the 4‑H office. All 4‑H members are eligible to participate. If you don’t follow these rules, the drawing will be disqualified.
Please contact Mr. Kevin, Mrs. Liz, Mrs. Chalanda, or Mrs. Alyse at the 4-H office if you have questions about this contest. The state winner’s artwork gets printed on a holiday card mailed out to Georgia 4-H supporters and the winner gets a nice little prize check of $50.
JUNIOR CONFERENCE
Let’s get together for a weekend of fun at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center where Junior 4-H members will be “Rollin’ into 4-H”. Junior 4-H members will meet new friends, do service projects, participate in workshops and an exhibit fair, have a dance, and see Clovers & Company perform. Get Registered Today! The cost for the weekend conference will be $74 until October 9th. After October 9th, the cost will be $79 until October 18th for regular registration. Late registrations will be $84. This is a great opportunity for Junior 4-H members to experience a statewide event with 4-H members their own age. Be sure to get signed up before the price increase.
4-H SUPPORTS THE RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE CHARITIES
Each year, Coffee County 4-H members are asked to collect and save pop tabs from their aluminum drink cans to be recycled. The tabs are boxed up and taken to the Ronald McDonald House in Savannah. The money raised from the sale of these tabs helps pay for the utilities and supplies needed to run the Ronald McDonald House. 4-H members will get 20 points one time during the school year towards the 4-H reward trip for donating a pint bag or more to this project.
The Ronald McDonald House is a place where parents can spend the night for little or no cost while their child receives medical treatment at the near-by hospital. Many people from Coffee County have used the Ronald McDonald House, so please pitch in and help with this project even if you are not a 4-H member.
4-H ON FACEBOOK
Coffee County 4-H has a closed group page on Facebook. This page is to help keep parents and students up to date on 4-H activities. The only way that you can join the group is by asking to be added to the group. We do try to restrict this group to 4-H members and parents, so if you are a relative of a 4-H member interested in joining the group, please email me to explain your situation. Otherwise, you probably won’t get added to the group.
REMIND
Remind is an app that allows us to send out messages in the form of a text message to your cell phone. If you have a child in 4-H, we encourage you to sign up to receive these texts from our office. You can get the method of signing up from your child’s 4-H newsletter, or email our office and let us know what grade your child is in so that we can give you the code to register.
If you have questions about the Coffee County 4-H Club program, or questions around the farm or home, please feel free to contact the Coffee County Extension office at (912) 384-1402. Remember, we are YOUR local connection to the University of Georgia.