Social Networking: 4-H on Facebook

By now many of you have heard of social networking websites on the Internet. The most famous (or perhaps infamous) social networking site is MySpace. There are others out there, though, and one is called Facebook.

Facebook's description of its site: "Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet."

A quick search for 4-H programs reveals 57 results, ranging from Massachussetts to Texas, 4-H alumni to collegiate 4-H, and Colorado's own El Paso County.

Because I have an interest in utilizing technology in 4-H, I joined a Facebook group called "Access 4-H Facebook Community." Those interested in discussing and developing a website called Access 4-H can share opinions and get updates here.

Check it out. This may be a valuable resource for new ideas, networking with other programs, or starting your own 4-H Facebook community.

Your blog host, Melody

News from the Fairboard!

Mark Your Calendars! The 90th Annual Douglas County Fair is August 2-10, 2008. Since this is a BIG BIRTHDAY, we have some huge things planned to celebrate!

A few updates on this year's fair:

1. The Douglas County Fairboard is teaming up with Renee's Friends Fund to raise money for Breast Cancer fighters right here in the state of Colorado. The Bull Riders Pro Tour will be sponsoring a Pink Night on Thurday this year, so show up in your pink duds and support a great cause.

2. The Sheep and Hog Departments are trying something new! This year, showmanship will be split off from the main market show and judged by a different judge. On Wednesday morning, hog shomwanship will start at 8am with the market show at 5pm that evening. The lamb showmanship classes will start immediately following the hog showmanship classes on Wednesday. The sheep market and breeding shows will still be on Thursday starting at 9am.

3. Thanks to the support of our county government's support, we are looking forward to an exciting concert this year. Our headline concert on Saturday night will feature Joe Nichols. Concert tickets will be available for sale on June 14th.

4. We are excited to celebrate on Sunday, the last day of the Fair, with a BIG BIRTHDAY BASH. At 11am, get ready to head to the midway for some great entertainment and birthday cake before getting ice cream and all of your 4-H awards at 12:30pm in the Pavilion.

Don't forget to check back for County Fair updates on this blog as well as the County Fair website: www.douglascountyfairandrodeo.com

County Fair Sponsorships

Do you have any idea how lucky you are? To be a part of one of the greatest 4-H programs in Colorado? One of the reasons Douglas County 4-H is so fantastic is because of the HUGE support we receive from the community in a variety of ways.

One of the main ways community businesses, ranchers and families support 4-H is by sponsoring all of those FABULOUS awards you get at the County Fair each year. All of the buckles, trophies, chairs and other goodies are sponsored by someone local that cares about YOU and your success!

In return, all we ask is that you send them a thank you note telling them how much you appreciate what they do for you and the 4-H community. This year, as we are looking for sponsors, we have found that a lot of them haven't been thanked in a long time. It's hard to get people to donate their hard earned money when they don't feel appreciated. Sooner or later, we won't have as many awards to give out because noone is going to sponsor the 4-H program.

So, this year, when you get your shiny buckle, look on the back.... we always put a sticker with the sponsors name and address. Be sure to let them know how much you care and appreciate their sponsorship. That way, we can all look forward to receiving awards for years to come.

YourHub.com: an excellent way to share 4-H information with the community

Have you heard of a website called www.yourhub.com? It's a community based news sharing website that anyone can submit information to. Not only can you submit news and photos, but you can add events to a calendar and start your own blog.

For example, if you would like to report on a club activity taking place in Castle Rock, you can go to www.yourhub.com/castlerock and post just in that community. In fact, you can post to several east slope hubs, from Arvada to Wheatridge, via a drop-down box on the left side of the page. There are also several categories in which to place your information ranging from education to fundraising and more.

I've posted several 4-H press releases on all Douglas County community hubs with great success. I can see how many "hits" each story received (number of people who viewed the story) and which communities read 4-H articles the most.

Yourhub staff have often added 4-H stories to the print section that comes out in the Thursday editions of the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post. We're getting lots of visibility for Douglas County 4-H.

I encourage all of you to consider utilizing this website to promote our fantastic 4-H program here in Douglas County.

Your blog host, Melody

Opportunity for 4-H alumni

The National 4-H Council is seeking 4-H alumni for an upcoming promotion. If you are a "former 4-H'er working in pharmaceutical research, environmental science, engineering, biological or chemical science, aerospace, technology, or plant and animal science", they would like you to take a short survey. Go to this website http://www.fourhcouncil.edu/ and look for a blurb titled "A 4-H Story". It has a link for you to access the survey.

Thanks for looking at our new blog!

Your blog host, Melody

Kansas Road Trip

Six giggling girls, plenty of sugary and salty snacks, I-pods with popular tunes, and four hundred miles of Interstate. These are the ultimate makings for an awesome road trip and a great learning experience.

Five of those giggling girls were Douglas County 4-Hers and the other 4-H girl hailed from Boulder County. In addition to the six, two brave chaperons loaded their luggage into the Douglas County 4-H van and headed to Rock Springs 4-H Camp in Kansas for Ambassador training about a month ago.

Although Kansas Ambassadors' duties are quite different than Douglas County 4-H Ambassadors, the purpose of the training was to prepare 4-Hers to promote an awareness of the 4-H program in their communities. There were sessions on public speaking, 4-H history, event planning, websites, activities to do with younger members, and more. The food was fairly good for camp chow, the activities were educational, and I'm told by several teenage girls that those Kansas farm boys were AOK.

When the van pulled into the Braum's Ice Cream Store in Salina, Kansas, all the girls were amazed to hear the young waiter say that in his sixteen years in Kansas he'd never had any fun. These young women found eastern Colorado and Kansas to have a plethora of interesting places. Even the hats and toys at the Cracker Barrel restaurant furnished great entertainment! It was decided on the way home that this group might adopt the name "Four-H Bureau of Information" or F.B.I.

Since their return to our great state, the F.B.I. has been looking for ways to "spread the good word" about the 4-H program, as they were trained and agreed to do. Additionally, I am looking at the possibility of having a statewide F.B.I. program and offering a training next year. Several other 4-H agents in Colorado are excited about the prospect also.

Keeping these things in mind, I am looking for feedback on this program. Please feel free to comment on the following issues:

• Do you have an organization or event at which our Douglas County 4-Hers might be able to promote an awareness of the 4-H program?


• Do you have any ideas on how 4-H can be better promoted in Douglas County?


• Are you interested in starting an F.B.I. program in Douglas County? In Colorado?


• Other comments

Note that at the right side of this blog is a picture of the six girls and two chaperons who attended the Kansas Ambassador Training. Good looking group, huh?

This program was made possible by the Douglas County 4-H Foundation.

Thanks for reading,

Mary Baldwin

National Youth Developmet Information Center

Did you know that the 4-H Program is the only federally mandated youth program? It has evolved over the years into an effective program embracing positive youth development concepts.

The National Youth Development Information Center website is a fantastic positive youth development resource. If you would like new ideas on how to apply youth development concepts in clubs and activities, learn what other programs are doing, or simply just want to know more, check out the site.

At a glance, here are some headlines on the first page:

• New Youth Development Master’s Program
• Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning
• Core Principles for Engaging Young People in Community Change
• Strengthening Afterschool for Older Youth through Policy and Practice: A Policy Brief
• Educating Students Who Are Struggling in School and in Life

Links on the left side include: Youth Development Library; Funding; Staffing and Training; Programming; Research, Evaluation, and Statistics; and Policy and Advocacy.

The blog title is a link to the site. You may want to bookmark it.

Your blog host, Melody

Volunteer opportunity: help keep open space clean

For those seeking volunteer/community service opportunities, I thought I would let you know about an opportunity in the Highlands Ranch area.

The Metro District of Highlands Ranch is hosting "Renew the Ranch: A Community Clean-up Effort" on Saturday, April 5th from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Volunteers will meet at Foothills Park and spend the morning cleaning up the surrounding natural open space areas.

After the event, all volunteers are welcome to enjoy a complimentary lunch at Foothills Park. Please call 720-240-4909 the morning of the clean-up to check the event status in case of bad weather.

If you would like to volunteer for Renew the Ranch, please contact Jenn Garber at 720-240-4909, or at jgarber@highlandsranch.org.

Melody, your blog host

Beef Weigh In a Huge Success!

Last Saturday, May 8th, Douglas County weighed in 45 steers for this year's County Fair. After some heavy duty snow putting a damper on things on our original date, we enjoyed the 50 degree weather.

Beef Superintendent, Jerry Riley, and his crew did a great job getting steers weighed, tatooed, ear tagged and nose printed in a few short hours.

If you see them, make sure to say thanks to Phil Riesselman, Joe Mullins, Steve McManus, Joanie Shoemaker, George Geiger, Steve Christenson and Patti Rawson for all their help this year.

Our next livestock weigh in is scheduled for May 4th with goats at noon and sheep and hogs at 1pm.

There is still time to sign up for these projects! The deadline is May 1st. If you don't have the property to keep them, don't let that keep you from getting involved! We have lots of options. The CALF Ranch in Castle Rock (our urban farm) is currently accepting applications to house animals on their property and be involved in all three projects. Give us a call at the office for more information!

Increasing Enrollment in Douglas County

One of our goals in Douglas County is to focus on positive youth development in our community by increasing enrollment in 4-H. This seems like a straight-forward goal.

I discovered that this is a more complex issue than it appears.

One part of my job as the Communications Specialist is to get out into the community and educate others about the 4-H Program. Here is some of the feedback I’ve received:

“It seems like 4-H is dying out. I didn’t know everything you offer.”
“Isn’t 4-H just riding horses?”
“I thought if was only for kids who live on farms.”

It quickly became clear to me that the general public is either not aware of 4-H or thinks 4-H is only for rural kids who own livestock or horses.

Boy do we have our work cut out for us! Not only do we need to increase awareness that 4-H is still a strong and active program, but we need to educate the public about the scope of projects and activities available.

Here are some things I’ve done, both big and small, in an effort to educate others:
- Made presentations to Rotary and Kiwanis clubs
- Increased number and scope of press releases
- Added 4-H information to various databases as I’ve run across them
- Joined a communications group to network with others and get new ideas
- Started a 4-H blog
- Plan to have a booth at the Parker Community Expo in September
- Made contact with various Mom’s Clubs in the county
- Scheduled a Public Service Announcement to be aired in April 2008

What efforts have you made to spread the word? No effort is too small when it comes to generating interest in the Douglas County 4-H Program. We welcome new ideas!

Your blog host,

Melody

The Art of Gratitude and 4-H

What is gratitude? The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as a noun meaning the state of being grateful; thankfulness.

This is a most basic definition, but gratitude is so much more, don’t you think?

Gratitude is taking the time to reflect upon your blessings, appreciate what you already have, give to others without expectations, and notice the small things that make the world a beautiful place.

The 4-H program values gratitude. A basic tenet is that 4-H members thank the many volunteers and contributors that make the program a success

Without volunteers, we would have no project leaders willingly sharing knowledge. There would be no superintendents spending hours and hours making sure activities and functions happen. There would be no sponsors providing financial assistance so that 4-H members receive belt buckles, trophies, and monetary awards.

In short, 4-H volunteers and contributors are our blessings.

Have you thanked them? Did you send each and every sponsor a formal thank you note after last year’s fair? Do you tell your leaders thank you at meetings?

How do you show your gratitude in the 4-H Program?

Your blog host,

Melody

“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” Albert Clarke

Service to Others and Second Chances

As the newest person at the Douglas County 4-H office, and one of few who does not come from a 4-H background, I’ve had the opportunity to observe what 4-H is all about and to interact with several youths in the program.

I’m impressed. Truly.

I see that one of the reasons 4-H is an effective program is the focus on service to others. Not only do our 4-H clubs complete formal community service projects throughout the year, but I’ve noticed that 4-H members embrace this idea in even the smallest act. I’ve seen kids sweep floors, clean up after events, and volunteer to help in any way they can – all without being asked.

You see, I spent 17 years working with at-risk youths in the foster care system. This gives me a profoundly unique perspective on the state of our kids today.

While 4-H kids enjoy a strong support system focusing on responsibility, service, and several other qualities, many other youths do not have this opportunity. When they make mistakes, they do not have a support system to catch them. Sometimes a second chance is what is needed.

With that in mind, I thought I would let you know about a community service opportunity designed to provide second chances – the Teen Court Program in Parker. There is an orientation on March 12th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Parker Town Hall at 20120 E. Mainstreet.

To serve as a teen attorney for the program, you must be at least 14 years old. All other positions are open to youth 12 to 17 years old. The Town's prosecuting attorney will provide the necessary training to teen participants, including a mock trial. The time commitment can be as little as one evening per month.

Here is a link to an article on www.yourhub.com/parker that gives more details: http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Stories/News/About-Town/Story~435445.aspx

If you are interested, you may also contact Sandra Gutierrez with additional questions at 303-805-3171 or sgutierrez@parkeronline.org.

Keep up the good work!

Melody, your blog host