National Western Stock Show Memories

National Western Stock Show brings many $$ to the Denver area and many memories to those who attend. Many of our Douglas County 4-H family members participated in various livestock shows from January 10 - 25. One of our 4-Hers also attended National Western Roundup. But the memories for me were of the thousands of school kids who visited the show through the School Tours program.

About 17,000 school students from the metro area wandered the grounds learning about animals and the agriculture industry. Busses were lined up ten to twelve and more deep at times, waiting to load or unload students. Most of the kids loved the Shriner clowns who met them as they disembarked their big yellow bus. The girls were mesmerized by all the rodeo princesses who were also on hand to greet them.

Many of the students had donned cowboy hats and boots to make everyone think they were real cowpokes, but it became evident that many were "city" kids when they asked "what's that smell" as they walked into the building with the horses. As many as 2800 of these little partners participated in free admittance and rodeo clown shows, petting zoos, and educational activities each weekday, courtesy of the National Western Stock Show School Tour program.

Prior to the stock show, volunteers go into classrooms and prepare students for what they will see. These programs stress safety and use hands-on activities to educate kids on agriculture.

If you are a teacher you owe it to your students to check out this free program and field trip. If you are in the Denver metro area, call our office at 720-733-6940 to find out about this opportunity for next January. Your students will love you for it!

Thanks for reading,

Mary Baldwin

February basketball camp at Parker Fieldhouse

Hello Douglas County 4-H,

A number of basketball camps have been scheduled in Parker to coincide with school breaks.

According to a press release on yourhub.com, "Nothing But Net will be hosting a Presidents Day Basketball Camp on February 16, 2009 at the Parker Fieldhouse, 18700 E Plaza Drive, Parker, CO 80134. Camp will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch between noon and 1 p.m. Campers will need to pack their own lunch.

The coach to camper ratio will be kept at nine to one. The first camper will cost $45 and each additional sibling will cost $35. You can register online at http://www.parkerrec.com/ using the Youth Sports link, or at the Parker Fieldhouse. Walk-ups are also welcome!

For more information, please call Coach Mason at 303.921.5302 or email marcusmason@nbncoaching.com, or call the Parker Fieldhouse at 303.805.6300."

Original story posted at http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Stories/Sports/Youth/Story~573568.aspx

4th Annual Dutch Anderson Memorial Gymkhana

Douglas County 4-H horse members, take note! This is coming up really quickly.

Saturday, January 31st
DC Fairgrounds Indoor Arena
Registration 8:30 a.m.
Events 9:45 a.m.

This event is open to everyone and is hosted by the Douglas County Royalty Program. Western attire required; helmets ok.

Contact Denise Anderson at 303-660-0794 or Debbie Mills at 720-231-5657

Youth Livestock Field Day

Douglas County livestock members, take a look...

Saturday, February 28, 2009 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Larimer County Fairgrounds, First National Bank Building, The Ranch

Open to all 4-H youth 8 - 18 and their families

Beef, swine, goats, poultry, rabbit

There will be numerous 30 minute topics taught by CSU livestock specialists ranging from lviestock selection to nutrition and bio-security. This is an opportunity to meet MQA/PQA requirements.

Registers online by February 13 at www.larimer.org/extension/field_day.cfm

For more info, call Nick Striegel in Boulder County at 303-678-6238 or Barbie Garnett in Jefferson County at 303-271-6620.

4-H Competitive Trail Riding Action Clinic

Saturday February 7th at The Urban Farm located at 10200 Smith Rd in Denver

4-H members and parents are both welcome to participate in this clinic hosted by Adams County CSU Extension. Please note everyone is required to wear a helmet.

The registration fee is $25 and you must call Amy Star at 303-637-8116 to reserve a space.

The day starts at 9:00 a.m. and activities include "How to handle your horse during a vet check", "Map reading and ride strategies", "The Magic of GPS" and "What to Pack".

Bring your horse to this clinic if you want to ride out on the trail session. Riders must wear English or western tack and bring a water bottle, map, and watch.

Love fiber arts? Here's a free event in Loveland

For all our 4-H members who may be interested...

Fiber Fun Fest

February 28, 2009 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Larimer County Fairgrounds in the McKee 4-H building

Sponsored by Larimer County 4-H, several demonstrations and free fiber arts workshops are offered including needle felting, beginning sewing, Navajo spinning, beginning knitting, and many more. For a complete list, please go to www.larimer.org/ext and click on the 4-H button. Contact Kathy Wolfe at 970-498-6000 with questions.

Any artists in Douglas County 4-H?

The library in Castle Rock is hosting a little contest for teens ages 12-18. See details below.

"If you're 12-18 years old, enter our Self-Portrait Contest. Stop by the Aloha Teen Tower at Philip S. Miller Library (100 S. Wilcox St., Castle Rock) to register and get the official rules. Create your masterpiece from any material and bring it to the Aloha Teen Tower by February 28. The artwork will be on display until March 31 while people vote for their favorite self-portraits. Ribbons for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be awarded on April 1. Stay tuned - this is the first of many teen contests taking place at the Aloha Teen Tower in 2009!"

Original posting: http://denver.yourhub.com/Parker/Stories/News/About-Town/Story~571216.aspx

DC Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction: help Exchange kids travel to Delaware

You're invited...

2009 4-H Exchange
Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction

Friday, February 13 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in Kirk Hall

Tickets will be sold at the door or may be purchased in advance from Exchange members. Cost remains at 2005 prices: $8 for adults and $5 for children.

Our very own 4-H Iron Chefs will cook up a delizioso Italian meal after which everyone can bid on favoloso auction items. Past items include original oil paintings, spa treatments, sports memorabilia, restaurant certificates, gift baskets, and rounds of golf.

This is one of the Exchange group's fundraising efforts. They will be traveling to Delaware this summer and are very excited to learn about the area, continue friendships forged last year when Delaware visited Colorado, and hang out on the beach.

Hope to see you there.

For org leaders: What does an e-postcard look like?

Hello 4-H,

It's tax time, and Kathe has been sending emails to organizational leaders regarding taxes and e-postcards. The state office added a posting to their blog about e-postcards, which is repeated below. Take a look.

"What does the IRS e-Postcard look like? How do I complete it? Thanks to a Douglas County leader for the screen captures!

You’ll find them along with my handwritten suggestions at:
http://www.colorado4h.org/blog/docs/2009/e-PostcardScans.pdf
One additional note for is to make sure you enter the appropriate fiscal year for your club (on page 5 of the scans). " Author: Dale Leidheiser

"The Kids’ Science Challenge" nationwide competition for 3rd to 6th graders

Here is a fun opportunity for young 4-H members:

"Kids are encouraged to learn about four fun scientific fields and then submit a question, problem, or experiment to be solved, working together with a scientist or engineer. The scientific fields are: flavor science, water quality, skateboard engineering, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Winners will receive a trip to visit the scientists to work collaboratively on their question, problem or experiment, and will be featured on Pulse of the Planet radio programs and podcasts.

The first 1000 kids to enter the competition will receive free science activity kits (a portion of these have been set aside for 4-H applicants).

As a special incentive to 4-H group leaders, the mentors for the next ten team entries to the competition will receive a free Hach water testing kit for additional science learning activities, and each kid on the teams will receive an individual bonus prize!"

Please click this link to get all the details (scroll to bottom of page): http://www.colorado4h.org/Blog/?p=98

4-H and Nickelodeon launch interactive online game

Information straight from the CSU state blog:

"National 4-H Council has partnered with Nickelodeon’s “Big Green Help” to create a brand-new, interactive online game– “Flip N’ Flow”–featuring the network’s animated boy-genius Jimmy Neutron. The game is in support of 4 H’s Science, Engineering and Technology communication campaign to spark youth interest in science and prepare one million new young people for America’s technology workforce.

Nickelodeon’s “The Big Green Help” is a kid-led movement that provides information and tools to help explain climate change to young people, and connects them to energy-saving and earth-friendly activities in their everyday lives.

The “Flip N’ Flow” game is available online at 4-H.org. Youth can play the game and access materials to share with friends. Check out this fun activity which gives youth and mentors the opportunity to learn about water conservation and challenges them think about steps they can take to participate in going green!

Questions can be directed to Nancy Cole (301-961-2926) at National 4-H Council."

Original posting: http://www.colorado4h.org/Blog/?p=98

NWSS rodeo tickets available for Sunday Jan. 18

Hello,

One of our 4-H families has two extra NWSS rodeo tickets availabe for Sunday, January 18, at the 2:00 p.m. show. They are $25 each in section 210, pretty close to the bull riding.

Please contact Donna Dandy at her office at (303) 398-1674 or by email at dandyd@njc.org.

Upcoming goat sale and health clinic

Hey Douglas County 4-H goat members,

The DC Cabritos is planning to hold their 2nd annual goat sale and health clinic on Saturday, April 4th at the Lowell Ranch.

For more details, please contact Jane Boand, at 303-660-5084 or by email at sunflower@boand.us.

Update on Douglas County 4-H leathercraft class

We recently announced a potential leathercraft class hosted by Helen Kellogg - and got a great response! Several kids have signed up, so the class is a go. Helen is passing on an update:

"Just wanted to update you that we will have our first leather craft class next Thursday, January 15, at 6:30 pm at Kirk Hall. This will begin with an informational meeting and perhaps some very basic leather craft techniques. Open to anyone who would like to attend. FREE.....

The class will be taught by Brian Walker, with Tandy Leather and the President of the Columbine Leather Guild. I will be assisting him with the class. It will run about 2 hours. If any of the kids want to attend and have leather tools, please have them bring it to class."

Contact Helen at (303)681-2670 or hkellogg@aol.com.

Shooting Sports Leader Certification workshops announced

Registration and information forms for the 2009 4-H Shooting Sports Leader Certification Workshops coming up this year have been posted on the state site. The direct link to the registration form is:

http://www.co4hshooting.org/2009_workshops_registration_form.pdf

Links to this form is also available on the State 4-H SS web site at: http://www.co4hshooting.org/ and on the State 4-H SS blog site at: http://co4hshooting.blogspot.com/ .

If you have any questions on the certification workshops, please contact Jim Hamilton at (719) 846-7403 or by e-mail at jim.hamilton@colostate.edu .

College Ready Program for Douglas County students

Here's some good news for high school juniors and seniors in Douglas County.

The Douglas County School District has partnered with Arapahoe Community College to bring you a program designed to allow juniors and seniors a way to earn college credit while still in high school. The College Ready Program is hosting several information nights in January.

January 12th: from 6;30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. hosted at Highlands Ranch High School for students attending Mountain Vista, Highlands Ranch, ThunderRidge and Rock Canyon high schools.

January 13th: from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. hosted at Castle View High School for students attending Castle View and Douglas County high schools.

January 22nd: from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. hosted at Legend High School for students attending Ponderosa, Legend and Chaparral high schools.

According to a news articles posted on yourhub, "During the information nights, students and their parents will learn about the College Ready program, learn how to apply and learn about the ACCUPLACER test, which helps students identify their academic strengths in writing, reading and mathematics. College level reading ability is recommended for all courses.

To find out more about the College Ready Information Nights, contact John Hamilton at 303.797.5085, or Glen March with the school district at 303.734.3871. To learn more about ACC's programs, visit www.arapahaoe.edu or call 303.797.4222."

Original article: http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/Goings-on/Story~565495.aspx

Tack Sale at Kirk Hall in March 2009

Come one, come all...

The Douglas County 4-H club DC Trail Blazers is hosting a tack sale on March 7th in Kirk Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds (500 Fairgrounds Road in Castle Rock). This event runs from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

You can buy or sell, and tables are available for $10.

Please contact Jeanne Dearth at 303-660-5571 if interested or if you have questions.

See you there.

2009 Sci-Fi Film Series for teens at the Castle Rock library

In case we have some sci-fi fans in the Douglas County 4-H Program, thought we would tell you about a film series for teens beginning in January 2009.

"The Philip S. Miller Library located at 100 S. Wilcox St. in Castle Rock becomes a theater for teens during its Sci-Fi Film Series in 2009. Teens 13-17, come to the library Wednesday, January 21 at 5:30 p.m. for a screening of Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. This movie is rated PG-13, so all teens must be at least 13 years old.

Registration is required. To book your spot, stop by your library, call 303-791-READ, or visit the Programs and Events calendar at www.DouglasCountyLibraries.org."

Original posting: http://denver.yourhub.com/CastleRock/Stories/News/About-Town/Story~565747.aspx