UF/IFAS Okeechobee County 4-H Newsletter

I am so proud of our Okeechobee 4-Hers. You are hard working, motivated, dedicated, polite and on top of all that you are “good kids.” Thank you for thinking of others as the hurricanes hit Florida.

The awards banquet was a tremendous success. Congratulations to all of the many award winners. Thank you to all who helped plan, set up, clean up and present. The banquet could not happen without your help.

The record books that were not picked up after the banquet are at the Extension Office. Please pick up your record books and awards. The record books will come in handy when you begin working on next year’s project.

Good luck to the youth that weighed in steers for the Okeechobee Youth Livestock Show and the South Florida Fair.

I am very pleased with the increase in enrollment I see this year. This tells me that our leaders are doing a great job and Okeechobee is discovering how wonderful 4-H is.

National 4-H Week is October 3-9. Do your part to share 4-H with the world. The annual 4-H fundraiser BBQ has been postponed. The new date will be advertised when scheduled.

Thank you all for your generous gifts to me. I will enjoy them a great deal. Most of all, thank you for being such great kids and parents. Continue to make your best better.

We’re off to a great start! This year our club plans to photograph and design, take field trips, participate in the Farm City Day Luncheon, and prepare a county wide display. Field trips include Brevard Zoo, canoe trip, Butterfly World and a day care to photograph children.

Our first meeting of the new year will be on October 5, at 5:30pm at Photography by Bobbi & Bakery 213 SE 2^nd Street, 467-2614.

At this meeting you will need a camera, notepad, green folder (4-H color) and a pen or pencil. For your first assignment you will need a roll of 12 exposure film 100 speed or a digital camera. If you have taken photos as part of a hobby and would like to share them please bring them along as well.

Our new club held a kick off meeting on August 26^th. We are really excited to have all of the kids and parents join us for this new opportunity. We are looking forward to discovering the Parelli Secrets of Success with horses.

We had to postpone our first meeting due to the recent storms. We will get started with our first official meeting at 6:30pm on October 4^th at the County Extension Office. We will have our first meeting with our horses on Saturday, October 9^th with specific time and location to be announced on October 4^th. Be sure to attend each meeting. We will need to give our great new club its official name. Put on your thinking caps and get your imaginations going, we will vote on the club name at the October meeting. We will also elect officers and begin our Parelli Study Program by reviewing the first four lessons. We hope to see you then!

The Udder Bunch held their annual officer induction at the Civic Center on September 20^th. We had a great Bar-B-Que; hats off to our cooks Randy Burnham, Danny Spann and Wayne Buchanan. We welcomed three new members to our club. Quiz bowl, record book and show clothes demonstrations were given and the club schedule was discussed.

Our next meeting will be held on October 11^th at the Extension Office at 7pm. We will be discussing nutrition, health and reproduction. Hope to see you there!

Due to the growth of our club in the last couple of years we are unable to accept additional members at this time. Returning members, October 31^st is the deadline to turn in enrollment forms. If you have not done so, please make sure you get your forms in, and attend the October meeting so you will be eligible to participate in the Okeechobee Youth Livestock Show. Your health form must be notarized, and $1.00 for insurance is due when you turn in your forms.

Our October meeting will be on Wednesday, October 13^th at 6:00pm at the Extension Office.

The Barnyard Buddies did not hold their September meeting due to severe weather. The club will have a meeting on Saturday, October 9^th from 10 am until noon at the Extension Office. We will elect officers and discuss small animal projects at this meeting. We will break into groups to discuss rabbits, poultry and other small animals. If you have not enrolled for the 2004-05 4-H year, you will have an opportunity to do that during the meeting as well. If you plan on participating at the Okeechobee Youth Livestock Show you must be enrolled in 4-H by October 31^stand attend the October meeting. Hope to see everyone at the next meeting.

I hope everyone weathered the storm well. Bacon Bunch is looking forward to starting the new 4-H year. Our first meeting was moved to October 5^th at 6:30 pm at Osceola Middle School in the Cafeteria. If possible, please register for the 2004-05 4-H year at the Extension Office before the meeting. The Glarner Farms swine clinic in Sebring has been rescheduled for October 9^th from 10am until 2pm. Please let us know at the meeting if you plan on attending the clinic, so we can RSVP. See you soon!!!

***Just a reminder, it is mandatory that you attend the October meeting and have your paper work complete and turned in by October 31^st to be eligible to participate in the Okeechobee Youth Livestock Show.

Places to Go had an excellent first meeting! We would like to welcome the nine new members that enrolled in our club this year. On October 16^th the Places to Go club will be traveling to the Orlando Science Museum . Members should RSVP with Miss Debbie Raulerson at 763-3011 or Mrs. Pat McCoy at 467-5437 by October 14^th. We will be leaving the Extension Office at 8:00am . Our next regular meeting will be October 21 at the Extension Office at 6:30pm . Mrs. Roehem will be leading the activity. Hope to see each of you there!

The members of the Steaks and Chops Livestock Club were happy to greet the new 4-H year at the first meeting of the year held on September 20^th. After a quick welcome from our leaders, we quickly got under way electing officers for the new year. The results are as follows:

Congratulations to those elected, and remember that your club is confident in your abilities to lead us through the year.

Selection and show dates were discussed in our project groups. Our next meeting will be held October 11^th in the Yearling Middle Media Center at 7:00pm . Beef members will be discussing feeding and the swine members will discuss selection. Just a reminder: if you plan on participating in the OYLS you must attend the October meeting and have your enrollment forms turned in by October 31^st.

Our 4-H club had its first meeting on September 16^th. We had many members anxious to get started with the 4-H year. We started our meeting off by introducing ourselves to the other club members. Next, we elected officers for the 2004-05 4-H year.

Our next meeting will be held October 14^th at the Extension Office at 6:30pm . This meeting is mandatory!! You must attend! Our club will meet on the second Thursday of each month. It is important that you mark your calendars and attend as many meetings as possible. There will be a swine clinic at Glarner Farms in Sebring on October 9^th from 10am-2pm . A BBQ lunch will be served for $5.00 per person. This is not an opportunity to purchase a hog. If you are interested in purchasing a hog from Glarner Farms you can return at a later date. If you are interested in attending this clinic as a group contact LeeAnn at 634-7005, or you may attend individually.

October 23^rd we will be holding a fundraiser at Tractor Supply. We will be selling hamburgers, hotdogs and tickets for a 50/50 drawing. We will arrive at Tractor Supply at 10:00am . Each member please try to attend.

Welcome all new members to County Council. We are looking forward to a new year and can’t wait to get started. Our first meeting was held on September 21^st, we had a great turn out. Our main item of new business was election of officers.

Congratulations to all new officers. All club officers will have a meeting October 13^th at 4:30pm to discuss their offices and plan the officer training meeting.

Officers from all 4-H clubs are invited to attend the officer training on October 18^th at the Extension Office at 7pm . This will be County Council’s regular meeting for the month.

Remember to be thinking of community service ideas and our display for National 4-H Week. Hope to see everyone at our next meeting.

Hello from the Wild Bunch! We will hold our first meeting for the new year on October 16^th from 10am until noon at Arnold ’s Wildlife. We have a very busy meeting planned. We will be signing up members, electing officers, discussing the years activities and taking a tour of the wild life center. We would like to invite anyone who is interested in learning about local and exotic wildlife to join us. We are an active club raising funds for wildlife rehabilitation, doing related crafts and much more. We look forward to seeing all of our returning members and welcoming our new members. See you there!

The Sharp Shooters met on September 23 at Mr. Sellers’ home. We had a great turn out of 33 members. We would like to thank the parents that came with their children. We discussed our plan of work for the year and appointed a nominating committee for officer elections. Elections will take place at next months meeting. We also talked about gun safety and upcoming gun shoots. We are really excited about this year and we have a lot of fun things planned. Our next meeting will be held on October 14^th at Mr. Sellers’ home. See you at 7:30pm .

Despite threats from the hurricane season, the Bits & Spurs 4-H club is off to a great start. Anyone who missed the first meeting may come to our next meeting on October 12^th at 6:30pm . This meeting will be held at Paula and D.R. Daniel’s home. For directions please call 763-8185. Members please remember to bring your lead rope. We will be learning about horse safety at our next meeting, including 4 different ways to tie our horse. We will also have a door prize drawing for the members that are present at the meeting. Taylor Lowe was the door prize winner for the September meeting. She won a Funfax horse and pony book. She was very happy with her prize, and her new book has many activities for her to do and read.

Bits & Spurs is planning a community service project for Dunklin Assisted Living residents. We plan to make and decorate horse cupcakes and distribute them. We are very excited, we plan to dress in western attire and sing songs to the residents when we deliver our cupcakes.

To all of our members new and old, I am glad you were able to join us and I hope to see you at the next meeting.

4-H members interested in participating in horse judging competitions contact the Extension Office at 763-6469 or Renee’ Mims at 561-324-3624

The Annual 4-H Fundraiser BBQ has been postponed. Tickets that have already been purchased will be honored on the new date. This date will be advertised when scheduled.

Fairpigs.com is paying a $500.00 add-on to any Grand Champion pig in the state of Florida purchased from fairpigs.com

If you have any questions, please feel free to call our office at (863) 763-6469.

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