2010 North Carolina 4-H Photography Contest

This year’s new category will be 4-H Family.

Please submit your entries to the Alleghany County Extension Office by May 1, 2010 with completed ENTRY FORM. If we have enough interest we will display your work your work during the month of May prior to sending to Raleigh. Please note that entries for the 2010 contest must be postmarked NO LATER THAN June 8, 2010 to Raleigh and should be original images created from June 2009 to June 2010.

Winning entries on the state level will be displayed at 4-H Congress in July. The purpose of this exhibition is to provide a showcase of 4-H members' photographic accomplishments. After Congress, the winning photos will be displayed at meetings and events throughout the year. Winning entries from past years can be viewed online at http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/4-HPhoto/index.html

Contest categories this year include our standard "4-H in Action" and "Nature's Beauty" categories, with a new category this year of "4-H Family." Each category will be divided into a Junior (Ages 9-12) and Senior (Ages 13-19) division.

Each youth may submit ONE entry per category. The same image may be entered in more than one category (if it applies) as long as separate copies of the image are provided.

For more information, including full rules, entry forms and winning entries from previous years, please visit the following:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agcomm/4-HPhoto/index.html . If you have questions, please contact the Extension Office at 336-372-5597 or e-mail Amy at amy_lucas@ncsu.edu.

Host Families Needed!!!

Summer 2010
Host a youth from Japan!

Open your home to an exchange student and open your lives to the world. Families will have an opportunity to host Japanese exchange students, ages twelve through sixteen, for four weeks this summer, July 23 – August 19, 2010.

The youth will be visiting the United States as part of a 4-H Exchange Program. You don’t need to be involved with 4-H to host. You just need a willingness to share your lives and your friendship with a young person from another country.

The program is open to families who have a child within two years of the same age and of the same gender to the Japanese youth. One Japanese visitor will be matched to a family based on the host sibling’s gender, age, and interests. The homestays are only for a month during the summer, but the experience will last a lifetime!

There are also opportunities to host adult chaperones for 2- 4 weeks. Families who host chaperones are not required to have children in the home.
For more information and an application visit
http://randolph.ces.ncsu.edu/4hprogram/exchange/index.php

4-H Target Shooting Sports Volunteer Workshop

When: April 9-11

Registration Deadline: March 15th

In the past there has been some interest in starting a shooting sports club within Alleghany 4-H. To do this, an adult volunteer must be certified through the 4-H Target Shooting Sports Program. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old. This is a hands-on workshop, participants will be required to pass a written test in their discipline and required to teach portions of their curriculum as part of a practicum test. Participants should be familiar with the shooting disciplines they choose; they will not be teaching participants to shoot but rather how to use shooting sports as a youth development tool.

The Spring 2010 North Carolina 4-H Target Shooting Sports Workshop will be held April 9-11, 2010 at Millstone 4-H Camp, near Ellerbe, NC. The workshop is designed to equip adult volunteers to work with youth in 4-H Target Shooting Sports Clubs. Participants will have the opportunity to share ideas and information while enhancing their skills in teaching youth through the use of the National 4-H Shooting Sports curriculum materials.

A total of 75 participants will be selected for the workshop - no more than 15 in each of the following disciplines: shotgun, hunting, archery, muzzleloading, and rifle (note: accepted applicants will participate in only one discipline throughout the entire weekend long training).

If selected, Alleghany 4-H will cover the registration fee. Applications are due to the Extension Office by Monday, March 15. Click HERE for an application. For more information contact the Extension Office at (336) 372-5597 or e-mail Amy at amy_lucas@ncsu.edu.

3rd Annual Hexapod Haiku Challenge

Anyone is eligible to submit haiku/senryu/haiga/tanka/other short poems. The NCSU Insect Museum will accept up to three – or up to fifteen if you’re a Friend of the Museum (only $10 for kids and students!) – original entomological haiku per poet. Your haiku should be submitted by 11:59pm, March 20th (first day of spring) either…

1.as an email to ncsuinsects@gmail.com OR
2.as tweets (be sure to start each tweet with @ncsuinsects #HexapodHaiku) OR
3.as 3×5 cards (one per haiku; cards will not be returned) mailed to the following address:

Hexapod Haiku
NCSU Insect Museum
Department of Entomology
North Carolina State University
Box 7613
Raleigh, NC 27695 USA

Haiga can be submitted as photographs, scans, or via other means as necessary. For more information about haiku/haiga or other general rules and information click here.

There will be three awards with prizes: 1) best in show, 2) runner-up, 3) best entry from poet under the age of 13. We also have honorable mention categories that change every year depending on the submissions we get (most traditional, funniest, best IPM-themed poem, etc.)

March Clover News

Hey everyone!! Check out the March edition of the Clover News HERE.

2010 North Carolina Junior Dairy Day

Who: Youth ages 9-18

When: Saturday, March 20 10am - 3pm

Where: Iredell County Extension Office

Cost: Free

You are invited to the 2010 North Carolina Junior Dairy Day on Saturday, March 20, at the Iredell County Extension Center. This event will give you hands-on experience with dairy youth activities, such as judging, showing, quiz bowl, and skillathon. You do not have to own cattle or have previous dairy experience to participate. We encourage anyone interested to come learn about the dairy activities and what they have to offer.

Transportation and lunch will be provided. We will be leaving the Extension Office at 8:30 and should return by 4:30. You must register by Wednesday, March 10. Register by calling the Extension Office at (336) 372-5597

Re-Connect with your 4-H friends!

The NC 4-H Alumni and Friends Association invites 4-H alumni, age 19-25, to a weekend at Betsy Jeff Penn 4-H Camp on April 9-10. You do not have to be a member of the Alumni Association to come.

We’ll spend Friday evening re-connecting and scheming about how we can stay in touch with one another and with 4-H! In exchange for our low, registration rate of only $15, we’ll be participating in service projects around the camp on Saturday morning.

It’s sure to be a great weekend of networking and service to our favorite youth organization! We can only accommodate 40 people. Registration due date is March 31, and it’s first come, first served, so don’t delay!!

To register for this event click HERE!!

Spring Plant Sale

We are currently taking orders for the 2010 Alleghany 4-H Plant Sale.

The following types of plants will be available to purchase:
**Blackberries
**Raspberries
**Grapes
**Horseradish
**Blueberries
**Strawberries
**Cherry Trees
**Apple Trees

Click here for order form. For full plant descriptions click HERE. All orders and payment must be received by March 15th. The tentative delivery date of the plants is Friday, April 9th from 9am to 5pm. We ask that you mark your calendars with this date, but please call our office (336-372-5597) to be sure the delivery date hasn't changed.

*** (2-19) Entry updated with plant descriptions and order form changes ***

Form Updates!!!

It time again to update you annual enrollment, medical release and media release forms!!! You must do this before you can participate in any 4-H activity or program in 2010. We can notarize medical release forms here in the office at no charge.

Enrollment Form

Medical Release Form

Media Release

Feel free to contact us at (336) 372-5597 if you have any questions.

Youth Poultry Club Meeting Postponed

The Youth Poultry Club Meeting scheduled for February 22nd has been POSTPONED until March 25th. If you have questions or would like more information about the Youth Poultry Club, contact Mr. Stoneman at (336) 200-3799 or Amy Lucas at (336) 372-5597. The club is open to all youth ages 5 and up interested in learning about care and showing of poultry.