We invite you to catch up on the impactful work our Extension Iron County educators and staff provide to the community in the form of this monthly newsletter! Below are highlights from each of our program areas.

Sparks are those activities that 4-H members participate in, that keep them coming back to the 4-H program and provide new experiences and opportunities to learn new skills.

The Iron County 4-H Green Team, one of three chartered clubs in Iron County, holds their meetings on the second Monday of each month. Extension Iron County 4-H Youth Development Educator and Club Leader, Neil Klemme leads the club on an organizational level and encourages youth members to take an active part in decision making and exploration of their "Sparks."

Green Team members elect their officers every year and this club is truly led by its youth members. Each meeting ends with a one-hour lesson on a 4-H project that members have decided they would like to learn more about or on a community service project that they have agreed on. The club also regularly bakes or learns how to prepare a meal at their club meetings. This month, members headed to Saint Maud's to learn to carve wood, using hand tools so that even the youngest members of the club could participate. Leadership, community engagement, cooking and food, crafts and fine arts, are all examples of "Sparks" that Green Team members are currently engaging in. 

In addition to that, youth members have been taking full advantage of the statewide events and opportunities available to them for the past several years. Examples include traveling to Fall Forum, a statewide 4-H conference that allows youth to learn more about what 4-H looks like around the state and Summer Academy in Madison, where participants sign up for a career-focused tract and get to experience life on UW Madison's Campus. Members of the Green Team have also taken advantage of state and national travel experiences to Huntsville, AL for Space Camp, Washington DC for National Conference, Atlanta, GA for 4-H National Congress, and traveled the East Coast to learn more about our country’s history. These experiences create the “Spark” to travel and the Green Team is taking full advantage of what 4-H offers.

If you would like to learn more about participating in the Iron County 4-H program, feel free to contact 4-H Youth Development Educator, Neil Klemme at 715-561-2695 or neil.klemme@wisc.edu. 

Iron County 4-H Leaders Association Meeting
Wednesday, March 19 - 5:30 pm
Location: Iron County Courthouse

Penokee Range Livestock Club Meeting
Sunday, March 23 - 9:00 am
Location: Hurley School 

Camp Staff Interviews
Saturday, March 29 - Time TBD
Location: Iron County Courthouse

Iron County Summer Youth Camp Registration Opens
Friday, April 4

Iron County Outpost Camp Registration Opens
Monday, April 7

Adventurers of the North 4-H Club Meeting
Sunday, April 13 - 1:00 pm
Location: Saxon Community Center

Iron County Green Team Meeting
Monday, April 14  - 5:30 pm
Location: Iron County Courthouse

Ashland, Bayfield, and Iron County FoodWIse Educator, Deborah Leonard  partnered with the Hurley Head Start program during the Wisconsin Chili Lunch event on Thursday, February 27. 

The class enjoyed a homemade lunch consisting of chili with beans, corn muffins, honey butter, and strawberries! Students helped the school cook, Ms. Marcia, put together ingredients for the corn muffins and participated in another hands on activity where they sorted through 16 varieties of beans and glue them to a picture of a bowl of chili. 

Want to stay up to date on what the Ashland, Bayfield, Iron County FoodWIse team is up to? Be sure to check out their monthly FoodWIse newsletter, designed in partnership with Extension Iron County Office Manager, Rebecca Holm. 

Join FoodWIse for their spring StrongBodies Virtual Strength Training series, starting on Tuesday, April 1! 

Strongbodies has been shown to increase strength, muscle mass, and bone density. Classes are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 - 10:20 am through June 26 and will include progressive resistance training, balance training, and flexibility exercises. 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact FoodWIse Coordinator (Ashland, Bayfield, Iron County), Stephanie Bakker at 715-682-7017. 

January and February were dedicated to Community Development Educator Joseph Miller’s first major programming effort in entrepreneurship. An 8-week program, the inaugural boot camp covered fundamental concepts of business development and entrepreneurship and included startup stories from local businesses, business planning exercises, public speaking and pitch delivery practice, and resources in our area. Participants were in various stages of the startup cycle—from ideation (“just thinking about it…”) to established—and all participants came from Gogebic County. 

It was a great start to what is expected to bean annual program to support Iron County businesses and entrepreneurs. Miller learned a lot about what our area entrepreneurs might find useful and will work to improve programming efforts for 2026.  

This summer, Extension Iron County will partner with local organizations and artists to bring a Zine Workshop Series to the Iron County Farmers Market. A Zine (short for magazine) is a simple, self-published booklet of art or information, typically printed on a single sheet of paper.
The workshops will highlight the inherent value of creative self-expression, DIY publishing, and information-sharing in a fun and informal setting. Placemaking—a collaborative process in which members of a community transform local spaces into meaningful places based on local needs, culture, and history—will be the overall goal of the workshop series.  

Participants will use written and/or visual storytelling techniques to describe features or assets of Iron County that resonate with them. Zines will be scanned, cataloged, archived, and shared with the community.

The newly formed Iron County Economic Development Committee has applied to a statewide Extension program called Wisconsin Rural Entrepreneurial Venture (REV). WI REV is a proven entrepreneurial development program designed to advance small town economies through a targeted business approach. If selected for the program’s second cohort, the City of Hurley will gain access to REV resources and a trained community coach for up to three years. 

Using a “grow your own” model, REV program outcomes include increased prosperity measured through tax revenue and school enrollment, better small and new business support systems, increased diversity in leadership and community entrepreneurial activity, and increased resilience demonstrated through economic diversity. The next cohort will be selected this spring with the program beginning in June. 

The Iron County Mobile Food Pantry is a longstanding partnership between Extension Iron County, Iron County Human Services, community volunteers, and Second Harvest Northland. 

Volunteers take pride in their work and are there, rain, snow, or shine on the last Monday of the month from 12:00-1:00 pm (excluding May and occasionally December, when the mobile food pantry takes place one week early due to the holidays).

Pick up is simple: participants receive their food as they drive through the Iron County Recycling Center parking lot in Hurley, without ever having to leave their vehicle.

For income eligibility and information on how to enroll for this program, visit the Food Security Resources page on our website!

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An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title VI, Title IX, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requirements.