May 2024

(published May 14, 2024)

All 4-H Club and Countywide Project Leaders, 4-H Event/Activity Chairpersons or Organizers: Contribute to the articles posted monthly by completing a short form and uploading your article or photos using link: https://forms.gle/xwa8JP9c49qDMAHq5

NOTE: Articles for the current monthly newsletter, must be submitting by 2 pm. on the Monday before. Newsletter is published on the 2nd Tuesday of the month. Any photos submitted with youth, must be identified for photo release.

You are invited to attend the Ozaukee County 4-H Leaders Association meeting on May 16 from 7:30pm-9:00pm at the Ozaukee County Fairgrounds, Pavilion.

The Ozaukee County 4-H Leaders Association members encompass Ozaukee County 4-H members, volunteers and leaders. We work together to expand and enrich the 4-H Experience in the Ozaukee County 4-H Program. Together we plan countywide 4-H activities, events, and fundraisers.

Meeting agenda can be found on the Leaders page of the website.

We look forward to seeing you at the May meeting!

Fair volunteer sign up time is upon us! The Ozaukee County 4-H Leaders Association Board wants to share information with you again this year:

Thank you for all your participation in making the fair a success!  Any additional questions, please refer to your club’s general leader. 

Please contact the specific coordinator listed in the sign-up link for questions pertaining to each area. Click on link below for sign-up forms.

- Submitted by the Ozaukee County 4-H Leaders Association Board

The Ozaukee County 4-H Program has a new Instagram account! Be sure to follow us at ozaukeecounty4h and get all sorts of great Ozaukee County 4-H news!

PS: We still have our current Ozaukee County 4-H Facebook account as well...

Note: If you currently follow the old ozco4h Instagram account, it will soon be removed.

This is a friendly reminder that the Spring meeting for Club General Leaders is scheduled for Wednesday May 29th from 6:00pm-7:00pm. The meeting will be in the Auditorium at the County Administration Building at 121 W. Main Street, Port Washington. During this time, we will have an opportunity to exchange ideas, share important updates, reflect on how things have been going in this 4-H year, and plan for the future. Some important policy updates will also be included. All 4-H Club General Leaders are welcome to attend. See you there!

Any questions or to RSVP to the event, please contact Colleen at colleen.machut@wisc.edu or call the Extension office at 262-284-8288.

- Thank you! Colleen Machut, 4-H Program Educator

Are you in the first year of 4-H? Wondering more about 4-H at the County Fair? How to enter projects at Fair? Plan to attend the New Family Fair Orientation (NFFO)!

Are you a current 4-H member or 4-H adult that would like to volunteer to help at the orientation night? Many hands are needed to ensure a smooth event and to help give our new 4-H families a positive experience and prepare them for the upcoming County Fair!

Sign-up for a volunteer area using link below! NFFO Volunteer Sign-up Link

Attention 4-H Camp Families and Adventure Camp Families: Plan to attend Camp Orientation coming up on May 30th!

Area Animal Science Days (AASD) is a series of day-long events held around the state in June where 4-H youth in the beef, dairy, horse, sheep, and swine projects increase their decision-making skills and knowledge of animals through judging and grading experiences.  

Registration is now open through June 3, 2024 through 4HOnline.

- Shawano County: June 18, 2024

- Green County: June 20, 2024

For more information and registration details, please visit the Area Animal Science Days webpage!

Join us for a FUNdraiser at the Cedarburg Strawberry Festival June 22-23, 2024 AND plan ahead for the Wine and Harvest Festival September 21 -22, 2024 .

This is an easy and fun way to raise money for Ozaukee County 4-H. Cashiers and lemonade servers are needed for both days. The 4-H booth is #120 located on Washington Ave, south of Bridge Road by Ittie Bittie Piggies.

I'm looking for a co-chair to work with this year that would be interested in continuing this
fundraiser next year. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Sue Dowe at sadowe1966@gmail.com.

- Submitted by Sue Dowe, 4-H Volunteer Event Coordinator

HAUNT UPCOMING EVENTS AT A GLANCE - Get these dates on your family calendar now and help make Haunt 2024 possible!  4-H Adults and Youth are needed to make this event possible.

Haunt Training Dates: September 27-30th – Times TBD

Haunt Event Dates: October 11 & 12, 18 & 19, 25 & 26

Please watch for sign-up genius related to all of these events coming in the near future so you can commit to help and we are sure we can move forward!

We will be having a Haunt Clothing order this year. You can order short sleeve t-shirts, long sleeve t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, and crewneck sweatshirts. You can also order “I survived The Haunt” short sleeve t-shirts. The order form can be found under the 'Countywide Activities' section on the Forms page on the 4-H website. Clothing orders are due June 11th.

- Submitted by Deanna Lee, 4-H Volunteer Haunt Committee Member

Reminders & Mark Your Calendars!

Wildlife & Woods Series: May 22. Join WI 4-H for virtual opportunities to explore Wildlife & Woods! This virtual series is open for youth in grades K-5, their parents/guardians, and adult leaders. Register today to learn about Wildlife & Woods! Registration through 4HOnline. You may participate in as many hour long session as you’d like!

Wildlife & Woods: Careers & Competition Series: May 27. These virtual sessions are suggested for middle school through high school youth and their families. The sessions will be interactive and will include guest speakers talking about careers, information about wildlife and forestry competitions and resources available to learn more. Registration through 4HOnline. Questions? Email wi4hwildlifeforestry@gmail.com

Leaders Association Kwik Trip Fundraiser (On-going). The Leaders Association is sponsoring a Kwik Trip fundraiser consisting of $25.00 Gift Cards and 5 Count Ultimate Car Wash Cards ($36.00 each). Gift cards can be purchased by contacting your Club General Leader for your order and pick-up. Please contact 4-H Volunteer Brenda Mueller at 920-980-9250 with any questions!

Adults must be approved volunteers to be actively leading projects or working with 4-H youth. If you are not a current approved volunteer this year, please complete your enrollment, screening or trainings NOW. Questions about your enrollment or status? Log into your 4HOnline account to check status OR call the Extension office at 262-284-8288.

Harbinger Newsletter Published Monthly. The 4-H Harbinger newsletter will be published monthly on the second Tuesday of each month. Please adjust your 4-H club, group, and project announcement schedules as needed. 

The 4-H Leader Association sponsored the Pinewood Derby Build Day, Physics Day, and a Race Day! This year the events were moved to April 2024. Each day bought renewed excitement as youth prepared for race day. Thank you to the volunteers and participants that attended Build Day, Physics Day, and Race Day.

Physics Day participants explored and applied science and engineering principles to test their cars and prepare for race day.

The Pinewood Derby Race Day was a fun day as always! A special thank you to those that come back year after year to help with this event. We had several new volunteers this year to help the events run smoothly. Everyone that contributes in any way to these events, you are all truly appreciated!

A total of 49 raced this year and ages ranged from 3 years old to adult!

- Submitted by Sue Dowe, 4-H Volunteer Event Coordinator

What a wonderful day we had at the volleyball tournament! We had combined teams and all played great. There were 3 teams for the Juniors and 4 teams for the Seniors.

The  tournament started at 9:00am and was finished by noon. There was a lot of playing time in practice and games.

A huge shoutout to the adult referees who volunteered: Kevin Riemer and Renee Hempelman.

Thank you to all the adult helpers: Jan Dommer, Becky Assmann, Mary Hamm, Dorothy Parchim, Tracey Hahn and Samantha Schneider, and anyone else I may have overlooked.

Junior teams consisted of three teams: Waubeka Wobblers, a combined team of Knellsville/ Lindenwood/Cloverleaf, and Holy Cross. First place was K/L/C, second place Holy Cross, and third place Waubeka Wobblers.

Seniors teams consisted of four teams and results were: First place Cloverleaf, second place Knellsville, third place Wonder Squad (aka Jay road), and fourth place Holy Cross.

Please plan on joining us for next year.  

- Submitted by Lisa Spangler, 4-H Volunteer Event Coordinator

The 2024 Ozaukee County 4-H Dog Show was held on Saturday May 11, 2024 in the Ozaukee County Fairgrounds Horse Barn. Congratulations goes out to all the Ozaukee County 4-H Dog Project members that competed at the show and completed a successful year of dog training! 

A special congratulations goes out to the following youth who placed in the top honors: 

- Top Showman: Olivia L., Lindenwood 4-H Club

- Highest Scoring Dog: Jorja H., Knellsville 4-H Club

- Second Highest Scoring Dog: Claire M., Covered Bridge 4-H Club

Thank you to all the parents and youth that helped with the set up and the take down of the Dog Show.  Your help was greatly appreciated! We look forward to seeing you at Summer Training!

- Submitted by Alycia Kringel, Dog Project Leader

The 165th Ozaukee County Fair is approaching, July 31-August 4, 2024. Judging for many non-animal projects will take place ahead of the Fair.

4-H Clothing Revue: Tuesday, June 4th, starting at 6:00pm @ the Ozaukee Pavilion South (4-H Clothing Review exhibitors must enter in ShoWorks by May 31, 2024).

All other fair entries must be registered by July 1, 2024. No exceptions.

Non-Animal Pre-Fair Judging: Thursday, July 25th and Friday, July 26th from 1:00-6:00pm in the Expo Center (Curling Building).

2024 Judging Schedules are posted on the Ozaukee County Fair website. Please look them over carefully so as not to miss your project judging date and time. Please note that project release times have changed. Also, there is an additional non-animal project pickup date on Monday, August 5th from 5:00-6:00pm. Here’s the link to the Judging Schedules: https://www.ozaukeecountyfair.com/judging-schedule

NEW THIS YEAR… Face-to-Face Judging is an important educational component to 4-H Project Work. 4-H Exhibitors that are absent from 4-H Face-to-Face Judging must complete the Project Explanation Form for Absent 4-H Exhibitors found at https://www.ozaukeecountyfair.com/4-h-open-class-school-art-entries.

*Please be aware that for exhibitors that are absent from judging, 4-H project awards will be lowered by one full placing, therefore they will not be eligible for special awards.

- Submitted by Jody Brzezinski, Ozaukee County Fair Secretary

The Ozaukee County 4-H Foundation announces the recipients of the 2024 Scholarship winners!

The Foundation has a new named scholarship: The Jim Melichar Memorial Scholarship. We extend our gratitude to the Melichar family for their donation to the Foundation; we are honored to have a named scholarship in memory of Jim.

Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of these fine youth at the Ozaukee County Fair on Sunday, August 4th, at 12:30 p.m., with ice cream to follow.

- Submitted by Jaime Jacobson, Ozaukee County 4-H Foundation Coordinator

The Ozaukee County 4-H Foundation extends its gratitude to all the businesses, corporations, individuals, and partnerships that contributed to the Foundation in 2023. These generous donations enable the Foundation to offer scholarships to 4-H youth and adult volunteers!

Please visit the Ozaukee County 4-H Foundation webpage to read more about the generous 2023 donors!

A round of applause to Amy Jentges, former Ozaukee County 4-H youth member, and Elaine H. from Knellsville 4-H Club, for being recently named a WI 4-H Foundation scholarship recipient!

The Wisconsin 4-H Foundation awards scholarships annually to outstanding Wisconsin students pursuing higher education. Scholarship recipients are selected based on demonstrated personal growth, development and leadership, academic performance and future educational goals. This year over $20,000 in scholarships were awarded.

Read more about the scholarship recipients at https://wis4hfoundation.org/4-h-youth/scholarships

The Wisconsin 4-H Foundation is proud to announce the Senior Spotlight initiative. They are looking to recognize and highlight the incredible Wisconsin 4-H members who are aging out of the Wisconsin 4-H program. This is a great opportunity for 4-H graduates to reflect on their 4-H experience and be recognized for all their hard work. 

Graduating 4-H members can participate in the Senior Spotlight by completing the form at: https://bit.ly/WI4HFndSeniorSpotlight

This form and info can also be found on WI 4-H Foundation website at: https://bit.ly/4be1K0s

Submissions will be accepted May 1 - June 30, 2024. Anyone who participates could have their story featured on The Wisconsin 4-H Foundation’s Facebook and Instagram pages and our website. They will also be entered into a random drawing for a prize from the Wisconsin 4-H Foundation. 

Reminder that the online 4-H calendar is the best way to stay on top of the many countywide activities going on throughout the 4-H year. Bookmark it here!

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