CLOVER TALK

1. September 2013 Vernon 4-H • 4-H BACK TO SCHOOL DANCE • Are you ready to start a brand new year in 4-H? There is no better way than through the 4-H Back To School Dance! Get ready for some fun!! • 4-H DANCE 7TH – 12TH GRADES ONLY • SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21 • 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM • CELEBRATIONS – 3RD STREET – LEESVILLE • $5.00 PER PERSON • No doo rags, caps, hats, or any other head coverings, and no chains or laser lights! • Remember, School appropriate attire only! (NO UNIFORMS). No holey jeans or flip flops! This will be enforced! • No laser lights and NO GUM • No dirty dancing • You must have your purple or ivory 4-H membership card; you will need it to get through the door. You MUST be in 4-H to attend. NO GUESTS ALLOWED!!! • No elementary students allowed! • Concessions available, so bring extra change. • PARENTS ARE WELCOME!! • FOR SAFETY REASONS, ATTENDEES MUST BE PICKED UP BY PARENTS IN FRONT OF CELEBRATIONS, NOT ON SIDE STREETS!! 4-H BACK TO SCHOOL DANCE Are you ready to start a new year in 4-H? What better way than through the 4-H Dance! 4TH – 6TH GRADE ONLY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM CELEBRATIONS IN LEESVILLE $5.00 PER PERSON You must have a green membership card. You must be in 4-H to attend. NO GUESTS ALLOWED!! NO junior high or high school students allowed! NO hats, caps, doo rages, or other head coverings. NO chains or laser lights. Must be in school-appropriate clothes. You do NOT have to wear your uniform, but NO holes in your jeans, NO bare midriff shirts or flip flops. NO dirty dancing!! Bring extra money for concessions. PARENTS ARE WELCOME!! FOR SAFETY REASONS, ATTENDEES MUST BE PICKED UP BY PARENTS IN FRONT OF CELEBRATIONS, NOT ON SIDE STREETS!! CLOVERTALK • September • 2 Labor Day Holiday – No School • 10 Character Counts Teen Mentor Training • 14 Incrediball Tournament • 20 Woods Arson, Bash That Trash and 4-H • Salutes Our Military Posters Due – 4-H Office • 20 4-H Dance – 4th – 6th grade only • 4-H Dance – 7th – 12th grade only • 21 4-H Shooting Sports – 10:00 am • 23 Teen Leader Meeting – 7:00 pm Lion’s Camp • 8th Grade Angola Tour • 26 Parent/Teacher Conference – No School • WEST LOUISIANA FORESTRY FESTIVAL • 28 Pine Straw Stacking Contest – 9:00 am • Horse Show – 1:00 pm • Fair Entries taken – 8:00 am – 5:00 pm • 29 Fair Entries taken – 1:00 – 5:00 pm • October • 1 Woodsman Skills Contest – 5:30 pm • 2 West LA Forestry Festival Opens • All Livestock, Poultry & Rabbit entries MUST BE • IN THE BARN 5:00 – 8:00 pm • 3 Rodeo Parade – 4:00 pm Downtown Leesville • Big Dog Bull Roping – 7:00 pm • 4 Fair Day – No School • Pet Show – 9:00 am • Rabbit Show – 11:00 am • Poultry Show – 2:00 pm • October (cont’d) • 5 Level 1 Shooting Sports Training • West LA Forestry Festival Livestock Show – 10:00 am • Big Dog Bull Roping – 7:00 pm • 6-12 National 4-H Week • National Science Day • 11-13 4-H Teen Leader Cameron Exchange Trip • 4-H Shooting Sports – 10:00 am • 20-26 National Character Counts Week • 26 4-H Day with the Tigers – LSU Homecoming • 4-H Shooting Sports – 10:00 am • Teen Leader Meeting – 7:00 pm Lion’s Camp • 31-Nov 10 State Fair of Louisiana Livestock Show • ENROLLMENT CARD HINTS • Attention all 4-H members, leaders and parents!! It is very important to take your 4-H enrollment card seriously and to complete it as neatly as possible. With our large enrollment, we would appreciate your following the instructions listed below: • Print information neatly. • Complete all lines as indicated. • Where it asks for your club name, please write the name of your school (example: Leesville Jr.). • Select no more than TWO projects. If you mark more than two, you will get the first two you mark. If you wish to get more books later, you are welcome to request more. • Please, members if you have questions, do not hesitate to ask your parents, leaders, or call the 4-H Office at 239-3231. • Thanks for assisting in this matter! 4-H CLUB PLEDGE I Pledge My Head To Clearer Thinking, My Heart to Greater Loyalty, My Hands to Larger Service, and My Health to Better Living, for my Club, my Community, my Country, and my World. 4-H MOTTO “To Make The Best Better” 4-H COLORS Green and White EMBLEM Vernon Parish Extension Office P.O. Box 559 201 S. 3rd Street Leesville, LA 71446 (337) 239-3231 Office (337) 239-3232 Fax Ms. Kem: kjohnson@agcenter.lsu.edu Mr. Chad: chagan@agcenter.lsu.edu .

2. 4-H WOODS ARSON POSTER CONTEST Help us get the word out to STOP WOODS ARSON!!! Check with your leader for specific rules today. Make a poster about how we can Stop Woods Arson. These posters must be simple, use few words, and include a picture to express your point on 22” x 28” poster board. Prizes: First Place - $15.00, Second Place - $10.00, and Third Place - $5.00 in each category. All entries due in the 4-H Office no later than September 20th. Winning posters will be displayed at the West Louisiana Forestry Festival. Definition: Woods Arson is the deliberate, destructive, unauthorized burning of timberland. WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL AND 4-H! LIVESTOCK PROGRAM Did you ever want to show an animal? Now is the time of year to start thinking about showing livestock for next year. There are projects available for many types of animals: rabbits, poultry, horses, cattle, goats, sheep, and swine. Each of these projects requires a bit of planning ahead. Talk to your parents and contact Mr. Chad for more information at (337) 239-3231. FORESTRY FESTIVAL INFORMATION Please pay careful attention to the following schedule: All livestock (except pet show) will be entered on Wednesday night, October 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the livestock barn. All animals must be in the barn by 8:00 p.m. All other entries will be taken as in prior years, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 28 and from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 29. Clubs are encouraged to put together teams to participate in the third annual pine straw stacking contest to be held Saturday, September 28 at 9:00 a.m. CHARACTER COUNTS CONTINUES As the new school year begins, you will begin to see the Character Counts Programs running wild through the halls, in the classrooms, in the cafeteria, and in our general lives. We applaud each of you who have incorporated the six pillars of Character into your lives: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. To those of you who were teachers or mentors – AWESOME job!! To those of your who enjoyed the programs taught – AWESOME!! We hope that each of you will continue to help us spread the word this year as the 2013-2014 year begins! Character Counts training for our teen mentors will be held Tuesday, September 10th. Welcome back to school and back to 4-H here in Vernon Parish! Welcome also to all of our new members, leaders and principals! We look forward to an exciting year with lots of great activities and programs that promise to be fun and educational. We challenge each of you to get involved and to stay active. Remember, the more you put into 4-H, the more you will get out of it! We also challenge each of you to get your friends, family members, and peers involved. 4-H can offer many things to each: new friends, leadership skills, community service skills, trips, scholarships and much more. Look for an exciting year filled with workshops, contests, socials, community service projects, 4-H dances and so much more! So get involved today and help us to make 4-H in 2013-2014 the best year ever! Membership and participation in activities and events are open to all citizens without regard to race, color, gender, disability, religion, age, national origin or sexual orientation. ANGOLA TOUR FOR 8TH GRADERS Attention 8th graders! The first tour has been scheduled for Tuesday, September 24th! Each club has a quota of four participants. If you are interested in attending, contact your leader today! Cost is $15.00 per person, and the tour will include the Red Hat area, the Museum, a talk from an inmate, visiting a cell and more. SERVICE LEARNING/COMMUNITY SERVICE Vernon Parish is well known for their Service Learning and Community Service efforts! We want to applaud several of our clubs that are off to a great start with projects and activities! Over the coming months, we will share some of these great ideas! To begin, we would like to share the five parish-wide Service Learning projects and hope that you will choose (as a club or an individual) to get involved: 1) Soft drink tabs for Ronald McDonald House – share this with your schools, churches, youth groups, etc. Will collect for years to come! 2) Cystic Fibrosis – Skate-a-Long – Presidents Day 2014. 3) Relay for Life – We plan to create a Parish 4-H Team. So get your thinking caps on! 4) Back Pack Project – This project will collect backpacks and fill them with “kid friendly” foods to send home with needy children. 5) Military Project 4-H TEEN LEADER MEETING Attention all teens in 7th – 12th grades! You are invited to attend the first 2013-2014 4-H Teen Leader Meeting on Monday, September 23rd at 7:00 p.m. This “Get Acquainted” meeting will be held in the cafeteria of the Louisiana Lion’s Camp. Dues to join are $10.00 for the year and can be paid at the September or October meetings. The Vernon Parish 4-H Teen Leader Club is an awesome way to develop leadership and community service/service learning skills, learn about career and educational opportunities, and of course meet new people from across the parish and state! Hope to see you on the 23rd! Become a superhero and be a part of a great leadership team! RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE TAB CHALLENGE WOW!! We have collected over 1200 pounds of tabs for Ronald McDonald House! We kick off our Fall collection with tabs due on Friday, December 1st. A pizza party is on the line! Attention Leaders!! We have decided to up the stakes and offer points for the “Club of the Year” award for the collection on December 1st! NATIONAL 4-H WEEK OCTOBER 6-12 National 4-H Week is set to be observed across the nation during the week of October 6-12. During this week, 4-H members and leaders will be putting up banners, wearing green, making public service announcements, recruiting new members, raising the 4-H Flag, providing teachers and other supporters with treats, wearing 4-H pins and t-shirts and more. Help get the word out about 4-H!! We challenge each club to plan and coordinate activities to promote 4-H in your school and community. Let everyone know that 4-H is strong and proud here in Vernon Parish!!