June Updates

Happy summer everyone! I hope that everyone is enjoying the nice break so far!

Jeanette and I attended the Farm to Table day on June 6^th in Philadelphia. While we were there, we taught children how to make seed necklaces. Each received a plastic bag, a cotton ball, a bean seed. The cotton ball was placed in water and the kids put that in addition to the seed in a plastic bag. To allow the seed to germinate, holes were punched in the bag to give kids the opportunity to wear the bags around their necks! Jeanette and I also talked with other 4-Hers in Philadelphia county about our roles as a council.

On June 12^th, the council had its first face-to-face (outside of an event) in the Ferguson Building at Penn State Main! During this meeting, we described such topics as our upcoming New Mexico trip, Ag Progress Days, State Days presentation/ SLI, and of course, 2010 Leadership Conference! We selected the awesome color of bright red for our t shirts! We are also working on an awesome opening ceremony presentation for State Days that all of you will be looking forward to!

Have an awesome summer and we’ll see you at State Days!

Alex Stepnoski
2009 Pennsylvania 4-H State Vice President of Conference

It's Summertime...

Hello everyone,
Summer is in full swing and I hope you are enjoying your vacation from school, college, or are spending time with your family. Since last talking with you, I’ve been taking part in many 4-H activities.
On June 6 I had the opportunity to visit a part of PA that I’ve never been to before…the suburbs of Philadelphia. For a small town girl like me, this was a neat experience, and Alex had to laugh at my mom and me for being amazed that they still have ice cream trucks and they aren’t just in the movies (which is the only place I’ve seen them)! Anyway, we attended Fox Chase Farm for their first annual Farm-City Day. Here Alex and I made Seed Necklaces with the kids (check out the June edition of the Clover Clipboard newsletter at ps4-hc.cas.psu.edu/ to learn how to make one). We also had a chance to talk with members and club leaders in that area.
On June 8, I participated in Snyder County’s Presentation Night by doing a PowerPoint on “4-H Opportunities”. The following night I visited the Kreamer “All For One” community 4-H club, which was great because that was the club that gave me my start in 4-H. Later that week on the 12th, Council held a Face-to-Face meeting at PSU. We discussed our plans for State Days and SLC as well as our fast approaching trip to New Mexico. We also celebrated Dr. Bruce’s last day as our advisor.
My club, Backyard Bunnies, held a meeting on June 17th at a local park. For most of the meeting, the club aided the Checkout the Silver Project by counting all the soda tabs they collected so far. The total came to 23,360 tabs! Great job guys! Don’t forget to keep up your collection as well!
The Central Susquehanna Counties, made up of Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, and Union counties, attended Camp Brule June 21-26. As a counselor, I helped with the Rocketry workshop, was a team leader, and helped with the various camp activities. I even took part in a “Cot Circle”, a tradition for the last couple years where counselors sleep with their cots in a circle around the fire ring rather than in their tent. Actually my tent site had a Cot “Corner” because only two of us were brave enough to do it! I met some great kids, and I can’t wait to go back next year!

“Remember when you see someone at the top of a mountain, they didn’t fall there.”- Unknown

Where has this month gone!?

Hello Hello Hello!
Where has the month of June gone to? For me this has been a busy month doing activities for State Council. On June 12th we had a face-to-face meeting of the team at University Park. We talked about so many things, including the up and coming trip to New Mexico. Saturday the 20th I helped the extension educator from my county, Carol Schurman, with a booth at "Stand For Children" at Mack Park in Indiana. The theme was nature so the kids that visited us got to make a bird feeder out of sticks, warn, and cheerio's and get to try to match the names of birds to their pictures. Carol and I also had a 50 second spot on the local radio station where I got to introduce myself as a State Council member. That next Monday, the 22nd, was our county presentation night and I helped as a Council member to run the score sheets and present the awards. This was my June as a Pennsylvania State Council member. Thanks for keeping up with what our team is doing and stay tuned for what will come in the next few months!!

Laura Pifer

Summertime fun!

Hello everyone!
I hope each of you are enjoying your summer now that school has come to a close. It is extremely hard for me to believe that one month has already flown by at record speed! I understand that there are a million and one activities to do this summer, but please take the time to check with your local 4-H educator to find 4-H leadership opportunities available to you such as State Achievement Days at Pennsylvania State University from July 28th to 30th. At events such as State Achievement Days, you not only have the ability to learn about new techniques in your project area,but you also get to listen to experienced speakers and spend time with your friends while exploring Penn State University! What could be better than that!
Your State Officer Team has been busy yet again putting the finishing touches on State Achievement Days, planning for State Leadership Conference’s “License to Lead”, promoting your state service project, and preparing to represent the Pennsylvania 4-H program in New Mexico! On July 12th, we will depart at 4:00 A.M. for New Mexico where we will assist the New Mexico State 4-H Council throughout their State Conference and then return back to Pennsylvania on July 17th.
As I come to a close, I ask to you to please take the time to look into further opportunities within this great state, every event is packed with valuable tools and new ideas which will come in useful for you or your local 4-H program. I also request that you keep collecting pop tabs, gift cards, and/or canned goods for the state service project, Food Checkout Day and if you have any questions at all please feel free to contact me at j.lehman09@gmail.com. Last but not least I would like to leave you with the quote I have promised, I hope you find them as useful as I do.

“The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can.” -Robert Cushing

Enjoy your summer and I'll see you at State Achievement Days!
Jessica Lehman
PA 4-H SC Vice President of Internal Affairs

Summer is Flying By

WOW, I can’t believe how fast my first month of summer flew by! It seems like just last week I watched some of my best friends turn their tassels and say good bye to their high school years. As I sit down today to write this blog I have tons of things spinning through my head. I will head out to board an airplane for the first time in my life Monday morning at 1:30 am! I am traveling the whole way to Washington State as part of my county 4-H exchange trip. When I joined 4-H I never thought one of my opportunities was going to be traveling across the country on a set of wings.
Our council team held our first face to face meeting at Penn State University on the June 12th where we all received shocking news. Some changes are being made to the 4-H calendar year. This means the time new officers would take office would no longer make sense. Therefore, the 2008 and 2009 are invited to extend their terms and serve for six months, until July, as a new formed council. Emotions of both excitement and confusion took over. Being on the council is a lot of work but serving for another 6 months would be an honor! At this meeting the team also said goodbye to Dr. Bruce, one of our great fearless advisors.
Our council team is also working hard on a great State Days event! We’re all “Revved up” and hope to “Rev” you guys up as well! Good luck to everyone as they take part in their activities and I look forward to seeing everyone there!
Continue to have a safe summer and good luck to everyone in their livestock summer shows!
Your State Secretary,
Christy Lambert