Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving PA 4-H!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and didn't eat too much! I know I did with four dinners, three on Thursday alone!

On November 9, I attended the Snyder County Acheivement Night. I received a number of awards throughout the night including Outstanding 4-Her, Super Club (with my club, Backyard Bunnies), the county 4-H Scholarship, and recogniton for my participation in events. It was exciting to go home for this and see members in my local 4-H clubs again. I even surprised my family by coming home for this.

On November 19, we held a Conference Call where we discussed more planning for SLC. We also discussed Farm Show and our involvement with it. Friday night we will attend the Governor's Dinner, Saturday morning Opening Ceremonies, and various demonstrations throughout the week. The whole Council will conduct the Biofuel Blast experiment with the public while individual members will do demonstrations about their projects.

During my Thanksgiving break, I counted over 18,000 soda tabs that will be taken to SLC for our service project to benefit the Ronald McDonald House. Please remember to save your soda tabs and bring them to SLC...REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!!!!! So be sure to sign up!

Countdown to SLC: 60 DAYS!

In the spirit of 4-H,
Jeanette Blank
State Council Reporter/Historian

"There is always something you can be thankful for."

November has come and gone

Hello to everyone,

It is so hard to believe that tomorrow will be December and then this year is over. The State Leadership Conference is getting closer! This month was a busy one for myself as an officer. On November 21st was the Indiana County 4-H Achievement Night and Carol asked me to speak since I am the first member from our county to be on the State Council. I told the members and their families who were present what all we do as a council, the different things we have done over the past year, and what is being planed for the months to come. I also encouraged everyone there to ask questions at the end of the night to learn more about becoming future council members themselves. Not to my surprise, some of the members did approach me and a few are seriously interested for future councils. Even some of the parents wanted to know more about us. I am so happy that I can represent 4-H in the way that I do.

My hometown of Punxsutawney has an annual "Home For The Holidays" Parade and this year there were two 4-H floats. Great job to the Gateway Horse club and the livestock club that put together their wonderful displays and showed our town who we are. Seeing all of you walking and participating in the parade made me proud of you and our amazing organization. It was a great idea and it showed all of those watching the parade what 4-H is and that it is not just sitting in the barn and showing at the fair.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and to see you all in January at the State Leadership Conference. Bye for now!!

Laura Pifer

November Updates

Greetings Pennsylvania 4-Hers!!

I hope that you all had a good Thanksgiving! I went to Arizona to visit my family and what a temperature change! It was quite an exciting opportunity, especially since I have never been on the west coast during the holiday season!

For the month of November, I attended some club meetings and spoke about the upcoming Leadership Conference in addition to reminding them to collect soda tabs for the “Check out the Silver” campaign for the Ronald McDonald House. Also held on the 18th of this month was a conference call where we discussed leadership conference planning/setting up and farm show.

Our next council event is the Farm Show Governor’s Dinner in January and shortly after is a hotel walk through… and before you know it—the 2010 Leadership Conference will be hitting the Penn Stater-- and there is still time to register for this year's conference held Jan. 29-31, 2010!!

We look forward to seeing you around!

Have a good holiday!

Alex Stepnoski
State Council VPC

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble, Gobble,
I hope everyone has enjoyed their fall as the weather begins to become cold again and our winter months are soon to be here! I hope everyone enjoys the time off from school and time with their family. Also good luck and safe times go out to all those hunters!
Our council has had an exciting month once again as we get ready for SLC which is closer than we can ever imagine! We have some great activities planned and can not wait to share them with you all! I am both excited and sad about this event since it is the end of the 2009 council teams year. I look forward to bonding as a new team for next year though. We have also been busy planning for the 2010 Farm Show. I will have a busy schedule since this year I will be helping out with the State Council along with Showing a market goat and square dancing with my county 4-H club. If you see me around Farm Show don't hesitate to come and talk! No matter how many events I attend I still get excited to see Pa 4-H at it's best and all of our active members in action!
In the next few months please remember to keep saving those pop tabs and dont forget to register for the 2010 State Leadership Conference theres still room!
Until next time your State Secretary,
Christy Lambert

Happy Thanksgiving PA 4-H!

Happy Thanksgiving PA 4-H!
If fall is going anywhere as fast for you as it is for me, then it's flying by! I can't believe that it's almost time for State Leadership Conference and my first semester of college is almost over! I hope this finds you well and ready to enjoy some time off school with your family.
On October 31st we had a meeting in State College, PA where we discussed more planning for State Leadership Conference of the opening ceremonies and Farm Show in January. During Farm Show in January we will be attending the Governor's Dinner on Friday night and giving a bio-fuel presentation on Saturday. Also at our October meeting we were able to dress up in Halloween costumes and we had a special guest - State Council's former advisor, Dr. Bruce and her beautiful little girl Ainslee stopped by to say hello to everyone!
Reminder: STATE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!!! Register as soon as you can and be prepared to receive your "License to Lead" on January 30-February 1, 2010. This year there are some great workshops planned ranging from Team building to a workshop about how to teach a workshop. Other workshops also include marketing, stress management, creativity, role modeling, delegation, and wellness in leadership, just to name a few!
Also, please keep collecting your soda tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. These tabs are very easy to collect, but they can make such a large difference for families who need to stay at this great place while their child receives treatment at Geisinger Medical Center. This is a great chance to give back to your community and it only requires you to collect soda tabs!
The quote for the month is:
"At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, or a parent."
-Barbara Bush

As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me!
Jessica Lehman
j.lehman09@gmail.com
Pennsylvania State Vice President of Internal Affairs

Pennsylvania 4-H Rabbit and Cavy Club Project Members Hop to San Diego, California for the National Convention

Held in San Diego, California on November 1-5 was the 86th Annual American Rabbit Breeder’s Association (ARBA) National Convention and Show. There were just over ten proud Pennsylvania 4-Hers who attended and competed in this event. At the ARBA Convention, members of this association have the opportunity to display their animals, socialize, and attend educational seminars. The youth members of the ARBA have the opportunity to participate in such contests as judging, breed identification, management, achievement, educational, and royalty. We have several youth to recognize for doing an excellent job in the national contests this year!

We are proud to have the American Rabbit Breeder’s Association King, Richard Vaerewyck. Hannah Wisniewski (our current PA State Rabbit Breeder’s Association (PaSRBA) Queen and Commodity Representative), Sarah Gregory (current PaSRBA Duchess), and Lia Schmittel were among the National Senior Judging winners. Sarah and Hannah were also tied for Second Runner-Up ARBA Queen. I received titles of the National Limited Management winner and District 9 Achievement winner. Morgan Turner and I also received an ARBA Academic Scholarship. Younger members Veronika Rodriguez, Tim Werner, Hailey Wolfe were among the National Junior and Intermediate Achievement Winners. Tim Werner also received a National Runner-Up Average Management award. Ashley Sloan received District 9 Unlimited Management winner. Bobby Sautner’s “Bunopoly” board game received national recognition in the Educational Contest. We are also proud of Rehanna Stepnoski for receiving National Best of Breed-- Youth with her Texel cavy (guinea pig).

If you would like to have more information or have any questions about what is involved in the 4-H rabbit and cavy projects, about PaSRBA, or ARBA, feel free to contact me at astepnoski@gmail.com!

Way to go Pennsylvania!

The month of October was filled with many different spookiness and of course 4-H!
I attended the annual Crawford County 4-H teen council's recruitment party. The theme was pirates and was held at our extension office. We had some new faces that were very interested in learning more about our county council and becoming more active in our 4-H program.

Our State 4-H Council has been completeing club visits and anticipating January for the 2010 State Leadership Conference! We have an exciting weekend planned and I know you don't want to miss out. Sign up today!! Contact your local extension office for more details and please feel free to contact myself or any of our State Council Ladies because we would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.
REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR SODA TABS!!!

If you have free time rake some leaves or go for a walk, remember winter months are coming so bundle up if you go outside and enjoy the fall colors while they last.

Jamie Forinash
President

Bumps in the Night

Happy Halloween Everyone!
Yesterday the Council held our monthly meeting, while dressing up to get into the spirit of things. We got alot accomplished including State Leadership plans, planning for the final upcoming months, and were able to talk about our SLC sponsors. The meeting held a surprise for everyone when our guest showed up. Dr. Bruce was in town and able to visit with our team for awhile!
The past month has kept the whole council busy as we participated in National Youth Science Day, held at Penn State. We also have been working hard to make contacts for sponsorship for our State Leadership Conference.
The next few months will be crazy as we prepare for conference, make our last club visits, and prepare for farm show. Just a reminder to everyone that registration is open for SLC. We all hope to see you there and hope that you are excited to see our surprises! Also, don't forget to keep saving those pop tabs!
Until Next time,
Christy Lambert
Council Secretary