New Year, and boy is it busy!

Well, happy New Year everybody. And we had Christmas last week. I hope all of you in PA 4-H had a great Christmas.This month should be a good month for me and everybody in 4-H. This weekend is Farm show which, I have heard is one of the greatest weeks of the year but I have never gone. So, farm show will hopefully be a great experience for me. This month we also have State Leadership Conference so get your leather jackets and your poodle skirts and prepare for an amazing weekend at the Penn stater. I hope to see you all at at least one of the events this month. Have a great January!

Another year over and another one has begun!

The new year is beginning and the 4-H State Council is ready to bond and spend a ton of time together! We have farm show, one of the best weeks in the year! The past year has been a blast the days aways pass by so fast. There were tough times to arise but we always have our eye on the prize. Graduating from high school and now testing those learning tools. Now the first semester of college went right by and it felt like just yesterday we all said goodbye. Our new team is ready for State Leadership Conference in Happy Valley the 50's will be this years rally. As the state comes together as one we are always for sure to have fun. But always remembering we are there to grow in leadership on our three day trip. Happy 2011 from Pennsylvania's top seven! Good luck to everyone for a good year and we all know in July we will hold back that tear.

Logan Hall
2010 - 2011 Pa State 4-H President

January keeps council close

So as I sit here and debate about what to put in this blog entry I think of all the times I will see my fellow council members in the next month! To start off this month we have farm show. At farm show we will all be together at the governors diner and then at opening ceremonies for the farm show. We will stay together in a hotel near Harrisburg and all commute together to and from the farm show complex. I know for a fact we are all excited do to the fact we have not seen each other since October. Then on the 15Th of this month we will all be together for our council walk through at the Penn stater for state leadership conference (less than a month away)!!! Then the next weekend is the 2011 State leadership conference!! Our council has worked so hard to pull things together to make it an SLC to remember!! We are excited to meet new 4-Hers from across the state and to reconnect with old ones we have made at previous SLC's. So I have come to the conclusion that January will keep me busy and well acquainted with my fellow council members. So until next time have a safe month and I hope to see you all at farm show or SLC! Here's to a great year,
Echo Kincaid (state council Vice president of operations)

Rolling in the New Year

As 2011 fastly approaches it is always great to look back and reflect on the things that happened in 2010. So I don't know about all of you but I have a list of the top 10 exciting things that happened to me during 2010... so here goes nothing. 1.) I Got my driver's license 2.) I got my first Dairy goat (Queen Latifah is her name and she is my pride and joy) 3.) I won the Pride award in band 4.) I got my first job at Scot's Lo Cost (which is soon to be a Weis) 5.) I graduated Montoursville Area High School 6.) I am a freshman at Pennsylvaina College of Techonolgy and I made the Deans list for the first semester 7.) I recieved a 4-H scholarship 8.) I won the most outstanding 4-Her in Lycoming County 9.)This christmas I got an ice cream Maker 10.) I am the New Secretary of 4-H state Council.

It is always nice to take a step back and look at the things you did before you move on. So the challenge is up for everyone. You should think about your most 10 exiciting things that happened in your 2010. Then you will be ready to move on and focus on the new year and your new year resolutions. So for now I hope everybody has a happy and safe New year.

State Council Secretary
~Samantha Gstalder~

Christmas, bagpipes, and the ASVAB

Based on my favorite gift I got this Christmas you'd think I was an 18-year-old in the '70s. The thing that I wanted most this Christmas was a record player. For the last few years my friends and I have been amassing a decent sized record collection of classic rock, polka, and any other genre we felt was necessary to have around. A new favorite pass time of mine now is listening to the Bagpipes of the Royal Scots Dragoons at 45 RPMs while they play amazing grace.

Another thing I've gotten around to doing over my vacation was taking my ASVAB. I buckled down and spent the three days prior to my test date reading The ASVAB for Dummies and actually found the information in it very useful, and would recommend it to anyone who plans on taking it. The book covers all nine of the categories in depth that are on the 225 question test.

Best Wishes to all, and may all your New Year's Resolutions come true!

God Bless.

Seth Jones VP of Internal Affairs

Winter, Oh How I've missed Thee

As December begins, along with deer season, that seems to be the real start of the holiday season for my family and myself. Thanksgiving for us is just a meal together for a couple hours; but deer season? Now that is an entirely different story. For three weeks in a row we spend the majority of our mornings in each other's company sitting in our stands waiting for our four-legged bounty to wander within accurate range of our generation (generations in my youngest cousin's case) old rifles.

Another thing I look forward to in the upcoming weeks is my eighteenth birthday. One of the downsides to being a December baby is no matter what, your party is always weather dependent. On more than one occasion I've had to delay it a week or three. But thankfully my birthday is just barely far enough away (on the 12th) from Christmas that I'm not one of the unfortunate souls that receives only one gift that "counts for both."

Well that is about everything on my mind at the moment, may you all have a wonderful rest of the holiday season with your families and God Bless!

-Seth Jones

Happy Holidays

Happy holidays to everyone here! I hope that your Thanksgiving was great and you had fun with all of your family members. We now know the Christmas is near because we finally have snow. So everyone get ready for some more holidays that are soon to come.

My Christmas is going to be extra special this year because I will spend it with two of my exchange siblings. My host sister from Brazil, Bruna, is coming to visit my family and I for three months, and will be arriving on December 19th. Also my exchange brother, Eray from Turkey, will be here too. My entire family is very excited for Christmas and New Years this year.

As many of you know 4-H National Congress was just held in Atlanta Georgia. I attended this conference and would recommend this to any 4-Her around the country. At National Congress we attended workshops, did community service, went on tours of Atlanta, and practiced leadership skills while meeting 4-Hers from 43 states and Puerto Rico. We also raised over $60,000 to build the second Clover House for the Habitat for Humanity organization. Some of the community service acts we took part in were cleaning parks, raking leaves, reading to underprivileged children, and helped the Books for Africa Program. We had several motivational speakers and all of them were simply amazing.

Happy holidays

Stephen McFall, Sentinel

Relax

As we rap up Thanksgiving and begin to think about Christmas I hope a few things are happening at you and your family's houses. I hope number one: you're eating to much of that tasty holiday food. :) Number two: I hope you're spending lots of quality time with family and friends the memories you make you will cherish for years. And last but not least, I hope you take some time to RELAX!! The months have been crazy and as the year is coming to an end we all need some relaxation so kick back and relax!! Don't allow the holidays to stress you out!! Have a great Christmas, and don't forget to relax!


Happy Holidays
Echo Kincaid
State Council VPO

Remembering to be Thankful

Thanksgiving has come and gone, the Christmas decorations are beginning to find their way out of storage and around the house. The smell of pine, and home baked pies and cookies fill the house. All the leaves have about fallen and the winter jackets are beginning to make an appearance. State Council has had a November of continuing to prepare for our filled January. State Leadership Conference is beginning to come together great! Also we know that as soon as Thanksgiving is over the thoughts and excitement of Farm Show is there. Thanksgiving gave me a time to catch up with some friends since we had a break from college and see family. Oh and not to forget to go and see everyone at the Extension Office, I have not seen in a long time. My first semester of college is coming to a close very quickly. The thoughts of my first semester going so fast truly shows how fast times goes by us. I am enjoying college and State Council and doing my best to take advantage of any opportunity that may come my way. As we all know Thanksgiving is a time of being thankful, I can honestly say I am blessed and very thankful to be one of seven teens who is getting the chance and privilege to represent PA 4-H. Hope everyone enjoyed their turkey and got lucky enough to see that trophy buck on the first day!

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out" -John Wooden

Enjoy Your Holiday Season!

- Logan Hall
2010 -2011 Pa State 4-H President

Gobble Gobble

Gobble gobble as the turkeys would say. As December is almost here Thanksgiving just ended. It was a nice six day break from school and good time with the family. My thanksgiving vacation started off great because we had two baby goats born and they are so cute. I named the little boy Eli and my sister named the little girl Izzy. They are both doing great and are healthy.
With all the excitement of the babies the next day was Thanksgiving. I love helping out in the kitchen. I made the pumpkin pie for dessert, and pan gravy which was very good if I do say so myself. Its always great to take time out the busy day life and enjoy time to relax and spend time with family. I hope everybody had a happy and safe Thanksgiving !!!

State Council Secretary
~Samantha Gstalder~

Season For Families

As Thanksgiving has just ended and I am still eating all the great leftovers, which is better than the meal in my opinion and watching plenty of football I find that that all truly doesn't matter as long as my family is together and enjoying themselves. That is the true meaning of this season. In the times that we live in it seems that money and material things get in the way of what truly matters to us and the core of our backgrounds and what the country needs to come back to. I have found that those moments with your family and loved ones are never returnable or replaced once they are gone they never come back. a job, shirt or computer is but a brother, mother of father are not. So no matter what that annoying boss may say the true meaning of this season is truly the heart of the matter. Family.

May God Bless,
Jonathan Yoder Reprtor/Historian

Getting colder, Growing Closer.

It is getting to that time of year when we slow down a little bit, and become a closer family. But for me I'm still staying very busy just like all of us state council members. In a couple weeks I am flying out of State College airport heading to Georgia to go to National Congress. I am very excited for National Congress, I will have the opportunity to meet 4-H'ers from all over the United States. And just yesterday we had Halloween, for Halloween me and my family all get together and we have a lot of fun. But it was cold, really cold here but we had a good time as a very good close family. I hope all of you reading this and everyone else have a very good month and happy Thanksgiving.