Iowa State University Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.

ISU Extension and Outreach Keokuk County , 400 220th Ave—Suite A, Sigourney, IA 52591 | 641-622-2680 LEARN MORE AT WWW.EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/KEOKUK

Keokuk County Extension Office Hours

Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Phone: (641) 622-2680 Fax: (641) 622-2637

Office Staff Gene Mohling Regional Director

Brenda Spurgeon 4-H Youth Program Specialist

Katharinna Bain Office Coordinator

Michele Sieren County 4-H & Youth Outreach

Coordinator

Jorie Altenhofen Office Assistant

4-H 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.

KEOKUK COUNTY 4-H FAMILY NEWSLETTER December 2015 & January 2016

*Don’t forget to turn in your Butter Braid

Fundraiser order forms and ALL payments by 4

PM on Tuesday, December 1st, 2015.

*Butter Braid pickup will be Saturday, December

12th, starting at 9 AM—if you cannot pick up

your Butter Braids, please make arrangements

for your leader to pick them up for you.

We had a great turnout despite the cold this year!

Thank you to everyone who celebrated another great year of Keokuk County 4-H with us!

Top Left: David & Kay Witte won the 2015 Keokuk County 4-H Hall of Fame

Top Right: The Stick to It 4-H Club donated $1,201.62 to help fund the permanent Photo Wall project. Bottom: Dana and the Abell girls accepted the Friend of 4-H Award on behalf of Dan Abell

Right: Volunteer Extended Years of Service Awards (From left to Right)

Brandi Wehr, leader of Riverside: 5 years

Amber Thopmson, leader of Riverside: 5 years

Gail Weber, leader of Stick to It: 20 years

Tina Frank, leader of Lafayette Feeders: 20 years

WANT TO KNOW MORE? FIND US AT: EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/KEOKUK OR ON FACEBOOK AT: IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION-KEOKUK COUNTY

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2016 Livestock Weigh-In’s

December 19th, 2015 from 8-10am

Keoco Auction Sale Barn

A maximum of ten calves can be weighed in for county & out of county events.

Maximum of 5 calves can be shown at the Expo & 5 at the State Fair

Any Bucket/Bottle calves shown at the 2015 Expo that are wanting to show as a Return Bucket Bottle MARKET ANIMAL needs to attend

this weigh in!

Weigh-In Costs

THERE IS NO CHARGE TO WEIGH IN FOR EXPO

STATE FAIR SCANNING: $8.00 per animal

AK-SAR-BEN DNA: $8.00 per animal

OUT OF COUNTY COSTS: $16.00 per animal for State Fair, $16.00 per animal for AK-SAR-BEN. There may be additional fees for tags

in another county—contact Michele if you are attending another county’s weigh-in!

March 26th, 2016 from 8-10 am

Keokuk County Expo Fair Grounds

All 4-H and FFA Expo Swine and 4-H State Fair swine must be weighed in.

Pigs may weigh no more than 70 pounds at the spring weigh-in. There will be no exceptions!

Each exhibitor is limited to nominate 10 pigs.

2016 COOL & Premise ID Requirements for Expo 2016:

NEW Swine Exhibitors (4-H & FFA):

Have the person that owns the farm, where your hogs are raised, sign up for a premise ID and provide a copy to the Extension Office by January 4th, 2016. If that person already has a premise ID, please have them send or stop in with a copy of that number by January 4th, 2016. Forms can be found at the Extension Office and at our website at www.extension.iastate.edu/keokuk.

If you have any questions please contact the Extension Office for more information.

May 7th, 2016 from 8-10 AM

Keokuk County Expo Fair Grounds

This will include all 4-H / FFA Expo & 4-H State Fair Animals

ALL 4-H State Fair lambs including: Market, Commercial, Purebred, and Breeding Lambs will be retinal scanned and MUST

attend county weigh-in.

If you are unable to attend one of the scheduled weigh-ins in Keokuk County, please

contact Michele at the Extension Office for additional information on surrounding county weigh-ins.

WHAT IS 4-H? 4-H IS A COMMUNITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE ACROSS AMERICA WHO ARE LEARNING LEADERSHIP, CITIZENSHIP AND LIFE SKILLS.

WWW.EXTENSION.IASTATE.EDU/4H

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FSQA Training 2016

Requirements are based on grade level:

Grades 4-6: must attend training sessions every year

Grades 7-9: must attend training sessions every year OR pass the Intermediate Level Test

Grades 10-12: must attend training sessions every year OR pass the Senior Level Test

Testing Out Option

Tests may be taken up to three times in one day. You MUST pass with a 70% or higher.

Once a test is passed, the member is certified until moving into the next age bracket.

Who is Required to Train or Test?

ANYONE showing any of the following animals that does NOT have current grade level bracket certification.

Beef (Breeding, Market OR Dairy) Goat (Market OR Dairy)

Poultry Swine Sheep Rabbit Bucket/Bottle

To find out if your child is currently certified for their age bracket, check the FSQA expiration date under their name in 4hOnline. If you have trouble finding it in 4hOnline, contact Michele at the Extension Office.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

FSQA Training for Keokuk County Expo Exhibitors will be held on Sunday, February 28th, 2016

at the Keokuk County Extension Office from 2:00—4:00 pm.

Contact the Extension Office by February 26th if you plan on attending the training.

Testing will be offered during the training for those old enough to test out.

We will hold three after hour testing dates:

Wednesday, March 9th, 6:00 to 7:00 pm

Sunday April 17th, 4:00 to 5:00 pm

Saturday June 4th, 10:00 to 11:00 am

These are the only dates we will be allowing FSQA Testing through the office after regular office hours this year.

(YOU CAN TEST ANYTIME between 8:00 AM and 4:30 PM Monday through Friday—just call us 1 day ahead of time)

You will need to register for testing one week prior to the after office hours test date. If you cannot attend one of the four

dates above, contact Michele in the Extension Office to locate another testing/training date with another county.

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2016 Scholarships/Award Opportunities

4-H MOTTO: TO MAKE THE BEST BETTER

Christina Hixson Opportunity Award

Every county is awarded one scholarship every year. This scholarship is a half-tuition grant (estimated value of $14,000 over the course of 8 semesters) for

incoming freshman at Iowa State University. Application deadline is February 1st. Contact the Extension Office for more information or check the website at

https://apps-dso.sws.iastate.edu/scholarship/hixson/app.

Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Scholarship

The Iowa Farm Bureau Federation will award 54 $1,000 scholarships to students who are sons/daughters of the Iowa Farm Bureau

members and are pursuing the completion of a two or four year degree. The deadline to apply for the 2016 IFBF scholarship is

March 1st, 2016. Apply online at www.iowacolleggeaid.gov/featuredscholarships/iowafarmbureauscholarship.html.

2016 Herbert Hoover Uncommon Student Award

This award is a $5,000 scholarship program for high school juniors. This program identifies and honors up to 15 students

who propose and then accomplish a project of their own choosing and design. The application deadline is March 15th,

2016. For application materials, contact your high school guidance counselor, or download materials at www.hooverassociation.org/grantsawards/

Hills Bank and Trust Leadership Grant Opportunity Open to all high school Juniors with a GPA of 2.8 or above. $1,000 each to use at any accredited college, community college, or university in Iowa. Must demonstrate leadership, entrepreneurship, or community service related qualities. Pick up application materials at https://www.iowa4hfoundation.org/scholarships for 2016 Year. Applications due February 1st, 2016.

Opportunity/Award Grade Requirement Due Date & Method Selection/Application Procedure Eligibility

Scholarship to Attend

2017 National 4-H

Conference

9-11th Grades at Time

of Application

Due Online by 11:59 pm

February 1st, 2016.

*Evaluation & interview at state level. 4 Delegates are selected.

*Application includes questions and up to 2 pages of support

material

*Cost TBD—contingent of donor availability & trip cost

*Can attend one time only *One national trip per year

Scholarship to 2016

National 4-H Congress

(Nov. 27th—Dec. 1st

2016)

10-11th Grades at

Time of Application

Due online by 11:59 pm

February 1st, 2016

*Evaluation & interview at state level. Delegate cost $500.

*Application includes questions and up to 2 pages of support

material

*Number selected TBD—contingent of donor availability & trip

*Can attend one time only *One national trip per year

State 4-H Council

Serve June 2016-2017

Grade 10-11 at Time of

Application

Due online by 11:59 pm

February 1st, 2016

*Evaluation & Interview at state level. 40 selected with geo-

graphic disbursement considered.

*Application includes questions and up to 2 pages of support

material

State Project Awards $100 Tentative Award

Grade 9-12 of at Time

of Application

Due online by 11:59 pm

February 1st, 2016

*Evaluation & interview at state level. Awards are not limited to

one per project.

*Application includes questions and up to 2 pages of support

material

*Contact Michele for Eligibility Requirements

4-H Shooting Sports

Ambassador

Serve June 2015-2016

Renewable up to 2 years

Grade 9-11 at Time of

Application

Due online by 11:59 pm

February 1st, 2016

*Evaluation and interview at state level. Up to 20 selected with

geographic disbursement considered.

*Application includes questions and up to 2 pages of support

material

*Contact Michele for Eligibility Requirements

National 4-H

Dairy Conference

October 2016

Grade 9-12 by Jan 1st,

2016 (At least 3 years participation

in 4-H Dairy Project Re-

quired)

Due July 1st, 2016 *Selected by committee at state level

*National 4-H Dairy Conference Application; will be sent in 4-H

Dairy Newsletter

*Can attend one time

only

College Scholarships HS Seniors and College

Undergraduates for

selected scholarships

Due online to Iowa 4-H

Foundation by

February 1st, 2016

*Selection at state level

*Various scholarship applications

*See scholarship

guidelines online

More scholarship opportunities are available. For more information, please contact Michele or your school guidance counselor.

2013 ISF & Expo 4-H Exhibits Information

Specialty Clubs Update

Both Lego clubs are well under way and preparing for competition!

If you are interested in joining Keokuk County Shooting Sports, Lego League Nerd Herd or Lego League Master Builders for the

2016-2017 year, please contact Michele Sieren in the Extension Office (641) 622-2680 or mlsieren@iastate.edu.

Lego Leagues

The two Lego League clubs are gearing up for their Regional competition in December at Indian Hills Community College. We

wish both teams the best of luck as they show off their skills and robots!

Lego League Nerd Herd

Leaders: Alisca deRegnier, Amanda Alderson, & Crystal Hornback

Members: Hannah Alderson, Hope deRegnier (pictured far right),

Madelynn Hornback, Isabelle Ireland, Madison Richard,

Claire Svenby (pictured right), Alexa Thole,

Julia VanEe, Nathan Wehr, & Reagan Talbert.

Lego League Master Builders (left)

Leaders: Scott & Amanda Alderson, Dan & Tamara Schuester

Members: Brock Alderson, Matthew Brainard,

Matthew Hohenbrink, Nichloas Hohenbrink,

Scott Hohenbrink, Reid Molyneux,

Aidan Schuester, & Jordan Shadley.

Keokuk County Hot Shots 4-H Safety and Education in Shooting Sports (SESS) uses skills and disciplines of shooting to assist

young people and their leaders in obtaining knowledge and developing life skills. The disciplines in-

clude archery, rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader and wildlife skills.

4-H’ers learn safe and responsible use of firearms and archery equipment including sound decision

making, self-discipline, and concentration. They promote the highest standards of safety, sportsman-

ship, and ethical behavior, and encourage understanding of our natural resources and the development

of a personal environmental stewardship ethic through participation in shooting, hunting, and related

activities. (http://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/projects/shootingsports)

Recently, Emma Gilliland (pictured left), a Junior member of Hot Shots, completed at the annual 4-H Shooting

Match at Brownell’s Big Springs Shooting Range near Montezuma on September 26th, 2015. She and 147 other

4-H’ers from 30 different counties across the state competed in Air Rifle, Small Bore, Archery, Muzzleloader, and

Shotgun disciplines.

This was Emma’s first year participating in the Compound Archery discipline, and she received a score of 171/200!

Leaders: Doug deRegnier, Bonnie Club, Tony Bos, Shannon Aller, & Brent Johnston

Members: Hannah Alderson, Jade Aller, Tanner Bos, Hope deRegnier,

Emma Gilliland, Isabelle Ireland, Jackson Johnston,

Austin Landgrebe, Allison Sieren, Mackenzie Sieren, Alexa Thole

Iowa State University Extension & Outreach

Keokuk County

400 220th Ave - Suite A

Sigourney, IA 52591

DECEMBER 2015 & JANUARY 2016 Keokuk County 4-H Family Newsletter 4-H Family

Newsletter

We at the Extension Office would like to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

From:

Michele Sieren, County 4-H/Youth Educator

Katharinna Bain, Office Coordinator

Jorie Altenhofen, Office Assistant