Micanopy Friendship 4-H Newsletter

                October 1^st , 2008

Wow!  Can you believe that it is October already???   It’s going by way too fast! That means our next general meeting will be Monday, October 6^th, at 7:00 in the Strobles Center.  We’ve got lots on the horizon for activities coming up !! We will be planning some work days for our community butterfly garden at the fire station (the town is making progress on the playground!!), so bring your calendars. Also on the agenda will be signing up for the Harvest Festival Booth shifts, Light-Up Micanopy, the cookie bake off, the Alachua County Fair and some interesting community service ideas. We are collecting Capri Sun juice bags (or any kind of juice pouches) as a recycling project, and making them into bags for the Harvest Festival.  Save your juice pouches!!  You can deposit them in the recycle bin at the Strobles Center or bring to the general meeting.

Don’t forget to enroll/ re-enroll on line at: https://florida.4honline.com   Make sure you register under Alachua County, put Micanopy Friendship in for your club, and pick at least one project area.  If you are having trouble registering on line, I will have enrollment forms at the meeting you can fill out. Don’t forget to bring your dues to the October meeting. One time $5.00 per 4-Her covers the entire year. Deadline for registration is Oct. 31^st.

We are still collecting school supplies for a community service project.  Kay Hinson is heading this up and asked me to remind everyone to bring any extra supplies you’ve collected to the meeting Monday night for collection.  It’s not too late to bring them in.

Jr. Gardeners: Jr. Gardeners kicked off last month. We had a wonderful first workshop and a great turnout! 4-Her’s made plant buddies (chia pets in a cup with a face) and rumor has it they are growing some crazy “hair”!!  Our next Jr. Gardeners will be Wednesday, October 15^th  at 1:00 at the picnic tables. We will be sprucing up the butterfly garden for fall and decorating mini pumpkins.

Sewing – We had a great first sewing workshop.  Special thanks to Ms Chris Feaster for the awesome patchwork pillow project and all her help with the workshop. Everyone made a beautiful pillow by the end of the evening!! Next workshop will be Friday, October 17^th at the Evinston United Methodist Church Fellowship hall. We will be making more pillowcases for the Conker Cancer project to give to Shands for kids going thru chemo, and if you have a Halloween costume you want to work on, bring it to the workshop!

ACYF –Weigh-in is this weekend!!!  If you are showing a market fat steer or market goat in the March Youth Fair, the weigh-in for your animals will be October 4^th at Santa Fe High School.  If you don’t have an animal, but are interested in finding one before the weigh-in, please contact me if you need any help finding an animal. I have a couple of contacts with a steer and a goat that would be available.  Swine weigh in and feeder steer weigh in will be in early December.  Go to http://alachua.ifas.ufl.edu/agriculture/youth_fair/index.shtml for entry forms and additional information on all entries.  You must be at least 8 years old by September 1^st to show a market or breeding animal.

Horse – Way to go to Megan and Malerie Whitehurst and Ms. Mae for helping out with the Horse Open House and representing our club.  It was a great success and several of our club members attended to check out the festivities.  The first 4-H Horse Show will be October 25^th at Canterbury.  Register by October 22^nd for a discounted pre entry. Check out http://alachua.ifas.ufl.edu/4H/horse_program.shtml for the show bill and entry forms.

Alachua County Fair – The fall Alachua County Fair starts October 17^th. If you are interested in entering any exhibits in the fair, there is information and forms on line at http://www.alachuacountyfair.org/  Items that were entered in the Alachua County Youth Fair are eligible, as long as they have not previously been entered in the County Fair, and have been completed in the year prior to the fair.  There is lots of premium money available, and additional information will be passed out at the general meeting. Fair entries are due at the fair grounds on October 12^th.  I will have a class and lot list at the general meeting for anyone who is interested in entering exhibits.

National 4-H Week takes place every year during the first full week in October.  Each year the County Council makes arrangements with the City and County to issue proclamations promoting National 4-H Week.  This year, the City Commission issued a National 4-H Week Proclamation on September 18^th and the County Commission issued one on September 23^rd.  Way to go to Kay Hinson, Tiffany, Tori and Savannah Banner for helping to accept the proclamations on the behalf of County Council.

Shooting Sports: We had several members attend a 4-H shooting sports camp over the summer and there is a lot of interest in the county to start a shooting sports club. If you are and adult or teen interested in going thru the necessary training to help start a shooting sports club, please let me know so I can forward you information regarding a local training that will be available in October.

UF Homecoming: County Council always participates in the UF homecoming parade.  If you are interested in helping to build the float and/or ride on it, be watching for dates for workshops in the newsletter.

On the Calendar:

October 4^th – Market Steer and Market Goat Weigh-in – Santa Fe High School

October 6th – General Meeting – Strobles Center – 7:00

October 15^th – Jr. Gardeners – MACS – Picnic tables – 1:15

October 17^th – Sewing Workshop – 6:30 – EUMC Fellowship Hall

October 21^st  – County Council – Extension Office – 6:30

October 24^th  - Homecoming Parade

November 1^st and 2^nd – Harvest Festival 

Have a great week!!

Ronda Banner

Organizational Leader – 466-0702