Food Drive

Help support our community this holiday season! The Eaton County Agricultural Society and Eaton County MSU Extension 4-H program are partnering to conduct a food drive to benefit Helping Hands. Community members can drop off non-perishable food items at the Eaton County MSU Extension office between 9am to noon and 1pm to 5pm, Monday through Friday, now through December 21. Thank you for all you do to support our community! Happy holidays!

Reminder: Inclement Weather Policy

With the winter season upon us, as a reminder, our county policy is that if Charlotte Public Schools is closed due to weather, county level 4-H meetings will also be canceled, rescheduled, or moved to Zoom only. Notifications will be sent via email and posted to our Eaton County 4-H Facebook and Instagram pages if that occurs.

4-H clubs and volunteers may make their own decisions regarding meetings if there is inclement weather. Please contact the volunteer hosting the meeting.

Support Michigan 4-H with holiday shopping!

Get ready for the holidays AND support 4-H with purchases on AmazonSmile, SHOP 4-H Online and at JOANN’s Fabric.

AmazonSmile will give 0.5% of eligible purchases to the Michigan 4-H Foundation when you shop at http://smile.amazon.com/ch/38-1539997. Buy your 4-H essentials at the SHOP 4-H Online Store (https://shop4-h.org/?rfsn=871792.16dd0) and 5% of the purchase will go back to Michigan 4-H! JOANN’s Fabrics shoppers who use their free 4-H loyalty card (http://www.joann.com/4-h/) will save 15% while also giving 2.5% back to the National 4-H Council.

Extension office hours

The Extension office will be closed the following dates for county and/or MSU holidays:

• Friday, December 23 through Monday, January 2
• Monday, January 16

4-H Officer Training

Date: Thursday, January 26, 2023

Time: 6pm to 8pm, dinner starting at 5:30pm

Location: Eaton County MSU Extension, 551 Courthouse Drive, Suite One, Charlotte. Training will take place in the PMR (basement conference room)

Cost: FREE

Are you a 4-H club or group officer? Do you want to be one in the future? Sign up for this officer training to learn about officer roles, running your group's meetings, and parliamentary procedure! Learn from guest presenter, Roxanne Turner, Extension Educator with the Leadership, Cultural, and Civic Engagement team. This training is open to any Eaton County 4-H youth interested in the topic.

Please RSVP here: https://forms.gle/qrxXB7n44eTwgqZC7 or by calling the Extension office at 517-543-2310 by Friday, January 20, 2023.

Save the Date: 4-H Leadermeet

The Michigan 4-H Leader Meet is an event for adult and teen leaders in Ionia, Montcalm, Gratiot, Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties. Save the date for February 25, 2023! The Leader Meet will feature a wide variety of fun and interactive sessions, informative presentations, and useful tips for your meetings. This Leader Meet is open to all teen leaders (ages 13+ by Jan. 1, 2023) and adult leaders who have Gold Level volunteer status with MSU Extension. Registration details will be available and shared in early January. 

Featured Project Area: Horticulture and Gardening

Each month, we will feature a project area that youth can do in Eaton County 4-H, resources that are available, and other information. If this sparks an interest in you or your child, contact the Extension office for more information!

This month's feature is horticulture and gardening!

Do you like to garden? Enjoy growing flowers or vegetables? Did you know there are many fun things you can do with gardening and horticulture in 4-H? Learn all about plants, flowers, and vegetables! Don't have a volunteer in your club to lead the horticulture project area? Many volunteers allow youth from other clubs to attend their project meetings!

Do you have questions about plants? MSU Extension has a Lawn and Garden Hotline and an Ask an Expert web form to get all your questions answered by horticulture educators or Master Gardener volunteers! These resources are available for the public.

• Lawn and Garden Hotline: 1-888-678-3464 (winter hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9am to noon)
• Ask an Expert: https://ask2.extension.org/

Interested in competition? Exhibit your gardening and horticulture projects at the Eaton County Fair! More information about fair requirements for these projects can be found in the fair book.

Do you enjoy expressing your creative side using flowers? Have you ever wondered who plants and upkeeps those really cool flower beds at the Fairgrounds? It could be you! You could design a permanent flowerbed at the Eaton County Fairgrounds, and present it for show at the Fair. Learn the difference between annuals and perennials, types of soil, light requirements, and growth habits. You can present the flowerbed as an individual or work with your other club members and present it as a Club. Flowerbeds must be reserved each year by April 1^st since beds are limited. Project guidelines are available in the Fairbook under Department 67 section 5 or you can contact the Superintendent, Theresa Wojnar, if you are interested or if you have any questions.  

Resources available to check out from the Extension office:

• Learn, Grow, Eat & Go! Curricula
• Gardening Bingo
• Fruits & Vegetables Bingo
• Purdue Extension Gardening Curricula (all levels)
• Several older National 4-H curricula options

Additional resources:

• 4-H Plants, Soils, and Gardening
• 4-H Horticulture Project Snapshot
• Eaton County 4-H Horticulture Guidelines
• MSU Extension Gardening

Interested in attending a state or national 4-H workshop, camp, or other event? Don't forget - Eaton County 4-H has many scholarships available to help cover the cost of the events! For more information about scholarships, visit the link in the button below or contact 4-H staff.

Wild Spartans: December

Join 4-H staff as we take a look into life working with fisheries and wildlife! This month’s 4-H Wild Spartans Series will take a leap to take a closer look at charismatic microfauna… hop along with us to uncover the hidden world of herpetology. Join us on Tuesday, December 13th at 6:30pm EST for “Special Education to Wildlife Biologist” You will meet Erim Gómez, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Biology, University of Montana. You will learn about his field work, and the education and career path he followed to get there. Youth will be encouraged to ask questions to learn more through a live Q&A. This free series is open to 4-H and non-4-H youth ages 12-19 years. Monthly sessions will be held on the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm EST. Pre-registration is required: https://events.anr.msu.edu/wildspartans2023/ 

4-H in the Kitchen: Isekai Edition

A grand journey awaits you! Whether you will set out in a giant mech suit, atop a mystical kitsune, or with a band of misfits that are the best friends you’ve ever had, you’re going to need food along the way. Mason County 4-H is proud to announce their 4-H in the Kitchen: Isekai Edition where we will explore the world of Japanese Anime and Manga. Isekai is a sub-genre of anime in which a central character is taken from their world and transported to a strange new one, such as Alice going to Wonderland. In this workshop, participants will get the chance to learn how to prepare a pair of dishes from two popular anime franchises, Ranma ½ and Fairy Tail. While preparing the dishes, participants will get to learn about Japanese culture and find out about many exciting opportunities coming up in the Michigan 4-H Youth Exchange Program.

We will be hosting four sessions in total. On January 16^th and 18^th, participants will get to learn how to make Fairy Tail’s Sabo Noodles and on January s Sabo Noodles and on January 23^rd and 25^th, participants will get to learn how to make Okonomiyaki from Ranma ½, a savory pancake that is quite popular in Japan. All sessions will take place from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

https://events.anr.msu.edu/IsekaiEdition/

4-H Animal Science Career Quest

4-H Animal Science Career Quest will make its return February 18^th & 19^th, 2023! This event gives youth an opportunity to explore the many career options that are available within the fields of animal science and veterinary medicine, as well as the MSU programs that will help get them there.

Please save the date for this event and keep an eye out for registration information!

Michigan 4-H Day at the Breslin

Join us as the Spartan Women’s Basketball Team takes on Penn State’s Basketball Team on Sunday, February 12, 2023

TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON

SAVE THE DATE! You’re ALL invited to attend the seventeenth annual celebration of MSU Extension and Michigan 4-H Youth Development at the Spartan Women’s basketball game, Sunday, February 12, 2023.

Ticket Price: FREE for the Michigan 4-H community including MSU Extension and 4-H youth, volunteers, partners, stakeholders, staff, alumni and their families!

Time: Game time is 3:00pm. As in year’s past, there will be games and activities on the concourse of the Breslin in advance of the game beginning at 1:30 p.m.



Tickets: Ticket reservations will begin in the mid-December. Look for additional information in December on the event website: https://www.canr.msu.edu/events/4-h-day-at-the-breslin

Michigan 4-H Horse Judges and Show Manager Conference

Michigan 4-H Horse Judges and Show Volunteers Conference is an annual event hosted by the Department of Animal Science and the MI 4-H Horse Judges Advisory Committee and open to all Judges, Horse Show Mangers, and adult Volunteers. The registration fee is $80 and includes lunch on Saturday as well as program materials. Please visit this link for the conference agenda: MI 4-H Horse Judges and Show Volunteer Conference Agenda

Register by January 6, 2023, to avoid the late registration fee (additional $15). Click on the button below for online payment and registration. Here is the link to the event on the MSU Extension Events Calendar: Michigan 4-H Horse Judges and Show Volunteers Conference - Horses (msu.edu)

Event info can also be found on our 4-H Horses & Ponies page: Registration Information - 4-H Horses & Ponies (msu.edu)

Save the Dates: 2023 Youth Equine Events

Save the Dates for the 2023 Youth Equine Events! Please share as you see fit! Full event details for each event will be coming soon.

• February 3-4 Horse Judging Workshop and Mini Contest
• March 18 MI 4-H Hippology Contest
• April 15 Hairy Horse Show
• April 16 MI 4-H/FFA Horse Judging Contest
• August 18-20 State 4-H Horse Show

Extension Extra's Parenting Hour

These free online parenting workshops will provide guidance for parents of young children as they navigate the challenges, concerns, and joys of parenting. Participants may register for as few or as many workshops as they wish. The workshops are on Tuesday evenings from 8:00 to 9:30PM EST as follows:

Class dates:

1/3/23: Positive Discipline  

1/10/23:The Resilience Toolbox

1/17/23: What Children Need to Know to Start School

1/24/23: Talking With Kids About Race

1/31/23: Mindfully Feeding Infants and Toddlers 

Class Times: 8:00PM to 9:30PM

Registration: https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_prC0K8g9SFe2es2ymb6_kg

For more information contact Courtney Aldrich at aldric82@msu.edu

Save the Date: State 4-H Rabbit & Cavy Show

The State 4-H Rabbit and Cavy Show is being once again held at the MSU Pavilion at the end of January. More information is available at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/events/state-4-h-rabbit-cavy-show-2023

4-H Shooting Sports Save the Dates

Volunteer Training (Level 1)

• January 7 – Archery and Hunting & Wildlife Instructor Certification Workshop (Jeddo, MI)
• February 11 – Hunting & Wildlife Instructor Certification Workshop (Paw Paw, MI)
• March 4 – Shotgun and Hunting & Wildlife Instructor Certification Workshop (Roscommon, MI)
• April TBD – Rifle, Archery, and Shotgun Instructor Certification Workshop (Clare, MI)
• September TBD – Shotgun and Archery Instructor Certification Workshop (Alcona, MI)

Youth Events

• December 15, 2022 – January 2, 2023 Hunting & Wildlife Quiz Bowl
• Spring - Mail-In Match – statewide competition without travel
• June 11 - SW Michigan 4-H Regional Shooting Sports Tournament
• June – National 4-H Shooting Sports Championships, Grand Island, NE
• August 18 – Michigan 4-H Shooting Sports Tournament (aka State Shoot)
• Fall - Mail-In Match – statewide competition without travel

Teen Ambassadors

• March 3 – Ambassador event (Roscommon)
• August 2023 – National 4-H Shooting Sports Ambassador Leadership Institute

Save the Date: Michigan 4-H Dairy Conference

Michigan 4-H Dairy Conference returns in 2023! Keep an eye on https://www.facebook.com/MichiganDairyYouthProgram/ and https://www.canr.msu.edu/dairy_cattle/ for updates and registration information. Contact Melissa Elischer (elischer@msu.edu) with questions.

Save the Date: 4-H State Goat Show

The 2023 Michigan 4-H State Goat Show will be held on Saturday, June 17th at the MSU Pavilion South Barn. We are excited for this show to make its return for the first time since 2019!

More information will be available in the spring. Mark your calendars - you will not want to miss it!