Mass 4H Newsletter 2024 Vol. 3:3

Date	Title	Time & Location	Registration, Contact Info, or Zoom Link
4/3/24	Ag Day at the State House	Boston, MA
4/6/24	MA State Visual Presentations	Collegiate Charter School of Lowell
4/6/24	UConn Dairy Goat Day	UConn	Info here
4/7/24	Clover Trail Ride	Borderland State Park	Registration
4/13/24	MA 4-H Dairy Goat Day at Erin DeCoste Farm	Lancaster, MA 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM	Registration open in 4honline
4/14/24	4-H Night at Thunderbirds Hockey Game	MassMutual Center	https://springfieldthunderbirds.formstack.com/forms/4htbirds
4/18/24	Record Book Tune-up!	Plymouth County 4-H Office 1:00 – 3:00 PM	Come in and start your records if you haven't already or update and give them a tune up if you have!
4/19/24	Month of the Military Child: Wear Purple Day
4/20/24	STEM Training	Auburn 4-H Office	Register in 4honline
5/4/24	STEM Training	Hadley 4-H Office	Register in 4honline
5/5/24	Southeast Regional Horse Show	Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children	https://norfolk4hhorseshow.weebly.com/
5/10-5/12	Dog Academy	Camp Farley	Register in 4honline
6/22-6/23	Annual MA State 4-H Horse Show	Three County Fairgrounds
6/23-6/25	Explore UMass	UMass Amherst	ldubois@umass.edu Register through 4honline

Approaching Deadlines

Event/Application	Deadline	Link or Contact Info
National 4-H Dairy Conference Application	4/1
National 4-H Council Youth in Action Applications	4/1	Apply Here
Deadline for 4-H Foundation Grants	4/15	Grant Application
Pre-entry deadline SE Regional Horse Show	4/22	https://norfolk4hhorseshow.weebly.com/
Animal Verification Forms Due (Dairy Cattle, Beef Cattle, and Working Steers)	5/1	See links to forms below
Animal Verification Forms Due (Goat, Sheep, Llama, Alpaca, Swine, and Dog)	6/1	See links to forms below
State Horse Show Registration Deadline	6/1

 

Explore UMass 2024

SAVE THE DATE! Explore UMass 2024 is back!

This program is for ages 12-16, 4-H members and non-members. Youth get to experience Campus Life during this 3-day, 2-overnight STEM program at UMass Amherst.

Block off the dates June 23-25th and think about what track most interests you from this year’s STEM tracks: Plant and Soil Science, Veterinary Science, Food Science, and Engineering (Cardboard Arcade project).

Registration opened March 20th in 4honline for members. Please reach out to 4-H Educator Lauren DuBois via email ldubois@umass.edu with any questions.

Massachusetts 4-H State Visual Presentation Day 2024

Congratulations to all 4-H members who participated in one of the three 4-H Regional Visual Presentation events this year.

Youth who performed well at regional VPs have earned an invitation to participate in State VP Day on April 6th and have been contacted regarding their eligibility to present on Saturday, April 6th.

Saturday, April 6th at 10:00 AM

Collegiate Charter School of Lowell

1857 Middlesex Street

Lowell, MA 01851

*Contact your regional educator for details and directions if you want to attend State VP day as an audience member to watch, learn, and support your fellow 4-Hers.*  Please reach out to Molly Vollmer with any registration questions.

 

National Teen Leadership Trips

UMass 4-H is launching a new application process and guidelines for 4-H teens who are interested in attending one of the three annual national 4-H leadership trips as UMass 4-H delegates: 4-H Ignite Summit, National 4-H Congress, and National 4-H Conference. For many years, Massachusetts has alternated years when it sends delegates to these trips. Moving forward, we have decided to send delegates each year to all three conferences, with one, consolidated application process.

This application process will open in April of each year with a deadline in June. The delegate selection process for all three trips will happen during this timeframe even though the trips are spread throughout the fall and spring of the following 4-H year. There will be more information coming soon, so please tune into future issues of the NewsBlast for details. Direct questions to Cynthia Bushey or Kim Pond.

 

Animal Science Programs & Updates

Spring is here!  Can’t wait for the pasture to return!

Animal Verification Forms 

Now is the time to print off your Animal Verification Forms to plan for the upcoming show season. Lease Forms are also due at the same time. Animal Verification Forms are to be completed for all livestock, dogs, and horses that you plan to show at a 4-H fair, dog academies, and/or Big E 4-H Shows. Note: Lambs and kids born after June 1st are still eligible to show based on your fair’s requirements, but you will still need to file a Verification Form on them once they are born. Verification Forms are due to your county/regional 4-H office by the following dates: 

 

• New Date: May 1st – Horse (only if planning to show at the Sept. New England 4-H Horse Show at the Big E) 

• May 1st – Dairy Cattle, Beef Cattle, and Working Steers 

• June 1st – Goat, Sheep, Llama, Alpaca and Swine, Dog 

 

Links to Verification and Lease forms:  

• Livestock Verification Form
• Livestock Lease Form  
• Beef Lease Form (Youth cannot show a leased steer at the Big E)
• Horse Verification Form  
• Dog Verification Form

 

4-H Dairy Program

Congratulations to the MA Dairy Advisory on another successful Blue Ribbon Calf Sale. For four days, these 4-Her’s fitted 80 head of sale cattle to support 4-H dairy activities in Massachusetts. Overall, the sale averaged $1960.43. Calves and heifers found new homes across New England and as far west as New Mexico! Kudos to all for a job well done!

4-H Poultry Program

SAVE THE DATE: There will be an organization meeting for anyone interested in the Avian Bowl on April 10, 2024 at 7:00 PM on Zoom. If this is of interest to you, please email Andrew at asamuelson@umass.edu. He will forward the link.  
 

4-H Goat Program

The 2024 MA 4-H Dairy Goat Workshop will be held on April 13,2024 from 10AM to 3PM. Rain or shine! This workshop will cover breeding, genetics, showmanship, and more! We will organize ourselves into learning groups by levels of experience: beginner, growing, experienced.

Please DO NOT bring your goats to this workshop. Goats will be provided. Disposable plastic boots will be provided for the day. • Pizza and drinks will be provided for lunch.   

• Please bring a side dish or dessert to share.
• Registration is now available on 4honline. Cost of attendance: $25.00 Payable to UMass 4-H.
• Deadline to register: April 6, 2024 (For our lunch and t-shirt order)
• Location: Erin DeCoste Farm, 2680 N. Main St., Lancaster, MA 01523 See you there!

 

Livestock Judging Resources For 4-H Clubs

The MA 4-H Animal Science Program has a subscription to Livestockjudging.com.  This platform has TONS of virtual judging resources for all species.  Interested?  Please contact Andrew at asamuelson@umass.edu.

 

Save the Dates!

• 4/1: National 4-H Dairy Conference Application due 4/1/24 (email Andrew if you need one.)
• 4/6:  UCONN 4-H Dairy Goat Day, April 6, 2024
• 4/10: Avian Bowl Organization Meeting, April 10, 2024 7:00 PM. Zoom. 
• 4/13: MA 4-H Dairy Goat Day, April 13, 2024 10-3. See above
• 4/17:  Northeast Spring Dairy Show Youth Clinics, 4/17 Big E, West Springfield.
• 4/22: MA 4-H Beef visit to Plymouth Meats, Plymouth CT, Monday, April 22nd 3 PM. Interested?  Email Andrew at asamuelson@umass.edu. 
• 5/2024: Big East Jackpot and Youth Beef Show, May, 2024.  Big E, West Springfield.
• 5/25: Stock U Show Clinic – Fryeburg ME 5/25 – 5/26; Registration opens February 1st
• 6/2: Goat Tour hosted by Thomas Farm, Sunderland, MA: More information coming soon!
• 6/8 and 6/9: Vet Science Academy: Coming soon!
• Avian Quiz Bowl, 6/2024…MORE INFO COMING SOON!
• 6/22 and 23: State 4-H Horse Show – June 24 & 25 – Three County Fairgrounds, Northampton, MA Western Regional 4-H Horse – September 7&8 at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA

 

April is the Month of the Military Child

Did you know the UMass 4-H program has about 100 military connected youth in clubs across the state and also reaches more through short-term 4-H programs? We encourage you to wear purple on Friday April 19th and post and share your pictures. Why purple? Purple references the joint environment of the military, encompassing all service branches: Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard, and Veterans. Purple combines each branch’s colors into one: the Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard all use shades of blue, the Army uses green, and the Marines use red.

Month of the Military Child Coloring Page:

https://www.militarychild.org/upload/files/MOMC%202024/MCEC_ColoringPage_MKT_20240216.pdf

 

STEM Programs & Updates

 

2024 STEAM Festival Winners!

Congratulations to all of the 4-H youth from across Massachusetts who sumbitted entries into the 2024 STEAM Festival! Please congratulate our winners when you see them.

Check out the awards: STEAM Festival 2024.pdf

STEAM Festival 2024 Awardees:

• Science- Lillian Gethin (JR)
• Technology- Siddharth Raj Monagari (SR) & Maxwell Kendall (JR)
• Engineering- Nikith Monagari (JR)
• Art- Rupinika Golla (JR)
• Math- Athena Sylvia (JR) & Cora Sylvia (JR)

Overall STEAM Award- Sai Hitesh Vuppala (JR)

Upcoming STEM Trainings registration now open in 4honline

 

Saturday April 20th 1:00 – 3:00 PM Auburn Office: 

Mapping, Geocaching and more. Open to tween, teens, and volunteers to learn about exciting opportunities, resources and try some resources.

 ·   New classes coming to the STEAM Festival 2025

·   Join a new mapping club

·   Teen opportunity for National GGLEAD team

·   Gear up for Earth Day and Arbor Day too!

Saturday May the 4th be with you 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM:

Aerospace and Rocketry at the Hadley office.

·   10:00 AM – 12:00 noon: session for teens and adults

• Rocketry resources (gliders, stomp rockets and bottle rockets)
• How to run a program at your club, school, or fair (Those outside of 4-H register with Kim Pond at kima@umass.edu
• STEAM Festival Classes

·   1:00 – 3:00 PM: 4-H youth event for members and clover buds with a teen/adult helper

• Learn about the history of flight
• Make a Glider
• Explore stomp rockets and bottle rockets      

Are you ready for April 8th and the Eclipse?

There are several types of eclipses, and this one is going to be spectacular and historic, which is why there is so much buzz and tourism around it! 

There are both solar and lunar eclipses and they can be partial and very short or total, lasting minutes. This solar eclipse is going to peak at 3:28 PM in the Amherst area.  Note that it is not safe to look at the sun and view the eclipse without special glasses or using something like a simple pin hole camera. 

You can join UMass Amherst Astronomy Department if you are in the area.  To learn more about the UMass watch event, eclipses, or how to make a pin hole camera, check out the links below—eclipses are amazing and you can learn a lot of the physic and astronomy behind them at this site.

UMass Amherst Astronomy:

https://www.umass.edu/natural-sciences/events/solar-eclipse-april-8-2024

This guide (https://solarpower.guide/students-guide-to-eclipses) was created by a retired electrical engineer and renewable energy expert with information broken down for the average viewer. It also includes information on other topics related to the sun such as solar energy, electricity generation, solar cooking, and more.

 

Massachusetts 4-H Foundation 

Extended Grant Deadline & Info Sessions!

The Massachusetts 4-H Foundation has extended its Grant application deadline to APRIL 15th for 4-H Clubs, Advisories, and Fairs!
(See the Request for Proposal for eligibility guidelines.)

We’re offering (5) FREE virtual open house-style Info Sessions to help you get your application submitted.

Drop in anytime within the hour for any or all sessions (no registration required):

• Tuesday, April 2nd @ 12:00-1:00 PM | Join Session HERE
• Wednesday, April 3rd @ 6:00-7:00 PM | Join Session HERE
• Friday, April 5th @ 12:00-1:00 PM   | Join Session HERE
• Monday, April 8th @ 6:00-7:00 PM | Join Session HERE
• Thursday, April 11th @ 6:00-7:00 PM | Join Session HERE

Ask all your questions and our grants consultant,  Moe Nguyen, will walk you through the simple application process.

If you cannot attend any of these sessions, you can still submit questions via email at: grants@mass4hfoundation.org

MONDAY, APRIL 15TH will be the final application deadline, so let us help you prepare!

 

4-H Club Grants

Club grant applications are due March 31st!. These are grants to help clubs with supplies and fees and vary according to the size of the club. To apply, visit https://www.mass4hfoundation.org/for-families-clubs/grants-and-awards/

4-H Partner Organizations