Milford 4-H Club – reported by Amanda Kucharzyk
The December meeting of the Milford 4-H club was called to order by Jimmy Kucharzyk. Layne Smith led the American Pledge and Garrett Smith led the 4-H pledge. Old and new business was discussed. Garrett reported on the horse painting workshop and multiple members reported on the Statewide Skating Party. Amanda talked about the success of Caroling on the Circle. Following the business portion of the meeting, Garrett led members in a competitive activity involving Horse Bowl questions. The club was split into two teams and members were interrogated about all subjects from horse anatomy to disease identification. This activity got many members interested in the Horse Bowl. Afterwards, members participated in a holiday craft activity in which they created sock snowmen. Finally, the club exchanged gifts to get into the holiday spirit.
Harbor Lights – reported by Aileen Goehringer
The Harbor Lights 4-H club met on January 28, and started the night off with games. Our recreational leader, Ben Ockels, always comes up with fun and entertaining activities. After having playing we settled down and watched some extemporaneous speaking. Five of our junior leaders were challenged to write a speech in 10 minutes after just receiving the topic. Each speech was clever, funny, and well organized. This was their first time trying this kind of speech and they did well. After a meeting and snack we went back to the podium. We gave the public speakers a chance to practice their speeches. We brought in judges and all. They got great pointers and advice from the judges. The speeches were filled with many interesting things and funny material. Practice makes perfect.
Next time we get together we are having a “Souper” Challenge. Each family is going to compare canned soup with a home made soup like it. We are excited to see what each family will discover.
4-H Pedal Pushers – reported by Dustin Waller
Hey all you pedal pushers out there that love riding your bike we have the club that will make you love a bike even more. During January’s meeting the Love, Arpie, Carey, and Waller families all showed up and were excited to tune up and fix their bikes for our exciting upcoming events. Before the club started working on our bikes we got to watch a 4-H made bike maintenance video that was full of interesting and useful material on how to properly tune your bike and how simple it is. While tuning up our bikes we found that the bicycles weren’t as clean as we thought with all the dirt, mud, and oil. But really that’s what makes it the most fun is the hands-on and dirtiness. We used tools such as a chain cleaner, Allen wrenches, a bike lift, and even a balance to show you exactly where your tires were bent.
If you’re sorry you missed all of this exciting fun, don’t worry because we have fun filled and skillful trips to also look forward to. The riding of the Newark Trails Ride on Sunday, March 3, and mountain biking in Pocomoke, Md. on Sunday, April 7. So all you adventurous, fun seeking, pedal pushers out there should get your pedals in gear and come join us!
East Coast Riding Club– reported by Rita Lofland
East Coast 4-H Sponsors three State Horse Bowl Teams for March 9 Competition. East Coast 4-H will be sponsoring three State Horse Bowl teams this year. The senior team, “Buckin Beauties” coached by Cindy Ockels includes members, Jackie Arpie, Mikayla Ockels and Whitney Records. The junior team “Silver Flies” coached by Heather Records and Cindy Ockels, includes Katelyn Records, Rebecca Arpie and Garrett Smith. Our excited, young, beginner team, coached by Jodie Gravenor and Heather Smith, with help from Celeste Jones, includes Layne Smith, Derek Jones, Ruby Phillips and Sundene Lodge. The beginners chose East Coast 4-H “Mini Stars” for their team name. Team members are practicing weekly for the State Horse Bowl on March 9, 2013. Come out and support all the Sussex County teams on March 9! See Livestock news — for important announcements.
Bridgeville Mustangs – reported by Jenna Anger
Finally…..After two meetings canceled because of the winter weather. The Bridgeville Mustangs held their January meeting on the 31st. We discussed all the past club and county events over the last couple months and the Mustangs had a fantastic turnout. We voted on and approved donating $100 to the Delaware 4-H Foundation. Mrs. Cherie Vincent, our Arts & Crafts Leader, along with Jr. Leaders Connor and Paige Vincent taught the club how to make recycled snowmen. Thanks to them for this adorable craft and they did bring on the snow!!!!
In February, we are looking forward to the Mustangs Favorite Foods training and a lot of participation in the county Favorite Foods Contest as well as the Public Speaking Contest. GO MUSTANGS!!!!!!
Clover Knights – reported by Autumn Lenhart
Once again the Clover Knights have had a wonderful month. On a sunny November day Mr. Chris Lenhart (who is the NASA ambassador for all of Delaware) brought in a very big Star Lab. This Star Lab showed all the stars and constellations. Mr. Lenhart taught us about the origins of star and constellation names. Everyone enjoyed this activity and being in the Star Lab. We also brought in canned goods for the Master Gardeners Canned Food Drive. (toggle to view picture on linked story).We all decorated fabulous tasting cookies that Mrs. Sylvia Waller brought in. We had marshmallows and icing to decorate with. We had a great time and learned a lot. Many of us met at the fountain for Caroling on the Circle. What a great way to get into the Christmas spirit! Who knew we had so many great singers in our club!
At our December meeting, the Clover Knights had an exciting and busy meeting. We brought in canned goods for the county food drive, pennies for the Georgetown Police Department, and toys for the Sheriff’s Department. We also had a delicious cookie exchange. Our craft was challenging. We nailed tacks onto glued Popsicle sticks to create a beautiful ribbon star. Don’t forget to enter this into the fair as a club craft.
The Clover Knights were well represented at the 4-H skating party. We all had a great time trying not to fall down!
At our January meeting we got excited about the Favorite Foods Competition by reenacting the old fable Stone Soup. Our weary traveler presented the villagers with three magic stones. They brought him a pot and some broth. Each time he asked for a vegetable someone added it to the pot. We got to cut up potatoes, onions and other vegetables while the Cloverbuds designed the set and added spices and garlic. The village pie makers made delicious desserts. We had a phenomenal time and the soup was awesome! Don’t forget to register for the Favorite Foods competition!
Sussex County 4-H Junior Council – reported by Joseph Anderson
In December the junior council met after going caroling on the Georgetown Circle. After the business meeting, we all had a holiday pizza party. At the January meeting, sign ups were available for both the upcoming Winter Fun Day as well as the Favorite Foods Contest. The next Junior Council meeting is scheduled for Feb. 4.
Lord Baltimore Helping Hands – reported by Maggie Ford
Lord Baltimore Helping Hands members have been busy. At their November meeting they decorated a wreath for Cheer and made a craft. At the December dinner meeting, all enjoyed a great meal and gift exchange. Also collected were goodies for a socking and a box with canned goodies for a deserving family. A December Sunday afternoon members met at Hocker’s Grocery Store to ring the bell for the Salvation Army.
Sussex 4-H Livestock Club -reported by James Riley
You may ask what has the Livestock Club been up to. At our December meeting we elected officers: Mykala Ockels-president, Joe Anderson-vice president, reporter James Riley, photographer Rachel and Colleen. We worked on our skit for the International Dinner and have scheduled a practice at Mrs. Graves’ home. Also, the club elected to enter the Georgetown Christmas parade and Rodney Wilson, our junior leader, will be organizing that event. Our big project for the year is learning about the meat industry and we have started with some trivia that will result in a jeopardy type game to test our knowledge. So if you want to learn some interesting things come join us at the Sussex County Livestock Club meetings.
We held our next meeting on Jan. 22 at the Carvel Center. In attendance were Joe Anderson, Holly Anderson, Colleen Anderson, Colby Wilson, Rodney Wilson, James Rieley, Matthew Rieley, Mikayla Ockels, Thomas Bunting, and Emily Stachoa. The activites were evaluating cuts of lamb, pork and beef. We enjoyed a trivia game prepared by our leader Ms. Maida Graves. Our business meeting was led by our president Mikayla Ockels.
La Casita I – reported by Mary Argo
La Casita 4-H celebrated the holidays riding in the Georgetown Parade, Caroling on the Circle and making an ornament for their families. Members tested food preparation and measuring skills and made Diversity Crunch. In 4-H Science Lab we learned to use the five senses to become good scientists and work in teams. Fruit and healthy snacks activities helped members learn good nutrition and label reading, and Thidwick, the moose taught lessons on being kind and sharing with others. Members continue to practice public speaking and are having an art contest!
[Editors Note: 4-H reporters are youth who are elected as club officers at the beginning of the year, and are encouraged to write and submit their 4-H club news. Reporting reinforces leadership and writing skills; 4-H club news reports are posted in the order that they are received and we endeavor to publish the reports as written with minimal editing.]