Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Food Challenge Workshop

Food Challenge is an exciting team oriented contest. It is a great way to learn about nutrition, show off your cooking skills and have fun. To learn the ins and outs of this contest, join us on:

Saturday, September 15, 2012
9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m. @ the Travis County Extension Office.
Cost: $5.00 per 4-H member and $10 per non 4-H member.

Registration is being conducted via a Google Docs Form online: Click Here
The promotional flyer can be found by clicking here.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

4-H Night at the Texas Stars Hockey Game

4-H Night at the Texas Stars Hockey Game: October 14, 2012, check out the flyer: http://travistx-tamu-edu.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/files/2010/06/4-H-Night-10.141.pdf

Dine and Donate at Texas Land and Cattle during National 4-H Week

National 4-H Week is coming up October 7-13, 2012 and Texas Land and Cattle is offering Travis County 4-H Dine and Donate during that week. Print the flyer at the link below and take to any of the four restaurants during National 4-H Week:
Click Here for Flyer

Thursday, August 23, 2012

4-H Friends and Alumni Association



  The Texas 4-H Friends & Alumni Association Announces Alliance Opportunity for ALL Counties!

The Texas 4-H Friends & Alumni Association is here to assist all 254 Counties across Texas with raising funds for their local 4-H programs. All your county has to have are 4-H Alumni and Friends of 4-H within your county lines to be a part of this new fund raising endeavor !!

Beginning August 15 - May 31, 2013, the Texas 4-H Friends & Alumni Association will be hosting "Roundup Former 4-H'ers and Supporters Across Texas" membership drive.  A significant portion of the funds raised through this campaign will be returned to the local 4-H Club or County 4-H Program by the Friends and Alumni Association.

Recruitment materials will be made available on the Texas 4-H Friends & Alumni website or you can email Jana Barrett to have them sent to you direct.   The membership drive materials will include talking points about the efforts of the Association, a membership information flier and F&A Membership recruitment forms.

The County and/or local 4-H Club portion of Memberships sold will be as follows:
  • Lifetime Membership ($50 donated to County and/or Club)
  • Annual Membership ($10 donated to County and/or Club)
  • Collegiate Membership ($5 donated to County and/or Club)
The individual 4-H member recruiting "F&A Memberships" will be allowed to designate their portion of the funds to their specific local 4-H club (subject to verification of club charter by the State 4-H office and notification to the county), their local County 4-H Program, or split the funds between both their Club and their County 4-H Program.

The 4-H membership recruiter will receive credit for both new and current members.  If current members "join" within this time, their membership renewal date will be extended.

This is a pilot program the 4-H Friends & Alumni Association is initiating and if successful, plans will be to make it an annual event.  This is just another way the Texas 4-H Friends & Alumni Association is stepping up to find ways to support our 4-H programs across Texas.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jana Barrett at 979-845-1213 or jcbarrett@ag.tamu.edu .

Prudential Spirit of Community Awards


The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Last year, 167 county 4-H programs selected honorees in this prestigious youth recognition program, and 20 4-H’ers were among the 102 State Honorees for 2012. This recognition is extremely beneficial to individual 4-H’ers who have performed exemplary acts of service in their communities and to 4-H as a whole.
Click here to download a Prudential Spirit Awards implementation packet with complete instructions for nominating 4-H members in your county. 4-H’ers can apply online at spirit.prudential.com or www.nassp.org/spirit. Applications must be submitted to you by November 6, 2012. Then, your county 4-H program can select one middle level Local Honoree for every 1,000 members (or portion thereof) in grades 5-8 and one high school Local Honoree for every 1,000 members in grades 9-12.
Once you have selected your Local Honorees, you must certify their applications online by November 13, 2012. A state-level judging committee will pick the top youth volunteers in each state and the District of Columbia, who will receive silver medallions, $1,000 awards, and a fabulous trip to Washington, D.C., for national recognition events.
In Washington, a national selection committee (on which I serve) will name America’s top 10 youth volunteers for 2013. They win additional $5,000 awards, gold medallions, crystal trophies, and $5,000 grants from The Prudential Foundation for charitable nonprofit organizations of their choice.
If you have any questions or need a paper version of the application form, please call toll-free 877-525-8491. Additional information is available at spirit.prudential.com.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

San Antonio Livestock Show - Calf Scramble


The dates for the upcoming San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo are February 7 – 24, 2013.The Calf Scramble Program helps educate 4-H and FFA members through livestock projects. By successfully catching a calf, contestants are given the opportunity to raise and show animals at the 2014 show. The value of the S.A.L.E. Purchase Certificate for the 2013 Calf Scramble will be $800.00. Contestants must purchase a breeding project with this certificate and exhibit the animal in the 2014 show in one of the following Junior Breeding Departments; Beef Cattle, Dairy, Goats, Sheep, or Swine.
 
To be eligible, Calf Scramble participants must meet the following requirements.
  • Participants must be bonafide members of a Texas County 4-H Club or FFA Chapter. - must have registration activated in 4-H Connect by application date.
  • Participants must have reached their 12th, but not their 18th birthday on January 1 and not be enrolled beyond their Junior year in high school.
  • Participants must be selected by their CEA or AST & submitted a complete application
  • Participants may only be awarded one (1) San Antonio Calf Scramble Purchase Certificate during his/her FFA or 4-H career.
 For those interested, please call or email Cory; 512-854-9600 or cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu
Applications are due the Travis County Extension Office by: Monday, September 17th 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Food Challenge Workshop

Food Challenge is an exciting team oriented contest. It is a great way to learn about nutrition, show off your cooking skills and have fun. To learn the ins and outs of this contest, join us on:

Saturday, September 15, 2012
9:00 a.m.—12:00 p.m. @ the Travis County Extension Office.
Cost: $5.00 per 4-H member and $10 per non 4-H member.

Registration is being conducted via a Google Docs Form online: Click Here
The promotional flyer can be found by clicking here.

2013 Texas 4-H Theme and Logo Contest


It is that time of the year for the annual Texas 4-H Roundup Logo and Theme Contest. Submissions are being accepted at this time for the 2013 Contest and the deadline is September 21, 2012.  For more information please see the flyer by clicking here

Anderson Bean Boot Company 10% Discount to 4-H Members


Anderson Bean Boot Company through their new alliance contract with the Texas 4-H Foundation, is now offering 10% Discount on their complete line of Anderson Bean, Horse Power, Macie Bean and Anderson Bean Kids Boots to all 4-H members this year.   They have a limited number of the Texas 4-H boots still remaining and those can be ordered as well through these participating retailers. Certificates will be made available on 4-H Connect that a member, once approved, can download, similar to the Volunteer Screening Certificates.  This certificate would need to be presented at the participating retailer to receive the discount.  They can print the certificate off as many times as they would like during the promotional period.  Currently not all Anderson Bean retailers are accepting the certificates.  As additional retailers are added, we will update the list.  Attached is a jpeg ad that can be used in your upcoming news release promoting 4-H Enrollment and the discount offer.    

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Livestock Shows

***Attention Livestock Showing Families***

For those interested in showing at local/area prospect shows or will be entering the major livestock shows, information may be found at on the 4-H website at www.travis4h.com under the tab "4-H Livestock and Animal Information"
Click here to be directed to the page!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Changes to the 4-H Food Show


The 4-H Food Show will be held later in the fall and for those who are familiar with the contest, there are some changes that are listed below. For those not familiar with the contest, check back later for details about the contest and how youth can participate.

1.  Categories:  The Food Show Categories will be aligned with MyPlate and will include (1) Protein, (2) Fruit & Vegetable, (3) Grains, and (4) Dairy.
2.  Theme:  A theme will be selected each year which will guide recipe selection.  Therefore, recipes should fit into the current theme, which is "Healthy Holidays" for 2012-2013. 
3.  Oven Time:  All categories of the food show will be allowed oven time. 
4.  Paperwork:  Minimized paperwork/entry form!
5.  Scorecard:  New, revised scorecard.

More information coming soon!!! Start thinking about your favorite holiday recipes and please note, the recipes should be healthy!!  If you have questions, please contact Cory at cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu

Monday, August 13, 2012

Quality Counts - Livestock Verification

If you plan to exhibit a  livestock project at the Travis County Youth Show or participate in any of the majors (Fort Worth, San Antonio, San Angelo, Houston or Star of Texas) you are required to complete the mandated Quality Counts Verification. Below is a link to information about the  mandate. Once you have read the information page, if you have questions please email Cory at cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu

Quality Counts Information Page: Click Here
Quality Counts Website

Monday, August 6, 2012

Texas 4-H and FFA Agriculture Photogrpahy Contest

The Texas State Preservation Board in partnership with the Texas 4-H and Youth Development Program are pleased to present an annual photography contest for members of the Texas 4-H and FFA Programs.  Click here for more information.