Texas 4-H Golf Challenge

• This event will be held June 20-21, 2011 in College Station. The two day event will include workshops, golf pro clinic and evening social and dinner on the first day followed by an 18 hole scramble and golf scenario quiz on the second day. This event will be for youth ages 11-18. Look for more info from Kyle Merten on this event!

2010 Junior Leadership Retreat - Registration Closes October 22nd

WHO: 4-H members ages 9-14 (and Adult Chaperones)
WHAT: State level leadership development program
WHERE: Texas 4-H Conference Center, Brownwood
WHEN: Friday November 5 through Sunday November 7
COST: $100 for youth, $65 for Adult Chaperones (includes two nights lodging, four meals, two evening snacks and program fees)

Junior Leadership Retreat features Texas 4-H Council members conducting hands-on educational workshops
with younger 4-H members. This year, the program will focus on new 4-H project opportunities — Leaders 4 Life, Global and Cultural Education, Keys to the Courthouse, Team Building and Recreation round out the five educational workshops.

Registration is being conducted on 4-H Connect (http://texas.4honline.com)

10th Ever Cowboy Christmas Ball

It is that time of the year again. The 10th Ever Cowboy Christmas Ball is just around the corner. This annual event is sponsored by a dedicated group of individuals who support the 4-H youth at the Travis County Youth Show.

November 20 , 2010
6:30 p.m. - midnight
Double Tree North
Live Music by Rick Trevino
Silent and Live Auction
$75.00 per tickets (tables of 10 are available for purchase)
***adult only event***

For more information or tickets: http://www.cowboychristmasball.org/

Purchase tickets by contacting:
Mo Hamann (512)751-4315

Terri Rhyan (512)750-6744

Kelly Pond (512)426-1459
Julie Morris (512)835-7575

Krista Fowles moglasskrista@aol.com

Fort Worth Stock Show

If you plan to exhibit an animal at the Fort Worth Stock Show, please go to the following link, complete the correct form and submit your form and entry fee to the Travis County Extension office by November 1, 2010.

http://www.fwssr.com/?page_id=945

Vote for Matthew Evans & Discover 4-H -J.C. Penney Contest

Matthew Evans, a Discover 4-H Club member, submitted their service projects to the J C Penney Contest! His nomination is one of the top 3 and voting is going on NOW!!! Please support Matthew by clicking on the link below and then click on the link in the right hand box that says "vote on the top 3"! Matthew and his club could win big money for charity AND a scholarship!!! You can vote one time a day!!!

While you are on the JCP Facebook page, also vote for 4-H in the left hand box by clicking on the "vote for your favorite"!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/jcpenney?v=app_128073657241194

San Antonio Livestock Show -School Tour Guides

4-H youth in grades 9-12 are invited to sign up and serve as a school tour guide for the San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo. If you are interested in giving back and taking on this leadership role, you must sign up with Cory by emailing her at cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu. This is a time commitment of 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The tour Dates for Travis County Youth will be on the following dates:
Thursday, February 10th
Friday, February 11th
Monday, February 14th

Email Cory, indicating your days of preference by November 29th.

Meeting Make up Opportunity

If you missed your 4-H meeting club or just need a 4-H meeting in general to attend, join us at 6:15 on Wednesday, October 6, 2010 (tonight) at 5501 Airport Blvd (Room 209 - North Entrance of Building).

4-H Trip to Europe

A trip to Europe is being planned by Charla Bading, District 7, 4-H Extension Specialist for next summer. There is a flyer posted at travis4h.com under the tab "4-H Events". The flyer provides details on cost as well as the schedule. This trip is open to youth (15 years of age) and adults.

If you are interested, please look over the flyer and let me know so I can forward along any additional contact information for you.

4-H Food Challenge

The 4-H Food Challenge is a contest open to 4-H youth that is a mock of the Iron Chef Show. It is a team event made up of 3-5 youth (of the same age range). Youth will be provided ingredients to make a dish of their choice, determine the following: cost analysis, nutritional information and make a group presentation about the dish and answer questions. The county contest will be held on Saturday, November 13th.

For those interested or would like more information, please contact Cory at cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu. More information on the contest may be found at at the link here.

4-H Contests Informational

Whether you are new to 4-H or have been a member for a number of years, there are numerous contest opportunities available. An informational meeting is being held on Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Travis County Extension Office (5501 Airport Blvd) to discuss contest opportunities, requirements for the contests and time of the year when the contests occur. If you are interested in any of the following contests, please sure to attend as the contests listed below will major topics of discussion. There are many other contests out there, so don't think you only have to be interested in the ones below.

• 4-H Food Challenge
• 4-H Food Show
• Nutrition Quiz Bowl
• Consumer Decision Making
• Fashion Show
• Fashion Storyboard

If you have questions, please let Cory know. cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu

Tractor Supply - Best 4-H Memories Contest

Tractor Supply Company's Out Here magazine is giving away $1,000 for the best 4H memories story! Check it out on their website:
http:// www.tractorsupply.com/content/storeevents/4h_contest

Win College Scholarships and Money For 4-H!

National 4-H Council is pleased to announce a new opportunity, through the partnership with JCPenney Afterschool, which can immensely benefit both National 4-H Council and local 4-H youth. Through the “Care, Share, WIN!” promotion, JCPenney will distribute $1 million through a month-long Facebook campaign; offering the opportunity for students ages 13-18 to win a grant for their favorite charity and a college scholarship for themselves, from September 20 to October 3, 2010.

The campaign will have a two-pronged approach:

1. Customers will help allocate $500,000 to one of four after-school charities (Boys and Girls Club of America, The Y, National 4-H Council, and FIRST) by voting for their favorite charity. The winning charity will receive $250,000; second place $150,000; third place $75,000; and fourth place $25,000.

2. Youth will be invited to share their personal community service stories, to enter for a chance to win college scholarships and grants for their charity (must be a qualified 501c3).

a) Students will submit a 250-word essay about their community service along with a photo to be eligible for the contest. Entries will be collected for approximately two weeks. The top 50 semi-finalists will be identified and posted on Facebook for fans to vote for the top three finalists. The top three finalists will then be posted and voted upon to identify grand prize winners.

b) Each of the 50 semi-finalists will receive a $3,000 donation to a charity of their choice and a $3,000 college scholarship. The grand prize winner will receive a $50,000 donation to a charity of their choice and a $50,000 college scholarship. The second place winner will receive a $30,000 donation to a charity of their choice and a $30,000 college scholarship. The third place will receive a $20,000 donation to charity and a $20,000 scholarship.

Timeline:

• September 20: Campaign launches; voting begins to allocate $500,000 to after-school charities (voting remains active throughout entire contest period); students submit entries to the contest
• October 3: Last day to submit entries to the contest
• October 4-7: Fulfillment agency and JCP Afterschool identify top 50 semi-finalists and verify all eligibility requirements are met
• October 8-17: Top 3 finalists are posted online and voting for grand prize winner occurs
• October 21: Winner announced in conjunction with national Lights on Afterschool event

Please visit JCPenney’s Facebook page to learn more http://www.facebook.com/jcpenney (you must first click “Like” on the JCPenney page in order to vote and enter the contests)

Additional information about this promotion is located at http://www.4-h.org/resource-library/promotional-toolkits/detail/default.aspx?id=2002

The partnership between 4-H and JCPenney offers many avenues for raising awareness, support, and dollars for local 4-H programs. We appreciate your time and hope you will spread the word about these contests so we can continue to raise significant dollars in support of 4-H!

Fort Worth Stock Show Calf Scramble

The Fort Worth Stock Show will host its annual calf scramble in January. If you are 14-17 years of age (as of January 1 ,2011) and interested in participating in this event please contact Cory (cmtalley@ag.tamu.edu). Participants that catch a calf will be awarded a $500.00 calf scramble certificate to be used to purchase a registered beef or dairy heifer.

TCYS Rabbit Validation - Location Announced

For those who will be entering rabbits at the Travis County Youth Show - Validation will take place on Saturday, December 18, 2010 at the Lanier High School Ag Classroom; 9:00a.m. to 12:00 noon.

Service Opportunities

Discover 4-H has a service project the evening of October 9th for those that may be busy during the morning. Contact Matthew at the email below if you are interested.

If you are looking for some community service opportunities, please contact Matthew Evans at matthew@discovergreenYEL.org. The Discover Green organization in which he founded, has several opportunities available.

One Day 4-H - T-shirts

The deadline for 4-H clubs and groups to order the 2010 one day 4-H t-shirts is this Sunday at midnight (September 19th). The t-shirts are only $5.75 each and can be ordered individually or in large numbers. The deadline for ordering ensures delivery by Saturday, October 9th.

one day 4-H t-shirts can be ordered from the Texas 4-H Store at: http://www.texas4hstore.com/.

Although the One Day 4-H event is scheduled for October 9th, the county wide event will take place on October 2, 2010 with the NAMI Walk.

If your group has scheduled an event/activity for the 9th, please continue to go with that. If you are unable to make your club event/activity, email Cory that you would like to take part in the event of supplying doggie water bowls for the NAMI Walk.

Shirts can be ordered for those who wish to buy them. Go to the following website for more information: http://texas4-h.tamu.edu/oneday/index.php.

2011 Swine Tag Order Form

If you plan to exhibit Swine at the Travis County Youth Show or at any of the major shows, validation tags need to be ordered. The form may be found at www.travis4h.com. (look under the tab "4-H Livestock Information"

The form and payment is due to the County Extension office by September 30 ,2010. Tags are
$9.00 each.

Texas 4-H Veterinary Science Skillathon

Texas 4-H is pleased to announce the release of the 2011 Texas 4-H Veterinary Science Skillathon Invitational Contest Rules & Guidelines and Application. The contest is scheduled to be held at Texas 4-H Roundup on Thursday, June 16, 2011. Applications to participate are due on Friday, March 18, 2011 and applicants will be notified of acceptance by April 1.

In order to make sure that all participants have a good and safe experience in the contest, please note a few requirements of the contest:

- Be a current Texas 4-H member in the Intermediate or Senior age division.

- Be actively enrolled in a structured veterinary science project using curriculum.

- Have completed at least one full year in a structured veterinary science project using curriculum.

- Certification by the County Extension Agent

4-H members in the Veterinary Science Project need to talk with Cory if interested in this activity to receive more information.

Canine Camp and Clinic

For those interested in the dog project. A camp/clinic is being conducted in Montgomery County, Friday October 15-17, 2010.
Check out the flyer and registration form at the travis4h.com website.

Central Texas 4-H/FFA Day

Livestock Project Day - Come on out to Callahan's to gain some insight into your livestock projects. Topics of discussion include; how to pick a great livestock animal, feeding your livestock and vet medicine and care of your project.

September 11, 2010
9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Callahan's General Store
501 U.S. Hwy 183, Austin

Opportunities to win cash prizes and gift certificates. The 4-H Club or FFA chapter with the most attendees (youth, family and friends - present) will win a $500.00 cash prize.

Donuts, coffee and drinks will be available.