Posts Tagged: 4-H

4-H'ers take part in state field day in Davis

More than 1,000 4-H members from around California converged at Wellman Hall east lawn at UC Davis last week to share a wide variety of their leadership, small animal, plant science and other projects at the state field day, reported Tim Hearden in Capital Press.

The event was open to all 4-H members, volunteers, staff and parents. Among the events were a film festival, mock job interview competition, a photography contest and a chess tournament.

The field day began with opening ceremonies, as members from each of the more than 30 counties carried banners.

The event came as California 4-H is celebrating its centennial this year, Hearden reported. In 1913, the forerunner of 4-H was founded as an agricultural club at the college of agriculture in Davis, according to the state website. By the following year, 84 high school agricultural clubs were reported in California.

4-H'ers enjoy a picnic-like atmosphere at the annual state field day.

Santa Barbara 4-H feeling budget pressure

The Santa Barbara County 4-H program is raising awareness about the county board of supervisors' plans to cut funding for UC Cooperative Extension, according to reports that appear on the KSBY Channel 6 website and in the Santa Barbara Independent.

According to the Independent article, written by Mary Thieleke Jackson, director of the Santa Barbara County 4-H Management Board, a draft budget released Friday, May 10, does not include a county contribution to UC Cooperative Extension. Budget hearings are expected to take place the week of June 10-15.

Because the county faces a $10.5 million budget deficit, the board of supervisors is considering all options. If the proposed cut carries through to the final budget, 4-H will cease to exist in Santa Barbara County, the stories said. 

"We have to set priorities and figure out what programs work and what programs don't," said Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino.

He says the board has to make up the budget losses somewhere and he hopes it doesn't include cutting funding for 4-H.

"I can't think of a better place to spend it than on our kids and teaching them about leadership and hard work," said Lavagnino.

Climate change not impacting San Joaquin County yet

So far, the impact of climate change on San Joaquin County hasn't been apparent, reported Reed Fujii in the Stockton Record.

The story said Paul Verdegaal, UC Cooperative Extension advisor in San Joaquin County, has been tracking local crop and weather data for 30 years and to date has seen only normal year-to-year variability.

"There's no particular trend in early bud break (in vineyards); there's no particular change in earlier harvest," Verdegaal said. "I haven't seen any hint of a trend, let alone a consistent pattern of increase or decrease."

Bud break, the point when grapevines begin to leaf out, falls each spring around March 15.

"This year, it was the 18th; last year, it was the 17th," Verdegaal said. "There's no change."

Saving county's 4-H program is essential
Linda Greco, Santa Maria Times

The UC Cooperative Extension Santa Barbara County is once again on the chopping block, according to a commentary by Linda Greco in the Santa Maria Times.

"I implore our community and county supervisors to consider the consequences and repercussions of such an action. Without the county’s commitment, the program will be lost and no longer exist," Greco wrote.

Greco's article noted that the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors planned to cut UCCE from the county budget in 2010, but after "community outcry," provided one-time funding with significant cuts.

"While 4-H celebrates 100 years in California in 2014, will 4-H continue to exist in our county for future generations? Assist me and ask the Board of Supervisors not to cut the UCCE funding, and to replace it as a permanently funded item to ensure the sustainability of the 4-H program into the future," she wrote.

A little love goes a long way

A little love goes a long way, especially when it comes to saving resources, saving lives and teaching youths responsibility. 

And a Solano County 4-H project is doing just that — with orphan kittens.

Twenty-one 4-H’ers, all from Dixon, Vacaville, Rio Vista, Vallejo, Elmira or Fairfield, participate in the Solano County 4-H Orphan Kitten Program, doing their part to care for the orphan kittens that arrive at the Solano County Animal Care and Control Facility, Fairfield.

The 4-H’ers foster the felines in their homes until the kittens reach adoption age, and then they seek good homes for them.  

The project, which began in the summer of 2011, is “designed to give 4-H members the joy of working with animals and the ability to participate in a rewarding community service project,” said Victoria “Vickie” Pringle, an eight-year adult 4-H leader with the Vaca Valley 4-H Club, Vacaville.  She describes it as “a valuable citizenship/service learning project open to 4-H’ers in the fifth grade and above.”

The youths learn about proper kitten care, disease control, cross contamination and proper socialization. Each 4-H’er must attend at least one two-hour training course before being allowed to foster kittens. 

The 4-H'ers meet bi-monthly for training, project development and guest speakers, who address topics zeroing in on kitten development and adoption. Once the kitten reaches adoption age, it’s time to find a “forever home” for it. The 4-H’ers assist in the adoption process through off-site adoption events held weekly throughout the county. One venue is Tractor Supply, Dixon. 

“This gives the 4-H’ers the full effect of accomplishing something that is a direct result of their hard work and dedication,” Pringle said. 

“From August 2011 through June 31, 2012 we had 68 kittens adopted,” she said. “From July 2012 to the present we’ve had 117 adoptions! We currently have only six kittens in foster care but we are gearing up for kitten season that usually runs Easter through Thanksgiving.” 

Pringle, a 10-year employee at Solano County Animal Care and Control, launched the project due to a dire need. Every year some 10,300 animals, including approximately 5,000 cats, enter the Solano County Animal Shelter. Of the 5,000 cats, some 1,500 are euthanized “because they are too young to survive in the shelter, as determined by the Humane Society of the United States,” Pringle said.

 “Kitten season has always taken its toll on me emotionally just because of the sheer numbers of kittens that come through the doors of the shelter,” Pringle acknowledged. “Before this program, not all these kittens would make it into fosters and the result would be euthanasia. Fosters typically are extremely hard to find and keep, just due to the burnout and fatigue that individuals can go through when caring for numerous animals at one time. It's more like a job than just enjoyment when you have a litter of kittens that need care and socialization on a daily basis.” 

Both the kittens and the kids benefit.

“My members take so much pride in raising their kittens!” Pringle said. “I have had adopters write me or call months after adopting just wanting to tell me how much they enjoy their cats. It makes me feel so good.”

Only rarely does a 4-H’er choose to keep a kitten; the youths know they’re raising them for adoption, not for themselves. The shelter provides essential items needed to raise the orphans. This includes isolation caging, food and formula, litter, bedding and toys, as well as veterinarian services.  

“The only thing the members have to do is provide time and love,” Pringle said. 

More information on the Solano County 4-H Orphan Kitten Project is available from Pringle at (707) 590-0735; victoriapringle@yahoo.com; or on the Facebook page,  Solano County 4-H Orphan Kittens.

In front (from left) are Kiarra Madden, Wolfskill 4-H Club, Dixon; Summer Baron, Vaca Valley 4-H;  Makenna, Lincoln, and Braydon Caulfield, all from the Roving Clovers 4-H Club, Dixon; and Cody Ceremony, VV 4-H. In back: Tractor Supply employee/4-H member Kristin Clark-Webb, Emma Couvillon, Halie Pringle, Alexis Lynn, all VV 4-H; Solano Sheriff Tom Ferrara, Marley Hardwick, Falyn Voss, Kaitlin Adams, all VV 4-H; and Tyler Sasabuchi,Roving Clovers.

Halie Pringle (left) and Emma Couvillon of the Vaca Valley 4-H Club, Vacaville, with a ready-to-adopt kitten. (Photos courtesy of Victoria Pringle)

Halie Pringle (left) and Emma Couvillon of the Vaca Valley 4-H Club, Vacaville, with a ready-to-adopt kitten. (Photos courtesy of Victoria Pringle)

4-H members enthralled by science

Hands-on science activities offered as part of 4-H SET (Science, Engineering, Technology) at a El Dorado County park recently were colorful enough to warrant a lengthy feature story in the Mountain Democrat yesterday.

The 4-H'ers experimented with resin to understand how tree sap trapped and preserved insects that flew and crawled 100 million years ago. They examined fossils, viewed a collection of dinosaur bones and went on a fossil fuel scavenger hunt.

“We have great schools, but they don’t have much hands-on experiential learning any more,” Tracey Celio told reporter Dawn Hodson. Celio is the UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development coordinator for El Dorado County.

“Our country used to be cutting edge but we’ve lost that in the last 10-15 years due to the outsourcing of jobs and technology,” Celio said. ”Now there is a push to re-energize youth about the opportunities through SET. We want to prepare kids for the 21st century and the jobs available in the 21st century.”

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