March is known as National Peanut, Noodle, Frozen Food,Sauce, Soft Pretzel and Soy Foods Month!

Dates to Remember:
March 11 - Garments can be picked up at the 4-H office
March 16 - Beef Cookery, Beef Poster Contest, Fashion Revue, Ready-to-Wear and Commodity Ambassador Program: Beef
April 1 - Record Books due to 4-H office
April 20 – 25 – Ag Magic, Baton Rouge, LSU, information to come later
April 21 – State Ambassador Talks, Baton Rouge, LSU
April 21 – 22 – Challenge Camp, 7^th Graders ONLY!
April 27 - Regional Seafood, Egg/Poultry, Beef Cookery in Hammond at SLU Student Union Ball Room 11:00 a.m.
May 6 – Achievement Day, Florida Parishes Arena in Amite, 9:00 a.m.

Record books were given out at the January meetings and will be picked up at your March meeting or you can bring them to our office no latter than April 1, 2009. Only 4-H'ers who complete and turn in a Record Book will be eligible to attend Achievement Day. Date of Achievement Day will be May 6, 2009 at the Florida Parishes Arena in Amite.

Parish Dress Revue will be held on March 16, 2009 at the Amite Elementary School. You need to be at the stage in your garment by 5:45 p.m. for a practice session. Scripts & Ready-to-Wear forms are due into the office no later than March 4, 2009 at 4 p.m. 8^th - 12^th graders need to turn in garment and scripts on that date as well.

Beef Poster Contest any 4-H members may participate in the Beef Poster Contest by bringing their posters to the Amite Elementary School on March 16, 2009 at 6 p.m. Rules are: Poster must be made on 11" X 14" white poster board only. Do not attach anything to the poster that is more than 1/8 inch thick. Be sure to place your name, school, grade and parish on the back of the poster in the upper right corner. HOW: Make a poster telling the story of beef and/or beef products. The finished poster should be appropriate for use on a billboard. RULES ARE: Poster must be made on 11" X 14" white poster board only. Be sure to place your name, school, grade and parish on the back of the poster in the upper right corner. Poster should generate positive images of beef and beef products and not portray negative image of other food products (i.e. chicken, pork, etc). DO NOT use copyrighted materials. Computer generated clip-art may be used on the poster if it is not copyrighted material.

Beef Ambassador Contest will be held March 16, 2009 at the Amite Elementary School, beginning at 6 p.m. Contestants in all three divisions must: 1. Bring to the contest a prepared beef dish containing 1 pound of ground beef. This dish must be cold and you can bring one (1) serving if you want. 2. Bring a copy of the recipe with the dish. Your name, school / division should be on the back. This must be written in recipe form and placed under the dish. Recipes may be used in publicity and printed on publications by the donors. 3. A contestant may enter as many divisions as he or she wishes, but may only enter one dish per division & can win overall in only one division. All parish contestants will receive ribbons. Overall winners will receive an award and represent the Parish in the District competition.
4. Beef Scoring Factors: 1. Recipe - correct format and requirements - 5 points
2. Appearance / Presentation- 30 points 3. Taste - 65 point
The divisions and their requirements are:
Low-calorie Main Dish: a dish which provides less than 300 calories per serving. Calculations of calories must be shown on the recipe.
Quick and Easy Main Dish: a dish that is ready to serve in less than one hour. The time needed for each step and for cooking or baking must be stated on the recipe.
One Dish Meal: a dish that provides foods from at least three of the main food groups. The food group must be stated on the recipe.

Overall Parish winners in each division will represent our parish on April 27, 2009 at SLU Student Union Ball Room.
Commodity Ambassador Program: (public speaking contest) please see leader for details.

4-H Club Banner for Achievement Day just a reminder about your 4-H club banner. Leaders you were given another copy of the instructions for the banners. If you didn=t get one made last year or if you want to change yours B now is the time to do it.

4-H Challenge Camp will be on April 21 & 22, 2009, Tickfaw State Park in Springfield. 7^th graders only, $5 per person, money and forms need to be in 4-H office by April 13, 2009. See leader for forms.

4-H University this year more than 1,600 4-H members between the ages of 13 (as of January 1, 2009) and 19 participate each year in 4-H University or Clover College which is held on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. 4-H members compete in one of 43 educational contests with a wide subject range. 4-H members can participate either in 4-H U or Clover College, which are non-competitive learning tracts. Please call the office ASAP if you are interested in attending 4-H U or Clover College (you cannot participate in both).