National 4-H Week is October 1-7! We would like to see all clubs participate in activities such as making treats for teachers, hanging signs or banners around school or have green and white dress up day, etc. Challenge yourself to meet new 4-H friends. Take the time to celebrate your wonderful club organization. Remember we are having a school display picture club contest! Must be an outside school display! Due via email to Mrs. Kaylyn LeBlanc at kaylynleblanc@agcenter.lsu.edu October 6th.
Any boy or girl who is 9 years old by January 1st of the current school year through the 12th grade and is willing to follow the 4-H ideals and standards, is eligible for membership. This year you can join 4-H Online! To join 4-H Online, visit https://v2.4honline.com
This club is open to all 7th-12th grade 4-H members. Junior Leaders have fun helping younger 4-H’ers with their project work and assisting in their communities. Meetings are scheduled on the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30 PM at the Acadia Parish Extension Office. The next meeting will be held on October 10th. Cost to join is $15 (non-refundable). To join the Jr. Leadership Club, see the Community Club section in the September newsletter. Registration is due by November 14th.
Help support our local animal rescues! Acadia 4-H will be collecting items for our local pet rescues. Items can be dropped off at the 4-H Office (8AM-4:30PM, Mon.-Fri) or Crowley Veterinary Hospital (19131 Crowley-Eunice Hwy, Crowley, LA; Mon-Fri 7:30-5:30, at their front desk) until October 26th. Please see the list below of items needed: Dog Food, Purina Can Dog Food, Hot Dogs (for medication), Bleach, Laundry Detergent, Dawn, Odoban, Hay for Horses, Tractor Supply Gift Cards, Treats, and Bones (NO Rawhides).
Creativity, Imagination, Expression—Art! That’s what this year’s monthly lessons will focus on. Members will be introduced to the basic elements of art—line, shape, color, texture, space, and value. In this month’s lesson, members will be introduced to line. We will analyze types of lines used in our environment and how artists use line to convey movement and mood. Members will then get to create their own lines in art!
This is the first of two Cookery Contests that we will be offering this year! The Ground Beef, Rice and Bento contests will be held on Monday, November 13, 2023 at the 4-H office.
Commodity Cookery Rules & Regulations (All Grades): Doors will open at 7:30am. for those who have school that day. Others may bring their dish at 8:30am. Dishes may be dropped off by a parent, and you do not have to be present to receive an award. Judging will begin at 9:00 AM. Once judging begins, no late dishes will be accepted. ALL participants must submit their recipe at the time of entry with category, division, name, grade and school club on the back of the recipe. Only one copy of the recipe (neatly handwritten or typed) is required. Each participant may ONLY ENTER ONE DISH IN EACH COMMODITY SUBCATEGORY. For example, you can enter a dish in Rice Main Dish and one in Rice Dessert, but NOT two in Rice Dessert.
Remember, dishes must be prepared at home. Each dish must be chilled on ice to 40° or lower (even cakes and cookies), plated in a disposable container and brought to the contest in an ice chest accompanied with ICE, or they will be disqualified. No place mats, serving utensils or flower arrangements, etc will be accepted. NOTE: only 3-4 servings of the dish must be plated at the contest. For example, if the recipe states that it serves six, only three servings should be displayed but your recipe must state the entire serving size.
Ground Beef Cookery A min. of one pound of ground beef must be used. Divisions: Low-Calorie Main Dish (Provides less than 300 calories per serving. Calculation of calories must be stated on recipe.), Quick & Easy Main Dish (A dish that is ready to serve in less than one hour. The time for each step and for cooking and baking must be stated on recipe.), & One-Dish Meal (Provides a complete serving from at least three of the five food groups. Food groups in the dish should be on the recipe.)
Rice Cookery Each dish must contain at least 1 cup of cooked rice. Wild rice, rice cereal, rice flour, etc. must also contain cooked rice. Example: Traditional Rice Krispie treats do not meet the contest requirements. The contest will be divided into three categories: Rice Main Dish: contains significant amounts of rice and protein. Rice Side Dish: rice dressing would be considered a side dish. Rice Dessert: breads, cakes, pies, cookies, candies, icebox pies, ice cream, pudding, etc.
Healthy Boxed Lunch or “Bento” A bento lunch is a compact, balanced, and visually appealing meal packed in a box. Each competitor will create a lunch to be eaten at school by a 9- to 12-year-old student. The beverage will be water and should not be included. Your entry should be representative of “MyPlate” recommendations: www.myplate.gov. Each competitor will transport their Healthy Box or “Bento” lunch to the contest packed in a disposable, portable, lock-top, and leak proof container, chilled to 40° or lower and on ice.
Wondering what it meant when you selected your project when joining 4-H? We are here to help. The definition of a 4-H project is an area of work and learning experiences totaling a minimum of 6 hours.4-H project work can come from a variety of sources including project books, leaflets, and experiences or learning that you bring about on your own! Learning experiences can include tours, interviews, demonstrations, camps, workshops, clinics etc. You will also want to set goals/accomplishments for your project work for this year. Check out all the project leaflets that we offer! You can download or request leaflets for this year via this link https://tinyurl.com/4HLeaflets. Setting goals is simply deciding what you want to learn and do. Be SMART about goals. Specific – Thinking through Who, What, When, Where, Why will help you develop specific goals. Measurable – Thinking through how questions will help you with measurable goals. How much? How many? How will I know it is accomplished? Attainable- Think about how you can accomplish a goal? Abilities, Resources, etc. Realistic – Is the goal something that you are willing and able to do? Timely – Adding a timeframe provides motivation to accomplish a goal.
It’s never too early to start working on your 4-H record book! You can find the 4-H portfolio by scanning the QR code below to get started!
The Acadia Parish 4-H Foundation will be sponsoring a holiday sale, offering rice, sweet potatoes, shelled pecans and gourmet pecans. The school with the most sales will be rewarded with a party!This fundraiser provides funds for parish scholarships, contests, workshops and club meeting activities. All of the commodities are Louisiana grown. Rice and sweet potatoes are from Garber Farms in Iota and pecans are from Point Coupee Pecans. We are asking each 4-H family to sell 5 orders. Deadline to place orders is October 27, 2023. Items ordered can be picked up from the 4-H Office on November 16th from 12:30-5:30 PM. You can place an order online through any Acadia Parish 4-H member, or via this link https://acadia-4-h-foundation.square.site/or you can pick up an order form from the 4-H Office.
We are excited to announce that our 2023 4-H & FFA Bash On the Bayou Tailgate will be October 21, 2023, at the 4-H Mini Farm. The event is FREE to our 4-H & FFA families but space will be limited. The doors will open at 10:00AM and lunch will be served at 12:00PM. During the event, participants will be able to watch football games on our big screen and play cornhole and more outside. Our 4-H Executive Board will host their annual silent auction fundraiser and FFA will have items from FFA chapters available for their auction. The tailgate will end one hour before gametime. Information on t-shirt sales will be sent once it becomes available.
Please go to the following link to order tickets for LSU vs. Army game: https://fevogm.com/Louisiana4H
Get into the Fall spirit and showcase your creative side! Gather your paintbrushes and participate in our pumpkin decorating contest! This contest is open to all 4-H members. 4-H members can only enter one pumpkin per category. The categories are School Pride, Animal, Character and 4-H Spirit. Pumpkins will be accepted at the 4-H office from October 25th-27th. No early entries will be accepted. Winners will be announced on Facebook on October 31st. Rules 1) The main part of each entry must be a pumpkin or a member of the pumpkin family. No Craft Pumpkins will be Permitted. 2) Each entry must clearly labeled and include the following information: contest category, student’s name, grade level, and 4-H club.
3) Skill level should reflect the youth’s grade and age. 4) Pumpkins may not be carved or hollowed out.
5) 4-H members may enter one (1) pumpkin in each category. 6) Objects, paper, and materials of any kind may be pinned or glued to pumpkins except for glitter. Participants may also draw or paint on their entries, cut designs into their surfaces, or dress them up. Again, do not carve or hollow out your pumpkin. 7) No electrical device may be used as part of any entry. 8) Pumpkins must be picked up on October 31st but no later than November 1st. Pumpkins not picked up will be thrown away. Entries are judged on the following criteria: originality, use of materials, quality of work and creativity. For helpful tips, see our website under the events tab. If you turn in your pumpkin, and it is already beginning to rot, your pumpkin will be disqualified.
Come join the Horse Clinics this
year for FREE! This year Acadia parish will be offering horse clinics. We will again team up with master horsemen throughout the region. The dates for the clinics are October 30th, November 27th and December 18th held at the Acadia Parish Rice Arena from 6 -8 p.m. In order to attend, youth must be a registered 4-H member AND bring your own horse. For more information or questions, please call Emma Zaunbrecher Tyler at 337-366-2109
All shooting sports participants are required to show proof of hunter safety by December 31st. There are 3 Hunter Safety courses being offered. Use the links below to register for your desired date.
**9-year-olds will receive temporary certification. They must re-take the course when they turn 10 years old to receive permanent certification.
Are you ready for Challenge Camp? Come join us as we develop leaders on November 16-17, 2023. 4-H Challenge camp will be held at Camp Grant Walker in Pollick, LA. This camp is for 7th and 8th graders ONLY. It will be full of activities that increase self-confidence and self-reliance. Youth participants will be excused from school and parents are responsible for drop off and pick up. To sign up to attend this camp, please use event registration at https://v2.4honline.com. Payment and registration are due to the 4-H Office no later than October 26, 2023. The cost of the camp is $86.00, and this includes snacks, lunch, and T-Shirt. Money is non-refundable. You may attend even if you have already attended in the past. Registration is first come first serve, and only 13 spots are available. You must complete the registration and payment process in order to secure your spot.
It is time to order broiler chicks! We will be ordering chicks for both the parish and state shows. The deadline to order chicks for both shows is October 31, 2023. Be sure to order separate sets of birds for each show!You can only enter one pen of pullets and one pen of cockerels.Chicks are $.50 per chick for parish and $.75 for per chick for state.We recommend that you order at least 20-25 chicks for each show. Chicks will be straight run and not sexed. Order forms can be found online or picked up from the 4-H Office.
4-H & FFA exhibitors are required to enter animals that they intend to show under their 4-HOnline profile. This is NOT entry into the actual Parish, District, or State Shows. When entries are due only those animals successfully entered in 4HOnline by the deadline will be eligible to be entered in the spring shows. Animals requiring validations will only be approved after agents have received the validation envelope, card, and payment for the respective animal.
All animals can be validated by the exhibitor or parent on their own premise. The responsibility of tagging and collecting DNA hair samples will be that of the exhibitor and/or parent. Exhibitors should request a validation kit from the extension office. The validation will consist of ear tagging, pulling a hair sample & placing it in the envelope provided. Validation envelopes must be returned to the 4-H Office with the $7 fee by the deadline stated below. Checks can be made out to Acadia 4-H Foundation or paid online at Acadia 4-H
Foundation website. Animals validated must be in the exhibitor’s name or family name. Animals tagged for the 2023 LA State Fair may utilize the State Fair tag but must still pull hair to complete the LSU AgCenter State Show validations.
Validation Dates: (Animals must be in continuous possession of exhibitor, tag assigned, and DNA/hair samples must be submitted to parish LSU AgCenter Office by listed deadline) Com.=Commercial
November 6, 2023, by 4:30 P.M.: Com. Does, Market Goats, Com. Lambs, Market Lambs, Com. Heifers and Com. Dairy Heifers
December 4, 2023, by 4:30 P.M.: Market Swine and Com Gilts
Possession Dates: (Animals must be in continuous possession of the exhibitor by this deadline. Registration papers must be submitted within 30 days of the possession deadline.)
November 6, 2023: Beef, Sheep, Goat, Dairy Breeding, and Exhibition Poultry.
November 13, 2023: Miniature Cattle
December 1, 2023: Rabbits
December 4, 2023: Swine Breeding
Please order validation packets from Kaylyn LeBlanc by calling the Parish AgCenter office and return them directly to her with the $7 payment.
The LSU AgCenter and the LSU College of Agriculture