Search
- Home
- Profiles
- Smith, Vickie L.
- Articles
- October 2023 Lafourche Happenings
The 2023 4-H & FFA Bash On the Bayou Tailgate will be October 21, 2023, at the 4-H Mini Farm. Sunshine John Deere Equipment will be the sponsor. They will be providing t-shirts and
hamburger lunches to our participants. The first 350 people to register online will receive a
free t-shirt. Discounted tickets for the LSU vs. Army game will remain on sale until the morning of the game. The doors for the tailgate will open at 10:00 A.M. and close one hour before the start of the game. Live football games will be streamed on the big screen, while other family games will be set up outside the mini farm. The event is FREE to our 4-H & FFA families, but space will be limited. The 4-H Executive Board will host their annual silent auction fundraiser, and FFA will have items from FFA chapters available for their auction. Please go to the following link to order tickets for LSU vs. Army game: https://fevogm.com/Louisiana4H
If you are in grades 4 through 12 and are interested in joining the Lafourche Shooting Sports Club, there will be a meeting on Monday, October 23, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. at the Ag. Building in Raceland (115 Texas Street). Shooting sports offers 4-H’ers the opportunity to learn at their own pace and may even have the opportunity to compete in regional, state, and national contests. Shooting Sports is one of 4-H's fastest-growing program areas. The mission of the Louisiana 4-H Shooting Sports Program is to assist youth in acquiring knowledge, developing life skills, and forming attitudes so that they may become self-directing, productive, and contributing members of society. Disciplines offered in Lafourche Parish are rifle (.22), BB, archery, and shotgun. A parent must attend all practices with their child. Parents are required to enroll as a volunteer for Lafourche Parish through the online enrollment system (https://v2.4honline.com//). Registration information will be given at the October 23rd meeting. All registration fees are non-refundable and are used to purchase t-shirts and supplies for the participants.
We are off to a great start in Junior Leaders! Our October meeting will be held on Thursday,
October 26th, from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. in the Raceland Ag Building. New members who are at least 13 years old by December 31, 2023, are still welcome to join the club! Dues for joining Junior Leaders are $15.00 and includes a t-shirt. Please make checks to the Lafourche 4-H Foundation. At the October meeting, we will have a costume contest and some awesome surprise activities! Bring a green dessert and come dressed for fun!
Are you in 7th or 8th grade and up for some fun challenges? If so, don’t miss our Challenge Camp on November 16th & 17th at Camp Grant Walker in Pollock! This is a fun, overnight camp with lots of challenging activities with 4-H members from across the Southwest Region! We will be traveling by chartered bus to the event. Please call the 4-H Office today at 985-446-1316 to sign up! You can mail or drop off your payment to the 4-H Office at the address on the newsletter. The cost, which includes travel, lodging, and meals at the camp, is $125 per person. All checks can be made payable to the Lafourche 4-H Foundation. Credits earned from money collected and turned in to the 4-H Office from Sweet Potato, Rice, and Pecan Sales this school year can be used to defray the cost of your camp fee! Hurry! Registration is limited and is first come, first served!
The LSU AgCenter Dairy Judging contest will be held on December 9th. If you are in 8th to 12th grade and interested in joining the dairy evaluation team, please contact the 4-H office at 985-446-1316 by Friday, October 27th to sign up! Our Dairy Judging Team placed 1st in the state contest last year!
The LSU AgCenter Horse Judging contest will be held on January 10th. If you are in 8th to 12th grade and interested in joining the horse evaluation team, please contact the 4-H office at 985-446-1316 by Friday, October 27th to sign up! Last year, our two teams placed 2nd and 5th in the state contest!
It’s time for our first poster contest of the year! Create a poster that shows your 4-H Spirit and love of Lafourche 4-H! The guidelines for the contest are:
1. Poster must be an 11 x 14 white poster board. No foam boards.
2. Do not attach anything to the poster that is more than ½ “thick.
3. Be sure to place your name, grade, and school on the back of the poster in the upper right-hand corner.
The posters will be picked up at November meetings or can be dropped off at the 4-H Office. Recognition and awards are in the following divisions: Elementary Division- 4th – 5th grade, Middle School Division- 6th – 8th grade and High School Division- 9th – 12th grade. Purple, blue, and red ribbons will be awarded. Every 4-H club member that enters a poster in the contest will receive a ribbon!
The 4-H Fashion Board would like to invite 5th – 12th graders to come experience the "new" Fashion & Beyond On Tour. You will get a closer look at all aspects of the fashion world, from newspaper runways, color wheels, upcycling, fibers, to basic sewing fundamentals. You will engage in multiple sessions of activities planned by the fabulous fashion board. Tour Fashion Ticket Price is $25.00 per person with a limit of 50 participants per location. The first tour is on January 9th at the 4-H Mini Farm on LSU Campus and the second tour is on January 17th at the River of Life Church in Winnsboro, LA. Registration begins December 1st and ends January 5th.If you are interested, please contact Mrs. Suzanne at the 4-H office at 985-446-1316.
The upcoming Sugar and Seafood Contest will be held on November 4 at the Galliano Elementary beginning at 9:00 a.m. Cooking can be a great opportunity to teach life skills such as kitchen and food safety, nutrition, and even math. It can give a sense of accomplishment and you get to enjoy the reward of eating the delicious, finished product! Your dishes can be brought to the contest by another person. Elementary, Middle, and Senior High school members will compete separately for purple (1st), blue (2nd) and red (3rd) ribbons. Overall Champion dishes will receive trophies. Members may enter one seafood and/or one sugar dish. Categories for Seafood are Oyster, Crab, Shrimp, Fish/Other Seafood and Crawfish. Sugar categories are Cakes (homemade or mixes), Candies, Cookies, Pies, and Other Sugar Dish. Rules for this contest are:
1. Sugar dishes must use at least one-half (1/2) cup of sugar. May be granulated, brown, powdered or any combination. Mixes are permitted as long as 1/2 cup of additional sugar is added to the recipe. Seafood dishes must use at least one (1) cup of seafood. The seafood must be fresh, frozen, pasteurized, or dried. Canned seafood is not acceptable. Surimi, an artificial crab made from fish, cannot be used. There can be no raw seafood in the final dish. Entries may contain a small amount of a second seafood but not more than ½ the amount of the primary seafood. All seafood used in the contest must be Louisiana Seafood.
2.A copy of the recipe must be submitted with the dish.
3.Print name, school, and division on your recipe.
4.The food should be sent in a disposable container that can be thrown away after the judging is complete.
Sugar and/or Seafood Illustrated Talk Divisions
Illustrated Talks will also be held that day beginning at 10:00 a.m. The rules for the contest are: No dish will be required for this contest. There will be three divisions in this contest:
Division I– (Grades 4-6) Contestant designs (a) standard poster 22” x 28” or PowerPoint presentation relating to Sugar and/or Seafood, (b) presents a 3-5-minute explanation of poster subject (c) responds to questions from judges.
Division II – (Grades 7-9) The contestant will present a 5–8-minute oral presentation relating to one of the five categories (1) production, (2) food preparation and nutritive value (3) food safety, (4) processing, or (5) marketing about sugar and/or seafood. Posters or PowerPoint presentations may be used. Costumes based on theme are acceptable.
Division III – (Grades 10-12) Contestant will present an 8-10-minute oral presentation on sugar and/or seafood. It can be a specific idea or an overview. Examples include Nutritional Value, Economic Value, Cooking Principles, Versatility, Food Safety, Role in Today’s Healthy Diet, Sugar and/or Seafood’s Place in Agriculture and Natural Resources, Role in our National Economy, Role in Protecting the Environment. Posters or PowerPoint presentations may be used. Costumes based on theme are acceptable.
This year’s Sew with Cotton Contest will be held in conjunction with the Sugar and Seafood Contest on Nov. 4, 2023.Garments will be modeled by the 4-H’ers that day in front of a judge. Please have the child’s name, school and grade on an index card attached to the garment. Ribbons will be given out that day (purple (1st), blue (2nd), and red (3rd).The rules for the contest are as follows:
1.Contestants may be in the 4th-12th grade. There will be three divisions: Elementary, Middle, and Senior.
2.7th – 12th grade contestants must make and model a complete outfit of any style appropriate for any occasion and any season of the year including a pair of pajamas. Elementary and Middle School students may enter the following:
4th Grade - drawstring apron (on our website), barbecue apron, or Eco-Friendly Tote Bag (from commercial patterns)
5th Grade - sassy skirt (on our website), elastic waist shorts or elastic waist pajama pants (commercial pattern)
6th Grade - A-line or gathered skirt or variation with a waistband and zipper, robe, duffle bag or computer bag (from commercial pattern)
3.Outer garments must be 100% cotton or cotton blend. Interfacing, underlining, tape, trimming, etc. can be of any compatible fabric.
During the Sugar and Seafood judging process, there will be various presentations/activities for those attending Sugar and Seafood Contest Day. For example, if you would like to learn more about all the possibilities in 4-H, you will want to attend 4-H 101! To learn how to make your meetings more interesting, attend Teambuilding 101! If you are interested in gardening, you can attend a session with our Master Gardeners! Then, you can show what you have learned in Garden Bingo. These and other options will be available starting at 10:00 A.M. at the Sugar and Seafood Contest on November 4th!
One in six households in Louisiana is at risk for hunger. The rising cost of food, housing, and utilities has increased the need for emergency food assistance. To help meet that need, we are conducting a food drive at Sugar and Seafood Contest Day on November 4th.Please donate a nonperishable food item when you come to participate that day to help end hunger in Louisiana!
As in past years, all market animals and commercial breeding animals are required to be validated through a process of collecting hair samples. The animals are then tagged and “validated”. You will be responsible for contacting the 4-H office to get your validation kits, validating your own animals, and returning the kits to our office with your fees before November 6, 2023, for commercial beef, commercial dairy, market lambs, commercial ewes, market goats and commercial does. Market and commercial hogs will have to be validated before December 4, 2023, using the same process. If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact Suzanne Troxclair at 985-446-1316.
There will be a Regional Rabbit Show held Nov. 20, 2023, at the Agriculture Building in Raceland. Entry forms are due by November 19th, but entries will be accepted the day of the show. Animal check in will begin at 8:00 am. Showmanship will begin at 9:00 a.m. Judging will begin at 10:00 a.m. The entry fee is $5 per rabbit. Please call the 4-H office if you have any questions. In an effort to stop the spread of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus and to prevent cases in our state the Louisiana Department of Ag and Forestry Animal will require Health papers on all rabbits attending a show in Louisiana. This includes out of state and in state rabbits attending a show in Louisiana. Without current health papers rabbits will not be allowed to enter the Regional Show. Health papers are good for up to 30 days. Before the show you can obtain a health paper from any vet or Anna Ozio, DVM, will be in the parking lot prior to the Rabbit Show issuing health papers. You must have this paper when checking in your rabbits. Contact Mrs. Suzanne for information at stroxclair@agcenter.lsu.edu.
The Shooting Camp will be held December 8-10, 2023, in Pollock at Grant Walker Educational Facility. The camp is open to 4-H Youth ages 9-13 years old. Participants will choose one of the following: Archery, Shotgun, .22 Rifle or Air Rifle/Air Pistol/BB (Combined). Parents/Guardians are welcome to attend, but it is not mandatory. The cost will be $120 per youth/per adult which will cover registration, lodging, meals, and t-shirt. All youth will be required to bring their own bow/firearm and arrows/ammo. Credits earned in this year’s sweet potato, rice, and pecan sales can be used towards the cost of attendance! Deadline to register is November 20th. Please call the 4-H Office at 985-446-1316 to register!
Volunteers are what keeps our thriving 4-H program running! Without the support and devotion of the great people of Lafourche parish, we would not be as successful as we are. If you are interested in being a 4-H volunteer please create a profile and enroll here: https://v2.4honline.com// All volunteers, such as cookery judges, overnight camp chaperones, club leaders, speaking contest judges, and shooting sports parents must be enrolled. If you were unable to attend our Volunteer Roundup, please email Suzanne Troxclair at stroxclair@agcenter.lsu.edu for a volunteer form and more information! Thank you in advance for your help!
We will again give lucky clover tickets to 4-H’ers for participation in all 4-H club contests. Each time you participate in a contest, poster contest, etc., you will receive a lucky clover ticket. All tickets will be given to 4-H’ers prior to Achievement Day, and a drawing for the prizes will be held that day. You will have to be present at Achievement Day to win the prizes. Earn those tickets! Start participating now to win!
Vehicle Care
Vehicles come in all shapes and sizes. Transportation options depend a lot on where you live and your budget. Bicycles are a valuable form of transportation for many people and a source of exercise and enjoyment. Maintaining a bicycle and learning the rules of the road are a very important part of staying safe. Purchasing a vehicle is a big step. It’s worth taking the time to understand all factors involved (price, insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc.) to make informed decisions. Responsible vehicle owners know the importance of regular maintenance to keep costs down and keep the vehicle running safe and smooth.
For more information on any of the activities listed, please contact Suzanne Troxclair at 985-446-1316 or email her at stroxclair@agcenter.lsu.edu.