What does the 4-H year look like?

The 4-H calendar year spans from October to September.  October 1st is when everything starts over, and our new year begins! Your 4-H'er can get involved in many different project areas within 4-H that will have their own deadlines and dates to remember so it's important to make sure that you register for that project area using the county registration site, 4-HOnlinev2 (in the menu) so you are on the rosters. Make sure to watch the county 4-H newsletter for more details about upcoming events/deadlines. 

• Club meetings: Brown County 4-H is broken out into several different individual 4-H clubs. Each 4-H'er belongs to a 4-H club. Some clubs have different focus areas such as Shooting Sports, Livestock, Static Exhibits, Community Service, etc. (If you have questions about which club is located closest to you and/or shares similar interests, give Becca a call at the 4-H office and she can suggest a group for your 4-H'er.) 4-H Club meetings generally happen once a month. At those meetings, the group will use Parliamentary Procedure to conduct their meetings and plan their upcoming events and activities. Cloverbuds are encouraged to join a regular 4-H club and attend their meetings.

(Parent tip: It may help to bring a bag with coloring books and crayons/markers to the meeting to help keep little hands busy.)

• Cloverbud Meetings: Cloverbud meetings will be held 4x a year. We'll talk about each of the four H's (HEAD, HEART, HANDS, HEALTH) and do an activity that relates to the H and 4-H project areas that kids can get involved in through 4-H. 
• October/HAPPY NEW YEAR!: October is recruiting month! This is a great time to tell your friends about 4-H and to invite them to join your club! Often times there are incentives and contests to encourage your 4-H'er to share about 4-H. October is the beginning of the new calendar year, so your clubs will begin the "reset" by electing new officers and planning for the upcoming year.  We encourage our members to promote 4-H, especially in October, by wearing their 4-H t-shirts and talking to their friends about their club. 
• Dec 31 - 4-H Enrollment Deadline: December 31 of each year. Returning members should have their new enrollment submitted via 4-HOnline website before the end of each calendar year.  Doing this right away when the 4-H office gives the ok mid to late October is always best. Cloverbuds will need to register either as Brown County Cloverbuds, or with an individual club.  Be sure to choose Cloverbuds in your projects and you're all set.  Now is a good time to start thinking about what kind of projects you want to try this year! 
• December/January: (TBA) Our first Brown County 'Buds meeting will be held sometime in December or January. At this meeting we will learn about using our "HEADS to Clearer Thinking" and will make a craft that can be entered at the Brown County Fair.  Cloverbuds are able to enter their projects at the county level but have to wait to officially be in 4-H to compete at the state levels.  This is a great time to explore the different project areas with less guidelines to follow. 
• February/March: (TBA)Our second Brown County 'Buds meeting is held sometime around Valentine's Day.  (Weather has been known to throw us a curveball and has caused a rescheduled meeting into March.) At this meeting, we will talk about using our "HEARTS to greater loyalty" and what it means to be a good friend and a reliable club member. We will also talk about gratitude and when it's appropriate to send a thank you. At this meeting, we will make a second craft that the kids can enter at the county fair. 
• April 1: Start project planning! If you haven't already started now is a good time to start planning projects for the upcoming fair as soon as possible. Start making a list of things you want to do as well as the things the kids do/will do at school that can be entered. Record and keep track of things like dance recitals, piano recitals, music solos, art projects, industrial tech projects, FACS projects, science presentations, and more! There is a project area for anything you did that you are proud of.
• May 31: May 31 is the deadline each year for enrollment in the different project areas. As Cloverbuds, you only need to register for "Cloverbuds" this time around, but make note of the different project areas. (Anything the 'Buds enter for judging will fall into a specific project area in the next round.) When graduate to 4-H, if you forget to register for a project area, your premium points are dropped a ribbon placing. We'll talk about this more at the end of the year.) If you want to enter livestock/animal projects, please contact Becca at the 4-H office to make arrangements for this.  (If we have enough Cloverbud interest, we can organize judging for the 'Buds.)
• May/June: (TBA) We will have our 3rd meeting of Cloverbuds at the end of May/early June. (After public school gets out). 4-H is a service club, so we will use our "HANDS for larger service" and do a community service project to help out the 4-H office where needed and talk about the Horticulture project area. Many families plant gardens, and Horticulture is a project area you can enter to show off the yummy things you grow. In the past, our community service project is to help plant flowers at the Brown County 4-H office. We'll have a fun treat afterwards! 
• June 31: Second project registration deadline.  This time, you will enter your specific projects into the FAIR ENTRY system. (Link found a in the menu or click HERE.) Enter each project that you want to enter individually. You will need to have a designated project area for each project. Your leaders can help you if you need help figuring out where to enter a project. 
• June/July/August: (TBA) We will have our 4th and LAST Cloverbud meeting before the fair happens. We'll talk about using our "HEALTH for better living" and make a healthy snack! Special foods and Foods and Nutrition are two project areas we will mention as well as Health and First Aid. We'll also talk about interview judging, how to enter your projects at the fair and what to expect when you get there and things to look forward to during the fair! You'll also be reminded about the deadline to turn in your 4-H Books.  These are not required, but if you DO turn them in, you'll get a special award for completing your entire Cloverbud calendar year at the recognition ceremony in November.
• July: (TBA) Fair Bags will be available to pick up at the 4-H office. Your bag will have your projects' tags, a t-shirt, any materials you may need to submit your projects (i.e. photography requires a certain board to mount your photo on-these will be provided at this time) and other instructions for the week and project judging.
• August: BROWN COUNTY FAIR TIME! The fair is the big event for 4-H! All of the livestock has been trained and primped, the projects are polished up, the midway is ready to go! Let's celebrate all of the hard work we've submitted for judging. Monday afternoon of the start of Fair week is 4-H judging. You will bring your projects to the fairgrounds for interview judging. Cloverbuds will have their own Judge and will receive a ribbon for entering their project. Be prepared to talk about what you did to make your projects, what you learned, what parts were easy, hard, and what your favorite things about your projects were.  
• September Record Books Turn In: (TBA) Record books help us to keep track of what we did throughout the year. As you bridge to 4-H, it's a great way to keep track of things for scholarships and college planning too! Books teach us to reflect on our projects and what we learned from them and track our projects as we work toward different project awards. 
  • September 23, 2024 - Have books to Becca at the 4-H office. 
• November Recognition Event: (TBA) Recognition Event - Awards are given out at the end of the year for the project areas in 4-H.  Cloverbuds who submit their record book will receive an award at the ceremony! There are a lot of ways you can achieve awards in 4-H and this event recognizes the hard work and achievements of the members in Brown County. 
  • NOVEMBER 10, 2024 at the Brown County Courthouse Community Room - Time TBA

 

Updated 9/21/24