4-H Gives Back

Throughout the holiday season, the Person County 4-H Program always tries to give back to the community. Well, on November 14th, 4-H joined Golden Corral in honoring our Veterans at this year's annual Veterans Day Dinner. We helped open doors, carry trays, seat people, and even just walked around and talked to all of the veterans that evening. One 4-H'er, Logan Bates (pictured left), was chosen to sing the National Anthem that evening which was broadcast on the Roxboro Radio station. Throughout the month of October and November, we collected over 200 pounds of food (pictured right) that was donated to the Christian Help Center. Thank you to everyone that helped us reach our goal. A few short weeks later, the Woodland Lakers 4-H Club held a fundraiser for the Animal Shelter collecting toys, food, and other goodies for the animals there. (pictured below)

Ag Field Day & Farm City Week

On Thursday, November 3rd from 9am-2pm at Huck Sansbury Park, the Person County Extension Office hosted the annual Agricultural Field Day for the local fifth graders. Booths were set up allowing for the students to rotate around all of the booths throughout the day. The students will learn about the following topics: animals, dairy production, forestry, wildlife, soil and water, plants, locally grown foods, tractors and farm equipment, etc.

The theme for this year’s Farm City Week, which which was held October 31^st - November 4^th, is “Locally Grown Foods” which spotlights the importance of showing appreciation to our local farmers by purchasing their products. The 4-H poster contest was open to area 4^th graders and were judged on their orignality, creativity, neatness, and relativity to the theme. The winners were recognized at our Farm City Week luncheon.

2011 NC State Fair

Every year, we have a variety of 4-H’ers showing animals and submitting entries into the contests and the NC State Fair. This year was no different. Several youth from Person County 4-H submitted entries into the crafts and food categories of the fair and everyone brought home several ribbons. Congratulations to Hunter Alexander and Taylor Alexander on all of their ribbons from the Goat Show and also congratulations to McKayla Chambers, Eryn Haynes, Cathryn Haynes, and Hunter Alexander for their accomplishments within the different 4-H craft and food contests. If you are interested in participating in the livestock shows at the fair or submitting entries for one of the contests next  year, simply contact us at the beginning of August and we can help you figure out how to get registered.

4-H Achievement Night

All 4-H'ers who submitted record books were recognized with awards and ribbons at the annual  4-H Achievement Night Program that was held on October 7th. It was easy to see that the youth had done an outstanding job this past year. In addition to the projects, Michael Chaney was chosen as our Outstanding 4-H'er of the Year. Congratulations to Olivia Bottoms who was awarded the Distinguished Service Volunteer Award for her outstanding work as a 4-H volunteer at several of our 4-H events throughout the past year as well as serving on our Youth Advisory Council. And, the Special Merit Club Award went to the Woodland Lakers 4-H Club for all of their hard work over the past year. We had a lot of wonderful things happen this past year and I only hope with your help, we can continue to make the best better in Person County.

Dog Day Out

It was a cool, beautiful, sunny day for the folks attending Dog Day Out on Sunday, October 2nd. From the smallest to the largest dog, these four-legged creatures brought their owners out to Huck Sansbury Park for an afternoon of activities. The 6th Annual Dog Day Out event, sponsored by the Person County 4-H Program, included afternoon activities featuring the 4-H Dog Show and demonstration by a Raleigh Fly Ball Team. Flyball is a contest where two teams of four dogs compete to jump over 4 hurdles to get the ball at the end of the lane and the fastest time wins.

The Person County Animal Shelter was on hand Sunday to provide information on dog health, care, adoption and foster services, etc. The Pet Overpopulation Patrol was also there hosting a Rabies Clinic and promoting spaying and neutering your animal. If you are interested in finding out more about their services, call 919-942-2250 or visit them online at www.pop-nc.com. Also, thanks to Ashley Marcoux and Diamond Faulkner, who run a grooming business called PrettyPawsRUs and were on hand to clip toenails and provide grooming information. More information can be found on their website at http://prettypawsrus.weebly.com or contact them at 919-308-0678.

Congratulations to all of the winners and their owners including Christina Bufanda and her dog Bella, who won 1st place in the cutest puppy category.

National 4-H Week

We have several things planned to celebrate this year’s National 4-H Week which is held October 2nd – October 8th. The description for each day is listed below:

Sunday, October 2nd - Dog Day Out

It will be held from 2:00pm-4:00pm at Huck Sansbury Park. All Personians, young or old, can enter their canine friend in two of the fun categories ranging from craziest for a toy to most beautiful or just get more information on your pooch. If you are interested in receiving an entry form, call us at 599-1195.

Monday, October 3rd – 4-H Balloon Release
Come to the 4-H office at 4:00pm and we will each write a message about why we love 4-H and how to join and then we will release the balloons into the air, asking for the recipient to contact our office.

Tuesday, October 4th – Go Green
This is our day to get out and market 4-H. Wear your 4-H t-shirts and tell a friend about 4-H. Also, keep an ear out to the radio for our public service announcements.

Wednesday, October 5th – National Youth Science Day
It will be held from 3:30pm – 5:00pm and we will complete a few different science activities to celebrate this event. You must RSVP to attend.

Thursday, October 6th – Hungry to Help
Go to the store and purchase some can goods that we can donate to our local Christian Help Center. Bring it to the office or drop it off on Friday.

Friday, October 7th – 4-H Achievement Night

All 4-H’ers, their families, donors, and alumni are invited to our annual 4-H Achievement Night Banquet. We will be recognizing all of our 4-H’ers and their accomplishments over the past year.

Saturday, October 8th - Farmers Market Day

Be sure to take your family on a field trip and visit our local Person County Farmer’s Market. It is open on Saturday, October 8th from 8am – 12pm. Come on out and support our local farmers by purchasing some of their delicious produce.