Douglas 4-H Buzz
December 2025 Edition
Re-Enrollment & New Enrollments for 2025-2026
Event Information
Are you 6th grade and up looking to meet new friends and get ready for a fun year of 4-H? Learn about leader opportunities in your community and in 4-H, play fun games and work with other leaders to develop lifelong skills that will help you in work, life, the show ring and much more. This event is hosted by Pope County 4-H for Pope and surrounding counties with location to be determined. The event begins at 6 p.m. on Friday, January 2 and ends at 9 a.m. on Saturday, January 3. Cost is $ 5.
To register, visit mn.4honline.com, login, select events on the left and search for 4-H Ambassador Lock-In. Event registration will only work if you are enrolled for the 2025-2026 4-H program year. If you need assistance enrolling or registering, contact the Extension office at 320-762-3890 or mnext-douglas@umn.edu. The registration deadline for this workshop is Saturday, December 29.
4-H Event Registration
When staff and volunteers plan, organize and put time into offering events for Douglas County 4-H'ers and families, registering for that event and paying for that event (if there is a cost) in a timely manner is so important for the following reasons:
- Purchasing supplies- staff need lead time to purchase and organize the supplies
- Recruit enough youth and adult volunteers-many times youth and adults need to rearrange their work schedule or plans to help us at various events.
- Dietary, abilities and health considerations-staff need time to plan for any youth who have special requests or dietary needs, and for youth who may need special accommodations. If we don’t know who is coming, we are not able to plan for those accommodations and needs.
- We typically have a minimum number of participants to hold the event, and many times we have a maximum number of participants due to space limitations or the content of the program. We realize that everyone is busy and making plans can be challenging, but please do the best you can to sign up ahead of time and secure your spot
- Events do fill up, so please don’t wait until the last minute. Sometimes we fill up and then need to close the event prior to the deadline.
- Payment can be made in our office or there is a drop box located on the south side of the courthouse for after hours. Please label the envelope with Extension and the name of the event before putting it in the drop box.
Event Information
Are you new to 4-H or want to learn more about what 4-H has to offer? If so, this workshop is for you. Join us Sunday, January 25 from 5:30-7 p.m. in Conference Room C (second floor) of the Douglas County Courthouse. This fun and engaging free workshop explores all 4-H has to offer; there is a track for parents and one for youth.
To register, visit mn.4honline.com, login, select events on the left and search for Douglas County 4-H New Member/Family Day. Event registration will only work if you are enrolled for the 2025-2026 4-H program year. If you need assistance enrolling or registering, contact the Extension office at 320-762-3890 or mnext-douglas@umn.edu. The registration deadline for this workshop is Tuesday, January 20.
4-H Project Bowl Teams are Forming Now!
Project Bowl is a long-standing program in Minnesota 4-H and is the second most attended event of the year. In Project Bowl, teams of 3-6 youth members build skills working and thinking together while testing their knowledge in these 4-H areas: dairy, dog, general livestock, horse, llama-alpaca, plant science, poultry and rabbit. This happens in a quiz bowl type setting with buzzers and two rounds of questions. There are teams for youth 3rd grade and up. Practice usually begins at the end of December or beginning of January.
In the previous year, we had teams in general livestock and dog. Douglas County 4-H has coaches and teams for dog, and general livestock. If you are interested, please contact the office ASAP at mnext-douglas@umn.edu!
Event Information
Make holiday magic! West Otter Tail has invited Douglas County 4-H members grades K-13 to their pizza and pottery workshop at The Creations Shop. Create two ornaments perfect for gifts (or to keep for yourself, we won't tell). Register by December 9 at mn.4honline.com and search for WOT Pizza and Pottery. Event registration will only work if you are enrolled for the 2025-2026 4-H program year. If you need assistance enrolling or registering, contact the Extension office at 320-762-3890 or mnext-douglas@umn.edu. Cost is $ 30 per youth, please bring a check (payable to WOT 4-H) with you the day of class. For more information, contact WOT Extension office at 218-998-8760.
Apply to be a U of M Morris Camp Counselor
Morris 4-H regional camp applications go live Monday, December 1 for youth grade 7 and up. Now’s your chance to apply and bring your enthusiasm and energy to this awesome camp experience!
Camp is June 23-25, 2026 (counselors arrive June 22) at University of Minnesota Morris campus. Application deadline is January 15 by the end of business day (online submissions only). There is a mandatory training one Saturday in April (date to be determined.) Apply Here!
- Director (Gr. 11+)
- Camp Counselors (Gr. 7+)
- Support Counselors( Gr. 7+)
For questions or more information, please contact Becca Golden, turnq069@umn.edu, Jacob Halper, halpe120@umn.edu or Kylee Sherod at shero018@umn.edu. We’re excited to review your application and can’t wait for an unforgettable 2026 Morris Regional 4-H Camp!”
Holiday Dates Extension Will Be Closed
The Extension office will be closed for the holidays these dates:
- December 24-26 (Christmas)
- January 1 (New Year's Day)
- January 19 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
- February 16 (Presidents Day)
State fair media coverage
From the llama portraiture article by the Star Tribune that led to a People Magazine feature, to a MinnPost feature and a Star Tribune op-ed featuring an Arts-In participant and State Ambassador that told our Beyond Ready story, the Minnesota State Fair media coverage impact extended well beyond the 12 days of this year's fair.
Media hits are now sorted by county in the coverage spreadsheet. See if any of your county’s participants were featured by checking the far right columns in the tracker (not all features have links available, but most do).
Douglas County 4-H Project Guide
It can be confusing as to what is available to do or learn about in the many different project areas that Minnesota 4-H offers, and how that might connect to creating an exhibit for the county fair to showcase what you learned. To discover more about a specific category check out the Douglas County 4-H project guide to learn more.
Happy Holidays
All of us from the Douglas County Extension office wish you the best this holiday season! We look forward to the New Year and all the exciting opportunities ahead.
4-H Photos on SmugMug
If you haven't checked out SmugMug you're missing out! 4-H photos are downloaded to this site for 4-H families to access and save photos of their 4-H'er. You might find photos to include in your 4-H record! We're still in the process of downloading so if you don't see what you're looking for, check back later as we continue to download new photos.
Contact Information:
Jodi Hintzen, Extension Educator, hintz010@umn.edu
Jackie Kokett, Extension Educator, jkokett@umn.edu
Douglas County Extension
Email: mnext-douglas@umn.edu
Website: extension.umn.edu/douglas
Address: 305 8th Ave W, Alexandria, MN 56308 (Courthouse, 2nd floor)
Phone: 320-762-3890
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MNDouglasCounty4H/
Twitter: @UMNExt
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