Douglas 4-H Buzz

Thank you to all the exhibitors who shared their learning and exhibits at the county fair, and to the parents whose support and encouragement made it all possible. Your achievements reflect hard work, dedication and passion.

Thank you to all our incredible volunteers who devoted countless hours to creating a wonderful 4-H fair experience for Douglas County 4-H members. Your hard work and heart make a real difference. We're so grateful for you!

• Please cash 4-H premium checks, don't wait!!! Last call to report errors on premium checks is Friday, September 18. After this time, the FINAL batch of 4-H premium checks will be printed and mailed (no payouts after this date). If your premium check is lost and you request a replacement, a stop-payment fee will be deducted from the check amount.
• Exhibits left at the county fair can be picked up in the Extension office, please swing by and pickup your exhibit(s) at your earliest convenience. We have limited storage to keep them.
• Building exhibits brought to the Minnesota State fair will be back in the Extension office and ready for pickup on Thursday, September 10. Please pick up your projects in a timely fashion as we can only store them for a short period of time in temporary storage.
• County fair photos are in the process of being uploaded to our SmugMug account, please be patient. Thank you to our volunteer photographers for all their hard work and time taking photos during the county fair.

Results for exhibits at the state fair are available on the U of M Extension website at

https://extension.umn.edu/4-h-minnesota-state-fair/4-h-minnesota-state-fair-results-news-releases-and-photos Results and photos are updated as they are completed.

Let’s wish our state horse show, state dog show and state shoot participants the best of luck as they attend their events in September!

• State Horse Show - MN State Fairgrounds, September 17-21

• State Shoot-Alexandria Shooting Park, September 11-13
• State Dog Show-MN State Fairgrounds, September 26-27

As we head into fall, it's that time of year to renew your 4-H enrollment. Our system closes September 15 for the current 2025-2026 year and re-opens October 1 for the 2026-2027 4-H year! For those that enroll/re-enroll by October 31, your name will be entered into a drawing for a fun prize; this is for both youth and adult volunteers.

This time of year, is when many people attend your club meetings for the first time and remember that even though we are finishing up the year, they are experiencing your club for the first time. Check out information here to include some welcoming activities, and get to know you activities for youth and adults coming to your club for the first time.

This year's theme is BIOGLOW™, FIRST® LEGO® League teams will experience the vibrancy of the world's ecosystems. During the season, children will be exploring the theme and ideas, creating solutions, testing them, iterating and changing them, and then sharing what they've learned with others.

Douglas County 4-H is looking for a few more kids that are interested in being part of a robotics team! No previous experience or skills required, just a willingness to learn and be a part of a team. If interested in joining, or for more information, contact Jodi Hintzen at hintz010@umn.edu or Josh Schaffran at schaffs@gmail.com before the September 14 deadline so practices can start. Open to all ages 9-16, limited spots available.

Learning in 4-H is based on the experiential learning cycle of do-reflect-apply. 4-H records are a way of reflecting and applying what has been learned in the past year.

Records can take many forms; find the one that suits your learning style and how you like to share your story with others. In your reflection, include goals of your project work, process (what did you do), sharing what you learned-demonstration, community service, public awareness, challenges, successes and improvements, financial information if applicable and what life skills you learned.

There are many different ways to complete your records:

• Google form -complete the prompts in form emailed to you and email resume to hintz010@umn.edu or jkokett@umn.edu. Please submit a resume with your record.
• Written form-complete a participation summary OR write a story answering the following: what did you learn, what skills have you developed, what would you improve upon, how can you use what you learned in other parts of your life? You can also include supporting newspaper articles or photographs. Please submit a resume with your record.
• Be creative-make a scrapbook, or photo book, create a video or slide show answering the above questions. Please submit a resume with your record.

Record materials are due in the Extension office on or before October 2 of current year.

For more information on resumes click here. There are numerous awards youth leaders can apply for in addition to records.

Save the date - our next Leader's Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, September 28 at 7 p.m. in Conference Room C in the Douglas County Courthouse. Watch for more details to come.

Officer training will be offered to anyone new to an officer position or anyone who would like to learn more about their position in their 4-H club. Training will be held Monday, October 26 from 6-7:30 p.m. in Conference Room C in the Courthouse (second floor).

Charters will be handed out at our Leaders Council meeting September 28. They will be due back in the Extension office October 29. New leaders need to complete volunteer screening before they can serve as a leader, and youth must be enrolled if they want to be counted as an officer. For assistance or questions, please contact Jackie Kokett at jkokett@umn.edu.

The date has been set for the 4-H Pajama Party for youth grades K-2! This popular event will be held Friday, December 4 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. in Alexandria. More details and event registration in mn.4honline.com to come.

It was another very successful silent auction fundraiser at the county fair, raising more than $2,300. A big thank you to Reagan Lennes and everyone who helped organize this year’s auction, and all who placed bids in support. The funds will soon be presented to the Child Life Specialist program at HCMC.

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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