Jackson Journal

To stay up to date about deadlines, events and reminders please subscribe to the Jackson County 4-H google calendar: z.umn.edu/JacksonCo4HGoogleCal

• Sunday, November 23 at 5:30 P.M. - Jackson County Awards & Recognition Banquet - more info below and RSVP here (https://z.umn.edu/BanquetRSVP)!

• February 16, 2026 - Market Beef ID’s Due in 4-H Online (The 15th falls on a weekend so there is an extra day!)

• May 15, 2026 - All Animal ID’s Due in 4-H Online (this is the first step to signing up animals for fair)

• May 25, 2026- FairEntry Registration Opens (this registers your projects for fair)

• June 25, 2026- FairEntry Registration Closes (this registers your projects for the fair, if missed you would need to fill out an exemption)

• July TBD - Presentation Day Judging and Evening of Talent (usually a Tuesday)

• July 27 - Saturday, Aug. 1 2026 - Jackson County Fair (including general project entry day)

• Monday, Aug 3, 2026 - Livestock Judging Contest in Jackson

• August 27 - Sept. 7, 2026 - Minnesota State Fair

• September 2026 - Fair Recap meetings with Superintendents and Committees

Please keep in mind we are only two people, and while we make every effort to keep the office open every day, sometimes life happens and we both need to be off. We highly encourage you to call and make sure one of us would be available to assist you. In the event we both will be gone, we will do our best to alert everyone via email or Facebook.

The Jackson County Extension Office will be CLOSED on the following dates.

• Thursday, November 27 - Thanksgiving
• Friday, November 28 - Day after Thanksgiving
• Wednesday, December 24 - Friday, December 26 - winter holiday break

If you need to pick up or drop off anything please plan to do so outside of these dates, or utilize the drop box now in FRONT of the office to the right of the front door!

Our office now has texting capabilities. This is a very basic service so most communication will come from email or Jackson Journals, but we encourage you to save 507-849-7279 in your contacts. This is monitored by Debra, so Caitlyn will still utilize her Google number 507-793-6033.

The new 4-H year began Oct. 1. In order to participate in 4-H meetings, events, programs you will need to show your family’s intent to participate by logging in to 4-H Online and reviewing, updating and submitting the following information:

• Your family's contact and demographic information, including club, school and grade.

• Each family member's health and emergency contact information.

• Project areas of interest for this coming year. (this is SUPER important as it helps us know which youth are interested in what to better inform them about upcoming events related to that specific project area!!)

• Parental consent required for youth participating in shooting sports/wildlife programs.

Save the Date for the Jackson County Awards Banquet! Our club hosts this year are Middletown Livewires and Heron Landers and the theme is "4-H is an overall experience".

Celebrate all the Jackson County 4-H success we had from October 2024 - September 2025!

• Award from county fair, 4-H records, as well as youth, business, and volunteer awards are given out at this event.
• Please bring a food shelf item or toiletry items as your "ticket" into the banquet.

The Banquet will be November 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Immanuel Lutheran Activity Center (School gym), 604 Bush Street, Lakefield MN 56150

More information and RSVP post cards will be sent out later this October, but if you would like to RSVP now you can do so at z.umn.edu/BanquetRSVP.

Premium auction checks are ready! Due to mail being somewhat unreliable and to save postage we encourage youth or a family member to pick up auction checks at the Extension Office.

Failure to pick up your check by Nov. 24, 2025 will result in the funds being donated back to the Jackson County 4-H program. Please let the office know if special accommodations need to be made for you to complete thank yous and pick up checks outside of office hours.

In order to receive your action check:

1. Your thank you's must be done

2. W9 must be on file for us to release the check to you. (You will only need to fill out a W9 once for the youth's 4-H career at Jackson Co. unless your information has changed- example: address, name change, etc)

3. If you received a State Fair trip, please stop in the office to sign our thank you for all KWOA sponsors.

Thank you for volunteering with Minnesota 4-H in program year 2024 - 2025. We hope you will join us to continue offering learning and leadership opportunities for Minnesota youth in your community!

It is mandatory that committee members are 4-H screened volunteers as this meets the requirements of the U of M Extension for adult volunteer leadership. See here for more information: z.umn.edu/4Hscreenedvolinfo

• If you need to renew as a volunteer, you should have received an email communication from 4-H regional staff with instructions for completing renewal (z.umn.edu/4HVolunteerRenewal)

• Please complete the renewal steps by Nov. 15 to restore your ‘Approved’ status.

• If you do not need to renew as a volunteer, you will receive an email communication from 4-H staff with a notice that 4-H staff will manually update your status to ‘Approved’ in 4-H Online. You will receive an automated notification from 4-H Online once this status is restored. Remember, eligibility to volunteer does not mean a commitment to volunteer!

Thank you to all the families/4-H'ers who sold holiday greens and plants to raise funds for your summer intern.

We sold $5,343.50 worth of product with 54 total items sold.

Jackson 4-H receives 30% of total sales = $1,603.05

Minus $350 (delivery fee) = $350

Current Net Profit after expenses is: $1,253.05

Club and Family Incentives for the Winter Greens and Poinsettia Fundraiser! (Club awards will only be given out if we meet our goal! Individual awards will be given out if sellers sell a minimum of $100)

Because we did not reach our profit goal of $5,500 there will not be any club awards given out this time. We did have some families sell over $100 of product so we will be rewarding them for their efforts.

• 1st place ($50) - Hodnefield Family
• 2nd place ($25) - Thompson Family
• 3rd place ($15) - Rowe Family

RETURN - all unused animal ear tags provided by 4-H! This may be new information for Animal Science project members.

In order to be in compliance with MN Board of Animal Health and USDA official tag tracking. All unused 4-H ear tags need to be returned to the 4-H Extension Office as soon as possible.

• 4-H Ear tags from this year that are unused must be returned to the Extension Office within 2 weeks of the Animal ID deadline

• If you have older 4-H tags that have been unused, please return them immediately to the 4-H office.

About the position:

4-H Summer Intern positions will work with a local county 4-H program or a state program (Plant Science or Outdoor Adventure). Project focus of the internships may include developing and implementing day camp curriculum, marketing youth programs, planning and coordinating events/activities, partnership development, and related.

• View map to see all available counties hiring a summer intern!

Time Required:

Positions will begin in mid-May to early June and typically end in August. Some positions will start at less than full-time and flex to full-time during peak periods during assigned events or local fairs.

If seeking course credit: Must meet all student eligibility requirements including that they must be currently enrolled for the required credits for the entire summer semester.

Apply here: z.umn.edu/4hsummerintern

For more info about the 4-H summer internship see z.umn.edu/4Hsummerinterninfo

Are you interested in learning more about sewing, or want to improve the skills you already have?

Join Nobles, Jackson, and Martin County 4-H on Monday, December 29th, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., for a sewing workshop at Jackson Middle School (703 Mill Rd E, Lakefield, MN 56150).

• Register by December 22 at z.umn.edu/TriCountySewingWorkshop

Open to all levels of sewers from beginners to experts! 4-H will lead the group through a few simple fun projects, but you are welcome to bring a project you have already started.

Bring a yard of fabric if you are able to, 4-H will have some to use if you are not able to. More communications will follow closer to the event date!

Who: Any Jackson County 4-H Youth Grade K-13

Criteria: The goals of the Jackson County 4-H Legacy Fund is to advance the work of Jackson County 4-H youth by providing funds to make a CAPITAL INVESTMENT in a 4-H project area where they would not otherwise be able to fund the purchase – a camera for photography; a miter saw for a shop project, a garden tiller for a gardening project, breeding livestock count too!!!

• Youth fill out an application answering the following questions in each category:

• 4-H activities

• Project Budget

• Legacy Grant Project Description

• Potential Impact

Item given: Certificate and monetary check for funds requested

Apply here: z.umn.edu/JacksonLegacyGrantApp

Once the application is filled out, the committee will determine if funds will be awarded.

Looking for funding to assist with registration or participation costs for 4-H camps, workshops, education events, or other 4-H sponsored events? Submit a Bring it Back Form to request assistance!

Learn more and apply here: z.umn.edu/JacksonBringitBackgoogleform

A PDF form is available here: z.umn.edu/Bringitbackapplication

How does it work?

• The Jackson County 4-H Federation has allocated funds in our yearly budget to help offset some if not all costs for 4–H events, workshops, camps, etc.

• The funds awarded will be up to 75% of the amount requested or as determined by the Jackson County 4-H Federation Budget overseen by the Jackson County Extension Educator, Youth Treasurer, and Adult Treasurer.

• Those receiving funds are expected to give a short presentation to the 4-H Federation at the next available date or the January 4-H Federation Meeting, whatever comes sooner.. If members can’t attend, a written report shall be submitted.

• Funds will be paid after the member attends the event and reports back their experience to the Jackson County 4-H Federation.

• The Jackson County Extension Office will notify those applying if funds are available and their request is approved.

• If funds are not available in the Federation Budget, the Extension Educator will propose to the Federation a change in budget allocations. The Jackson County 4-H Federation will then determine where the funds will be taken out to fulfill the request or deny the request.

If you or your club members were/are on the following committees for the 2024-2025 4-H year; below are tentatively scheduled dates for upcoming committee meetings. If you have been invited via a Google Calendar invite it is IMPORTANT you RSVP or let the office know you are or not attending. Thank you!

• Livestock Superintendents Committee - January 2025 - Pending Date and time to coordinate with MN 4-H Livestock Webinar. - Jackson County Middle School in Lakefield

We are always in need of new members (youth and adult) for the following committees. Consider joining us at these scheduled dates:

• General Project Committee - Wednesday, January 21 from 6 - 7 p.m. at the Jackson Middle School in Lakefield
• Auction Committee - Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2025 from 5:30 - 6:30 p.m at Jackson County Extension Office
• Food Stand Committee - Wednesday, January 21 from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Jackson Middle School in Lakefield

Stay up to date with 4-H in Jackson County by reading the past agendas and the past meetings minutes.

Please encourage one adult and one youth to represent your club at the next Federation meeting happening Monday, January 26, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at the JCC Middle School in Lakefield.

Agenda can be found in the event date description on the Jackson County 4-H Google calendar (z.umn.edu/JacksonCo4HGoogleCal) when ready.

Advisory Board meeting will take place at *NEW TIME* 6:15 p.m. prior to the Federation meeting.

Jackson County 4-H

607 S Highway 86, Lakefield, MN

Email: mnext-jackson@umn.edu

Phone: 507-662-5293

Website: extension.umn.edu/jackson

Follow us on Facebook

Jackson County 4-H Google Calendar: z.umn.edu/JacksonCo4HGoogleCal

PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE 4-H APP!

Apple App Store - https://apps.apple.com/al/app/minnesota-4-h/id1478965229

Google Play Store - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.minnesota4h.umn

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