Bastrop County Extension & 4-H: 01/08/21 4-H Email Blast: General Updates & Information

INFORMATION IN THIS EMAIL BLAST (IN ORDER)

OFFICE HOURS & STAFFING
IN PERSON MEETING OPPORTUNITIES/GUIDELINES
2020-2021 DISTRICT 10 4-H COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITY
2020-2021 SPRING PROJECT PLANNING SURVEY – RESPONSE NEEDED
2020-2021 COUNTY PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
2020-2021 CONSUMER EDUCATION PROJECT UPDATES
DOG PROJECT REMINDERS
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

Howdy, happy Friday, and Happy New Year!!!

As we jump straight into the new year, we are excited to pass on some upcoming opportunities to y’all. Right now, in person opportunities may be a little limited as we receive updates from the State and Local governments, as well as our Agency. With that in mind, we are working on making the virtual activities provided as hands-on or interactive as possible.

We are also working on livestock emails for those who entered Major Livestock Shows, we are trying to balance out sending emails to y’all while waiting until a little closer to the shows than usual in case there are any big changes in format/schedule. We’ll also send out a separate livestock email blast early next week with some updates.

If y’all have any questions, please let us know! Other than that, let’s jump in!

OFFICE HOURS & STAFFING:

Recently, one of our staff members tested positive for COVID, we have let anyone who was potentially exposed know so that they can monitor themselves. At this time, we are using an abundance of caution and are quarantining. This means we will not be allowing any foot traffic in the office for the next week or so – we will still be answering phones and emails during that time.

IN PERSON MEETING OPPORTUNITIES/GUIDELINES:

For 4-H meetings/activities, our current status is “Red” from January 7-21, 2021. The current guidelines were updated to allow some in-person meetings for Red status:

Group INDOOR events at 25% capacity of space or less are allowed only if social distancing can be practiced. Events must be pre-approved by CEO through a preparedness plan.
Group OUTDOOR events may be held with a maximum of 30 people. Events with greater than 30 people must be pre-approved by CEO through a preparedness plan.
Face to face group events should be mission critical. Events with priority are ones with time, fiscal and workforce implications.
Face to face guest speaking or presenting at other entities’ events must be approved by supervisor 14 days in advance.
No overnight events.

2020-2021 DISTRICT 10 4-H COMMUNITY SERVICE ACTIVITY:

The District 10 4-H Council has decided that for this year’s community service project they want to give back to local schools within our own Counties! They would like for each county to host a school supply drive, collect the items in the County Extension Office (CEO) and then prepare boxes/baskets to be dropped off at local schools in county for the teachers and students to have access to.
If you would like to donate any school supplies, please drop them off at the CEO as you are able to do so (remember, we have our drop box on the front porch to the right of the front doors). We will plan on donating supplies received at the end of each month from January to May 2021.
If your club decides to donate items on their own, please send me an email letting me know when and what was donated, as well as which school it was donated to.

2020-2021 SPRING PROJECT PLANNING SURVEY – RESPONSE NEEDED:

We are working on planning for our Spring 2021 4-H Projects and need a little bit of feedback from each of you on a few of them. Please help provide us some feedback by responding to our 3 question survey at http://bit.ly/21SpSurvey1.
If you are responding as a family instead of as an individual, please note how many people you are responding for in the “name” area. The survey should take about 1 minute to complete and will be open until 12:00 Noon on January 14^th.

2020-2021 COUNTY PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST:

We are excited to host our second county photography contest with Travis County!
Registration for the County Photography Contest will be done via e-mail and entries are due by 5:00 PM on Sunday, May 2, 2021.
Entry into the contest is free. Please email all entries to CEP 4-H Agent Nathan Tucker at: Nathan.Tucker@agnet.tamu.edu
Instructions for labeling photos and the category descriptions can be found in the rules at https://counties.agrilife.org/bastrop/files/2021/01/2020-2021-Bastrop-Travis-County-Photogrpahy-Contest-Rules.pdf

2020-2021 CONSUMER EDUCATION PROJECT UPDATES:

We are excited to host a multi-county Consumer Education Project series with Travis and Williamson County!
RSVP Required – sign up for the series at https://bit.ly/21ConsumerEd by January 18, 2021
A Printable copy of the schedule and project overview is available at http://bit.ly/ConsumerOverview21
Right now, we are planning on the practices being virtual – we are working on a way to incorporate in-person activities when possible

DOG PROJECT REMINDERS:

Texas 4-H Dog Show will be held on July 9-10, 2021 at the Walker County Fairgrounds in Huntsville, Texas.
To be eligible for this show, dogs must be validated by January 10, 2021 in 4-H Online.
- Watch a video with instructions herefor validating dogs. The 2021 Rule Book will be posted here
- The 2020 Rule Book is currently available and there should not be any significant changes related to events.
We do encourage you to validate any dogs that you are eligible to show. Situations may change through the year. DO NOT to wait until the last day to complete your validation. It will be difficult for your County Extension Office to help you at 4:45 p.m. on the last day.

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES:

Resources for Other Activities:
- Other opportunities can be found on the County Calendar – registration information should be included for each post.
- Other Contest related opportunities can be found on the Judging Card Calendar – to sign up for these opportunities, please contact Mellanie at MLMickelson@ag.tamu.edu or at 512-581-7186
- Social Media:
  - Website – https://bastrop.agrilife.org
  - Blog – bastrop4h.blogspot.com
  - Facebook – facebook.com/BastropCounty4H
  - Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/bastropcounty4h/

Virtual 4-H & At-Home Activities:
- National 4-H At Home Activities: https://4-h.org/about/4-h-at-home/
- Texas 4-H Virtual Learning Portal: https://texas4-h.tamu.edu/virtual/
- Iowa State 4-H At Home Activities: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/4h/4h-at-home-learning-resources
- Nebraska 4-H Online Learning: https://4h.unl.edu/virtual-home-learning
- Ice Breakers for Virtual Meetings: https://extension.umaine.edu/plugged-in/program-volunteer-resources/4h/go-virtual/ice-breakers/

HEB Virtual Cooking Classes: has been hosting virtual classes – you can check out their website for current classes or their HEB YouTube Channel
Take Care of Texas: K-5 Art Contest Season
- The Take Care of Texas Kids Art Contestis now open for K-5 students! Teachers and parents can use this contest to educate students on how to protect the environment, while letting them artistically express their ideas for a chance to win a prize.
- The contest is open Jan. 4 - March 5, 2021. Mail-in entries must be postmarked on or before March 5, 2021. Entries can also be submitted electronically. The students that submit the best art can win a tablet or laptop computer! Contest prizes will now be awarded per grade level this year, and are made possible by the Texas Chemical Council.
- Learn more on the Art Contest Website!