Montana 4-H Clover
is produced by
Montana State University Agriculture and Extension Communications

and funded by
Montana 4-H Foundation.

Agriculture and Extension Communications is part of MSU Communications Services
416 Culbertson Hall Bozeman, MT 59717
publications@montana.edu
(406) 994-2721

Edited by: Karen Johnson, Marla Goodman, Suzi Taylor

Contributors: Rae Lynn Benson, Wendy Gerky, Chery Ann Weatherell, Jennifer Wells, The Livingston Enterprise, The Great Falls Tribune

What is MSU Extension?

MSU:
The Extension program is a fundamental part of Montana State University's land grant mission, developed to ensure that all Montanans benefit from the University.

Public access:
The program extends university knowledge to the people who need it, even if they never set foot on a campus. It gives every Montanan access to useful information and expert help via workshops, demonstrations, community meetings, publications, videos, the internet and other sources. Montana 4-H is MSU Extension's youth development program.

Educational outreach:
Extension links a network of MSU facultytopic specialists on the MSU-Bozeman campus and agents in 53 counties and seven reservationsto the people. Its role is to extend practical knowledge to the public about agriculture, natural resources, youth development, community development and family and consumer sciences.

Free information:
MSU Extension provides resources on topics that range from raising livestock, growing crops and protecting the environment to raising a family, managing finances, starting a business and protecting your family's health and well-being.

For everyone:
You can use Extension by calling your local agent (listed in the county section of the phone book), by taking advantage of workshops and demonstrations in your area, or by clicking on "Extension and Outreach" at www.montana.edu.

For a catalog of free and low-cost publications, call (406)994-3273 or browse the Extension catalog online.

Warm and Fuzzy camp

Katelyn Springer, a member of the Kremlin Hawks club, concentrates on her sewing.

There are Boy Scout camps, hunting camps and church camps, but one 4-H volunteer leader, Kelly Toldness, had a different vision for camp. She saw polar fleece, sewing machines and sleeping bags! Where did that lead? To a three-county overnight sewing camp, now in its second year.

4-H members from Hill, Blaine and Liberty counties stayed inside and kept warm during the winter sewing camps. So far they' ve learned how to cut out patterns, sew pajamas and polar fleece jackets, and construct a quilt.

The 4-H' ers not only made something for themselves -- they learned about giving to others. In the first year, participants joined with the Bear Paw Red Cross Chapter to make personal care fire kits for people who lost their homes due to fire, and made quilts for needy individuals in the community. In 2003 they made baby towels and baby carrier covers for the Hill County Health Department.

Today very few mothers sew family clothing due to a lack of knowledge or time and lifestyle changes. Members are learning life skills by being involved in 4-H that were taught years ago as a necessity. One member has taken the skills learned through 4-H one step further and purchased fabric to construct polar fleece jackets as Christmas gifts for family members.
One camper said, " I had a great time at camp! The best things were making a cool jacket and not having to be outside in the cold."

The overnight sewing camp was made possible through an Innovative Grant from the Montana State 4-H Foundation.

by Jennifer Wells and Wendy Gerky

Montana 4-H Clover 2003
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The programs of the MSU Extension Service are available to all people regardless of race, creed, color, sex, disability or national origin. Issued in furtherance of cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, LeRoy Luft, Interim Vice Provost and Director, Extension Service, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717.