Alternatively, download a printable version of the January 2025 Cascade County 4-H Clover Connection

Thank You!

Thank you to the following people and businesses that donated to the Cascade County 4-H program over the last month!

Steel Etc.

Julie Ann Marie Pribyl

Scheels

Brenda and Chris Canine

Montana 4-H Foundation Scholarship Applications OPEN

Applications for the 2025 Montana 4-H Foundation Scholarships are now open! The scholarships are available to those who are continuing their education beyond high school. Scholarships - MONTANA 4-H FOUNDATION

Office Closure

The MSU Extension Cascade County Office will be closed on Wednesday, January 1st, and Monday, January 20th in observance of MLK Jr. Day.

People Partner Grants

Applications for 2025 People Partner Grants are now open! The Montana 4-H Foundation awards these grants, which provide incentives and financial support to groups and individuals for programs that enhance the quality of life for people in their communities. More information on how to apply for these $500 grants can be found at Grants—MONTANA 4-H FOUNDATION. Applications are due by February 14, 2025.

4-H Volunteers Need!   

Do you have a talent that you would love to share? Please contact Jenn at [email protected] We are always looking for those to share and host a project day activity.

Greytak Calendars


Greytak Calendars are still available at the office for $15.00. Please remember that exact change or a check is needed if you are coming to purchase them. 

UPCOMING CASCADE COUNTY 4-H EVENTS

Camp Junior Director Applications Will Open

Applications for Camp Junior Directors (JDs) will open on ZSuite January 7th.  JDs plan all aspects of Cascade County 4-H Camp and hold an important leadership role at camp. The qualification to be a JD, youth must be 13 years or older by October 1, 2024, and want to grow in their leadership skills. Applications and a $25 registration fee are due on February 3rd, 2025. JDs must commit to attending all camp planning meetings and the entirety of camp.

2025 Camp Planning Dates

  • February 11: 6-8pm at the Extension Office
  • March 18: 6-8pm at the Extension Office
  • April 15th: 6-8pm at the Extension Office
  • June 7: JD Day at Camp Rotary
  • June8-11th: Cascade County 4-H Camp at Camp Rotary

Communications Contest -TBA

We are still looking for people who are interested in helping with this event. If you would like to help, please contact Jenn at [email protected]

Foods Festival and Stir-Ups Cooking Competition

Mark your calendars! The Cascade County 4-H Foods Festival and Stir-Ups Cooking Competition will be held on May 20th.  More information and registration will be available soon!

Qualifying for Montana 4-H Congress

Youth 13 years and older by October 1, 2024, are eligible to qualify to compete in state contests at Montana 4-H Congress! Congress is an amazing event held at the MSU Bozeman campus in July. To qualify for Congress, youth must be awarded a blue ribbon at one of the following county contests.

  • Communications Contest
    • Career Communications, Prepared or Impromptu Speech, Demonstration or Illustrated Talk, Video Presentation
  • Stir-Ups
  • Fashion Revue
  • Quilt Show
  • Livestock Judging, Horse Judging, Gavel Games (Parli-Pro), & Hippology – Talk to Allyssa about how to qualify

CASCADE COUNTY 4-H PROJECT NEWS AND UPDATES

Project Day

The next Project Day will be held on Saturday, January 11, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the MSU Extension Cascade County Office. Registration is open in Z Suite and closes on Wednesday, January 7, at 11:59 p.m.         

Project Day Workshops

  • January 11 – Horse, baking 1, Swine 101, Sewing, and Cloverbuds

Cascade County 4-H Shooting Sports Live Invitational

The Cascade County 4-H Shooting Sports Leaders are happy to announce that registration for the 2024 Cascade County 4-H Shooting Sports Invitational is open on Fair Entry! We will be offering archery and air guns again this year. The event will be held at the Exhibition Hall at the Montana ExpoPark on Saturday, February 17. Registration can be found at http://CCSS-shootingsportsinvite.fairentry.com and is due by February 9, 2024. Ask your shooting sports leader for more information!

Other 4-H Shooting Sports Events

Custer County Invitational

This invitational will offer archery and air gun events and will take place on January 12 and 13 in Miles City, MT. Contact your shooting sports instructor for more information about how to register.

Bitterroot Archers Tournament

This tournament offers archery events. It will be on February 10 in Victor, MT. More information about registration will be available soon.

Choteau County Archery Invitational

This invitational will offer archery events. It will take place on February 24 in Fort Benton, MT. More information will be available soon.

Montana 4-H State Shooting Sports Invitational

This invitational will offer archery, air gun, and .22 events. It will be in Bozeman March 1-3. Ask your shooting sports instructor for more information about the state shoot.

Market Beef Weigh-In and Rate of Gain Contest

Attention Beef Families - Beef Weigh In will be Jan 12 from 1-4 pm at Western Livestock Auction. To be eligible for Beef Rate of Gain you must bring your animal to this event. The Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders award the following amounts for the beef rate of gain contest: 1st-$100, 2nd-$60, and 3rd-$40.

Livestock Quality Assurance Requirement

Youth enrolled in livestock projects must participate in Livestock Quality Assurance (LQA) once as a junior (8-13 years old) and once as a senior (14+ years old) member and in their first year enrolled in 4-H livestock projects to participate in the Cascade County 4-H Livestock Show and Sale.

Montana Winter Fair

Livestock Judging Contest

Montana Winter Fair will be hosting a livestock judging contest on January 17th in Lewistown. Please note that the contest has been moved to Friday and the Winter Fair has been moved to the weekend prior to when it is usually held. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me with any questions Cody Ream, Lewistown, MT, Ag and 4-H agent.

Ag Ambassador Competition 2025

The Ag Ambassador competition will be happening on Saturday, January 18th, 2025.Registration Deadline:January 10th – visit https://www.montanawinterfair.com/events/ag-ambassador-contest to register.

This event is open to ANY junior high or high school student. They do not need to be a 4-H or FFA member to participate. All components of this event except the prepared speech may be completed remotely.

As part of the event, students are asked to tell the story of agriculture through a variety of methods. For 2025, participants should focus on the topic of Agriculture in a Changing World. The prompt is intentionally broad because we want to encourage students to be creative. Examples of topics students can focus on include changes being made on their own/family farm/ranch, changes in the industry, new technology available, etc.

 

The prizes awarded for the competition are as follows:

  • Prepared Speech (delivered in person): 1st Place - $150, 2nd Place - $75
  • Newspaper Article: 1st Place - $100, 2nd Place - $50
  • Radio Spot: 1st Place - $100, 2nd Place - $50
  • Social Media Posts: 1st Place - $100, 2nd Place - $50

 

Please have your student review the guidelines for each contest component below. Students may compete in all areas of the competition, or in just one or a few of their choosing. The newspaper, radio, and social media posts will be completely virtual, but the prepared speech will be an in-person event, to be delivered in Lewistown during the Winter Fair on January 18th (note that this is the weekend after KMON and the day after the Livestock competition at the Winter Fair).

  1. Newspaper Article - completely virtual – 500-800 words, sent to event organizers by January 12th
  2. Spot - completely virtual – 50-60 seconds long, pre-recorded and sent to event organizers by January 12th
  3. Social Media Posts - completely virtual – 3 posts on any appropriate platform, including a picture or video (max. 60 sec/video), and posts written using 60 words or less; sent to event organizers by January 12th
  4. Speech – 7-12 minutes, delivered in person in Lewistown on the day of the competition

Please feel free to email me at [email protected] with any questions!

Horse Helmet Education Requirement

Horse helmet education is required once as a junior (8-13 years old) member and once as a senior (14+ years old) member, or during the first year enrolled in 4-H horse projects. If you were not able to make it to the Project Day workshop, and are due for helmet education, please watch the video found at Every Time Every Ride 1995 - YouTube and fill out the quiz and policy form that can be attained by emailing Jody at [email protected]. The quiz and form are due back to the Extension Office by February 1, 2025. They may be turned in in person or mailed to 3300 3rd St. NE #9, Great Falls, MT 59404.

Citizenship Seminar 2025

Citizenship Seminar - Montana 4H - Montana State University Extension | Montana State University Youth and adults are able to log into their ZSuite Profile and register under Events from November 29, 2024 – January 8, 2025

Leadership Academy Monthly Workshops

Members 12+, 4-H Age

Join the Montana 4-H Leadership Academy workshop on Sunday afternoons in the 2024-2025 4-H year.

The leadership academy is a network of Montana 4-H members interested in exploring and developing their leadership skills while serving their county 4-H program in new ways.

Local county leadership groups will have an opportunity to join with groups from around the state as well as the Montana 4-H Ambassador Officer team, virtually and in person, when possible, to work on skill building, planning, and mentorship.

Each month the officer's team members will present a different workshop topic that they have found to be important as they have developed their leadership abilities. This workshop should be paired with a local county leadership meeting to work on county projects that serve the local 4-H program and community. 

County Leadership groups should plan to meet face-to-face whenever possible and engage in the virtual statewide workshop together.

This time can be viewed as a leadership club meeting. County ambassadors can aid in planning and facilitating these local workshop meetings. The following agenda is currently being planned.

All workshops are held on Sunday afternoons from 3:00 to 4:00.  Zoom links for each workshop session will be emailed to county and tribal MSU Extension offices and can be shared locally.       

A Note to Club Leaders

As a reminder, Jody at the office sent out the Attendance sheet for you to update. Each club and committee has its tab to make 4-H member attendance.  Please make sure you do this as it goes toward year-end awards and is a requirement for many of the disciplines. 

The MAGIE

The MAGIE will be at the Expo Park Wednesday January 15th-Friday January 17th   9-5 Daily.   If you are interested in covering the 4-H Booth please contact Jenn at [email protected].

MEETING NOTICES

Leaders Council

The next meeting of the Cascade County 4-H Leaders Council will be on Tuesday, January 14th at 6:00pm at the Extension Office and via WebEx.

Shooting Sports Leaders

The next meeting of the Cascade County 4-H Shooting Sports Leaders will be on Thursday, Feb 6th at 6:00pm at the Extension Office. 

Horse Leaders

The next meeting of the Cascade County 4-H Horse Leaders will be on Tuesday, January 7th at 5:30pm. The February meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 4 at 5:30pm.

Livestock Leaders

The next meeting of the Cascade County 4-H Livestock Leaders will be held on Tuesday, January 28th at 6:00pm. The February meeting will be held Tuesday, February 25th at 6: 00pm.

CALENDAR

January

1 – MSU Extension Cascade County Office Closed
7 – Horse a Meetings
6 – Beef Intent to Enter Due
11 – Project Day
12 – Beef Weigh-In
14 – Leaders Council Meeting
20 – MSU Extension Cascade County Office Closed
28 – Livestock Leaders Meeting

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Montana State University and Montana State University Extension prohibit discrimination in all of their programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital and family status.