If your child will be age 9 by the end of 2013, it’s time to start 4-H meetings!

Tomorrow night, Aug. 12, County 4-H Council for youths in grades 6–12 will be held. These are our most-active, older 4-H’ers, and they represent public, private and home schools.

The meeting is the second Monday night of the month, with the exception of school holidays, from 6 to 7:15 p.m. at the 4-H office. As it is a night meeting, please come to the Elm Street employee entrance for admittance.

This month, we will elect new officers; next month, a program of guest speakers begins. The club also plans and runs countywide 4-H events.

Beginning Tuesday, we will be in fifth-grade classrooms in most elementary schools. To find out if your school has 4-H, give us a call.

In-school clubs will also elect officers this month, as well as learning about 4-H and 4-H projects. Every in-school 4-H’er is required to do a 4-to-6 minute demonstration during a fall club meeting.

Students ages 9 through fifth grade who don’t have access to an in-school meeting can attend our home-school meeting. The home-school club begins meeting in September, on the second Friday of each month. The meetings begin at 3:30 p.m. in our office, and will include activities, guest speakers and 4-H projects.

Again, this meeting is for home-schooled students ages 9 through 12th grade, plus those other 4-H’ers ages 9 through fifth grade who do not have an in-school meeting.

Other clubs

The horse club will hold an informational meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the office. Anyone ages 9 and up may attend this night with an adult. Horse ownership is not required.

This year, the horse club will offer a monthly introductory-level meeting to learn more about horses, as well as the usual educational competitions and horse shows.

Shooting sports 4-H’ers hope to have both a BB team and archery team this year. Trained coaches are needed for both teams immediately.

If you would like to attend an upcoming mandatory training session to help teach shooting sports safety and skills to youths, please contact us right away.

Livestock showmen have already begun showing lambs, goats, heifers and steers this summer. It’s not too late to get into some areas, so give Ted Wynne a call to learn more.

Save for summer

It’s also time to start thinking about next summer.

Summer camps usually run from $300 to $370, depending on which camp and whether your student needs transportation.

While dates are not yet available, it’s a great time to begin saving for camp. We are happy to set up individual savings accounts for youths at our office.

This is a great opportunity to let your children earn some of their own money for camp by doing odd jobs or saving some of their allowance.

These savings accounts may also be used toward other 4-H events, including overnight conferences for sixth- through 12th-graders, day programs and other 4-H events.

Throughout the year, we have lots of activities in which you may also participate, even if you cannot attend a monthly meeting because of another conflict or transportation issues.

Just read the newsletter each month on our website at www.ugaextension.com/newton to find out what is going on for your age group.

Those ages 9 through sixth grade should read the Cloverleaf Connection newsletter, and older 4-H’ers can refer to the Sigma Lambda Chi 4-H newsletter.

In the next few months, we will host a skate party at Romp ‘N Roll skating rink, collect books for local literacy projects, compete at Cotton Boll and Consumer Jamboree, host National 4-H Week events, participate in Rivers Alive, and decorate a float for the Covington Christmas Parade.

We are also already collecting aluminum pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. We need everyone in the community to bring tabs to our office by Oct. 10.

As always, we also have our adult volunteer screening and training available for adults interested in assisting with events. Drop by the office to pick up an application and learn more.

See you at 4-H!

Terri Kimble Fullerton is the Newton County 4-H Agent through UGA Cooperative Extension. She can be reached at tkimble@uga.edu.