What Will Your Power of Ten Be?

As we celebrate 100 years of MSU Extension in Montana, I’ve thought about the Power of Ten.  In the case of MSU Extension, I think about the power of ten decades of service.  Our office has offered a Power of Ten challenge.  If you take just ten minutes, ten hours or ten days to contribute in some way to your community, it can carry forward.  Generally, the work carries forward in ways you cannot predict at the outset.  I’ve been thinking lately about the positive impact we can have, big or small.  Before I moved to Teton County, Jessica Schlepp, a 4-H member, had an idea for a service project.  She thought that the county 4-H membership could go door-to-door to collect food that could be given to the local food bank and redistributed to those in need.  She called it Trick or Treat for the Food Pantry.  I asked her mother recently when Jessica started the project.  A quick look in her 4-H record book revealed that the project started in 1991.  What Jessica probably didn’t know at the time was how long the effort would continue, or the additional benefits.

                Through the years, the food drive project has been handed down to 4-H members to organize.  Each year, 4-H members volunteer to organize the event.  This year, as it turns out, we have the Power of Ten.  Ten 4-H youth are planning the food drive this year.  It requires leadership, teamwork, planning, communication skills, promoting and organizational skills.  Honing these skills are additional benefits to a charitable effort.   I’ve been involved with the food drives for sixteen years.  In that time, sixteen different teams of 4-H members have worked to plan the event.  We have had two meetings this year and consulting schedules for school, sports, church, food pantry, and facilities has provided ample opportunity for problem solving.  While they sort out the logistics, their goal of gathering as much food for the needy as possible is always in mind.  The 4-H members will be out in force in Choteau on Wednesday, October 15 from 3:30-7:00 p.m. gathering food.  If you’d like to contribute but won’t be home, you can leave non-perishable items in a bag or box by your front door and we will pick up the food.  4-H members in other communities in Teton County also plan food drives at different times of year, providing needed food for the food pantry. 

                Looking at the records, 4-H youth have gathered between 900 and 2000 pounds each year.  Estimating an average of 1450 pounds a year since 1991, Teton County 4-H youth and volunteers have gathered 31,900 pounds of food to feed the hungry.  I’ll bet Jessica never thought the project would carry on so long or have such a lasting impact.

                What lasting impact would you like to have?  Take at least 10 minutes today to plan something that you can lend your effort to that will multiply in power through the years.  Whether it is one person with a good idea or ten people continuing it forward, we can all make our world better.  We challenge you to be the Power of Ten as we celebrate 100 years of Extension. 

                 

Focus Group -- Ages 40-64

Montana State University, Cornell University, and Tufts University are developing a new program for residents in rural Montana towns that aims to promote heart health through things such as healthier eating, more physical activity, reducing stress, and quitting smoking. The Montana towns that are participating in this study are: Broadus, Choteau, Harlowtown, Lewistown, Livingston, Miles City, Plentywood, Rudyard, Shelby, and Thompson Falls.

To best tailor the program, two discussion groups are being conducted this fall in each of the ten participating towns. The study team seeks men and women who are 40-64 and consider themselves part of the Choteau community. The discussions will be hosted by the local extension office and held on October 6.  Women will meet from noon-1:30 p.m. and men will meet from 5:30-7:00 p.m. with 8-12 individuals.  A light meal will be served.  The discussion group participants will receive $25 for their time. 

If you’d like to participate in a discussion group or have any questions about the study, please contact the Extension Office.  

The Power of 10 -- Decades!

This year is the celebration of 100 years of Montana State University Extension.  Because MSU Extension has a long tradition of meeting community needs, we would like to challenge you to celebrate the Power of 10 with us!  We’ve been serving Montanans for 10 decades. Can you give 10 minutes a day or 10 hours between September 10 and October 10 to serve your community to help us celebrate? 

Below is a list of ways for you to serve your community.  Please share with us what you plan to do or what you complete between September 10 and October 10!  We are capturing the results.  Take a picture to send us, post a comment on this blog, drop us a note or email to let us know what you did.  If you want, wear MSU Blue and Gold while you serve!  What you do today may matter in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 years or 10 decades.  Be the Power of 10 with MSU Extension!

1. Help someone weed their yard
2. Bake someone dinner who needs it
3. Donate food to a food pantry
4. Pick up trash
5. Think of someone who needs to be taken to lunch and do it
6. Give someone a ride who needs it
7. Volunteer to drive someone to and from a medical appointment
8. Volunteer at the library
9. Read to somebody
10. Rake someone’s yard
11. Help at an animal rescue center
12. Donate to a local thrift store
13. Reinforce a creek bed (call Extension Office for details)
14. Offer to paint the exterior of a house that needs it
15. Offer to haul off large items, such as refrigerators or abandoned vehicles
16. Teach a child a skill
17. Volunteer to do activities at Bee Hive Homes, nursing homes, Skyline Lodge
18. Shovel a sidewalk
19. Trim a tree that obstructs walkers on sidewalks
20. Do some random act of kindness daily
21. Leave positive, encouraging notes where people will see them
22. Call someone you’ve been thinking of
23. Check in on an elderly neighbor
24. Walk someone across the street
25. Deliver groceries to someone who needs
26. Volunteer at the school – make copies, read to a child, help a teacher, clean or organize
27. Pay for the person behind you at the drive thru
28. Leave a gift for someone in a random public place such as on a park bench, at a bus stop, the library, a coffee house, or restaurant
29. Praise someone at work for a job well done 
30. Volunteer at a homeless shelter
31. Stop and listen when someone needs to talk
32. Organize a clothing drive
33. Teach someone a new technology or skill
34. Take a petting zoo to a nursing home
35. Send a thank you note or expression of gratefulness to someone who has made a difference to you
36. Help people register to vote
37. Thank a service worker or volunteer – ambulance, fire fighters, law enforcement, etc.
38. Help a family with young children
39. Make freezer meals for a shut-in
40. Start an effort to help an individual or a group
41. Help someone declutter their world
42. Offer to babysit for free for a family or public meeting 
43. Plant a tree or flowers in a neglected area 
44. Help winterize a home
45. Shop for someone who is homebound or ill, especially in bad weather.
46. Smile at someone
47. The next time you have exceptional service make sure to tell the person’s manager 
48. Donate your used books and/or magazines to a local library
49. Adopt a “grand-friend”
50. Clean the gutters or wash windows for a senior citizen
51. Write a letter to an older person
52. Forgive someone who has wronged you
53. Give a presentation to a classroom of students on your occupation or an area of interest that you are passionate about
54. Send a care package to a college student or someone else in transition
55. Donate your expertise to someone in need
56. Volunteer to deliver meals for senior centers
57. Stick up for a person who has been treated wrongly
58. Let someone, who only has a few items, go ahead of you in the checkout line of the grocery store
59. Invite someone new for dinner such as a neighbor, co-worker, friend, or family member.
60. Welcome a new resident to the community
61. Run an errand for someone in need
62. Play a game with somebody
63. Organize a group to address a community need
64. Get permission from an owner of an empty lot and do something to beautify it
65. Fix a sidewalk
66. Beautify your area or help someone else
67. Erect a fountain or some other monument in a town center
68. Raise funds to improve a public building
69. Put out a park bench or chairs to create a welcoming space
70. Donate money to support someone’s music or art lessons
71.  Teach a class
72. Donate garden produce to someone who would appreciate it
73. Think about what your community needs in the next 100 years and work toward one thing
74. Teach a dance class
75. Shop at a local family-owned business
76. Start an adult literacy program
77. Get certified in CPR and first aid
78. Join a civic organization
79. Find an important cause and volunteer
80. Recruit someone new to your community organization
81. Provide healthy snacks for a classroom
82. Carpool somewhere
83. Adopt a “grand-child”
84. Exercise with someone
85. Encourage the discouraged
86. Donate money or time to a local charity
87. Give blood
88. Sign up to train to volunteer as an EMT or fire fighter
89. Organize a neighborhood library box, where you put books you’ve enjoyed and leave them for others to take.  A “give and take” library that builds neighborhood connections
90. Collect aluminum cans or other recyclables and donate money to a favorite charity
91. Clean up a river or creek bed
92. Organize a nature education and adventure walk
93. Organize a bike check and bike safety education program
94. Organize a child-safety car seat check
95. Interview older people and record their history, share with community and family
96. Make fleece blankets to donate to those in need
97. Help gather and catalogue copies of historic photos from your community
98. Campaign for better marked cross walks
99. Help correct problem areas where water and ice buildup creating walking hazards
100. Keep going with the power of 10 – Try to do 10 minutes a day of service to others or 10 hours a month serving your community in some way

Under Pressure!

I’ve been feeling a little under pressure lately.  I suppose it is from things pushing at me from a few different directions, both at work and in my personal life.  I bet I’m not alone. We probably all have seasons of our lives that are more pressure filled. I think of the years I spent growing up on a farm north of Joplin.  This time of year seemed full of pressure trying to get the crop in, and when the weather wasn’t cooperating, it was worse. No matter the pressure of the season, the farm girl in me still loves harvest time.

Now that I’m an Extension agent, harvest makes me think of pressure in a different way.  People around the area are harvesting garden crops, and canning is underway.  If you are canning any low-acid foods, you’ll be using a pressure canner.  Pressure canners typically come in either dial-gauge or weighted-gauge.  A dial-gauge canner should be tested yearly to make sure it reads correctly, ensuring that you are not under-processing food.  Under-processing can result not only in reduced quality, but also in lower temperatures that allow some terrible things to grow in that jar of low-acid canned food.  Among the scariest and deadliest is botulinum toxin.  If you are doing canning with a dial-gauge canner, it is totally worth the 15 minutes at the Extension Office to get your canner gauge tested.  It absolutely beats botulism, which, if you survive, will take way more than 15 months recovery!

Most Extension offices test canners for free.  Extension also offers guidance and assistance for home canners.  Last year, I had the good fortune of being able to spend two days learning from Elizabeth Andress, an Extension Food Safety Specialist and the leading authority on home canning in the nation.  Dr. Andress explained the many testing procedures in place before the USDA authorizes recipes for home canning.  Reliable and tested home canning recipes and procedures can be found in the latest editions of So Easy to Preserve, the USDA Guide to Home Canning (which is available free for download on the web) and the latest editions of the Ball Blue Book and Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.  MSU Extension also has Montguides available on our website with resources for the home preserver.  Any editions of the above sources from prior to 2006 should be discarded.  From elevation to product density to heat penetration to pressure, there are all kinds of science considerations in canning. Like all science, our abilities and equipment change over time.  You wouldn’t want a doctor relying on the science from 1930 to perform surgery on you, would you?  Yet, you’d be surprised at how many people still want to continue to use Great Aunt Edna’s Salsa recipe from that same decade!

If you need me to pressure you into using the most current canning methods, give me a call and remember to get your pressure canners tested this season.  

Additional Resources:
National Center for Home Food Preservation
USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning
Montguides on Food Preservation -- Download Free!

Summer = 4-H + FUN!

I know my last post was in June.  Are you wondering what the excuse is?  Get ready.  There is more than one and they are GREAT!

June 11-12
4-H Leadership Retreat

Twelve teens, four adults and lots of work, but balanced with fun, games, learning and activities -- all to plan a great 4-H camp experience.  I may be partial, but I'm always so proud of our 4-H camp counselors for planning the whole camp event, preparing great classes, games, activities, camp fires and ceremonies!

June 25-28
Teton County 4-H Fair -- A Class Act!

We had a great time with 4-H members from throughout Teton County exhibiting 832 projects during the fair. 4-H members are learning amazing skills and leadership.  The volunteers are so helpful and make such an important contribution to the lives of the youth, and really to the long-term fabric of our communities.  Training youth to seek out additional educational opportunities, to always look for feedback while honing their skills and to contribute to their communities has very long-range impact.

At the fair, we also enjoyed fun, food and frivolity with Baker Bob and Jona McNamee.  People of all ages and genders attended the demonstration style classes.  The McNamees have a great informal and informative style of teaching.  There has been plenty of demand for a repeat.

July 3-6
4-H Exchange Fundraising

This year, I'm involved in the 4-H Interstate Exchange program in a whole new way.  I'm a parent of one of the participants.  In addition to the ways I'm involved as an Extension agent, I get to be involved on a whole new level as a parent. Besides flipping burgers at the rodeo, I think 4-H Exchange cleaned the rodeo grounds three or four times over the Fourth of July weekend and the Choteau Pavilion a few times.  While these are paid endeavors for the 4-H members, it also is a service to the community to keep the events rolling throughout the weekend.  Plus, I heard several of the young 4-H members comment that it has made them more aware of putting their trash in the garbage, picking up after themselves and being respectful of the common areas and property.  Some good educational perks for fundraising!

July 8-11
Montana 4-H Congress

Each summer, I travel with the Teton County delegation to Montana 4-H Congress.  This year we had nine youth attend who were involved with projects and competitions from foods and nutrition to livestock evaluation.  The 4-H members performed well and enjoyed attending other classes at 4-H Congress, as well as doing a service project while there.

July 14-17
Teton County 4-H Camp

Sixty-two youth and ten adults from Teton County enjoyed several days and nights at Camp Rotary near Monarch for the annual Teton County 4-H Camp.  Camp had a medieval theme with many lords, ladies, knights and dragons arriving in the Clover Kingdom.  

Workshops during the camp included making magical medieval lanterns, stamping leather wrist bands, creating stained-glass cookies, making sidewalk chalk, writing notes on parchment, constructing catapults, shooting dragons in archery, braiding bracelets, using discs for a seven-strand braid, decorating candles, making tic-tac-toe boards, learning campfire songs, jousting with foam noodle swords and more!

The 4-H camp program strives to develop leadership and communication skills, especially through the teen counselor education and preparation for camp.  The 4-H camp program also strengthens a sense of belonging in youth who attend, strengthens independence, develops generosity and allows youth to learn new skills.  4-H members attending camp develop a sense of accomplishment.  Many of the 4-H members look forward to camp every year and enjoy the opportunity to make new friends.   

July 28-August 4
Teton County Montana 4-H Interstate Exchange with Cannon County Tennessee 

4-H Exchange was a week of sharing our great state with 4-H members, volunteer leaders and extension agents from Tennessee.  Our family hosted one of the 4-H members and I enjoyed reconnecting with Michael Shirley, 4-H Agent from Tennessee.  He and I had met at a national 4-H conference two years ago. The 4-H members enjoyed hikes to Hidden Lake, camping in Glacier, whitewater rafting, camp fires, state fair, rodeos and learning about each others' states.  It was an exciting time.  The 4-H members in the Exchange program are looking forward to southern hospitality when they travel to reconnect with their new friends next summer.

August 4-8
MSU 4-H Bioscience

Eight 4-H members, two coaches and I got to spend a week on the MSU Bozeman campus with the BioScience program.  I cannot say enough about this program and yet in one word I can describe it -- AMAZING!  It was great to learn lessons in infectious disease, metabolomics, and neuroscience.  It was awesome to see youth light up about science.  It was fabulous to see 4-H members get around campus to a number of different buildings and classrooms.  It was fundamentally valuable for building confidence.  My sincere appreciation to everyone who made this opportunity possible for 4-H youth!  

So, there are my excuses for being absent from this blog!  I hope you think they were worthwhile.  Throw in helping my own kids get fair projects ready and six summer weekends at swim meets with my family and you have a pretty full summer.  But I always say, "I'd rather have a full life than an empty one!"  

The Teton County 4-H Fair July 24-28

4-H – A Class Act is the theme of the Teton County Fair that will be held at the Choteau Pavilion and Weatherbeater Arena June 24-28, 2014. The event is filled with activities that showcase the talents of Teton County youth.

The fair starts on Tuesday with a horse show where members demonstrate their showmanship skills, riding and horse knowledge. The horse show is held at the Bouma Arena. On Wednesday, 4-H members from across the county will interview with judges about projects they have made and skills they have learned throughout the 4-H year. Projects over the past years have been amazing, ranging from spectacular photographs to quilts to woodworking, welding, cake decorating and everything in between. Following the judging, the projects will be displayed at the Choteau Pavilion for the public’s viewing enjoyment Thursday through Saturday.

On Thursday, the 4-H and Montana State University Teton County Extension Office will host guest presenters Bob McNamee, or “Baker Bob,” and his lovely wife, Jona McNamee, also an MSU Cascade County Extension Agent.  The two will be on hand Thursday evening teaching a variety of baking skills, including making homemade pasta; demonstrating two bread recipes -- a no-knead sourdough and no-knead brioche,  and to finish the evening, they will be showing how to make a variety of confections include fudge, divinity and brittle.  The demonstration-style classes will start at 5:30 and run consecutively through the evening.  Classes are free and open to the public.  You will be treated to taste-testing, as well as learn tried and true baking tips and tricks.  

New to the fair this year is a silent auction, being organized by the Prairie Stars 4-H Club.   As a tribute to the "great generation" and a memorial for Maxine and Doug Whinnery, a WWII Navy Veteran, the silent auction will be held to raise funds as part of Prairies Stars 4-H club efforts to sponsor local veterans on The Big Sky Honor Flight.  Items to be auctioned include art items by local artists, a professional blind hemmer sewing machine, and a charming collection of gently used Teddy Bears.  Items also include Shirley Sand's painting, Paige Watson Briscoe's custom copper jewelry, Bob and Leslie Burrows' metal sculpture, Andy Watson's pottery, Kirtland Briscoe's leathercraft mini-bag and Brad Ophiem’s woodworking.  Items will be displayed in the Pavilion and the silent auction will run from Thursday through the Chuckwagon Dinner on Saturday evening.

Swine, sheep, goats and small animal (cats, rabbits, dogs and poultry) shows will be held Friday. Friday evening, 4-H members offer a textile show, modeling outfits they have constructed and showcasing quilts they have made. The 4-H program is sponsoring a western dance class with Daniel Bitz on Friday evening.  Daniel has taught dance classes in Teton County two other times.  His classes are fun-filled and will leave you with plenty of new moves on the dance floor. 

Saturday, along with viewing projects at the Pavilion, people can enjoy the beef show at the Weatherbeater. As the fair concludes on Saturday, 4-H members sell their market animal projects at the 4-H Livestock Sale. 4-Hers in the market project learn a variety of aspects of animal husbandry and meat production. Anyone interested in purchasing 4-H-raised meat is invited to the sale and the Chuckwagon Dinner held from 4:45 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday, June 28, before the sale.

The Teton County 4-H program and the MSU Teton County Extension Office plan the county fair. To obtain more information, view the Web site at www.msuextension.org/teton. The county fair provides a great opportunity to see what a class act the 4-H youth in Teton County are