College of Agriculture & Natural Resources



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|Menominee County | |

|Menominee County Extension |P: 906-753-2209 |E-mail: msue.menominee@county.msu.edu |

|S904 U.S. Highway 41 |F: 906-753-2200 |Web: msue.msu.edu/Menominee |

|Stephenson, MI 49887 | | |

| |June 2008 |

| |Another popular 4-H service project is park and roadside clean-up. The |

|4-H’ers put hands to larger service |Midnight Riders 4-H Horse Club has adopted a two-mile stretch of U.S.41 to |

| |clean as part of the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway |

|Most 4-H’ers take the third line of the 4-H pledge very seriously when they put |program. The Rocky Ridge Riders 4-H Horse Club cleans a stretch of county |

|their “hands to larger service.” All Menominee 4-H clubs are encouraged to |road, as do the members of the Little Potters. |

|complete at least one community service project a year, and many do that and much | |

|more. |As is the case everywhere, 4-H members have friends and family serving in the|

| |military. In December, members of the Looking Good 4-H Club sent cards to |

|Members of the Little Potters 4-H Garden Club have taken on service for the |4-H alumni in uniform. This spring, they sent two care packages and letters |

|Menominee Animal Shelter. Using the catnip grown in their leader’s garden, they |to a former Upper Peninsula resident who is on duty in Iraq. |

|sewed toy mice for the shelter’s cats. They also sewed blankets from donated | |

|fabric and old towels. |The families of deployed service men and women haven’t been forgotten. |

| |Menominee County families are participating in Operation:Military Kids, a 4-H|

|“The dogs won’t mind if it was cut or sewn crooked,” one member pointed out. When |initiative in which they collect personal items like stationery, notebooks |

|the children visited the shelter to deliver their items, they were given a tour of|and pens to make “Hero Packs” for the children of deployed personnel. |

|the facility and had a chance to play with the animals. The members enjoyed the | |

|project so much they plan to make this an annual activity. |Members of the Teens Leading Communities (TLC) 4-H Club have a very personal |

| |reason for their project. They organize the annual John Laurin Memorial 5K |

|The Super Sweet Sewers club tapped in to Project Linus for their service project. |run/walk every Memorial Day weekend in memory of the father one of the club’s|

|A national initiative, Project Linus is aimed at providing handmade blankets to |members. All the money raised goes to the American Cancer Society. In |

|children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need. |addition, the group participates in the Relay for Life for the same cause. |

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|Club leader Linda Bebo packed up the 4-H’ers and their sewing machines and headed |4-H youths are active, involved members of their communities. They have |

|to the JoAnn Fabrics store in Green Bay, Wis. There the group sewed diligently on |embarked on can be be a tradition of volunteerism that lasts for the rest of |

|several quilts which were added to the 2,378,995 blankets which have been |their lives. |

|delivered nationally to date. This club also intends to make its service project | |

|an on-going group activity. | |

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|[pic] |Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process | |

| |that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the | |

| |state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facing communities. | |

| |Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming.  | |

| |MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of commissioners, the state through Michigan State | |

| |University and federally through the US Department of Agriculture. | |

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|Nutrition education programs expand students knowledge and experiences |Many area residents are descended from German settlers, and the students |

| |learned how that heritage has influenced food choices today by sampling beets,|

|Two recent MSU Extension Family Nutrition Program (FNP) series offered about 350 |rye bread, sauerkraut, sausage and grape juice. Italian and Asian foods were |

|Menominee County youths the chance to learn the value of making healthy food |also studied, and students sampled homemade pasta, fresh spinach and basil, |

|choices. |and a vegetable stir fry with rice that they attempted to eat with chop |

| |sticks! Most students were surprised to learn that they liked many of the new|

|Through the Eating Right is Basic (ERIB) series, fourth grade students throughout|foods. |

|the county learned about nutrition, cooking and food safety. The program | |

|consisted of four presentations that focused on the USDA’s new food pyramid |The second grade teacher praised this nutrition education series, and |

|(MyPyramid), Menominee County agriculture, food safety and kitchen safety. |commented on how many parents aidd their children shared the information at |

| |home and asked for healthy food choices and new foods they had tried at |

|The teachers look forward to ERIB every year and comment that the students learn |school. |

|and practice the information they receive. Each presentation included a healthy | |

|snack for each student with handouts reviewing the lessons and kid-friendly |Contact: Steph Bruno |

|recipes. | |

| |Dairy farm energy audit |

|A collaborative effort between MSU Extension and Wisconsin Public Service, the | |

|series included information about the importance of respecting electricity |Dairy production is an important agricultural activity in Menominee County and|

|everywhere, and especially in the kitchen. The students learned how to prevent |across Michigan. To help area dairy farmers run their farms more efficiently, |

|burns and electrical shock when using kitchen appliances like toasters and |MSU Extension offers farm energy audit. This essential management tool, |

|microwave ovens. |offered by a certified auditor, enables farmers to develop a comprehensive |

| |energy plan for any dairy farm. |

|As a follow-up after one of the kitchen safety presentations, one student said | |

|that he had stopped his brother from sticking a fork in the toaster to retrieve a|A comprehensive audit can save a dairy farmer anywhere from 10 to 40 percent |

|stuck slice of bread. He had learned the hazard of such an action from the |or more in energy costs. Some of the greatest savings can come from making |

|series, and immediately unplugged the toaster to prevent any risk. |changes like switching to reliable, energy efficient technologies in their |

| |milking, milk cooling and water heating processes. |

|During the lesson about local agriculture the students learned about the many | |

|commodities produced in Menominee County. This lesson also reinforced what the |The auditor begins by measuring initial electrical energy efficiency and then |

|students learned about during the MyPyramid presentation, including choosing |will make recommendations for money saving changes. |

|healthy meal and snack alternatives and easy ways to add physical activities into| |

|their day. |Worn out or poorly maintained milking equipment uses more energy than newer |

| |equipment and often does not meet its original operating expectancies. Other |

|Second graders at North Central Elementary School learned how cultural foods |basic processes are also taken in to consideration like lighting, air |

|became part of our everyday meals during their social studies lessons. They |circulation, waste handling systems and farm layouts. |

|explored the basics of MyPyramid, learned how Native Americans farmed, hunted and| |

|gathered before stores and refrigerators existed. |Contact: Mike Erdman at 800-236-1678 |

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|MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, |

|color, national origin, gender, gender identity, religion, age, height, weight, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, family status|

|or veteran status.Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas |

|G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824 |

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