4-H Week Greens Up The Horizon

February 28, 2014 Leave a comment


By Mary Loftis

Extension Assistant

Mary Loftis

Mary Loftis

 

Burt County 4-H Week is March 2-8 and it will start off with a bang on Sunday, March 2 with the 4-H Achievement Celebration/Kickoff afternoon of fun. The family fun will begin at 3:00 p.m. at the Tekamah Auditorium with a variety of fun activities including nerf kickball and bingo.

At 4:00 we’ll shift gears to recognize our 4-H award winners and present pins to our 1, 5 and 10 year 4-H members and our senior 4-H’ers. In addition we will honor our 4-H leaders who have served 2, 5, 10 and 15 years.

Then we’ll shift into eating mode with pizza and pop followed by a movie with popcorn.

We’ll make sure everyone heads home in time for the Oscars.

Make sure you and your family are signed up for the fun so we know how many to plan for. Call the UNL Extension Office by Friday noon at 402-374-2929 to say you can make it. And make sure you invite anyone who might want to become a 4-H member. It’s a kickoff event, but could also show someone new what there is to do and win in 4-H also.

With 4-H Week on the horizon I want to remind all our 4-H Clubs to make plans to celebrate it with a 4-H store display for the week. Remember the Burt County 4-H Council is offering $50 for each club making a display in a store window. Please send me a picture of your window display so you can show your display and we can promote them during the fair too! You can email them to me at mloftis2@unl.edu

4-H members are also reminded to plan some type of promotion in school for 4-H Week. Make arrangements to visit elementary school classrooms and tell them about 4-H, what you learn, what you do, friends, etc. Also, Thursday, March 6 is “Wear your 4-H t-shirt to School Day!” If you can’t find yours or need a new one for the fair we have them in the Extension Office of course!

Keep in mind the 4-H Snow and Snowless Sculpture Contest…as it’s snowing as I write, hopefully we’ll have a few entries in the Snow categories…otherwise, you’ll just have to get more creative for the snowless ones! Remember to send a picture of you with your creation to me at mloftis2@unl.edu or to the UNL Extension Office at 111 N. 13th Street, Suite #6, Tekamah, NE 68061 by April 1.

 

East Oaks 4-H Pancake Feed

Although the East Oaks Pancake Feed isn’t “officially” part of 4-H Week, it’s an annual tradition I know the club members look forward to each year. Mark Sunday, March 16 on your calendars and make plans to eat breakfast or lunch with the East Oaks 4-H Club at the Vet’s Building in Oakland from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. It’s always a great time to see the 4-H members in action!

 

 

 

Mary Loftis,

Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929

Fax: (402) 374-2930

Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu

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Not All Thieves Are Stupid

February 7, 2014 1 Comment


Mary Loftis

Mary Loftis

 

We are slaves to our electronic devices, but sometimes they cause us more harm than good when it comes to the safety and security of our lives and possessions. The following cases can be a good reminder to be a little more protective of our points of access.
Case #1:

A family left their car in the long-term parking while away, and someone broke into the car. Using the information on the car’s registration in the glove compartment, they drove the car to the people’s home and robbed it. If leaving a car in long-term parking it would be wise NOT leave the registration/insurance cards in it, nor your remote garage door opener.

Case #2:

Another family had their car broken into while they were at a football game.  Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans.  Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS unit which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard.  When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen.  The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house.  They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house.  The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house.  It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.

Something to consider if you have a GPS – don’t put your home address in it… Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so you can still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would know where you live if your GPS were stolen.

Case #3:
After a lady’s handbag was stolen she now changed how she lists the names on her cell phone. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet, etc., was stolen.  20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says ‘I received your text asking about our Pin number and I replied a little while ago.’  When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn.  The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text ‘hubby’ in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes all the money was withdrawn from their bank account.

The moral of the lesson:
a. Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list.  Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc….
b.  And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM the need for this information by calling back.
c.  Also, when you’re being texted by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm the message came from them.  If you don’t reach them, be very careful about going places to meet ‘family and friends’ who text you.

 

 

 

Mary Loftis,

Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929

Fax: (402) 374-2930

Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu

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Craig Alder Grove to Hold Valentine Dinner

January 25, 2014 Leave a comment


The Craig Alder Grove Parish will hold its annual Valentine Dinner on Sunday, February 9 at the Craig Fire Hall. The festivities will start with worship in the Craig Methodist Church at 11:00 a.m. followed at approximately noon with the meal at the fire hall.  The public is invited to join in the fun, but reservations are needed.

Please call Mary Loftis at 402-377-2826 to reserve a meal. The main course choices are fried chicken and pork loin. Following the dinner will be a time of fun and fellowship with some table challenge games. Please feel free to join us for the service and/or the Valentine dinner.

 

 

Mary Loftis,

Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929

Fax: (402) 374-2930

Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu

Mary Loftis

Mary Loftis

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4-H and Area News

January 14, 2014 Leave a comment


Personal Column

Mary Loftis

Mary Loftis

Mary Loftis

UNL Extension

January 10, 2014

 

4-H Snow/Snowless Sculpture Contest

As 4-H Clubs start making plans for the new year I want to remind our clubs and members to make plans to create an entry for the annual Burt County 4-H Snow/Snowless Sculpture Contest. This is our low budget, 4-H promotional activity that offers everyone the opportunity to get out and play in the snow. If we don’t have more of the white stuff in the near future, then we’ll just alter the contest to a snowless 4-H promotion!

The Burt County 4-H Council sponsors this contest with prize money and we encourage our individual and club entries to be at least as permanent as a snowman on a warm day. We can’t always hit the weather just right to be able to create a sculpture out of good packable snow that will last for a week or more, but do your best. Try to position your sculpture to promote 4-H in a relatively high traffic area (rather than behind the barn) so it stirs up some conversation at least.

The 4-H Council will meet Tuesday, January 28th for their first meeting of the year and will determine the contest categories. In the past we’ve had “Most Creative”, “Greenest” and “Best Message”. I doubt we’ll stray too far from those themes in case you get creative before they meet. Give it some thought, get creative and take a digital picture you can email or mail to me, Mary Loftis at 111 N. 13th Street, Suite 6, Tekamah, NE 68061 or at mloftis2@unl.edu.

 

The Special Garden Project

Moving from snow to spring let’s start planning for the Special Garden Project. This is a way to offer 4-H members the chance to grow unusual and fun projects in their gardens. The unique Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth is the featured project for 2014. Love-Lies-Bleeding Amaranth is an heirloom flower that has many uses.  The brilliant red seed heads hang down from upright plants.  The flowers are long lasting and are great in arrangements either as fresh cut or dried flowers.  When allowed to mature, the seeds from the plant can be eaten as can the fresh small leaves.  It will take on average 65-75 days from planting to bloom.  The seeds can either be started indoors in containers 6 weeks prior to the first frost then moved outside, or directly planted outside after the last frost free date, usually around the second week of May.  The tiny seeds will take 2 weeks to sprout.

If you’d like to reserve a packet of seeds please call the UNL Extension office by February 6 at 402-374-2929 and we’ll get you on the list.

4-H/FFA Market Beef Weigh Day

          The Burt County weigh day will be Saturday, January 25 at the Johnnie Johnson Farm at 1340 County Road E, Craig, NE. Weighing will be done from 8:30-11:30 a.m. and ear tags will cost $1.00 each. If you plan to show at State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben you’ll need to collect DNA samples. Each animal you identify with a DNA sample costs $6.00. Identification sheets will be filled out that day and it’s helpful if the 4-H members are available to sign their own forms as well as a parent or guardian.

If the Burt County date doesn’t work there are several other options available:

Sunday, January 26 – 1:00-4:00 p.m. Masonic Home for Children, Fremont

Saturday, February 1 – 9:00-10:00 a.m. Cooper Farm, 8502 Mormon Bridge Rd., Omaha, NE

Saturday, February 1 – 10:00-Noon, Washington County Fairgrounds, Arlington

Saturday, March 22 – 12:00-2:00 p.m. Wahoo Sale Barn, Wahoo, NE

If attending another county’s weigh day you will need to bring ear tags (4-H or FFA) from your own county and DNA envelopes if you are identifying animals for State Fair or Ak-Sar-Ben.

 

Burt County Fair Kickoff Event

          Don’t forget to get your tickets to the Burt County Fair Foundation Kickoff Event on Saturday, February 8th. It will be held in Tekamah this year at the Tekamah Auditorium and the county fair theme is “Hats Off to the Burt County Fair.” Tickets are limited to 350 and are available in Lyons at the First National Bank NE; in Oakland at the First National Bank NE Motor Bank on Hwy 77 and Red Barn Vet Clinic; in Tekamah at Burt County Insurance in the Washington County Bank, UNL Extension Office in the Burt County Courthouse and at Lee Valley.

 

 

Mary Loftis,

Extension Assistant
UNL Extension – Burt County
111 North 13th Street, Suite 6
Tekamah, NE 68061
Phone: (402) 374-2929

Fax: (402) 374-2930

Internet: mloftis2@unl.edu

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