4-H COUNCIL MINUTES
for November 8, 2008

Meeting called to order by Melba Riel at 12:30pm

Those in attendance: Melba Riel, Anita Raddatz, Karen Poe, Lexi Bost, Corinne Olsen, Darrel Olsen

Minutes of Oct. 6th meeting read by Corinne Olsen

Minutes approved unanimously with Motion1-Anita and Motion 2-Karen with 2 corrections: (1) Added Lexi Bost to those attending and (2) changed the date of next meeting to Nov. 8th at noon.

1. Executive Committee minutes: Reviewed what was discussed in Executive Committee meeting on Oct. 30, 2008. Discussed changes made to the bylaws and reasons for it.

2. Bylaws: With Motion 1-Corinne and Motion 2- Karen, revised bylaws were approved unanimously.

3. Website update: There will be some changes on the categories that are listed. There will be a page for each committee (example: 4-H council, Project Committee, Cloverbuds, etc.) listed under 4-H. Then, there will be subheadings like: minutes, agenda, etc. They will try to have these changes up by the end of the week.

4. 4-H advertisement in newspaper: Karen brought up the issue of the Ad Agency that is advertising and getting sponsors on behalf of 4-H in the local papers on National 4-H Week. He is not affiliated with 4-H and should not be doing it. He has done it in the past and also does it to other organizations like Boy Scouts. He was reported to the state office last year and this year by our office. They turn it into the National 4-H.

5. Grant: Anita informed us that the new volunteer grant she had been working on was denied. They were not giving any money out for grants due to budget cuts. They did agree to continue to give money to the region ambassadors for their program because the program affected more than a county.

6. Inventory of back room: Anita is planning on doing a detailed inventory of what is in the back room by the next meeting. This inventory list will be given to volunteers planning workshops and other activities so they will be aware of what we already have. We will encourage them to try and use the items we have first since we don’t have a grant so far that can pay for workshops/activities.

7. Achievement Night: Everything is on schedule. Anita will be in charge of decorating with the help of volunteers. Postcards to 4-H members have been sent out. They will also be reminded through email.

8. Calendar of 4-H Council responsibilities: (see attached) Corinne made a calendar from the revised set of bylaws that lists what needs to be discussed throughout the year by the 4-H Council. Those in attendance received a copy and were encouraged to look it over and see if anything was missed.

9. Suggestions for workshops: Karen mentioned that at the October workshop on the science initiative there were unprepared presenters. She suggested that it was important to practice the projects before doing them with a large group to make sure you know how to do them. Anita suggested that we provide participants of workshops with a copy of a Project Report Form specific to what is learned in the workshop.

10. Workshops: Melba suggested that we plan the January and February workshops since our Cloverbud Committee is not in place yet.
January will be a New Year Kick-Off with 4 classes of 35 minutes each with 5 min. in between classes. (9-9:30 am registration and classes from 9:30am-12:05pm). The classes will be different topics. Suggestions included: using the fusible beads in the storage room, getting Willie the Clown to come and teach about clowning, Karen Poe giving a demonstration about Native American culture, and Melba teaching needlework. Corinne will check with Willie the Clown to see if that is a possibility. There will be a letter sent out to volunteers to request help with the classes and they will fill out a form to help us to know what they would like to do.
February will be a Junior Master Gardener workshop done by the Darrel and Corinne Olsen family.

11. New Agent Grant- used for Anita’s TV show and teaching children to demonstrate how to cook a dish.

12. New business for Dec. 13th meeting:
a. Contests- New guidelines for contests this year.
b. January & February workshops
c. Inventory list
d. Need for fundraising
e. Ways to increase volunteer base.

Voted unanimously to adjourn at 2:06pm (Motion1- Karen, Motion 2-Darrel)