April 2006

Edited April 17th

APRIL COMMUNITY CLUB MEETING was Wednesday, April 12, 6:30 pm, at Del Arroyo Hight School.  We had a program on the fair and members from Camp Academy did a presentation about camp.  We would had some of our project group reports. 

CONGRATULATIONS to our members who participated at Sectional Presentation Day at UC Davis.  The puppetry project members received gold medals, qualifying them to go to State Field Day on May 27.

CONGRATULATIONS also go to our skit participants.  They were awesome presenting “The Missing 4-Her” at Skit Night.  It was a great script, with wonderful costumes and props.  Many thanks to Laurie Averill, Adult Chair, the Youth Chairs, and all the Del Arroyo members who participated.

CAT FUN DAY was Saturday, April 8, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, at Dunsmuir House, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland.  Any cats were allowed to participate. 

HORSE FIELD DAY was Sunday, April 9, 9:00 am to approximately 3:00 pm, at Hillcrest Farms in Sunol.  Many activities were planned and you don’t need to be in a horse project to take advantage of this fun day. 

ROCKET FIELD DAY was Saturday, April 15.  It was held at Robertson park in Livermore in conjunction with LUNAR and it was a night launch from 4 pm to 8 pm. 

LIVERMORE EARTH DAY is Saturday, April 22.  This is an opportunity to give back to our community by helping clean Arroyo Mocho.  Call Chairs at 373-3578.

TRI VALLEY YOUTH FOOD DRIVE is another opportunity to give back.  Bags need to be distributed on April 22 and food collected on April 29.  We still need a chair and adult advisor.  Call Margaret at 447-6980.

NORTH CENTRAL SECTION CITIZENSHIP DAY is Saturday, April 29, 9:00 am - 9:00 pm, at the San Joaquin County Extension office in Stockton.  A full day of activities is planned for only $20 per person and that includes lunch and dinner.  Delegates must be in grades 7 - 12.  If interested, contact Margaret immediately for registration form and additional information.

DOG PLAY DAY is Saturday, May 20, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, at Dunsmuir House, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland.  Any dog can participate.  It is not necessary to be enrolled in a dog project.  Preregistration is not necessary. 

NOTE:  All of the field days and fun days are great for the entire family to attend.  You do not have to preregister to attend and observe.  Many of these events also have workshops and hands-on activities that do not require registration.  Plan to attend, even if you are not entering this year.

4-H CRITTER ORDERS will continue at our CC Meeting.  Each stuffed critter has an embroidered 4-H emblem.  Some are shelf sitters and some have bandanas.  Each critter is only $8 (including tax and shipping).  We were a few orders short of qualifying for the wholesale price after our last meeting, so will order after the April meeting.  Please give your order and payment to Margaret.

OFFICERS are needed for the coming 4-H year.  If you are interested in running for an office or committee chairmanship, please complete and return an Interest Sheet no later than the May 10 CC Meeting.  There will be no floor nominations for officers.  You must turn in your interest sheet in advance and it must have a parent signature.  Being an officer or committee chairperson is a large job.  Please give careful consideration to whether you have the time to commit to the job.  But remember, you are Del Arroyo 4-H and you are needed to make this club successful.

ATTENDANCE records were available at our April CC Meeting.  If you think you have 100% attendance be sure to check this list and advise Lisa Ott of any error.  Also, there are several members who have only missed one meeting and they can make that up by attending an Officer Meeting, however, there is only one Officer Meeting left, (check your calendar) so plan accordingly.

**MEMBER NEWS**

Tree Planting-

I helped the City of Livermore plant trees, we named them Merle and Chief.  We also helped plant two more trees.  It was really fun and you should go next year. By H.O.

I helped the city plant trees.  My family and I planted at least 4 trees.  We named 2 of them.  One was Merle.  The other one was named Chief.  It was really fun and I think you should go next year. By K.O.

I helped the citty of Livermore plant trees.  I planted 4 trees.  It was fun planting trees.  I named 2 of the trees I planted.  One was merle and the other one was Chief.  There was a tracter that dug holes for us.  We got to use gloves and shovels. By C.O.

Project info-

In the yard beautiful we made wind chimes, bird feeders, bird houses, and wind mill.  My favorite one was bird feeders.  It was fun painting the things.  The last one was either wind chimes or bird houses.  What would you want to do? By C.O.

I take the yard beautiful class.  We make all kinds of “yard things’ like birdbaths, wind chimes, and bird feeders.  It is really fun, you should go next year! By K.O.

I also took the yard beautiful class and we made bird houses, and wind mills.  It was very fun painting the crafts.  I hope you would sign up for the yard beautiful class. By H.O.

RECORD BOOKS will be collected at the May 31 CC Meeting.  If you haven’t been keeping your records current, start today!  We will have a record book workshop at our May 10 meeting to help those of you who are new members and those who need a little extra clarification.  Every family should have a 4-H Record Book Supplement to help with this process.  Remember, you may not enter in the fair or receive credit as a 4-H member if you do not turn in your record book.  Project Leaders - are you having your members keep up with their Project Report Forms?  If you have questions about this call Margaret 447-6980.

            County record book judging will take place this summer.   Plan to do an outstanding job with your record book and enter it for county recognition.

            The Project Report Form and the Personal Development Report (PDR) Form are available on the California 4H Web Site at:

            http://ca4h.org/4hresource/forms/index.asp

            You can download these forms, type in your information and print them up complete for your record book.  For those who are computer literate, and most children are, this saves a ton of painful writing/printing.

            Time is running short for you to get credit for a talk, demonstration, or project report.  Only 3 meetings are left.  Call Margaret 447-6980 or Allyson Davis 606-6567 to be placed on the agenda for any upcoming meeting.  Be sure to carefully check the items you need for a Star Rank, Super Member Award and Community Service Award.

Cake booth coordinator, Mark Duguid, is looking for adults to help early mornings during the fair.  Due to the high cost and logistics of purchasing cakes from a bakery, Mark is planning to bake all the cakes for the Cake Booth.  He will need help from about 6:00 am until fair opening time.  Please volunteer to help any number of mornings you have available.  This is Alameda County’s only fundraiser.  A sign-up sheet will be at our CC meeting or call Margaret at 447-6980.

Del Arroyo will have Sunday, June 25 from 10 am to 10 pm in the Cake Booth.  We are also being asked to take an additional half day and need an adult willing to be in charge of the additional day.  I believe July 3, 11:00 am - 4:00 pm and 4:00 pm - 10:00 pm is open, as well as July 8, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm.  Please sign up at our next meeting to help.  Please remember this is the only county fund raiser and your help is needed.

Fair News:  The catalog is now available on their web site at www.alamedacountyfair.com.  Also, each family will receive one hard copy of the catalog.  Entries will be due May 13.

            Times and days for Make It and Take It and 4-H In Action are going fast.  If you would like to reserve time for one of these activities contact Cheryl Fraser now at 980-0811.

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