Submitted by secretary, Eden Copeland.
The High Country Handiworkers meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. on February 12, 2024 by President Josh Ryan at the McKee Building at The Ranch.
The pledges were led by Paige Box, Summer Box, Josie Dayhuff, Caia Smith, Kennedy Rodden, Adalynn Hastings, Katelyn Irvin, Basil Price, Lilly Hayward, Levi Shrout, and Lucy Shrout.
Roll call procedure: Please take your nametag from the alphabetized file box at the start of the meeting. At the end of the meeting, drop the name tags in the buckets at the exits of the room.
Willow Cameron moved to approve the minutes from January as submitted by Eden Copeland and posted on the club website. The motion was seconded. However, during discussion, Josh Ryan spoke up about a typo—Paige was spelled as “Paid.” There was no further discussion. Paige Box moved to approve the minutes with the revision. This motion was seconded and APPROVED.
Treasurer Gideon Rivera presented the treasurer’s report. The checking account’s balance is $1,692.64, the savings account balance is $5,593.83, and the CD balance is $2,129.18.
Willow Cameron presented the reporter’s report. She submitted the January meeting report to the Loveland Reporter-Herald, The Coloradoan, the Berthoud Surveyor, and our club’s website and social media.
Kinzie Copeland, Paige Box, and Wesley Anzaldua led the sunshine report for the February birthdays. Happy birthday, members! There were cards circulated for members to sign: a get-well card for Heather Best, a congratulations card for Brooke Carlson, and a congratulations card for Josh Ryan. Eden Copeland also read a card of congratulations from the Larimer County 4-H Foundation for being a club for 44 years.
The Cloverbuds did not have a meeting last month due to the weather. Check the club website for updates on future Cloverbud meetings.
Leader’s Report:
Paid Parking at The Ranch – Sharel Cameron talked about the new paid parking at the Ranch for ticketed events at Blue Arena (Budweiser Event Center). It will use scanners to gather license plate information, similar to driving on E-470 or other toll roads. When a 4-H event takes place at the same time as a ticketed event, we will gather the Name, State of License Plate, and License Plate Number for all 4-H families in attendance. Otherwise, families will receive a bill. We will have a form to handwrite your information, or an online form to fill out while at the event.
Rob Ryan explained the importance of the Clover Connection, calendar, club website, and club emails. These resources allow the members and their families to be informed about workshops, competitions, registration, projects, and other 4-H-related information.
Visual Arts – No report for this month.
Foods – At the February Foods project meeting, they made spring rolls. There will be no meeting in March. There will be a field trip to MouCo Cheese Company in Fort Collins on March 19 at 10:00 a.m. All members are invited, but attendance is limited, so reserve a spot on Signups. Amy Gebhardt will be stepping down as the food project leader at the end of this 4-H year. We encourage any parents who are interested in being the leader of Foods to attend meetings and learn more about volunteering.
Scrapbooking – Leader Barb Hummel is hosting a project meeting at her home on February 24 at 9:30 a.m.
Clothing – Hanna Copeland spoke about plans for upcoming workshops. The next workshop will be on March 9, focusing on fabric and patterns. There will be another workshop on March 30 which will focus on Unit 1. If you are interested in the clothing project, Hanna is happy to answer questions. If you are enrolled in Clothing, watch for an email with more information.
Junior Leadership Club – Gideon Rivera talked about the Junior Leadership Club. It is for members ages 13 years and older. This club runs the Dairy Bar, Achievement Night, and the Junior Jam. The next meeting will be February 26. It is a great leadership opportunity.
Dog – Hailey McNear reported that there will be a dog expo on April 7. It is $10 to register on 4HOnline.
Shooting Sports – The next Annual Safety Meeting on Zoom will be held on March 8. This is the last opportunity to complete this mandatory meeting. Check the calendar on the Shooting Sports website and ask Sharel Cameron about any Shooting Sports questions you might have. The club is planning a hunter education class for April 20 and 21. It will be an internet conclusion course, so start the online course now.
Rob Ryan gave the parli pro report. He discussed why Parliamentary Procedure is important and how it will influence your life in the future. The example Rob Ryan used was voting in elections.
Old Business:
Community Service at Courtyard Assisted Living – Sarah Rodden talked about how she and Heather Leppert can find community service opportunities at assisted living homes. They just need people to be interested and willing to spend the time to help.
Club Enrollment – Enrollment opened on October 16 and closes on February 1, 2024 for returning members and March 1, 2024 for new members. Enrollment is on v2.4HOnline.com. Payment CANNOT be made through 4HOnline, but the system requires you to click the Pay by Check button. Then you can either pay the extension office onine or with a check.
4-H Carnival Tickets – 4-H Carnival Tickets are available for returning members and new members who are enrolled. Each member is asked to sell 25 tickets to be eligible for financial assistance and scholarships from the Larimer County 4-H Foundation. Selling tickets is also a great way to spread the word about 4-H. The tickets are only $1 each. We recapped how selling tickets at King Soopers went. The Lepperts led this report and sold many tickets. We will be selling tickets on February 17 at King Soopers again. If you still need to pick up tickets or need additional tickets, please see Hanna Copeland at the end of this meeting.
4-H Carnival Baskets – We are doing three baskets for the live auction at the carnival. We voted a couple of months ago on the basket themes: Outdoors, Cooking, and LEGO. Please bring donation items to fill these baskets.
4-H Carnival Game Booths – Every year our club provides games, booths, and volunteers for the carnival. Our club is going to run 7 booths. These booths are Plinko, Smack the Quack, Pluck the Duck, Toilet Paper Toss, Iron Man, Rubber Band Shoot, and Lollipop Pull. President Josh Ryan, Vice President Hailey McNear, and Secretary Eden Copeland explained the games to the club. To run these games, we need members and parents to volunteer. The SignUpGenius is available. We also have many Shooting Sports members and they are encouraged to sign up to work the two Shooting Sports carnival booths: Ammo Pull and Skee Pull.
New Business:
Livestock MQA (Meat Quality Assurance) Training – MQA will be on February 24 from 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. There are presentations and then a mandatory test for members to show livestock at the county fair. If this is your first year in a livestock project, you must attend. Members must attend once as a Junior member (4-H ages 8–13) and once again as a Senior member (4-H ages 14–18)
Club PayPal and Venmo – Our club has PayPal and Venmo accounts that can be used for payment for carnival tickets if members have buyers who are not local. Go to the club website to find the links, and have buyers put the member’s name in the comment section.
Carnival Ticket Boxes – Josh Ryan asked for volunteers to make ticket boxes out of shoe boxes to gather the game coupons at the carnival. Boxes must have removable lids to gather the coupons easily. Caia Smith, Madelyn Leppert, Paige Box, Katelyn Irvine, and Basil Price volunteered to make boxes.
Transporting Carnival Games – We need parents with trailers and pickups to move games from storage to the First National Bank Building the night before the carnival, March 1. We also need an enclosed trailer to haul the prizes. Jennifer Seefeldt volunteered her trailer to transport the games. Matt Irvine and Heather Leppert volunteered vehicles.
Demonstrations:
- Bohdan Leppert: Anatomy of a bee,
- Madelyn Leppert: Stamping leather.
Levi Shrout moved to adjourn the meeting. Seconded and APPROVED. The meeting was adjourned by Josh Ryan at 7:55 p.m.
Members decorated and ate Valentine’s Day heart cookies after the meeting.