Club Reports
Club Reporters and 4-H Members: For your short report and pictures of your 4-H activities to be included here please email them to the Morris County 4-H office at morris4h@njaes.rutgers.edu
Busy "Busy Bees"
Published on May 31, 2023
Bees are busy and Busy Bees are, too!
Madison, 4-H'er and member of the Busy Bees 4-H club helping with honey extraction. She was also the official taste tester, and proclaimed it delicious!
Come join the Busy Bees club to learn about the fascinating (and delicious!) hobby of beekeeping.
STEAM Punks Projects
Published on May 31, 2023
STEAM Punks worked hard on their Pom-pom people and CD tops. It was a great meeting. For more information about joining STEAM Punks call the office at 973.285.8301
5 Flocks of Chickens will Change Lives
Published on May 16, 2023
4-H club Plants, Pollinators, & Poultry
Inspired by hatching and raising our own chicks and with the generosity of our family donations, our club was able to purchase 5 flocks of chickens through Heifer International for families in need around the world!! Thank you 4-H club for leading with your hearts!
Dumbledorks Report
Published on May 7, 2023
By Sophia K. - club member
On April 27, the Dumbledorks club met at High View Farms. We wrote questions for the quiz bowl and then asked trivia questions of each other. We also discussed ideas for the fair.
PPP May Meeting
Published on May 3, 2023
The Plants, Pollinators, and Poultry club had a great visit to Riamede Orchard on May 3rd. Owner Ashley presented on bees and pollination and what that looks like in the orchard this time of year. The kids had an opportunity to learn about apple blossoms in springtime, check out a bee suit, handle an inactive hive and equipment, taste two different varieties of honey and take a walk around the orchard to see all the rented hives. We are so thankful for this partnership with Riamede! We will be exploring the orchard once each season to observe changes.
ResistoJets at Rutgers Day
Published on May 3, 2023
By Holt E. - club member
Our club was invited to have a table at Rutgers Day. Four of our team members attended, along with Kelly, our 4-H Agent, on Saturday, April 29 from 10-4pm.
The event was moved indoors because of the weather. But there was still a great turnout. We had a lot of fun interactions with people asking questions about our rockets and our team. The rockets were probably taken apart 100 times. We also enjoyed helping kids build straw rockets - until we ran out, after having build 150 of them!
We were joined by Mercer County 4-H across from us who had a lot of their STEM projects on display. The 4-H STEM Ambassadors were also right there and had a fun binary bracelet making craft.
Overall it was a success and we think a club from Morris County 4-H should go again next year.
Shutterbugs and National Geographic Photographers
Published on April 28, 2023
By Benjamin J. (member and club secretary)
National Geographic Live - 4/26/2023
Location : Mayo Performing Arts Center, NJ
Holt E, Christian K, Kurt K, and Benjamin J attended the National Geographic Live show at Mayo Performing Arts Center featuring David Doubilet and Jennifer Hayes. The show talked about underwater and arctic animals.
The National Geographic photographers presented their photos of animals such as harp seals, penguins, and polar bears. They both shared their experiences working with National Geographic over the years and their interesting encounters.
After the show we had a Lunch and Learn with the photographers discussing feedback we could give to make their storytelling better and asking some other questions. We also got to take photos with the photographers! The event was incredible and told some amazing stories of different animals all around the world.
Growing in April
Published on April 5, 2023
The Plants, Pollinators, and Poulty 4-H club had an awesome April meeting! We welcomed three new members! The kids shared about their growing baby chicks and seedlings. We also talked about good bugs and bad bugs for the garden. We each took home a praying mantis ootheca to watch hatch in the coming months. We introduced companion planting, planted a few spring flowers, and took home some marigold and calendula seeds for our gardens. We are excited to share our garden harvests at the fair!
Plants, Pollinators, and Poultry club update
Published on March 8, 2023
Our group incubated our own eggs and hatched 11 chicks on March 2nd. During the incubation we were able to candle the eggs throughout the process and celebrate their birthday with a hatching party to watch them hatch. We have been able to talk about different chicken breeds, the development process and changing health needs as they grow. These chicks will be fun to show at the fair! We have also welcomed several new members to our club this month!
STEAM Punks club report
Published on February 24, 2023
By Leigh M. (club member, age 7)
We made puppets and they are so much fun to control. It’s so funny when they walk it almost made me laugh. The hardest part was taping the strings on the legs.
The Plants, Pollinators, and Poultry club is off to a great start!
Published on January 11, 2022
Fall meetings included electing officers and getting to know each other better, presenting on our favorite things to grow in the garden, learning all about bees and tasting honey, reviewing chicken and bee anatomy and playing "Pin the stinger on the bee". We created our own take-home first aid kits for poultry, learned about worms and built our own vermicompost bins. Each meeting is as "green" as possible with healthy snacks, seasonal poetry, and a hands on take home project like planting seasonal bulbs or experimenting with planting seeds in different types of dirt. We look forward to hatching chicks and praying mantises in the spring, planning out our gardens, as well as helping our co-leader set up her new honeybee hives.
We Stirrup Trouble update
Published on December 21, 2022
At our December 6 meeting, the members learned about horse nutrition. We watched a short video overviewing horse nutrition and Mrs. Kelli gave a hands-on demonstration on what our horses get fed and why.
At our meeting last night (December 20), we had a holiday celebration and the members decorated cookies and then made horse treats. Afterwards, we took a group photo!
Dumbledorks club meeting
Published on December 21, 2022
By Sophia K.
Dumbledorks met on Monday evening at the Mt Olive Library. We played trivia and discussed fan theories.
Houston, we have lift off!
Published on December 21, 2022
By Mya M.
Our first rocket launch for the NASA Student Launch Initiative was a success! The point of this subscale flight was to prove our design is ok before we build the full scale. And it did! Thanks to the team and everyone who came out to High View Farms in Budd Lake on December 18.
Morris Marksmen Updates
Published on December 21, 2022
By Mya M.
On December 7th, Morris Marksmen held their first holiday party since 2019! Huge thanks to John and Ruth who hosted the party at the Ironia Firehouse. Stephen (club leader), provided the desserts, drinks and the pizza. Ava (member) was the DJ. The members also played cornhole.
Happy Holidays from Morris Marksmen!
On a chilly December 18th, the club had a .22 rifle shoot at the Black River shooting range. It was open to the club veterans, and a few new members.
Dogs R Us club elections
Published on December 13, 2022
By Maggie A.
On November 29 we met to vote on new members of the executive board. And to discuss some club news.
The members are:
President- Eva G.
Vice president- Liv A.
Secretary- Audrey L.
Treasurer- Leah A.
Health Officer- Elif A.
Reporter- Maggie A.
Vice treasurer- Brooke N.
Vice Secretary- Charlotte L.
Teen Council Winter Party
Published on December 9, 2022
Members of the Teen Council 4-H Club gathered in-person on December 7, 2022 for their annual Winter Party. This was the first in-person club meeting in over 1.5 years! The Party Planning Committee Co-chairs, Rohan G. and Vishruth, led attendees through games and lively conversations. Members also brought toy donations to be delivered to Child and Family Resources (cfrmorris.org). It was a fun gathering and great opportunity for members to see each other in-person.
Rocket Team Starting Off Well!
Published on December 7, 2022
By ResistoJet's Media coordinator Mya
Our TARC (The American Rocketry Challege) team recently won and attended the grand prize of a private screening of the movie: Good Night Oppy! All club members along with other STEM club members were invited.
Visit their website: https://nj4h.space/
Marksmen's Pumpkin Shoot
Published on November 14, 2022
This past Sunday the Marksmen club had it's first archery event with this year's new members as well as it's legendary pumpkin shoot. Thanks to David Rodriguez for leading the archery instructions and to John McAndrew and Miller's Hill Farm for the generous donation of many pumpkins!
ResistoJets Club's new video
Published on November 14, 2022
At the Awards Ceremony on Saturday, members of the ResistoJets Club shared their new video.
Click on the image on the side or use this link to view: https://youtu.be/bA_TOFWdyiU
Shutterbugs October club Exhibit + Photo Walk
Published on November 13, 2022
In October the Shutterbugs had their 4th club exhibit - this time at the gallerie space of the Whippanong library again. They also hosted a photo walk during 4-H Month - with photographer Rob Kissling. We captured the wildlife and beautiful fall colors around Speedwell Lake in Morristown.
We Stirrup Trouble
Published on November 4, 2022
We Stirrup Trouble had their second meeting, where the members practiced grooming, tacking and reviewed horse coat colors. Not all club members were able to attend but they had time to take a couple group pictures.
Horsin' Around has 1st club meeting!
Published on October 18, 2022
The Horsin’ Around club had it’s first ever meeting Tuesday, October 11, at Charlottesburg Farm. Club members made a club poster and then learned how to groom the horses. They then glittered the horses’ hooves and added rainbow extensions to their manes and tails. The final touch was unicorn horns and snacks for the horses. New members welcome — contact the office.
Welcome New Teen Council Club Members!
Published on October 12, 2022
The Morris County 4-H Teen Council Club had its first meeting of the 2022-2023 year on October 5th. The club welcomed many new members in grades 8-13 (one year out of high school). Members introduced themselves by sharing a movie recommendation, many of which were from the Marvel Universe. The Teen Council 4-H club serves as the youth voice for the 4-H program and members build their leadership skills through various projects and events during the year. In November, Teen Council members will help host the annual 4-H Awards Ceremony. Anyone interested in joining Teen Council can contact the 4-H office.
4-H Rocket club - only NJ team accepted into NASA SLI 2023
NASA SLI team members as of September 2022. The club is still accepting new members. Please email them at resistojetrocketry@gmail.com if interested.
Updated on October 12, 2022
Watch the report on News12: https://newjersey.news12.com/jersey-proud-morris-county-4-h-rocketry-club-become-finalists-in-nasa-competition
Published on October 5, 2022
By ResistoJets club
The Morris County 4-H "ResistoJets" Rocketry Club has been accepted into the NASA Student Launch Initiative (Winners Release - NASA Selects Teams for 2023 Student Launch Challenge | NASA)! This is a rocketry challenge where student teams design, build, and launch a rocket and payload to NASA’s specifications. The goal of this year’s challenge is to simulate photographing the surface of a planet. The team will be building an 8-foot-tall rocket that will lift this payload to over 5000 feet.
They are one of 18 winning proposals for the High School/Middle School national division. “I can’t express how excited I am about this, I can’t wait to go to Alabama!” remarked the team's safety officer, Holt Englander.
“I am very proud of what the team has accomplished so far, and I look forward to everything that lies ahead.” Said the team captain, Sean McConoughey. They will be working until April, when they’ll head to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama for the finals.
Get their activities update from the Facebook account. The club is still open to add new members to their team. For inquiries, please contact resistojetrocketry@gmail.com.
Photo Walk at Frelinghuysen Arboretum
Published on May 25, 2022
By Mya M., Shutterbugs reporter
On Thursday May 19th, Shutterbugs held a photowalk at Frelinghuysen Arboretum. We had a new member join us on this walk. Frelinghuysen Arboretum is a large beautiful garden, with many different plants. My favorite part of the walk was when a bee landed on a member. Below are a few of my favorite pictures that I took. The first is of an Aquilegia flower, second is of the bee on someone’s hand, and third is of a fly on a Euphorbia.
“Tails” from 4-Footed Leader Club
Published on May 18, 2022
By Owen Armstrong, member of 4-Footed Leaders
It was a perfect spring morning to travel to Rutgers University on April 30, 2022 for the annual Rutgers Day event. The Seeing Eye organized a competition, with separate judging divisions depending upon the age of the raiser as well as the pup they were showing. Over 19 youths competed from 6 puppy clubs all over NJ (4 of these clubs are 4-H clubs). Competitors were scored based upon the condition of the pup, pup’s reaction to the judge and to the raiser, and their ability to follow numerous commands. The 4-Footed Leader Club had exceptional results, earning not only 1st, 2nd and 3rd place ribbons, but also an award for Best in Show.
3rd Place
Chelli Senthil shows her 5 month old male yellow labrador, Patience, at the Rutgers Day Dog Show. Patience poses very proudly with his yellow ribbon, as he earned 3rd Place in the “Youth with Pup < 6 month” category.
2nd place
Owen Armstrong is smiling as he poses with his 6 month old male black labrador, Poppy, who earned second place with an overall score of 99.5 in the Rutgers Day Dog Show. Judges had a challenge ranking the “Youth with Pups 6-9 months” division, since they were all very qualified.
1st Place
Best in Show
Emma Acomb showed her 14 month old female yellow labrador, Zaylee, in the “Youth with 12+ month Pups” division. Not only did this dynamic duo earn First Place in their division, but they went on to win Best in Show!! They deserve big round of “aPAWS” for this great accomplishment.
Knit Wits member Leigh M. exceeds Fundraising Goal
Published on April 28, 2022
Member of the Knit Wits club, Leigh M., exceeded her fundraising goal for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by 500%! At her stand she had crocheted bracelets, handmade keychains, and candy for the generous supporters from her neighborhood. Some of the items she sold for donations came from the Knit Wits club.
Leigh's achievement is featured in the Florham Park Press. Click on the picture or here to see the article.
Heading to National Fly-offs
Update on May 4, 2022
Watch them on News12: https://newjersey.news12.com/jersey-proud-4-new-jersey-teams-participate-in-egg-rocket-competition
Published on April 8, 2022
By: Holt E., team member
The ResistoJets team of Morris County 4-H'ers successfully completed our qualifying rocket flights last weekend and we just got notified that we made it into the National Fly-offs! The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC - rocketcontest.org) is the world's largest rocket contest.
While adjusting our rockets to meet this year's rules (carrying two raw eggs to an altitude of 835 feet, staying airborne for 41-44 seconds, and returning the rocket to the ground safely with the eggs intact), our team had many interesting learning experiences: rockets zigzaging up or taking off sideways, landing in a tree - where it was recovered a few days later, with the eggs intact! - plus a couple of liquit egg salads early on... You can watch our first flight video and second launch.
Now we beat over 620 other teams in the country and are among the 100 finalists who will compete for the top title. This is the first year for Morris County 4-H and the team. We are very excited to be heading to the final fly-offs in The Plains, VA near Washington, DC on May 13-15.
Shutterbugs Photo Exhibit
Published on March 31, 2022
The Shutterbugs club had their photo exhibit from March 4 - 31 at the main gallery in the Parsippany Library. Watch the video the library created for the exhibit with a selection of the art. We hope to see you at one of the club's next exhibits.
Minecraft Winter Fest
Published on March 27, 2022
The Minecraft Club had their Winter Fest live event today on March 27, from 7-8pm. It opened with a short video tour of the club's latest project: the Winter Carnival. This was followed by an "open house" or rather "open Minecraft world" where guests were able to explore the different activities (sledding hill, snow ball arena, petting zoo, ...), food stands, arctic village and more. At the end, all were invited to join the build challenge in the huge ice iglu - which soon looked like a big sculpture gallery with lots of creative 3D art. It was a very challenging event overall; the club members mastered it beautifully! We hope all guests enjoyed it too.
Check out the club's website and YouTube Channel with their latest videos of this and other events.
4-H'ers Take Flight
Published: on March 8, 2022
A team of Morris County 4-H members are exploring rocketry as they get ready to compete in The American Rocketry Challenge. Their first test flight was launched at High View Farms (special thanks to Rosanne Oblen!). The takeoff looked amazing! The return trip...left room for improvement. Watch their video and stay tuned for more reports on future launches.
Update: The second launch was a success!
Photo Walk -
at the Whippany Railway Museum
Published: on March 1, 2022
Text and photos by: Mya - Shutterbugs reporter
Thursday, February 17 at 4pm, Shutterbugs went to the Whippany Railway Museum. We had a guide that could open some trains and let us inside. He also told us the history of some trains. Below are two of the pictures I took, the first one is of a train that looks like it’s coming at you. The second one Is of the refection on a train.
(Our guide was Mike Dodge, who is a 4-H as well as Railway Museum volunteer. Thank you!)
Buckanears Halloween Party
Published: on December 22, 2021
The Buckanears gathered for a howlin' good time for their annual Halloween party. Members enjoyed tantalizing treats, dressing their spooktacular best and a mind blowing movie. Party on peeps!
Teen Council Holiday Party
Published: on December 9, 2021
Teen Council held a virtual holiday party on December 1st. Members shared their favorite seasonal drinks (i.e. hot chocolate, peppermint tea), chatted about upcoming 4-H events/opportunities, and played trivia games using Blooket. The group played several trivia quizzes on topics including 4-H, strange holiday traditions and facts, unique animals, and more. Some of the questions were really tough and players were pretty competitive (but all in fun!). If your club hasn't tried Blooket yet, make it part of your 2022 meeting plans. The games were easy to play, challenging to win, and a great way to have fun with friends.
Published: on November 22, 2021
Shutterbugs member Sophia K. is the youth winner of the 8th Highlands Juried Art Exhibit
See her winning photo: "Feasting Mantis".
Club members Mya McConoughey with "Inchworm" and Holt Englander with "Chipmunk, Great Swamp." were also selected finalists at the exhibit, which was shown in Boonton. The winners, who competed with their photos, paintings and sculptures to capture the essence of the New Jersey Highlands, were announced on Friday, November 5th at a lovely and well attended reception. The closing reception will be on November 28 and is open to the public. If you missed it, the virtual exhibit can be viewed at: https://highlandsart.org/
Read more in the article in the Patch: Chester Youth Grabs Top Spot In Highlands Art Exhibit
Published: on November 22, 2021
Morris County 4-H‘s Be the Change Club, led by borough resident Jennifer Hughes, seeks to create a close connection with the community through service projects and outreach, and to empower each club member to be a leader.
Last month members collected items and donations, made toys and dog treats, and presented all to a representative of 11th Hour Rescue. This month many rocks were painted with inspiring messages and designs for the Love Garden at Holy Family Church.
Read the article here.
Published: September 2021
The Morris County 4-H 2020-2021 Yearbook is now available online! Inside you'll see all the amazing things our 4-H members, volunteers, and community accomplished over the past year. Congratulations everyone on another great year!
4-H Clubs Return to Tractor Supply
Published: on August 17, 2021
Representatives from the several 4-H clubs visited Tractor Supply in Flanders to promote their clubs and educate the public on their many project areas. A well dressed rabbit (bee costume) and a friendly chicken were great ambassadors for the Feathered Friends, Furry Friends, and Busy Bees club. Everyone had a great time and look forward to more opportunities to meet and greet with the public.
The Photo Walk
Published: on May 22, 2021
By: Mya - Shutterbugs club member
On 5/20/2021, Shutterbugs hosted a Photo Walk at Jockey Hollow. The walk lasted for two hours. The club went on a hike and took pictures of things the people thought interesting or cool. For example, people took pictures of a few toads we saw. The club leader brought three geocaches that were ready to hide. Before we started the photo walk, I saw a small hole in a tree. We thought it would be a great spot for the smallest geocache. But there was one problem, we didn’t know if an animal was living in there. So, we didn’t hide a geocache there. Below is a picture I took.
Zoli depositing the geocache
Grand Tour De Side Build Debrief
MCProHosting, our club's sponsor, making all of this possible.
Published: on May 9, 2021
By: David D & Sean M - club members
“The event was so incredible, and I really appreciate everyone who participated! Lots of fun.” says our club president, David Longendyck.
You’re probably wondering what this is about, well, let me tell you!
On May first, the Morris County 4-H Minecraft club hosted an event on a YouTube Livestream and Minecraft. In this livestream, the club members showcased some of the side builds that they have constructed in the first year of our club's existence.
As usual, this event was sponsored by McProhosting; however the club streamed the event on YouTube this time to make things simpler, in contrast to past events when we used Discord and Zoom. “One of the best outcomes of our May 1st livestream event on YouTube is that we now have a video of it to enjoy over and over again." Says club leader Celia Longendyck.
In our opinion, the event was a SMASHING success and it ran much more smoothly then we anticipated.
Click to see Mya's presentation. All sample macro photos in the presentation were taken by Mya.
Shutterbugs
Published: on April 26, 2021
By: Holt - club member
Luckily our club is able to stay connected with our monthly photo presentations and photo challenges at each meeting. In addition, our club member Mya gave her public presentation on Macro Photography at our last meeting. A fascinating look into the "little side" of photography. See the recorded video here.
Space Exploration in Minecraft!
The Minecraft 4-H Club members have been busy exploring the galaxy with their latest build projects. Club member, Sean, took his creativity to the next level with this fabulous animated space exploration video. Check out Sean's attention to detail, creative use of Minecraft materials, and storytelling of our journey to the Moon and Mars in the future.
April - Minecraft
By: David L. (club member)
What a terrible start to the spring season. The 4-H Minecraft Club has suffered greatly this month. Our world was destroyed by fire and explosives. Unfortunately, we lost a bunch of work and the last backup made to the server was all the way from when we did the 4-H Fair. Everyone was quite distraught, and we didn’t know what we are going to do. This might in fact be the regrettable end of the 4-H Minecraft Club. …Just kidding! Happy belated April Fools day! I did blow everything up, and it felt quite nice to do so, however we did have a recent backup, and everything was completely fine. Our adult leaders for the session, Susan Akers and Kris Kaufmann, were totally fooled for a while, as well as some of the other members. Therefore, I think it was a great success!
Upcycled T-shirt Bags
Teen Council 4-H Club members prepared for the warm spring weather by upcycling t-shirts into tote bags. This no sew project was simple and fun to make. Within 30 minutes, everyone had a new bag ready to hold their sunglasses, sunscreen, beach towel, and water bottle for an impromptu day outside. Some members went a step further in their creativity by turning scraps into more fashion accessories. Sleeves became an outfit for a rabbit or tassels for flip flops. You can make your own t-shirt bag other accessories, too!
Club leader Kathy with her dog
Dogs R Us is Keeping Busy
By: Liv (club member)
Since the pandemic we have been meeting on a zoom call twice a month. At our meetings we update everyone on how our dogs are doing. We share silly stories, What they like to do, eat and what kind of tricks we can get them to do. Also we exchange how to stop them from continuing bad habits. We also talk about old business and new business. Another thing we do is zoom parties. We do activities like a scavenger hut and a kahoot. Another thing we mention is our non-dog pets and how they learned to get along with the dogs. We have created friendships, and I am glad to be a part of a group that has stayed connected through rough times.
Liv with her dog in the snow
Shamrock Shakes with Teen Council
Teen Council 4-H Club members kicked-off March by making Shamrock Shakes. While whipping up our shakes, members chatted about the latest movies/tv shows, discussed the recent landing of Mars rover Perseverance, and dressed up in our best greenery. We had fun connecting virtually while enjoying a special, tasty treat. Next month, we will attempt to repurpose t-shirts into shopping bags. Try this recipe for your own at home Shamrock Shake!
How to join 4-H
Visit the 4-H Clubs page to see what is available - then email or call the 4-H office to get connected with the club leaders and get you started. You can try a club meeting to see if it is the right fit for you before you enroll. Email: morris4h@njaes.rutgers.edu, Phone: 973-285-8301