Event Reports

Morris County 4-H Fair on the Farm

Published August, 2023

Our 2023 Fair was held at High View Farms in Mt Olive from July 28-30. It showcased our members' accomplishments and their work over the last year. We had over 350 entries from 4-H members and volunteers, many animals to visit, lots of hands-on activities, great entertainment, and MANY helpers to put it all together and ensure everything ran smoothly! 

Thank you to everyone who participated and entered in the Fair! What beautiful shows, exhibits, and presentations! You all did an amazing job! 

Visit our Fair Page where we highlight the Best in Show (BIS), Honorable Mention (HM), Best of Breed, Best Reserve, as well as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place recipients. Congratulations! 

State Public Presentation Winners!

Published on June 23, 2023

The 4-H State Public Presentations were held June 10-11, 2023 and there were three ways to participate: in-person, virtual, or with a recording. In order to be eligible, members had to be in 8th grade or up and have received an Excellent score at their county public presentation event.

Representing Morris County 4-H were:

All received an Excellent, and Rohan and Myra also won Best of Room in their categories. Congratulations to Rashi, Myra, and Rohan!

More Rain than Shine

Published on May 21, 2023
By Corlyn C., Dogs R Us member

Saturday May 20th 2023 - Today I attended the Lake Hopatcong Block Party. Once we arrived there it was raining.

I held Marty’s leash as people went to pet Marty.  On my free time I practiced some training and tricks with Marty.  Then it started to rain heavily and we huddled under a neighboring tent. We explored different tents which sold different things like bracelets, clothes made of wool and paintings. Despite the rain, we enjoyed telling stories and spending time with Marty. 

4-H at Career Carnival

Published on May 17, 2023
By Corlyn C., Dogs R Us member

Saturday, April 15, 2023.
Today was the 4-H Career carnival at the Rockaway Mall. The purpose of the Career Carnival for 4-H was to provide awareness of 4-H clubs so people could join. Marty, the husky, and I were representing the animal clubs in 4-H. At the Career Carnival, there were booths that talked about careers and some booths gave instructions on making crafts. The Career Carnival was a entertaining, informative way to learn about careers and have a fun time.

Knitting and Animals at Joann's in April

Published on May 17, 2023
By Corlyn C., Dogs R Us member

Saturday, April 15, 2023.
Today I had a fun time learning how to chrochet, knit, meet new animals, and support 4-H. For the event, I arrived at Joann's Fabric and saw one of the clubs I was interested, Knit Wits was at Joann's too. We met the leaders of Knit Wits, Mr. and Mrs. Dodge. Mrs. Dodge invited me to teach me how to crochet and knit! I decided to try some knitting and crocheting while giving Marty dog treats. At the end, I decided to try out the Knit Wits club.

Congratulations 4-H Public Presenters!

Published on May 8, 2023

On Saturday, Morris County 4-H'ers came together at the County College of Morris for Public Presentation - in-person again after a long break. It was the first time presenting for most of the 4-H members and they all did a fabulous job! The topics ranged from "Logic Gates" to "Playing Football as a Girl", "Bermuda Triangle", and "Top 10 Best Traveling Products". 4-H members were judged against a standard rather than one another and were eligible to receive an Excellent, Very Good, Good or Fair ratings while Cloverbud members (grades K through 3) were eligible for Participation ribbons.  

During the break, when points were tallied and the judges' comments collected, there were snacks to be shared and 4-H alum Mahi Gupta talked about her experience in 4-H and the many events and opportunities she enjoyed in the program.  

At the end, the well-earned ribbons were handed out to the twelve participants. Five presenters in grades 8-11 qualified to represent Morris County 4-H at the 4-H State Public Presentations in June. Good luck!

Thank you to our judges, room hosts, and helpers! And congratulations to everyone who participated!

4-H at Earth Day Celebration

Published on May 3, 2023
By Alexis M. - Buckanears member

Saturday, April 29, the promotion committee promoted 4-H at Earth Day in Whippany. I taught kids (and grownups) how to make seed bombs. We took clay and flattened it out, then put wildflower seeds and dirt on it and rolled it up into a ball. It was fun! 

Our Rocket Team Rocks - Launch Week in Alabama

Watch the recording

Interview at: 6:33:07
Launch at: 7:06:35

Published on April 19, 2023

The Morris County 4-H Rocket Team had a blast in Huntsville, Alabama last week! All 5 members of the only NJ team were able to travel to the launch week events that were put together by the Student Launch group of NASA. They experienced the thrill of being among the university/college teams and some middle/high school teams preparing for the final launch in this high-power rocket competition. It started on Wednesday with check-in and the rocket hardware checks. The checks were done by seasoned volunteers of the National Association of Rocketry (NAR), who scrutinized every detail of the rocket and payload design, build, and assembly as well as the team members' knowledge on details especially relating to the safety of the rocket and launch. The team only had a few things on their "punch list" and were able to fix them immediately.

The next day was the official kick-off and included various speakers from NASA and Northrop Grumman, a NASA partner and the biggest sponsor of the event. Thursday ended with a fun social gathering for all, where our group was able to get to know other teams and speak with NASA SLI engineers, the NAR official who invented the American Rocketry Challenge (the competition which enabled the team to be there), as well as a few Northrop Grumman managers who encouraged the members to look into internships offered by their company and NASA, including some for high school students.

“We’re just five kids from New Jersey, we don’t go to the same school or even live in the same city, but here we are launching rockets with NASA,”  The team captain, Sean McConoughey, said in an interview with NASA, which is featured in NASA's official release about the competition finals.

Friday morning was free for a visit to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville where barrel rolls and flips were tested (and physically experienced) in the simulator. From 3-6 pm, all teams were part of the Rocket Fair at the Van Braun Center, which was open to the public and very well attended. Our 4-H Team had a steady flow of visitors to their table. "Most people asked about the external payload of the rocket which had a rotating camera arm, and some were curious about how a 4-H team got into the competition." said Holt Englander, safety officer of the team. They even had Homer Hickam, former NASA engineer and the author of Rocket Boy, the basis of the movie October Sky, stop by and sign their rocket.

Saturday was finally the long-awaited Launch Day! The team drove to Bragg Farms, the launch site near Huntsville, before sunrise and set up in beautiful fog. When their launch time finally arrived around midday, it was clear, sunny, and HOT. The team was in the last volley (round) of the event, and it was even further delayed by unexpected hiccups like little fires that needed to be put out, cables shorting out, and other things not working as expected. This offered time to give a short interview (watch at 6:33:07 of the recording on NASA's YouTube channel), hang out some more, chat with a few more people, and drink the last bit of water...

Then their launch was up. The rocket took off like a lightning bolt! It was beautiful. After it arced over, the drogue parachute came out as planned and at the correct lower altitude the main parachute was deployed and unfolded perfectly - until it got hit by a part of the rocket, folded up and stayed that way until the rocket landed HARD.

But since the main experience was really the thrill of being there, having gone through all the steps to reach that point, having completed all the hard work of writing documents all night to have them ready on the morning they were due, presenting the designs and changes to the NASA engineers in the review interviews, having built and tested the subscale and full scale rockets, and rebuilding parts and pieces over the last 9 months - it really didn't matter. They were there. Their rocket launched. They were exhausted, and on a rocket high. It was all worth it!

"I loved being a part of the team this year and strongly encourage anyone who likes STEM to join a team or start their own. It's hard, but it's one of the best learning experiences, especially for middle school and highschoolers, there is. I hope to see more 4-H clubs at student launch in the future." the club's photographer and social media manager, Mya McConoughey, said, encouraging students across the country to push themselves to new heights.

The awards ceremony will be held on June 6th. We will keep you posted on the results.

The team would like to thank their generous sponsors: the Morris County 4-H Association, New Jersey Space Grant Consortium, Rutgers Extension Services, the Morris County Board of Agriculture, and High View Farms, as well as their mentor for their support. 

See the recording of the launch day event on the YouTube Channel of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLuCndLABTY and pictures and videos on the NASA Student Launch Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/NASAStudentLaunch

Fair Theme Contest

Published on March 29, 2023

Thank you for everyone's submissions to our Fair Theme Contest this year! It was a tough competition. Below is the winning design as well as other excellent entries.

The Winner is: 

Adam D., grade 5, member of the Plants, Pollinators & Poultry Club, with his design: "Change the World with 4-H". Congratulations Adam!

All clubs are encouraged to incorporate the theme into their club display at the Fair, their club banner for the parade of clubs, T-shirts, Fair activities, and more.

See the 4-H Fair Page: morris4h.org/4-h-fair

Most Musical:

"Jam Out in 4-H"

By Sam O., grade 7, member of Furry Friends, Feathered Friends, Just Kid "n" Around, Busy Bees & Seedlings, and Radical Racers

Most Adorable:

"4-H Does Everything"

By Leigh M., 1st grade, member of the STEAM Punks and Knit Wits clubs

Most Colorful:

"4-H is full of activities"

By Alexis M., grade 2, member of Buckanears and Horsin' Around clubs

Most Informative

"Growing and Connecting using our Head, Heart, Hands, & Health"

By Corlyn C., grade 4, member of Dogs "R" Us

Most worldly:

"All Around the World"

By Nate W., grade 5, member of the STEAM Punks club

Mystery Solved

Published on March 29, 2023

Our crime solving sleuths solved the mystery of the stolen laptops - the challenge for the 4-H Crime Scene Investigation workshop at the County College of Morris this past Saturday, March 25.

Participants learned about securing crime scenes, fingerprinting and investigating in this first CSI program through Morris County 4-H and CCM. Thank you to the Criminal Justice Department at CCM!

The 4-H tractor and float even made it into the NJ.com gallery for the event.

4-H in the St Patrick's Day Parade

Published on March 14, 2023

Despite the weather forecast, many spectators came out to see the St Patrick's Day Parade last Saturday, March 11. Thank you to all 4-H participants for marching with the float - and a special Thanks to Mic for bringing the tractor and trailer again! It looked beautiful and caught the attention of many visitors - including the photographer for NJ.com (see picture in the online gallery: https://www.nj.com/galleries/RIVCWGHYE5CTXKNOB6JQ66BEH4/)

Parsippany Green Fair

Published on March15, 2023

Great turn out on March 4th at the Parsippany green fair. We were so happy to chat with so many families and Athena was happy to receive so many pets

Teen council member Rohan helped out the promotion team, and of course our spokesbunny, Athena.

The event was well attended and we had a great spot right near the circulation desk so even families not there specifically for the event could see us.

Tractor Supply Grand Opening

Published on March 15, 2023

Tractor supply was a great event. We got to use our new table cloth and runner.  

Shane and Sammy brought a rabbit and RC cars. Shane chatted easily about the club and fair to people who had to stop bc the size of some of his cars were really impressive and they wanted to know more.  

Sammy brought snowball the rabbit and allowed passersby to pet while also finding out who were alumni and making sure they got their ribbons.

We met lots of families with kids. The Management and staff were super friendly. The store looks beautiful and we look forward to doing more events there, and definitely some shopping too.

4-H Rocket Launch

Published on February 15, 2023
By the ResistoJets Rocketry 4-H Club

Photos by Karen Mancinelli


On Saturday, February 11, our NASA SLI team hosted a hands-on rocketry event as part of their STEM Engagement program. Dozens of guests got to enjoy building and launching rockets that they kept, as well as a few other launches by our club.

At the end of the event, the TARC team gave a final send-off to last year's competition rocket for the crowd to enjoy.

On February 20th, our club is hosting a webinar to talk more in depth about rocketry and competitions. Info can be found here: https://www.morris4h.org/upcoming-events

This is all part of our wider efforts to engage hundreds of youth statewide about STEM topics - supported by Rutgers, Morris County 4-H, and the New Jersey Space Grant Consortium.

See also the Morris County Facebook Post: https://www.facebook.com/MorrisCountyNJ/ and RegistoJets club page: https://www.facebook.com/ResistoJetsRocketry4HClub.

Annual New Jersey Agriculture Ambassador Reception

Published on February 15, 2023
By Sean M.

As the Morris County 4-H'er of the year, I was honored to be our representative to the New Jersey agriculture ambassador reception this year on February 8th. Approximately 20 kids from 4-H counties and other agriculture-oriented programs had a chance to exhibit and talk about what they've done as a part of their respective groups. It was great to meet with 4-H and Rutgers partners, industry professionals, and fellow youth from across the state. The dinner was great and the speaker gave a very interesting life perspective on how important attitudes are.

I had a great time talking to and meeting people I had previously only known from virtual meetings. The event was a unique experience, being my first convention dinner, and changed my perspective on events going forward.

Thank you Morris County 4-H for this opportunity.

4-H Public Presentation Workshop

Published on February 8, 2023

The first in-person public presentation workshop since 2019 had a great turnout! 4-H alum Johanna Pipoli, together with 4-H Agent Kelly Dziak, led the participants through the process of how to select a topic, pick the best format for your presentation, fill out the structure, and perfect the form. They went over what Public Presentations on May 6th will be like and what the judges are looking for (spoiler alert: mainly to see all participants succeed and become even better public speakers in the future!). We had many great presenters give their fabulous mini talks on fun topics and got creative juices flowing on presentation ideas.

If you missed the workshop you can go to our club resources page and scroll down for details on 4-H Public Presentations:

https://www.morris4h.org/4-h-clubs/club-resources

4-H Scrapbook workshop

Published on January 24 2023
By Sophia K. - 4-H member and workshop leader

We met on Saturday to make a scrapbook page for our record books. We covered what are different types of record books, including scrapbooking. We learned a few design guidelines like using the rule of 3rds, creating a visual triangle, and using color and embellishments for interest. We had a great time! 

MLK Day Project

Published on January 18, 2023

On Monday, January 16th, 4-H'ers and their family members gathered at the 4-H office to make sandwiches for Project Kind. Eleven youth and ten adults representing Buckanears, Dogs R Us, Curious Critters, Horsin’ Around, Furry Friends, and Teen Council, assembled 175 decorated bags with PB&J sandwiches and snacks. The whole event lasted 1.5 hours and there are plenty of peanut butter and jelly jars ready for next time.

Sandwiches for Project Kind

Published on December 21, 2022
By Aniket P.

For a couple of years now, my brother and I have been donating PB&Js to Project Kind to support their numerous service projects. It all started in 2020, where we got all the bread for the sandwiches donated by a bakery and delivered to our house by 4-H volunteer Valerie. 

As this years holidays came around, I figured now since I am a part of the 4-H Teen Council, we could organize something that would end up making lots more sandwiches for people in need than my brother and I could ever. Once finished we ended with so many sandwiches it was hard to fit them in the car we had brought. Overall it was a lot of fun. 

Thank you 4-H Leaders!

Published on December 12, 2022

The 4-H Leaders' Social was held on December 8 at Polo's Restaurant in Netcong as a Thank-you to all 4-H club leaders, board members, active alum, as well as higher youth award winners. It was a lovely event with delicious food, new and renewed connections, and lots of fun.

Morris Team gets 2nd Place

Published on December 7, 2022
By Benjamin Janis

Cupcake Wars - 12/3/2022
Location: Somerset County 4H, NJ

Gabriel L., Jessenia L. and Benjamin J. participated in the annual Cupcake Wars by the Masters Chefs club in Somerset County 4-H. We were the only team from Morris County 4-H that participated. 

The rules of the competition were that cupcakes had to be made from scratch, two or three people on a team and each bakes six cupcakes. We participated as Juniors and there were six teams.

We decided to make a Chocolate Explosion cupcake made with chocolate cake, chocolate icing, chocolate sprinkles, Hershey Kisses and cocoa powder on the display plate. We used a homemade buttercream recipe from Gabriel’s Mom for the icing and it was delicious!

We won second place with a score of 85/90 and we were super happy.

4-H tree for the Festival of Trees

Published on December 7, 2022

Nearly all our 4-H clubs made and contributed beautiful and unique ornaments to decorate our "4-H Tree" at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum for their first annual Festival of Trees! The outcome is a masterpiece of Creativity, Collaboration, and Fun! 

We thank 4-H parent Rebecca J. to find and coordinate the event. Her family also created ornaments for every club with the club names on them, and they did all the setup and decorating on December 2nd. And thank you Rosanne for the tree. 

The Festival of Trees is open in the newly renovated mansion at the arboretum on Fridays and Saturdays, December 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24 and Tuesday to Saturday December 27 - December 31 from 10 am to 4 pm.

Admission is $10 per person. Space is limited. You can get your tickets for the 30 minutes times slots here: tinyurl.com/MCPCFestival.

4-H at Home for the Holidays

Published on December 7, 2022

The 4-H station at the Roxbury library was a hit again this year at their Home for the Holidays event on December 3rd. Thank you to all who came and participated!


Awards Ceremony 2022 Slide Show (11-12-2022).pptx

2022 Awards Ceremony

Published on November 14/2022

Every November our 4-H members' accomplishments and achievements during the previous 4-H year are celebrated at an awards event. This year's County Level awards and higher were recognized at our 4-H Awards Ceremony this past Saturday, November 12 at the Morris County Public Safety Training Academy.

Congratulations to all award recipients!

See our 2022 Awards Ceremony page for details and photos.

4-H Meet & Greet at Fosterfields

Published on October 26, 2022

Last Saturday, on October 22, 2022 4-H clubs set up at the beautiful Fosterfields Living Historic Farm in Morristown to share with the visitors what 4-H and their clubs are all about. We had a perfect (very) warm and sunny fall day. The bunnies, guinea pig, and chicken were the favorites with the young crowd but the fun STEM acorn game by the STEAM Punks as well as the robots (and cups) provided by the Tech-No Bots as well as the Mad STEM Scientists were not far behind. Thank you to everyone who participated with a table, display, and activity! And Thanks to Fosterfields for inviting us.

4-H promotion Committee at Career Carnival

Published on October 19 2022

We had a great time at The Chester library on Sunday, October 16!  If you are 4-H parent and are interested in helping promote 4-H at various community events send me a message and I'll get you in touch with the committee.


Promotion Committee

What is it?

A group of people intent on never hearing: "Oh... I didn't know we had 4-H here!"

What we do:

We attend various town events all over Morris County and have fun talking up 4-H. Overall, we promote the 4-H program, individual clubs, and the fair. (We also enjoy good parking and easy access to these events!)

Not sure what to say?

We will show you the basic talking points and then you can just be your friendly self.

What we ask of committee members:

Who can join?

Any 4-H member or parent/guardian of a club member.

Why do we need so many volunteers?

We'd like to expand our outreach and often town events happen on the same day so we'd like to attend as many as possible. We can't do that without more members.

Leaders please bring this information to your club parents and if they'd like to join our email list please email me at mc4hpromotions@gmail.com

4-H at Morristown's Fall Festival on the Green 

Published on October 12 2022

Morris County 4-H had their table at Morristown's Fall Festival on the Green on October 2nd. Despite the weather many visitors came out and enjoyed the displays, entertainment, and food at the event. Thanks to Marty, the 4-pawed 4-H promotion committee member in the picture, who was very talkative, the table had lot's of attention and conversations. Thank you to the group for attending these events and (re-)introducing 4-H to many families!

Here is the report with the photo from MorristownGreen.com.

4-H Youth in Action Winners' Videos 

Published on August 14, 2022

National 4-H just published 4 videos of the 4 winners of the 4-H Youth in Action Award in 2021. We are so proud of our Morris County 4-H member, Kristin Osika, who is the award winner for Healthy Living of this National 4-H Award! Watch hers and the three other stories on the National 4-H YouTube Channel.

2022 Morris County 4-H Fair in review

Published on August 2, 2022

After two years of a pause the Fair was on from July 21-24 at Chubb Park in Chester again this year. A big thank-you to all who helped make this happen! Take a look at our 2022 Fair page with memories and more reports to come in the next days.

The 4-H Fair Evaluation Survey will be open until August 15.

4-H at Dover Night Out

Published on August 2, 2022

On Saturday July 30, our 4-H promotion committee attended Dover's Night Out - and it was a success! They were met with lots of interest and are invited to visit school in the Dover area in the Fall. Thank you to our most active committee members! 

Mark your calendar for the next dates: 

Contact the office to join or find out more about this group.

State Level 4-H Public Presentations

Published on July 6, 2022

In June Mahi G. represented Morris County 4-H in the State Level 4-H Public Presentations. She earned an Excellent Score with her video submission "Nanomedicine - small particles with huge possibilities". Mahi's illustrated talk received the Best of Room!

Congratulations Mahi!

4-H Public Presentations

Published on June 1, 2022

Three Morris County 4-H'ers participated in the Northeast 4-H County Level Public Presentations - and all received an Excellent score! 

The score sheets and ribbons are in the mail. Congratulations!

Rocket Team Headed to NASA competition

Published on May 25, 2022

The Morris County Rocket team is flying high. Their successful launches at TARC nationals on May 14 in VA landed them on 17th place - out of the 100 best teams in the country! This qualifies them to participate in the next level: the NASA rocket competition!

They are also planning on registering for The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC) next year again. New design plans to meet the 2023 parameters are already underway.

Watch their video with photos and clips from the national fly-off event by Washington DC. And look at the TARC results page: https://rocketcontest.org/result/2022/

Congratulations Sean M. and Holt E.! Best of luck for the next step!

Seeing Eye State Dog Show

Published on May 18, 2022

62 Seeing Eye puppy raisers and their pups came together from all over New Jersey to compete in their annual Seeing Eye state dog show on Saturday, April 30 at Rutgers Day in New Brunswick. Among the 18 youth participants were 7 members from 4-H Seeing Eye clubs, 5 of them from our two Morris County clubs 4-Footed Leaders and Puppy Tails: Emma Acomb, Owen Armstrong, Zachary Byank, Willow Macagnano, and Chelli Senthil. They competed in 3 classes based on the age of their puppies: Class A: 4-5 months, Class B: 6- 9 months, Class C: 10 months and up.

Here are the winners from Morris County 4-H:

Emma Acomb and Zaylee got BEST IN SHOW of all participants!

Congratulations!

See also the club report from 4-Footed Leaders here.

Rutgers Day -

Morris County 4-H'er meets the University's president Jonathan Holloway

Published on May 2, 2022
By Sophia K., Shutterbugs member

Saturday, April 30 I had the opportunity to exhibit my photographs at Rutgers Day. It was a great experience discussing 4-H clubs with students, parents, and other visitors….including the University President! Many were surprised that 4-H has fine art opportunities. I recommend everyone attend Rutgers Day next year. I had a lot of fun seeing what the many clubs on campus have to offer students and the community.  

Morris County 4-H represented at Imagination in Action

Published on May 2, 2022

Morris County 4-H members Sophia K. of Shutterbugs and Rohan P. of Teen Council showed their art at 4-H Imagination in Action at Rutgers Day on Saturday, April 30 in New Brunswick, NJ. 

See below Sophia's three photos: Horse, Flowers, and Frog, as well as Rohan's two entries from the NJ 4-H Photo Corps challenge.

Thank you Sophia and Rohan for representing Morris County 4-H at Rutgers Day!

4-H at the Easter Bunny Express

Published on April 9, 2022

The Whippany Railway Museum invited 4-H to have a table at their popular Easter event. Our volunteers offered coloring pages, talked to families about 4-H, handed out Fair flyers - and said Hello to the Easter Bunny. Visit them again on Saturday, April 16, or at one of the next events our 4-H promotion team attends.

Fair Theme 4-H Kids' Choice(s)

Published on March 30, 2022

We asked our 4-H members to vote for their favorite Fair Theme from all entries. Check out the winner(s) below. A big thank you to all who participated in the Fair Theme Contest by submitting their design! (The main Fair Theme this year is "Discover more with 4-H" - see the Fair page for details.)

4-H Kids' Choice Fair Theme Winner:

"Blast off with 4-H"

By Leonard R., grade 5, member of STEAM Punks

2nd Kids' Choice:

"Discover more with 4-H"

By Amelia T., grade 6, member of Kids 4 Kindness

Most artistic:

"Be a Hero with 4-H"

By Sammy O., grade 6, member of many clubs

Cutest:

"4-H is Furtastic"

By Alex D., grade 5, member of Be the Change


Most magical:

"Let's grow with each other - 4-H is magic"

By Gwen W., grade 4, member of many clubs


Most delicious:

"4-H is MeatAstic"

By Leigh M., Kindergarten, member of STEAM Punks

Most prehistoric:

"Sink your teeth into 4-H"

By Quinn L., grade 5, member of Be the Change

Most colorful:

"Let's bounce into Summer with 4-H"

By Gwennevierre M., grade 2, member of Furry Friends


St Patrick's Day Parade

Published: on March 23, 2022

Many 4-H families and volunteers came out to Morristown to march in the St Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday March 19. The weather cooperated this time and it turned out to be a beautiful event with lots of participants and spectators. The tractor pulling the 4-H float with the decorated popup looked fantastic. Many clubs were represented. The group even included a bunny on it's own little float as well as dogs dressed up for the occasion. Thank you to all who helped to make 4-H's participation in the parade a success.

Congratulations Top Chef Participants

Published: on February 17, 2022

Morris County members Karcsi P., Zoli P., and Aidan T. participated in the Top Chef challenge. They will receive their ribbons and judges comments in the mail. Check out their videos.

Congratulations!

New Year Better You - January Service Challenge

Published: on February 1st, 2022

Morris County 4-H member Cassidy C. completed her service project for the New Year - Better You January Challenge. She shared her musical talent virtually at senior centers. 

Cassidy played holiday music on the flute for the residents at Sunrise and Arbor Terrace.  They have had very limited visitors for the last two years because of Covid and have not been able to see many young people. This was a way to let them hear some Christmas music and see someone different.

In Remembrance of Jeannette Rea-Keywood

Published: on December 16, 2021

We are deeply saddened to inform you that Jeannette Rea-Keywood has passed away.  Many Morris County 4-H families and alumi know Jeannette from attending state, national, and international 4-H events and trips. Her dedication to 4-H has made a difference in thousands of 4-H'ers lives in NJ over the 30+ years she has been with 4-H, first as a Cumberland County and then as a statewide agent. Our deepest condolences go out to her family, friends, and colleagues.


In lieu of flowers, Jeannette's family requests that donations be made to the New Jersey 4-H Gift Fund in her memory to support the 4-H programs she provided leadership to.  Donations can be made online - https://give.rutgers.edu/4Hgiftfund. 


Her obituary can be found here. 

Fun Leader Social

Published: on December 14, 2021

As a Thank-you to our 4-H leaders and volunteers the Association invited all to celebrate at the Grove at Randolph last Thursday. Thanks to Kelly's game, everyone started out the evening finding out something new about their old and new 4-H friends. Susan provided some fun entertainment as well. Thanks again to all volunteers for your dedication to 4-H! The clubs and program wouldn't exist without you!

Faye the rabbit at "Home for the Holidays" in Roxbury

Published: on December 6, 2021

There was a great turnout at this event in Roxbury on Saturday, December 4. We had lots of 4-H volunteers at our table in the library and many kids and families visit them. Faye, the rabbit was the biggest star, of course, but the RC cars and 4-H coloring pages were a hit too. Other 4-H families were seen helping at their church next door, also part of the "Home for the Holidays".

This event was a great experience. Lots of interested kids and parents. We look forward to welcoming new 4-H families as a result of this. Thanks to all who helped.

Morris County 4-H Alum
in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 

Published: on November 29, 2021

Mat Pomel, 4-H Alum from our county and also former volunteer and board member, participated in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday. He was part of the Santa Sleigh float. Congratulations! It looked like a lot of fun!

Published: on November 16, 2021

The 2021 Morris County 4-H Awards Night was held on November 12 at High View Farms in Budd Lake. Congratulations to all of our 4-H'ers, club leaders, board members, volunteers and families for your contributions and achievements during the 2020-2021 4-H year!


See the 2021 Awards Page or slide show of the event for award winners. Congratulations!

4-H Promotion at local events

Published: on October 26, 2021
By: Promotion Committee


As the 2021-2022 4-H year gets underway, the promotion committee is working hard to get information out to our local communities about the value of joining 4-H. The 4-H promotion committee participated in 6 festivals so far. We kicked the year off with Olde Suckasunny Day at the end of September, followed by Puptoberfest, the Harvest Hustle Race and Festival in Mendham, then off to the Morristown Festival on the Green.  We concluded our fall festivals with Bat-apalooza and the Career Carnival last weekend. 

Succasunny Day was the perfect opening act with local residents filling Roxbury library's parking lot looking for fall fun and future activities. The promotion committee enjoyed connecting with neighbors and educating them on what 4-H has to provide while the Radical Racers and Buckanears provided conversation pieces.   

We continued our quest to make sure 4-H is fully immersed in local events at Puptoberfest. While we always promote all clubs we made a special effort to highlight our dog clubs at this special event sponsored by 11th Hour Rescue.  Our 4-H table had a wonderful tent neighbor, Bones and Co Apothecary, who made a generous donation to the Dogs R Us club. 

The festival on the Green had the largest number of families and individuals stop by the 4-H table - which spiked the number of inquiries to the 4-H office. 

We rounded out the festivities chatting it up with local families at the Parsippany library where the featured event was Bats and a Green Fair.  With bat decorations in place we did what we do best, talk to our Morris County neighbors.

Career Carnival in Horseshoe Lake Park brought kids with interests in place and we guided them to seek out clubs that would suit them best.

The promotion committee is always looking for more members so that we may attend multiple events on the same day. If you would like to join the fun, have a special day for your club to join us, or know of local festivals/ events please email Valerie at hipumpkins@gmail.com 

Events Celebrating 4-H Week

Minecraft live event - Haunted Village

The Minecraft club had spent the last couple of months preparing for this live Halloween-inspired event by building a village in their Minecraft world based on a neighborhood in Denville and coming up with a story to show off their work. The area included a lot of realistic as well as very creative pieces presented to the Minecraft guests and audience during the equally creative tour. The event ended with a fun build challenge for all Minecraft participants. Below is Mya's report of the event and plot.

Published: on October 22, 2021
By: Mya - Minecraft club member

On Friday, October 15th, the Minecraft club hosted a live event about a local neighborhood in New Jersey. The tour was started in a nursing home. Sean and everyone in the nursing home was in an accident, and doesn’t remember anything. Holt the nurse, had Sean and the group go back to their houses to try jogging their memories. By the end of the stream, Sean and the group got their memories back, and started going to therapy. Below are some pictures of the world and the link to watch the livestream. 

Haunted Village Video

Guided Photo and Nature Walks

Published: on October 19, 2021
By: Mya - Shutterbugs club member

Dismal Harmony Natural Area in Mendham

On Thursday, September 30th, Shutterbugs hosted a photo walk in Mendham at Dismal Harmony Natural Area. This was a guided walk with Dave Blinder. While walking, we spotted a lot of spider mites; there were so many mites, that they covered an entire tree. On one of Dave’s other hikes in this park, he found ruins on top of a steep cliff. These ruins were possibly a few hundred years old, and appear to be a house. Below are my favorite pictures I took on this photo walk. The first picture is spider mites, the second is the old ruins, and the last one is a pile of rocks.

Lewis Morris Park

On Saturday, October 9th, Shutterbugs went to Lewis Morris Park. This photo walk was a nature walk. Karcsi was able to tell us about many of the plants we saw. The group also spotted many different mushrooms: there were purple, yellow and really big ones. After a bit of walking, we found a lake. While walking, many members found and ate grapes, berries, big crabapples, and even green onions that were still growing. Below are some pictures I took. The first one is a picture of tear thumb berries, second one is viburnum berries, and the last one is a fly. 

Willowwood Arboretum

    On Thursday, October 14th, Shutterbugs meet at a garden: Willowwood Arboretum. This walk was guided by photographer Parvathi Kumar. We were given a list of different ways she wanted us to try taking pictures. For an example; birds eye view, ants view, and a picture with a blurry background. There were many pretty things in the garden; blooming flowers, color changing leaves, and bees grabbing pollen. Below are some of my pictures. The first one is a picture of a bee, the next picture is of the sun in the woods, and the last picture is of a flower. 

Published: on October 7, 2021

Morris County 4-H member is selected for National 4-H Award "Youth in Action"

Kristin Osika receives a scholarship and will serve as 4-H’s national youth spokesperson for Healthy Living

In celebration of National 4-H Week, the National 4-H Council announced on October 4th that Kristin Osika, 17, of Mendham, New Jersey, is the winner of the 2022 4-H Youth in Action Award for Healthy Living. Kristin will be recognized nationally for her personal resilience and advocacy for those with allergies and medically necessary diets. Launched in 2010, the 4-H Youth in Action Awards honor 4-H’ers who have applied the knowledge gained in 4-H to create a lasting impact in their communities. Kristin is the first candidate to win this high level award in NJ. Click here to learn more about her story.

Congratulations Kristin!

4-H Summer Events

Published: on September 1, 2021

Check out the Reports, Highlights, and Winners of our Morris County 4-H Summer events. Thank you to all who organized them and to the members and guests who participated!

State 4-H Public Presentations

Published: on July 21, 2021

Morris County had two 4-H members eligible to compete in the 4-H State Public Presentations. Mahi Gupta entered and received an Excellent for her illustrated talk titled "Port Wine Stains" (a type of birthmark). Thank you for representing Morris County so well!

Congratulations Mahi!

Shutterbugs' Photo Walk

Published: on July 14, 2021
By: Mya - Shutterbugs club member

On July 12th, Shutterbugs hosted a photo walk at the Great Swamp Wildlife Observation Center. Mrs. Wagner also invited a special guest. His name is Dave Blinder. Dave showed us how to make Triptych pictures. A triptych is a group of three pictures mounted in one frame, displayed close together, or three pictures in one image. As soon as we started the photo walk, someone spotted a barred owl. Then, I saw a bunch of frogs, a chipmunk eating something, and a turtle underneath the bridge we were standing on. A little bit later, we saw a bald eagle! The photo walk lasted more than two hours and there was twenty-four people in our group. Below is my Triptych picture it includes a chipmunk, caterpillar, and an ant.  

Celebrating our 4-H Graduates

Video by 4-H member Sean M.

Published: on June  23, 2021

Congratulations to all our 4-H graduates! 

3rd grade Cloverbuds - you are ready to be full members of 4-H now! Welcome!

Our high school graduates are moving on to the next chapters in their lives (but you can still participate in all our 4-H activities for another year)! Congratulations on your achievements!

We wish you all the best of luck!

4-H Scholarship Award Recipients

Published: on June  23, 2021

Lance Corporal Andrew W. Lubrano 4-H Memorial Scholarship

This is given every year to a High School Senior who has been involved in 4-H during their four years of high school. This award recognizes an active, well rounded 4-H member.

This year's Lubrano Scholarship goes to Johanna Pipoli for being one of our most dedicated 4-H members. Thank you for your strong commitment to and many years of involvement in Morris County 4-H!

Congratulations! And all the best for your future endeavors!


Seeing Eye Scholarships for Morris County 4-H members

Each year, The Seeing Eye recognizes exceptional puppy raisers by presenting them with a college scholarship. Recipients have raised at least two dogs, have demonstrated a high level of academic achievement and are active in their communities.

Mia Hwang, member of the Puppy Tails club, and Jack Keller, member of 4-Footed Leaders, are receiving this year's Seeing Eye scholarship for their dedication in raising puppies for the world-famous dog guide school headquartered in Morristown.

Congratulations to Mia and Jack!

NJ 4-H Animal Art Contest Winners

Sophia K. - Best in Division Junior, Photography (Livestock)

Holt E.- Best of Show Junior for Equine, 2D art

Jillian P. - Best of Show Senior, 2D

Karsten E. - Best in Division Senior, Photography (Other, Still)

Published: on June 11, 2021

In April NJ 4-H asked for submissions for the Animal Art Contest. All entries have been judged and the winners selected. Here are the details:

All entries were animal related and were organized into five categories - 1) Dog, 2) Equine, 3) Livestock (beef, dairy, goats, sheep, and swine), 5) Small Animals (rabbits, gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, herpetology, and poultry) and 6) Other (alpacas, llamas, and cats).

Eighty-one (81) 4-H members representing 17 counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren) entered 233 exhibits in the 2-D Art, 3-D Art, Photography, and Video divisions.

Morris County 4-H submitted 29 entries by the following members: Claire B,. Emmett B., Holt E., Karsten E., Sophia K., Alexis M., Mya M., Declan M., Joshua M., and Jillian P.
Congratulations to you all! Ribbons will be mailed out by the state office to all participants. See the Best of Show and Best in Division results for our county below.

Congratulations to our Morris County award recipients:

Dog

Equine

Livestock

Other

4-H Public Presentation Results

Published: on June 1, 2021

The results of our Morris County 4-H Public Presentations are in! Congratulations to all who submitted their virtual presentations! All participants did an amazing job and two of our teen members are eligible to compete in the state public presentations. Good luck Sloan and Mahi! *

Liv A. - "How to remove a tick from your pet"
Gwen W. - "Wolves, Corgiis, and Foxes"

Theme Contest Winner

Congratulations to ........

Watch the video to find out who the winner of this year's Theme Contest is!

The design and title will be utilized throughout the summer, on our county's 4-H yearbook cover, and so much more!  

Thank you to those who participated and to show host Sean for revealing the outcome of the contest. Congratulations to the winning artist!

4-H Minecraft Live Event
"Le Grand Tour - de Side Build"

On Saturday, May 1st, the 4-H Minecraft club invited Minecrafters and spectators to explore the many areas of their building efforts with them. Club members had been busy creating such interesting spots in their world as the Wild West City, a Mini Golf course, space, and so much more!

The tour was a lot of fun and very entertaining. Thank you to all builders, actors, and speakers - you did an awesome job! Thanks also to the adult volunteers, especially Celia, who dedicate many many hours overseeing these sessions and rehearsing for the event!

If you missed it, you can watch the recording on YouTube.

Also check out their other videos by visiting visit their YouTube Channel.

Recording of live YouTube event

Signs of Spring

April 26, 2001

Take a look at what "Signs of Spring" our 4-H community discovered during the last weeks. 

Thank you to all members, parents and volunteers who submitted their photos - and to 4-H member Sean for putting this beautiful video together for us! 

Second place for Morris County in NJ 4-H Cooking Challenge

Congratulations to Morris County's 4-H member, Kristin Osika, in securing 2nd place in the NJ 4-H Cooking Challenge with her delicious "Bacon Cheddar Twice Baked Potato with Herbed Cashew Chicken and Broccoli"! This was a first statewide cooking competition - and she went up against 4-H members of a lot of cooking clubs and others from all over NJ. Thank you Kristin for representing our county so well!

In Memory of Robert W. Lubrano

The Lubrano Family were active participants in the Morris County 4-H program starting in the 1980's when they began raising Seeing Eye puppies.  They also volunteered each year at the Morris County 4-H Fair.  The family created the Lubrano 4-H Memorial Scholarship in memory of their son, Lance Corporal Andrew Lubrano, after his untimely death.  

On April 6, 2021, Robert Lubrano, father of Andrew, passed away at the age of 89.  He was a skilled mechanic and self published mystery writer.  He is fondly remembered for his sense of humor, musical ear, and love for his family.  Morris County 4-H is grateful to have had Robert, Andrew, and the entire Lubrano Family as part of our community.  Learn more about Robert Lubrano by reading his obituary.

4-H Mission to Mars

Every Monday in March, 4-Hers in grades 5-7 virtually traveled to Mars in the 4-H Mission to Mars program.  This event was hosted by Morris, Ocean, and Somerset Counties and taught by teen 4-H STEM Ambassadors.  Morris County had 7 participants (Manisha, Sophia, Aniket, Gurusaran, Vir, Twisha, and Stratton).  Each week, youth learned about the latest news from the NASA Mars Exploration Program and Perseverance rover.  They also explored the surface of Mars with a drop zone activity, built a small rover, and practiced coding.  On the final Monday, guest speakers from Rutgers University, NASA, and the RVCC Planetarium met with the participants to present some of their work, talk about career paths, and share what they are excited to learn from the Perseverance rover.  There's still so much to learn about Mars and space exploration.  Morris County 4-H hopes to offer more space/Mars themed events in the future.  For now, be sure to check out this video on how NASA funded researchers at Rutgers University are testing theories on how life began on Earth and the likelihood of finding life elsewhere in the cosmos.

St Patrick's Day Parade

March 10, 2021

Celebrate St Patrick's Day, and everything Green, with us! Check out our latest video of 4-H'ers and their pets "on parade".

Thank you for all the submissions and a special Thanks to Sean for putting the video together!

Winter Happenings

February 24, 2021

Watch the compilation put together by our talented 4-H member Sean!
Thanks also to all members, volunteers, and parents who participated in the contest and submitted their snow photos and videos.

Minecraft 4-H Camp is a Hit

Winter Camp

Singing by the campfire at the Minecraft 4-H Summer Camp

Summer Camp 2-20-2021

The Morris County 4-H Minecraft Club put together a wonderful event at the very accurate and equally creative L.G. Cook 4-H camp in their Minecraft world. We had 85 participants enjoy the Winter and Summer Camps on February 19 and 20; all in Zoom, Discord, and/or Minecraft. Director of the real L.G. Cook 4-H Camp, Ben, plus former campers were invited and able to comment on the attention to detail, answer questions, and enjoy such creative improvements as the fancy staff cabin. "Hands-on" activities at camp included fishing, sledding, snowball fight, archery, Minecraft spleefs, and singing by the campfire. 

A big THANK YOU! to the Minecraft club members and leaders for providing this opportunity to tour the camp and offering build sessions for the Minecraft campers. We had a blast!

And a special thanks to MCProHosting for providing the server space for this project as well as a 4-H member discount to host your own Minecraft server (use “4-H” at checkout for 20% off any server hosting plan!). 

Fantastic Fudge with 4-H is Fabulous

We had as much variety in flavor and extra ingredients as we had participants yesterday (on February 10th). Thank you Claire from the Be the Change club for leading this fun and successful cooking show!

Claire with her caramel truffle fudge during the event

Leigh's rainbow sprinkle fudge

Victoria and her white chocolate fudge

Joshua cutting his fudge creation

Inspiring Photography Talk

On February 23, in a 4-H From Home Webinar, Parvathi Kumar shared her experience in creating her new photo documentary book "Everyday Blackness - Celebrating Exceptional Women" and talked about the different way and challenges of how to create a photo book. 

The book, Everyday Blackness, celebrates Black women who defy stereotypes, forge unique paths, and are exemplars of courage, tenacity, and resilience. One of the women highlited in the book joined the webinar too.

We are all inspired by the amazing stories and the impactful book! - And want to create our own photo books now!

If you missed the talk, take a look at the slides Parvathi kindly provided.

To learn more about Parvathi, the book and the women she interviewed and highlighted in her book - check out her website: www.parvathikumar.com

Join 4-H'ers in Donating Sandwiches

This invitation by 4-H club Be the Change to help make sandwiches for Project Kind is a huge hit! Many families are already participating. Thank you!!!

Since this is a weekly project, you can still join in the fun and help.

Use the Signup Genius to pick your timeslot for getting the bread (donated by Giancarlo's Bakery - Thank you!) at the 4-H building parking lot (550W Hanover Ave in Morristown, access from Morris View Dr).

Don't have time to make sandwiches?  You can also drop off jars of peanut butter and jelly, drink pouches, brown paper lunch bags, or plastic zip lock sandwich bags.  Sandwich makers will be provided with these items as supplies last.   

When picking up your bread, please bring a few shopping bags to carry the bread in as it is donated from a local bakery and does not come individually packaged.  

Please DO NOT enter the 4-H building. The bread pickup will be outside in the parking lot. Please wear a mask and have only one person come out to get the bread.  

Availability of bread varies so if we run out you will be notified.

Sign up here
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4BAFA72EA3FB6-project

To see what other items you can donate to Project Kind go to: https://www.projectkind123.org/needed-items/

Jim Trimble's Tree at Chubb Park

Thanks to the effort of president and VP of the board, CJ Sinko and Mic McWilliams, as well as others, there is now a beautiful new tree by the pond at Chubb Park dedicated to Jim Trimble. 

Later in the year, when we can meet in person again, we will have a proper ceremony for the tree dedication. Stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, we invite all 4-H families to go check it out and send us a picture with you and the tree.

See also the online photo book.

Guess the Candy Corn Winners:

Congratulations to all winners, especially Hayden, our Morris County 4-H member, who got second place!!!

The total number of candy pieces in the jar was 261. The winners have been notified and were sent their prizes. Thank you all who participated!

Awards Night 2020

During the week of November 9-13 Morris County 4-H had Club Awards Meetings with a finale of County Awards Celebrations on Friday night. Congratulations to all of our 4-H members and volunteers for your wonderful work! Check out the links to the slide shows below for award details.

Awards Night 2020 Results

4-H Stories Results

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