Extension Update: July 2007 Archives

Congratulations to the 4-H Youth Development staff. Of the 44 sites funded in the country from the 2007 JC Penney Afterschool Fund mini-grants, 15 are in New Hampshire, reaching nine counties.

These efforts bring $247,627 into the state to help programs provide 565 slots for children in need of care during the after school hours. For example:

• 83 percent of submitted New Hampshire projects received funding.
• New Hampshire awards range from $4,256 to $25,000.
• The average award per slot in New Hamsphire was $438; the average award in all other projects nationally was $524.

This is a significant contribution to the state of New Hampshire and a huge boost for 4-H since all of these programs now have signed Partnership Plans for 4-H Afterschool.

John Saturley received a warm welcome at Bear Brook 4-H Camp Wednesday, as he celebrated his 90th birthday in a unique way. He invited his friends to a birthday celebration at the camp, requesting donations to the camp in lieu of birthday gifts.

John arrived at camp with his wife Doris for lunch, and was immediately surrounded by 125 campers and camp staff, who serenaded them with camp songs. He then got a tour of camp, followed by a program with John Porter serving as master of ceremonies. Morgan and Cacia King, Michele King’s daughters, serenaded the group including the song about Bear Hill 4-H Camp written by Morgan. John reminisced about his camp efforts snd was also recognized by fellow members of the Concord Rotary Club and the NH Grange.

According to Wendy Brock, Program Leader for 4-H Youth development, over $7,000 was raised in donations in celebration of John’s birthday. On behalf of the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire, she presented John with a signed, limited edition copy of the 4-H Centennial painting "Hands for Larger Service." In recognition of John's service to the University as a former Trustee, his commitment to service and 4-H, and in honor of his 90th birthday, it was most fitting to present John with number 90 of the limited editions.

Earlier in the day, county advisory council members from around the state toured the camp with Wendy and Camp Manager Chris Conlon, including State Reps. Maurice Pillotte of Manchester and Carla Skinder of Sullivan County. Carla, in the photo on the left, tried her skills at archery and showing goats with the campers.

What’s a community to do? Articles about it appear in the newspaper, it’s covered on local cable access, and you see plenty of it on roads, walkways and parking lots. It’s storm water, the water that collects and runs off our roofs, sidewalks, and streets whenever it rains or snow melts.

With help from an EPA grant, UNH Cooperative Extension is teaming up with the UNH Stormwater Center to help communities manage their storm water. Storm water carries pollutants from land downhill into the nearest water body. This polluted runoff is currently considered the primary source of water pollution in the country and communities are being held responsible for their contributions.

The Stormwater Center tests the effectiveness of both conventional and innovative (low impact development) storm water treatments. UNH Cooperative Extension programs, including the Natural Resource Outreach Coalition and the Community Conservation Assistance Program, help community members figure out how to protect their natural resources including lakes, ponds, rivers and bays. With support from the new grant, UNH Stormwater Center and Cooperative Extension will pull together to help communities put good science to use solving local problems.

So, what is a community to do? The bad news about storm water and the pollutants it carries is there is no single, easy answer to addressing it. The good news is that it can be better managed through a number of approaches and there is something for just about everyone to do.

Managing storm water requires teamwork from municipal staffs, board and committee members, business owners, developers, landscapers, engineers, land trusts, land owners and community residents to name a few. UNH Cooperative Extension and the Stormwater Center can help communities develop a plan that tackles the issue from many angles.

A sound plan will include strategies for both preventing and treating polluted runoff. Prevention strategies include conserving tracts of undeveloped land that filter and infiltrate storm water and maintaining streamside trees and shrubs, known as riparian buffers, to slow down and capture potential pollutants in storm water. Where buildings, roads and other hardscapes exist, developers might install storm water treatments such as gravel wetlands or bioretention systems.

Some communities will need to establish fees to help pay for managing storm water and regulations that guide how developers handle storm water in their projects. Most communities will need to apply both prevention and treatment to keep or attain clean water and that’s something that New Hampshire communities value.

To learn more, contact Extension Specialist Julie Peterson at Julia.peterson@unh.edu

New Hampshire’s 4-H Youth Development program is reaching out to communities and into existing after-school programs through 4-H Afterschool. More and more young people, ages 5-14, are enrolled in after-school programs each week day afternoon.

Partnering with 4-H, these programs have access to quality staff training, juried national 4-H curriculum, and 4-H events and activities at the local, county and even state level.

4-H Afterschool is a National 4-H Council initiative focused on partnering with local communities to build high quality, unique and customized programs around the diverse interests and needs of youth. Currently UNH Cooperative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development educators have written partnership plans with 18 after-school programs, including at least one in every county. Through these plans, after-school programs work with us to establish 4-H Afterschool programs and clubs within their ongoing program schedule.

Two new 4-H Afterschool curriculum kits, Easy Cooking for Fit YOUth and Aerospace are available this fall for after-school program partners. These kits, developed by the 4-H Afterschool Work Team, are funded by the 4-H Foundation of New Hampshire. Training on their use is scheduled for November as part of three regional training experiences for 4-H volunteers, including after-school program staff.

The trainings are funded in part by Monsanto Company and National 4-H Council. A two-year $500,000 award from Monsanto Company to National 4-H Council is supporting hands-on training experiences for 540,000 4-H volunteers, who provide 4-H youth across America with opportunities to learn leadership, citizenship and life skills.