Extension Update: March 2008 Archives

A large proportion of Americans die without a will. In addition, many people don’t evaluate their legal affairs related to end-of-life issues. Numerous people never get around to making specific legal arrangements to protect their survivors.

People falsely believe the property will pass on to their heirs without complications, assets have to be of a certain size to justify having a will, there isn’t a need to talk about living wills, estate planning isn’t important for young parents and the costs of preparing wills and important documents is too expensive to make it worthwhile.

To increase awareness about the importance of evaluating your current legal affairs, appreciate the importance of family communication about end-of-life issues and making a personal action plan to protect, distribute and transfer assets a priority, UNH Cooperative Extension sponsors statewide the Legally Secure Your Financial Future series that includes two seminars "Legal Issues: Are You Prepared?" and "Advance Care Directives: Who Will Decide?"

Evaluations of those who’ve participated show that their lives have been changed due to this series. All participants report they increased their knowledge about estate planning. As well, the evaluations show:

• 78 percent organized financial records and 22 percent plan to,
• 73 percent organized family records and 27 percent plan to,
• 72 percent organized property records and 28 percent have started,
• 47 percent have an inventory of important papers and 53 percent plan to,
• 51 percent wrote a will and 49 percent plan to and
• 50 percent named a guardian for their children and 50 percent plan to so.

Would you like your child or grandchild to explore New Hampshire's natural environment?

UNH 4-H Camps are excited to offer a camp registration fee discount for all UNH and Cooperative Extension employees. Every child or grandchild of an employee is eligible to receive a $50 discount per session of camp with a maximum of seven sessions per child ($350). This doesn't include family camp.

Learn more or sign up for these wonderful camp opportunities offered at Bear Hill, Barry Conservation and new this year, two offerings on the UNH Durham campus.

You need to register on-line and final payment for all camping sessions is due June 1. For more information about the employee discount or other opportunities at UNH 4-H Camps, contact Jody Jackson at 862-2132.

The National Military Family Association announced today that the UNH Cooperative Extension Operation: Military Kids program was chosen to host a popular Operation Purple Summer Camp in 2008. NMFA developed this free summer camp program in response to the need for increased support for military children, especially those whose parents are or will be deployed.

"Operation Purple Camps provide a much needed respite from the worries of war that many of our nation’s children face each day their mom or dad is deployed. NMFA is excited to work with NH Operation: Military Kids on this very worthwhile program," said Nancy Alsheimer, NMFA chairman of the board. "Together we can make a difference in the lives of military children."

Operation: Purple Camp New Hampshire is seeking kids ages 7-16 from military families for six days of summer fun at Bear Hill Camp, located in Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, NH. Camp will take place from August 10-August 15. The military kids' mission is to take part in this week-long camp, where military campers will live in cabins, meet lots of new friends, and take part in activities like swimming, canoeing, crafts, archery, and more. They will also get to experience a mock deployment, to see first hand what it is like for loved ones who deploy.  Calling all military kids, join Operation: Purple Camp this summer and help us accomplish our mission of friendship and fun.

Registration for Operation Purple Camp began March 24. Applications will only be accepted online. Sign-up to receive email notices and camp updates. Each camp is "purple" and open to children of service members of any branch of Service, active duty, National Guard or Reserve, as well as children of members of the Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Camps are free to all eligible children thanks to a partnership with the Sierra Club Foundation and support from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

About NMFA
The National Military Family Association, the only nonprofit organization that represents families of all ranks and services, prepares spouses, children, and parents to better deal with the unique challenges of military life. The Association protects benefits vital to all families, including those of the deployed, wounded, and fallen. For nearly 40 years, its staff and volunteers, comprised mostly of military family members, have built a reputation as the leading experts on military family issues.

On Wednesday, April 23, at 1:30 pm, the eXtension Entrepreneurs & Their Communities webinar topic will be Welcoming Entrepreneurs to Your Community. Communities of all sizes are starting to recognize the value of home-grown businesses as a vital part of economic development. So how can Extension, local officials and community and economic development professionals help create a climate where entrepreneurs feel welcome and supported?

Co-facilitators Greg Wise, UW Extension and Charlie French, UNH Cooperative Extension, will share tips and tools that communities can implement to encourage entrepreneurship as an economic development strategy. To participate in this meeting, go to this link and follow the instructions for the workshop.

Kimball Union Academy in Meriden was the site Monday for the second Sullivan County Conversation. UNH Cooperative Extension specialists and Sullivan County educators shared the efforts they employ to help sustain Sullivan County’s working forests, farmland, water resources and wildlife.

Early in the day, we toured Edgewater Farm, owned by Pooh and Anne Sprague, where we showcased how the Spragues use the expertise of Extension to improve their growing efforts.

We then stopped at the home of Richard Caruso, who owns 300 acres of fields, woods and wetlands in Sullivan County. Richard's primary goal is to provide productive habitat for deer and other wildlife. Extension staff helped showcase the several habitat management projects they helped him with that are improving the quality of the habitat for wildlife. 

The afternoon program began with Sara Poisson, Chair of the Sullivan County Advisory Council, welcoming the over 60 county advisory council members, public officials and volunteers attending.  UNH President Mark Huddleston addressed the group and said UNH is home to leading research in climate change, marine biology, biodiesel, natural resource management, and environmental engineering. The group applauded when he announced more than 40 UNH students from communities in Sullivan County earned Dean’s List recognition last semester.  In keeping with the day’s theme, he also noted “sustainability is one of UNH’s hallmarks”. 

Chuck Hersey and Seth Wilner, Sullivan County educators, and Matt Tarr, our Extension wildlife specialist were featured speakers during the program.  They focused on how research conducted at UNH is used to develop programs for the county.  The programs they highlighted help landowners identify and sustain natural resources and wildlife, and make informed decisions when managing agricultural land.  Darrel Covell, Forestry & Wildlife Program Leader, moderated a panel fielding questions ranging from carbon coding to county-owned land management to funding for UNH students and programs.  Chuck, Seth, Matt and President Huddleston did a great job answering questions. Congratulations, to all involved in planning and conducting the successful event.

Click here for a slide show of the event.

Click here for a copy of a newspaper article.

Congratulations to the Sullivan County 4-H LifeSmarts team for becoming the state finalist in the national LifeSmarts competition. This team of five 4-H members were coached by Extension Educator Nancy Berry and her assistant coach, Allison St. Aubin.

The team, representing New Hampshire, will travel to the National LifeSmarts competition in Minneapolis. There were 20 LifeSmarts teams competing online, which were then narrowed down to six teams. These six teams with the highest online scores were then invited to compete face-to-face this week.

These teams were Belmont High School, Inter-Lakes Regional High School, Mascoma Valley Regional High School, Merrimack High School, Raymond High School and UNH Cooperative Extension's Sullivan County 4-H.

Sullivan County 4-H Teen Club LifeSmarts Champions, shown in the photo left to right, are Caroline Mailhot, Ben Naylor, Elizabeth Robertson, team captain Allen Abendroth, Devin Wilkie, LifeSmarts coordinator Kathleen Belanger, and coaches Allison St. Aubin and Nancy Berry. (Photo courtesy of Paul Johnson.)

The New Hampshire Environmental Educators recognized Julia Steed Mawson Wednesday as the 2008 NH Environmental Educator of the Year in the non-formal category. The award is sponsored by the Educator group and Public Service of New Hamsphire.

In recognizing Julia, it was noted that she has "outstanding skills in planning and executing programs, coupled with patience and perseverance. Her determination bursts open doors to amazing possibilities."

Her most recent work coordinating the NH Common Ground Garden Program also "illustrates her passion for inclusivity and building partnerships. She has brought together at-risk youth and their families, nursing home residents, volunteer docents, and many other partners."

New Hampshire Environmental Educators seek nominations for three annual awards recognizing New Hampshire's outstanding environmental educators. The awards are open to all full-time New Hampshire public and private school teachers and nonformal educators working in New Hampshire.

Shown in the above photo with Julia, seated, is Ruth Smith, Awards Committee chair of the NH Environmental Educator group.

Congratulations, Julia!

An $80,000 grant, representing the first open-ocean mussel culture operation in North America, was awarded recently to Ken La Valley, Assistant Extension Professor/Specialist, Commercial Fisheries, and Andy Lang, a commercial mussel farmer from New Castle, to continue offshore aquaculture research with the mussel farm.

The $80,000 Small Business Innovative Research/USDA grant will look at the design and optimization strategies for processing open ocean mussels in the offshore environment.

The main goal of the proposed Phase I project is to improve wild mussel seed collection technology for offshore use and optimize off-shore handling of mussels from harvest through processing/packaging to reduce handling losses and increase final product quality. If successful, this will provide business opportunities across the coastal United States.

Volunteers are an incredible and vital resource for extending UNH Cooperative Extension's program efforts. Specifically recruited, well-screened and trained volunteers complement and multiply staff efforts across the state. Volunteers are a vital link between Extension educators and the New Hampshire citizens they are unable to serve directly.

Each year Extension volunteers assist paid staff in developing and delivering programs to educate citizens in the stewardship of our state’s forests, wildlife, agriculture, marine and fresh water resources as well as positive youth development.

As unpaid Cooperative Extension representatives, more than 5,000 volunteers in 2007 provided their time, talent, spirit and resources to deliver programs in New Hampshire, saving taxpayers over $1.9 million if they had to pay for this service.

Some examples of how these volunteers made a difference include:

As part of a Governor’s Commission grant on Drug and Alcohol Prevention, Intervention and Treatment, Extension contracted with the University of Mississippi to come to New Hampshire last April to train community teen and adult volunteers to teach Health Rocks! We recruited over 50 people and this past spring and summer, teams of teens taught Health Rocks! in after-school programs as well as during the school day in Claremont, Newport, Charlestown, Cornish, Unity and Sunapee. In Sunapee, the teens were so well received in an after-school program, they were asked to present the lessons to two "at-risk" classes of sixth graders.

Extension’s Family, Home and Garden Education Center has 170 Master Gardeners who volunteered over 3,000 hours and answered 6,159 phone calls and 1,191 email questions.

4-H volunteers, numbering over 3,000 this past year, support the program, which provides positive experiences for all youth and adults to develop their individual potential as caring and contributing members of an ever-changing world.

A new volunteer reports, "Of the community groups available to youth, I believe that 4-H offers entire families the most well-rounded and supportive experience. Many parents feel as I do, and I have received a lot of encouragement from friends and neighbors to help start a Cloverbud club."

UNH Cooperative Extension has a proven track record in effective volunteer management that allows staff to recruit, train, and support volunteers to help further educational programs to New Hampshire residents. A little over 105,000 hours of volunteer time in 2007 extended the educational scope of UNH Cooperative Extension to these residents. Based on the Independent Sector rate of $18.27 per hour for New Hampshire, this saved taxpayers $1,925,457 if they had to pay for this service.