Congratulations!

Congratulations to all Upton 4-H Club members who completed Records last year and received recognition, ribbons, medals, trophies at the Worcester County 4-H Awards Banquet last night!!

The big surprise for our Club was: We won the Boyd Award! This was in recognition of the Club, as a whole, for participating and volunteering at the 2008 Worcester County 4-H Fair! We received the award last night, with "The Upton 4-H Club" engraved on it, adding to the list of all the clubs that have won it over the years. We will bring it to our next club meeting for everyone to see!

Our Club also received a Certificate of Recognition for Reaching Out to Military Families in MA, which was presented by Gretchen May:

I have made copies of this certificate for all members who participated in the OMK Yellow Ribbon Event held in Worcester on February 28th.

The Banquet was held at the Spencer Country Inn. (Here are some pictures, but they didn't come out very good because of the lighting!)

Easter Egg Hunt

9 Members of the Cuddly Critters Rabbit & Cavy Club represented Upton 4-H Club at this year's annual Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Upton Men's Club and Upton Police Dept. held at the Upton Community Playground Parking lot and VFW Fields. The weather was beautiful and many families enjoyed visiting with our animals while waiting for the egg hunt to begin. Ally attended w/Chris & Dave and their 5 rabbits; Tori & I brought her velveteen lop ("Ace") and my American Chinchilla ("Merlin"). Taylor was in charge of Merlin for the day and handled him very well! Bella & Beth brought Rainbow and 2 Flemish Giants; Gabriella & Ann brought mini-rex "Licorice" and LionHead "Fuzzy Bear". Chris, Maia and Trish brought 'Charlotte' (an English Spot) and 'Emma' (a LionHead). Gabby & Gina were there with 'Mr.BunBun', Gabby's mini-rex, and Kate & Lucy brought their 7 brand-new baby Rhode Island Red chicks!!
Here are a few pics from this morning's festivities. Thank you to all who participated!

Maple Sugaring ... part 2

After attending the Maple Sugaring Tour on Sunday, some of us went home and tapped trees. Kate just sent me these photos today ... they have already made syrup from all the sap they have collected just since Sunday afternoon!! Way to go Lucy!! The sap from Tori's tree is quickly filling our fridge and we need to figure out how to boil it down, outside, SOON!

Maple Sugaring!

Some members of our club went on a Maple Sugaring Tour in Uxbridge this afternoon and had a great time! Some of us were so inspired we tried our hands at tapping some trees when we got home! What a great experience! We learned so much and had a lot of fun! Here is a link to the website of the Blackstone Valley Sugaring Association, the group who ran the tours: http://www.blackstonevalleysugaring.org/

Here are just a few of the many pictures we took today:
Waiting for the tour to begin ...
tasting the sap...
at the Sugar Shack

Lucy, at home, tapping trees ...


Tori tapping trees at home:

2009 Worcester County VP Day

Seven members from our club participated at the Worcester County Visual Presentation Day in Lancaster this morning. Sam was our only Cloverbud presenting: Great Job, Sam!!

Of the 6 Junior Members presenting, 4 were chosen to present at State and 2 were chosen as Alternates. Gabby and Gabriella each also received a special green ribbon, for having Big-E-quality presentations. Congratulations to all who presented!!!

back row, l to r: Gabby, Gabriella, Isabella, Ally, Brianna, Emily front row: Sam

Helping Hands at a Yellow Ribbon Event

5 members of our club volunteered at a Yellow Ribbon Event yesterday, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Worcester. Our club provided entertainment/activities for children of military personnel while their parents attended conference workshops, preparing for deployment.

Molly, Brianna, Ally, Noah & Tori assisted the youngsters in making BooBoo Bunnies. They also joined the kids in making cards and play-doh creations, and played some games.

... and the winner is ....

We finally held our election, at tonight's meeting, and the results are in:

The Upton 4-H Club's first board of officers:

• Gabby M, President
• Isabella S, Vice President
• Victoria S, Secretary
• Gabriella S, Treasurer

(pictured, r to l, below)

Congratulations!

We also held our belated-holiday party ... better late than never!