Phase 3 COVID-19 Reopening Guidelines

•Until further notice, our office is open by appointment only

•Visitors are required to wear face masks at all times while in the office

•Please notify us of your arrival (580/228-2332) and someone will open the door for you.

•If you can answer “Yes” to any of the following, we ask that you notify us and reschedule:

• Do you feel unwell?

• Do you have a fever?

• Do you have a cough?

Have you been exposed to anyone with COVID-19 or the Flu?

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we strive to serve your needs during this pandemic.

4-H News:  Due to the COVID-19, “face to face” 4-H summer camps, contests, events including State 4-H Round-up have been cancelled; HOWEVER – many will be offered virtually (ZOOM). We are excited to announce the next West District South District Culinary Creation Virtual Contest – Fruit and Vegetable Carving Contest via ZOOM on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 starting at 10am.  This will be an individual contest patterned after the state fair contest and available to all 3 age groups.  Registration is due by Friday, June 19 and participants must be bone fide 4-H members. Contact Tara Brown for the link to register.  Our first virtual contest was Table Setting via ZOOM and it was very successful!  We expect this contest to also be successful and encourage all 4-H members to participate.

4-H Stem Camps and State 4-H Roundup will also be held virtually. Get excited! Oklahoma 4-H Virtual STEM camps start next week and run through the first week of August. STEM camps are a great way for 4-H members age 8-12 to get involved with STEM and have some fun this summer! Camps include livestock science, bio energy, photography, camping, wearable tech and more. Register today at the link below! 

http://4h.okstate.edu

These camps are short and video based and will be fun educational opportunities.

  Contact Tara Brown for the links for registration for State 4-H Round-up.

Co-Parenting for Resilience classes will resume with limited class size until Oklahoma has completed Phase 3 of Re-Opening our state.  Contact Tara Brown for the next scheduled class.

Basic Budgeting 

by Cindy Clampet, Assistant State Specialist, Family Resource Management 

There are lots of reasons you may resist creating a monthly budget. Maybe you strongly object to tracking how you spend your money. Or maybe you think having irregular income or expenses keeps you from establishing a budget. 

On the other hand, there is a relief in knowing where your money goes every month, not to mention a budget gives you the flexibility to control where and when you spend or conserve money. 

Additionally, a budget provides a map of your spending so you are not confused about where all your money went at the end of the month, and it allows you to pay your debts and monthly bills while saving some for emergencies and future big purchases. 

To create a basic budget, start by figuring out how much money you have currently as well as how much you have coming in and going out every month. 

List your expenses first. Develop two lists of expenses, one for essentials such as rent or mortgage, the car payment and utilities, and one for flexible expenses like gifts, clothing and eating out. Keeping the essentials and the flexible expenses separate will help you more clearly see where to make cuts, if needed.

Estimate what you spend. Go through your checkbook register and look at receipts from the past few months to see what you actually spent on each category. After compiling all your essential and flexible expenses, total each list. 

Now list your income, including salaries, tips, child support or alimony and any other money coming into the household. Subtract the essential expenses total from the income total. If there is money left over, subtract the flexible expenses total from the remaining amount. 

If you still have funds available, consider starting a savings account or an investing plan. If there is no money left over, or you went into the negative numbers, try to reduce your flexible expenses.

What if there is nothing to cut? Then, it is time to start thinking of ways to increase your income. A part-time job on the weekend, babysitting, cleaning houses, mowing lawns, delivering pizza are all easy ways to boost your income. Or, maybe you have skills that can be traded for money. Do you sew? Doing clothing alterations can earn some pretty good pocket change. Baking, cake decorating, selling crafts, working on cars, handy man jobs, even shopping for others are other examples of potential strategies for earning some extra money. 

Having a budget on paper will not solve all your money problems, but it will give you a good picture of your spending and that will help you form a plan so those dollars go exactly where you want and need them to go.

For more information on setting up a basic budget, contact your local county Extension office – Tara Brown, (580) 228-2332.

Recipe

Cookie Dough Dip

Ingredients

8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 ½ tsp vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup toffee bits

Cream the cream cheese and butter; add rest of the ingredients.  Serve with Graham crackers or Apple wedges

JEFFERSON COUNTY FREE FAIR

Has been scheduled for Thursday, August 23 – noon Saturday, August 25.  Indoor entries are due by 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 22.  Baked items needing refrigeration may be brought in by 8 a.m. Thursday, August 23 morning – judging will take place Thursday, August 23.  Bring your creativity in crafts, arts, baked items, canned items, dehydrated foods, refurbished clothing or furniture, photography, Vintage items, Quilts, home grown fruits and vegetables, etc.  A fair book will be available prior to August.  There will be a Pet Show, Tractor Driving Contest (contact your local Ag Teacher); Best Pie Maker and Best Cookie Jar contests AND a Homemade Ice Cream Contest are also scheduled!  A Silent Auction will be held until 11:30 a.m. Saturday, August 25.  Come see and bid on items.  Proceeds will go towards assisting with Fairground buildings’ repairs.  Jefferson County OHCE Annual Quilt Turning will be 10 a.m. Saturday, August 25 – come see beautiful quilts and quilted items.

Come to the Fair and join the fun!

Co-Parenting for Resilience: Divorce or separation is not an easy or favorable decision, especially when minor children are in the home.  A class for divorcing or separating parents with minor children living in the home.  My next class is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, September 17, 2018 (there will be no class in July). Pre-registration is required. Call Jefferson County OSU Extension Office at 580-228-2332 for registration information.  This class is mandatory by law in Oklahoma and is also valuable for Grandparents and other relatives of minor children going through a divorce or separation.

Jefferson County Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service through Oklahoma State University offers researched-based programs and information.  We assist with mailing and interpreting Soil Samples, Forage Samples, and some Water Samples.  If you have questions about plant diseases or why are your trees’ foliage falling off, or any other Agriculture, 4-H or Family and Consumer Sciences questions, call 580-228-2332 or come to 802 East D’ Street (Jefferson County Fairgrounds) and visit with Leland McDaniel, Extension Educator, Agriculture/ 4/H Youth Development and Tara Brown, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences/4-H Youth Development.

Jefferson County 4-H

4-H Slogan

“Learn by Doing”

Online Enrollment for 2018-2019 begins September 1, 2019 call our office if you need assistance completing online enrollment.  

Jefferson County 4-H Talent Show is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, September 29, 2019 at the Ryan High School. This is open to all enrolled and active Jefferson County 4-H members.  Let our office know by 3:30 p.m. Monday, September 10, 2018.

Come support our talented 4-H members and have fun with us!

The SW District counties have been divided among the NE, NW/W and SE Districts.

Jefferson County will now be a county in West District.

A great opportunity for leadership for our 4-H members who are in the 7th grade or older as of September 1 2018, is the West District Action Conference. 

The goal of the Conference is to share ideas and information that youth can take home and share in their county or community, as well as to improve themselves. 

This year the conference will be held October 17-19, 2018 at the Reed Conference Center, Midwest City, OK.

Registration is due to our office by 3:30 p.m., September 10, 2018.   Call Tara Brown for additional information.

Jefferson County OHCE (Oklahoma Home and Community Education) Group will meet at noon Tuesday, August 21 in the Waurika Sr. Citizens Center with a paint craft following the Business meeting.   Our September meeting will be Tuesday, September 18.  Come eat lunch with us at 11:30 a.m. prior to our meeting.

Helping Oklahomans live their best lives through education and service. That’s what Oklahoma Home and Community Education, Inc. is all about.

OHCE has been around for the better part of a century – it was established in 1935.

Though residents may not be well acquainted with the organization, it’s highly likely they’ve benefitted in some way from OHCE’s local, national and even international outreach.

“OHCE is an extremely giving organization that collectively does many outstanding things both here in the state of Oklahoma and around the world,” said Kathy Fentress, OHCE state vice president.

In fact, seven years ago when Fentress was looking for volunteer opportunities and a way to meet other women in her local community in McCurtain County, OHCE’s giving nature was a huge attraction.

“Such a generous and hard-working organization makes a huge difference in everything it touches!” she said.

Even with data from only a third of OHCE groups reporting their outreach activities in 2017, the eye-popping numbers spotlight just how busy the organization’s 3,600-plus members have been: more than 72,000 pounds of materials recycled; over $47,000 worth of clothing donated; more than $48,000 in plants, trees and shrubs planted; and over 73,000 volunteer hours logged in nursing home visits, reading and tutoring, equaling an economic value of more than $1,734,862.

According to its website, OHCE’s ultimate mission is to “educate its members to be well-informed and able to handle changes in their homes and communities.”

Through its close relationship with the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, which is headquartered at Oklahoma State University, OHCE members translate that vision into reality by learning then sharing research-based information on a wide variety of topics.

More specifically, county based OHCE groups work with family and consumer sciences Extension educators in each of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, as well as district and state Extension specialists, to identify local issues, develop educational programming and launch service projects to help families and communities address their concerns.

There also are 83 OHCE members serving as Master FCS volunteers and another 15 operating as Master Wellness Volunteers in Oklahoma and Tulsa counties. In these roles, OHCE members receive extensive training and help expand Extension’s efforts across the state to help enhance people’s quality of life.

Additionally, OHCE contributes to charitable organizations in local communities, statewide and worldwide.

Shelia Burnett, OHCE state secretary and an active member of an OHCE group based in Rogers County, said the organization is vitally interested in educating Oklahomans so everyone can live better, safer and happier lives.

“We are interested in helping to provide this education through any way possible,” said Burnett, who joined OHCE a few years after retirement then spent time searching for ways to keep busy, including “snowbirding” in South Texas and working at various U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lakes and parks as well as substitute teaching in the summer.

“None of the items I tried seemed to be what I needed. I wanted to be with a group of people my age that was doing something for the community and, most of all, that I enjoyed doing,” she said. “I continue to be a member because I found most of the things that I felt were requirements for my joining in the first place.”

With the group’s heavy emphasis on education, it’s not surprising there’s an especially strong push to support young people.

“We help with the young people of our community through 4-H and other projects,” Burnett said. “Scholarships are a way for us to help with the youth of our community.”

In fact, OHCE awards tens of thousands of dollars annually to Oklahoma students and for various individual and community projects. In the past six years, the total amount the group has poured into the state far eclipses $200,000.

OHCE programming and outreach isn’t only limited to youth, though.

The organization offers a robust slate of educational offerings including, but certainly not limited to, health and well-being, nutrition, voting rights, financial issues and budgeting, disaster planning, generational differences, recycling, reading improvement and women’s issues.

“These programs are open all across the state to everyone, not just members. OHCE members often take many programs directly to their communities in various ways,” Fentress said. “The more we learn, the better people we become. OHCE, with groups all across the state, is a vehicle for adding knowledge and improving the well-being for all Oklahomans.”

Although OHCE primarily focuses its good works on Oklahoma, it’s affiliated nationally with the Country Women’s Council of USA and internationally with The Associated Country Women of the World.

OHCE groups have sewn uniforms for young girls in Fiji, who otherwise would be unable to attend school without the required attire.

As part of an international initiative launched by the state board, OHCE funded transportation costs for nine students from an impoverished village in Mexico with an aim of helping them finish high school and continue on to university. Eight of the students have graduated from high school and are attending university and one is completing the final year of high school.

Along with all OHCE accomplishes Burnett pointed to an additional perk of working with the organization.

“This group – OHCE – is fun. You make friendships that are life lasting,” she said. “I am truly blessed with this group.”

Looking ahead, she expects OHCE to keep learning and sharing.

“I see continuation of what we do best – learning ourselves and teaching others – as our main and best focus to be helpful to the people of Oklahoma,” she said. “We must remember that our future is our young people. Recruiting younger members to our groups is vital to this.”

For more information about the organization, visit ohce.okstate.edu.

Co-Parenting for Resilience:  Divorce or separation is not an easy or favorable decision, especially when minor children are in the home.  A class is available for divorcing or separating parents with minor children living in the home.  My next class is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, November 13, 2018. Pre-registration is required. Call Jefferson County OSU Extension Office at 580-228-2332 for registration information.  This class is mandatory by law in Oklahoma and is also valuable for Grandparents and other relatives of minor children going through a divorce or separation.

Jefferson County OHCE will meet Tuesday, October 16 at 12:30 p.m. at the Jefferson County OSU Extension office located at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.  Lesson on “Essential Oils” will be presented by Pat McGriff.  Light food will be available.  Our November meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, November 20.  The lesson “Repurposed Jars” will be presented by Tara Brown and will include a “You Make and Take” item – bring a clean empty pint-size jar.  Call 580-228-2332 for additional information.   Deborah Farrar is our Treasurer and is accepting dues at this time.

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

“October 2004 was the first National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. At that time, Facebook was less than a year old and neither the iPhone nor the Samsung Galaxy existed. In 2018, cybersecurity is more than just remembering to update antivirus software and recognizing a phishing attempt. Cybersecurity attacks continuously threaten our nation’s critical infrastructure, including transportation, utilities, public health, and financial services. Plus, the more that we integrate technology into our lives, the more vulnerable we become to cybersecurity threats.”

Tara Brown, Jefferson County OSU Extension Educator for Family & Consumer Sciences/4-H Youth Development recently attended the 2018 National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS) conference in San Antonio, Texas.  Oklahoma had 31 delegates.  Tara is a member of the Financial Team which received three awards at the Southern Region level and two awards at the National level.  There were many workshops on using Social Media to getting information out to our public.  If you are a Facebook user, you will find Jefferson County OSU Extension at JeffersonCounty Osu Extension; Jefferson County 4-H page is JeffersonCounty Fourh.

We post information of interest – look us up!

Of course, you may contact our office at 580-228-2332 if you have questions.

Co-Parenting for Resilience Divorce or separation is not an easy or favorable decision, especially when minor children are in the home. A class is available for divorcing or separating parents with minor children living in the home. My next class will be 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Pre- registration is required. Call Jefferson County OSU Extension Office at 580-228-2332 for registration information. This class is mandatory by law in Oklahoma and is also valuable for Grandparents and other relatives of minor children going through a divorce or separation.

Jefferson County OHCE (Oklahoma Home and Community Education)

On Tuesday, May 21, Jefferson County OHCE met and heard the “History of OHCE and OCES” Our next meeting will be Tuesday, June 18 with a lesson “Appealing Ways with Apples”. OHCE is open to anyone interested in meeting and receiving research-based educational information.

 Line dance

If you are interested in Line Dancing, please contact Jefferson County OSU Extension office at 580- 228-2332; this will help us determine size of room needed! This will be exciting! A line dance is a choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows, all facing either each other or in the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time. Unlike circle dancing, line dancers are not in physical contact with each other.

  Kitchen Timesavers from USDA ChooseMyPlate.gov

Try these kitchen timesavers to cut back on time and make less work for you. By taking the stress and hassle out of cooking, you’ll have more time to enjoy it and to spend with your loved ones.

 1. Organize your kitchen. Keep frequently used items such as cooking oils/sprays, spatulas, cutting boards, and spices within easy reach. This will save you from having to search for them later.

2. Clear the clutter. Before you start cooking, clear off your counters. This allows more room for prep space.

3. Chop extra. When chopping up veggies for a meal, chop more than you need. Take the extra, place in a reusable container and freeze. Then next time you need it, you can skip a step.

4. Have everything in place. Grab all ingredients needed for your meal – chopped vegetables, measured spices, and thawed meats. It will be easier to spot missing items and avoid skipping steps.

5. Double your recipe. For your next casserole or stew, try doubling the recipe and freezing the extra. You’ll save time and make cooking next week’s dinner a snap!

 6. Clean as you go. Fill up the sink with soapy water and wash the dishes as you cook. It’ll make clean up go much smoother!

 7. Save some for later. Freeze leftover soups, sauces, or gravies in small reusable containers.

 Jefferson County 4-H held their first Cupcake Wars on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at the Jefferson County OSU Extension office.

Three Beginners (grades 3-5) Hannah Williams, Heather Poage and Beau Combs competed for the 1st place award while Alicen Williams, Intermediate (grades 6-8) and Haley Poage, Senior (grades 9-12) had no competition in their levels.

Our judges complimented the creativeness of each competitor’s cupcakes.

Winners were:  Beginners: Hannah Williams, 1st; Heather Poage, 2nd and Beau Combs, 3rd. 

Intermediates:  Alicen Williams and Seniors: Haley Poage.

A huge thank you to our judges: Shirley Cephur, Sharon Duncan and Gail Prentice and Jr. Judge Abby Davis who said the choices were difficult to decide the winners.  Also, a big thank you to those who participated.  Just wait and see what next year brings!!