Open House:  Jefferson County Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Services is scheduled for Friday, May 18 from 11 a.m.  – 2 p.m.  Come meet your County Extension staff who are ready and willing to assist you with your questions concerning livestock, soil, forage, Food and Nutrition and more! Food will be available and names will be drawn for Door Prizes. Our OSU Extension office is located at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 802 East D. Street, Waurika, OK. Information is available on our website oces.okstate.edu/Jefferson and on our Facebook pages JeffersonCounty Fourh and JeffersonCounty Osu Extension.

Jefferson County OHCE (Oklahoma Home and Community Education) meet the 3rd Tuesdays in the Waurika Sr. Citizens Center unless otherwise noted.  Dr. Lynn Null, Extension Educator, FCS/4-H Youth Development, CED Comanche County presented “10 Minutes to the Table” to OHCE members at the Jefferson County OSU Fairgrounds; she prepared a delicious dish of Chicken Enchiladas Verde.  Membership to OHCE is open to any individual. Call 580-228-2332 for additional information. 

Upcoming lessons:  Tuesday, June 19: “Home Invasion/Self Defense” 

Upcoming events:    July 8-10: 83rd Annual OHCE meeting

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 is available monthly. Our next class is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, 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.

OHCE Week was May 6-12, 2018

Jefferson County OHCE Group provided Cookies and Homemade Banana Pecan Muffins to the County Commissioners and County Officers to show appreciation for their services. The group ended OHCE week by honoring Orbie Smith, member of Jefferson County OHCE for 68 years. She was presented with a certificate and bouquet of flowers for her achievement.

JEFFERSON COUNTY FREE FAIR

Corrected Dates!  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, Best Pie Maker and Best Cookie Jar contests!  Come join the fun!

Co-Parenting for Resilence: 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. Tuesday, August 14, 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 OHCE:   The 83rd Annual OHCE State Meeting will be held at the Embassy Suites/Downtown, Oklahoma City, Sunday evening July 8 through Tuesday, July 10.  Tara Brown, Jefferson County OHCE Advisor and others are planning to attend and will bring back educational materials and other information to share later.

Jefferson County Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service through Oklahoma State University offers researched-based programs and information.  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 for questions you may have relating to Agriculture and/or Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H.

Hot Weather Safety     Whew! It’s Getting Hot!

Whether the activity is sports related like running or cycling, or work related such as lawn care or facility maintenance, considering the increasing temperatures outside is important for overall health.  Exercising or working in the heat puts a stress on the body greater than what may be experienced due to the increased activity alone.  When we are active in hot environments the body naturally protects itself through the sweating process. If you are exposed to high temperatures for too long, and your body becomes dehydrated, it could lead to heat related health conditions.  Such conditions include heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and the most severe, heatstroke.  It is important to be aware of the warning signs and symptom of heat related illnesses.  According to the Mayo Clinic the following signs are indicative of a heat related illness:

·  Muscle cramps

·  Nausea/vomiting

·  Weakness

·  Fatigue

·  Headache

·  Dizziness

·  Low blood pressure

·  Increased heart rate

·  Vision problems

·  Sweating extensively or not at all

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms it is important to stop exercising or working and get out of the heat immediately.  You will also want to remove any extra clothing, place cool cloths or ice packs on skin, and drink plenty of fluids.  If you are in a location you can use a hose or shower, spray yourself with water, or sit in a tub with cold water.

As with many health issues the best defense against health related illness is prevention.  The following general precautions that may be taken to minimize the risk of heat related illnesses:

·  Limit outdoor activity to the morning and evening hours.

·  Get acclimated.

·  Drink plenty of fluids.

·  Wear clothing that is light color, and made with breathable fabrics.

·  Cut down on exercise intensity.

·  Understand your medical risks 

    Don’t forget the sunscreen!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed a comprehensive website focused on extreme heat and your health at http://www.cdc.gov/extremeheat/. And if you are working to educate others, a media toolkit at http://www.cdc.gov/extremeheat/materials.html. Please continue to enjoy your outside activities during the summer months.  Now you are prepared to identify if you are experiencing symptoms of a heat related illness, as well as work prevent it from ever occurring.

Thursday, June 21, Tara Brown, Jefferson County OSU Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences and 4-H Youth Development presented a nutrition program on Trail Mix to the Ringling School Summer program.  She explained that there are a variety of Trail Mixes available in the market.  After a discussion of what food items may be put into a Trail Mix and why it is good for hiking and other outdoor (as well as indoor) activities and simple snacks, the group made their Trail Mix snacks.  Later during the afternoon, Tara Brown presented a program on rocks for the Library Rocks! Program for Gleason Memorial Library at the Ringling Community Building.  After a brief discussion on the three main types of rocks, each participant creatively painted at least one river rock. There was a lot of creativity done!

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