Sunday's Internet Edition, 6:3 PM, May 11, 2008. 4-H News - Southeast District 8 4-H County Camp 2008 Are you a member of Limestone County 4-H and have you ever wanted to go to a camp or even thought about it once, well your chance has come. Starting July 11 and running through July 13, at the Methodist Conference Center in Palestine, TX, Limestone County 4-H along with other area County 4-H’s will be holding a summer camp for ages 8-18. The cost of the camp is $110.00 per youth and $90.00 for any adult chaperones wanting to go as well. If your child or children would like to attend this fun filled camp and you as their parent are interested in chaperoning, please let us know in the Extension office before May 16th, otherwise, registration deadline for all youth is June 6th. For more information call (254) 729-5314. Livestock Judging Team Meeting 4-H in Limestone County is not only about raising and showing an animal project year after year. Other opportunities include becoming involved in livestock judging. This is both a team and individual contest that places your knowledge against other youth from around the state with the contests being held at all the Major Stock Shows around the state as well as at the District and State levels. The act of judging livestock is important for several reasons. First of all, it teaches you to make decisions based on sound reasons at critical times. Success in the future as a cattleman, or in any other field may depend on this at times. Judging livestock forces you to make choices and by continued practice you will find that judging trains your mind to use sound reasoning. An able judge of livestock is unbiased. When you compare two individual animals, or place an entire class, your mind should be free of any prejudice. The facts are the only important things to be considered. A conscientious appraisal of the fundamental differences between animals, and a decision based on sound reasons, is the heart of livestock judging. To do an accurate job of judging consistently takes practice, deep study, and mental alertness. Above all, however, you must have a keen desire to learn more about good livestock at every opportunity. Judging also teaches you to study livestock so you are familiar with the basic structure of each animal you place in a class. By looking for both the strong points and weak points of individual animals you form a habit of seeing these same certain characteristics in other problems. There are no substitutes for a mind trained to see all sides of a problem. If you are interested in learning more about livestock judging and are interested in becoming a member of the ‘08-’09 Limestone County Judging team, then mark your calendars to attend this year’s first meeting to be held on M ay 20th starting at 6 p.m. in the meeting room directly across the hall from the Limestone County AgriLife Extension office. This meeting will not be a practice but an information gathering meeting to discuss practice schedules and to form a mailing list of those interested. County Record Books The Texas 4-H Program places a strong emphasis on record keeping, which is an important skill for living that is developed through 4-H project work. Proper record keeping is not an extra task but an integral part of any 4-H project you are involved with. All 4-H members should integrate some basic record-keeping skills into their project work. Record keeping should be tailored to each individual 4-H Member Achievement Plan, which includes project work, leadership and community service. With all that said, time is closing in, but there is still some time left to gather the required information and develop a record book for this year. The books are due in the County office no later than June 27 at which time they will be evaluated for any needed corrections. If this is the first time you have heard about record books and are interested in learning more contact either Lee Dudley or Colleen Longbotham in the Limestone County AgriLife extension office at 254-729-5314. This is an on-line publication of Groesbeck Journal P.O. Box 440 Groesbeck, TX 76642-0440 254-729-5103 For comments or questions, email Publisher: Thomas Hawkins thawkins@groesbeckjournal.com The Web Site contains material which is protected by international copyright and trademark laws. No material may be copied, reproduced, republished, broadcast or distributed in any way or decompiled, except that you may download one copy of the Materials on any single computer for your personal, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. On-line publication, Copyright 2000, Groesbeck Journal. Web page design, Copyright 2000, EZ Edit Web Publishing.