The Challenging Champs Club,based out of Power, collected food for the Teton County Food Pantry during their annual Trunk or Treat event. They went door to door in Power and also accepted donations from area community members and collected 410 pounds of food and $135 donation to our local food bank!

Send us your club activity photos and information and we’ll publish them in the 4-H Newsletter.

On the Horizon

December 8

  • Livestock Committee Meeting, Fairfield (NewLife Church) at 6-7 p.m.

December 13

  • Teton County Livestock Judging Event at the Weatherbeater at 8:30 a.m.
    • Sponsored by Spring Creek Club; call Jon Redland at 406-581-7800 with questions!

December 31

  • Teen Ambassador Applications Due

January 4

  • Beef Tag and Weigh-in Day at the Weatherbeater at 2 p.m.

January 5

  • 4-H Council Meeting, Fairfield Public Library at 6 p.m.

January 13

  • Market Beef Possession Deadline: forms, photos & fees to Office by Tue at 5 p.m.

January 15-16

  • KMON Livestock and Poultry Judging, Great Falls

January 17-19

  • Montana Winter Fair in Lewistown

January 18

  • Poultry/Rabbit Project Meeting, Williams' Place (see page 2), Sunday, 2-4 p.m.

January 31

  • Teen Camp counselor Applications Due for Camp 2026

February 1

  • Club Descriptions for Visual Art grant money due! (see page 2)

February 24

  • Camp Counselor planning meeting, 6 p.m. at Cascade County Extension Office

March 14

  • Save the Date: County-wide Communications Day

I'm so excited about 4-H in 2025-2026!

by Jenn Swanson

  1. Have a great photo of kids, animals, or scenery in Teton County?Email them to the Ext Office at teton@montana.edu and you may make the front page of the newsletter!Be sure to tell us who took the photo and your club name.
  2. You don’t have to have your market animal yet to learn livestock judging. Call Jon Redland about a Livestock Judging event on Sat, Dec 13, 2025 at 8:30 am!
  3. Your Beef Superintendents (Levi Hodgskiss and Justin Paulson) and your Livestock Committee President (Ashle Morris) are hosting a Beef Tag and Weigh-in Day.Bring your beeves and 4-H tags to the Weatherbeater on Sun Jan 4 at 2 pm to get an official first weight and exchange handling and feeding tips!
  4. The Market Animal Agreement form will be snail-mailed in early December - watch your post box!Contact your club leader or Jenn Swanson with questions.Note the county market animal possessions deadlines, by species:
    • Beef:Tue Jan 13 by 5 pm
    • Swine:Tue Mar 31 by 5 pm
    • Lamb & Goat:Tue Apr 7 by 5 pm

  5. Very Naayy-borly!Todd and Kate Banner are hosting Working Ranch Horse practices (with cattle) most Friday afternoons at 3 pm at their place at 1231 Hwy 89, Sun River, MT, 59483.  Email montanacowhorses@gmail.com for more info!

  6. BokBokBok! The Williams family is hosting an all-club Poultry and Rabbit Project meeting on Sun Jan 18 from 2 to 4 pm. Please bring your project books! The meeting will be held in their “Big Red Barn” at64 14th Lane NE, Vaughn, MT 59487. Please RSVP by calling or texting Trish Williams at 406-465-7656.

  7. Easy $$$ for Visual Art Projects Available!Thanks to the generosity of the Front Range Art Association, we have $500 available for visual art supplies to be divided between Teton County’s community clubs.Club leaders from Challenging Champs, Eager Eagles, Old Agency, and Spring Creek should send one (1) email each to the Ext Office at Teton@montana.edu with a description of your proposed project and supplies desired (email descriptions due by Feb 1, 2026.) 

 

Save the Date: 4-H Celebration Day is Tue Oct 6, 2026!

 Collect photos and memories all year long and share them in your Club’s own creative style at our annual banquet from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Pavilion!

Donated Sewing/Quilting Supplies Available

Several people have generously donated sewing project items including a sewing machine, a sewing machine with cabinet, quilting fabric, quilting books and sewing accessories.

If you are taking a 4-H sewing/quilting project or thinking about it, please stop by the Extension Office and check out all of the sewing goodies!The items will be given on a first come-first served basic!

Meet Your New 4-H Council Members

Iris Carlson-Vice President

Iris Carlson is a sixth grader at Choteau Elementary, her favorite subjects are reading, art and music. She plays the piano, tuba, ukulele, and is busy learning the guitar. She loves serving on student council in school. She played volleyball this year and is active at the Baptist Church. Iris enjoys baking, skiing, hiking, camping, and swimming. She is passionate about animals and growing plants. This is her third year in 4-H. Iris looks forward to serving as vice president for Teton 4-H Council.

Alexis Morris-Secretary

Hi everyone! My name is Alexis Morris! I am so excited to serve on the Teton County 4-H Council.It feels like an honor! I am an alumna of Teton County 4-H where I was a member for 11 great years. I currently attend college Great Falls College MSU! While I am in college I am also working, serving on the livestock committee and helping my family out on our cow calf operation. I can’t wait for this year!

4-H Council Updates:

Next Meeting:

Monday, January 5 at 6 p.m. at the Fairifield Public Library

Agenda:

  • Second Reading of Budget
  • Planning Committee Members
  • Discussion of changes to oversight of club bank accounts.

Reminder:

Club Attendance:

  • One representative per club and each club gets 2 votes (youth and adult)

Upcoming Events for 4-H Teens

Become a Teton County Ambassador

County Ambassadors application is due December 31, 2025.

Returning ambassadors have been mailed instructions on how to complete a cover letter and resume highlighting their 4-H career.First year ambassadors, 4-H age 13 and up, should click on the link below to complete the online form.A paper copy can be picked up in the Extension Office or mailed to you.Please give us a call if you would like a paper copy mailed to you.

4-H Camp 2026

It’s official, Teton County 4-H is collaborating with Cascade County 4-H for camp in 2026.There will be an application process, and those applications will be due on January 31, 2026.Please contact the Extension Office if you would like to be included on the application list.

2026 Camp Counselor meeting schedule:

February 24, 6 pm @ Cascade Co Extension Office

March 31, location TBD

April 28, location TBD

May- Camp Rotary Clean Up, date TBD

Adult camp chaperone volunteers needed at Camp Rotary. Save the date June 7-10, 2026

Montana 4-H Rec Lab: March 27-29, 2026 at Columbus, MT

Do you have the skills to unlock your potential?  The theme for Rec Lab this year is 4-H Escape!  Join 4-Her's around the state for workshops, dancing, mystery service and more!

The  Teton County 4-H Council will provide half of the registration fee for youth to attend Rec Lab.  Registration for Rec Lab will be available soon in ZSuite.

Hey, Club Presidents!

Do you want to make your meetings more fund and engaging for your club? 

Iowa State Extension 4-H has developed a great way to gamify your club meetings with the Listening Beads Game. In a nutshell, each person at the meeting is given a small item, like a bead, that is placed on the table in front of them and is assigned a word to listen for.Each person is assigned one word only.When a person hears “their” word, they get up and take the bead from that person who said the word.At the end of the meeting, the person with the most beads wins.We have lots of items that could be substituted for beads at the Extension Office.

Search Listening Beads-Vibrant Clubs on the web to get detailed instruction complete with word lists.

Club Officer Reminders:

Club Secretaries

  • Email your approved meeting minutes to teton@montana.edu
  • Email the Extension Office your list of club officers

Club Treasurers

  • Use the Treasurer’s meeting form to prepare your treasurer’s report.Please make sure that the treasurer’s report is included in the meeting minutes. **check your Treasurer’s Binder for blank copies of the form**
  • Both of these documents need to be in your treasurer’s binder that will be audited at the end of the 4-H year.

 

2026 Teton County 4-H Fair Rotations
Club
Rotation Description
Eager Eagles

Exhibit Hall Set Up, Maintenance, Clean Up

  • Set up the Pavilion from 3 to 5 pm on Tuesday;
  • Check Pavilion restrooms once daily during Fair;
  • Clean up the Pavilion from 11 am to 1pm on Sunday)
  • Recruit 3 Volunteers to be Greeters at the Pavilion
    • For three 3-hour shifts Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Old Agency

“Meat and Greet” 4 to 7 pm on Saturday

  • Help set up, serve, and clean up at the catered Buyer Appreciation Meal;
  • Coordinate and display the 4-H Desserts Potluck

Concessions: sell concessions as a club fundraiser (optional) or recruit food trucks

 

Join a 4-H Committee for 2025-2026
Teton County 4-H Committee
Description
Meetings

Number of Members 
(Suggested Minimum)
Standing Committees
Budget and Audit
Develops and then recommends
to the 4-H Council an annual budget, which is voted on at 4-H Council
Meets 1-2 times each year
in late Summer and/or Fall

1 agent (FCS)
4-H Council Treasurer

1 adult member

1 youth member
Communications Day
Assist in contacting local volunteer judges, setting up at the event and providing refreshments for participants.
Meets 1-2 times each year in Fall and/or Winter, to plan Teton County’s Communications Day in spring

1 or 2 agents (FCS/Ag)

1-2 adult members

1-2 youth members
Fair
Designates annual Fair theme, creates the schedule of Fair activities, develops the Fair publicity plan

Meets 1-2 times each year in Spring, to plan Teton County’s
4-H Fair in June

1agent (Ag)

1 or 2 adult members

1 or 2 youth members
Awards
Designates annual awards plan for 4-H competitions; may be the same members and meet at the same time as the Fair Committee

Meets 1-2 times each year in Spring, to plan Teton County’s
4-H Fair in June

 

1 agent (Ag or FCS)

1 or 2 adult members

1 or 2 youth members

 
Livestock 
Attends to livestock project areas including animal husbandry education, livestock quality assurance education, safety and rules regarding the 4-H Livestock Sale and Carcass Competition

Meets on the first Monday of every other month

(Oct, Dec, Feb, Apr, Jun, Aug)

 

1 agent (Ag)

Officers (Pres, VP Treasurer, Secretary) livestock superintendents

1 or more adult members

1 or more youth members
Horse Committee
Oversees equine education events, rules, regulations and safety of 4-H horse-related events and contests – in the case of an active horse project club, may be comprised of the horse project club members

Meets 3 to 4 times per year, or as needed

1 agent (Ag)

Horse project club leader

1 or more adult members

1 or more youth members

 
Textile

Oversees textile educational events, offerings and competitions

Meets 1 or 2 times per year, in Fall and/or Spring

1 agent (FCS)

1 or 2 adult members

1 or 2 youth members
Record Book
Reviews guidelines for 4-H members’ record book completions; reviews record books submitted for record book quality contest

Meets 1-2 times each year in the late Summer and/or Fall

3 adult members
Special Committee
Exchange
Currently inactive; will activate when needed. An active committee is not needed to enroll in the Exchange project.

Meets only as need to review Exchange policy

Ad hoc

 

Proposed 4-H Council Budget 2025-2026
4-H Council Budget

2024-2025

Proposed

2025-2025

Actual

2025-2026

Proposed
INCOME
 
 
 
Inc-Donations to 4-H
 
$10,654.23
$10,000.00
Inc-Sponsored Awards and Memorial
 
$50.00
$50.00
Inc-Club dues and 1% contribution
$2,000.00
$1,569.26
$1,500.00
Inc-Boe Bros Foundation contribution
$12,00.00
$11,445.12
$11,000.00
Inc-Grants to 4-H
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Inc-Pass-thru fees and other
$775.00
$584.44
$600.00
Inc-Pass-thru donations to 4-H
 
$500.00
$500.00
Inc-Pass-thru grants to 4-H
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Inc-Camp registrations
$2,000.00
$1,581.88
$1,500.00
Inc-Youth Education and Travel Funds
$1,000.00
$225.50
$250.00
Inc-Project Manual Sales
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Inc-Greytak Calendar Sales
$375.00
$264.35
$250.00
Inc-Specialty License Plates
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Inc-Transfer From Savings
 
$0.00
$0.00
Inc-Interest
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Inc-Other
$775.00
$1,201.00
$1,200.00
Existing Acct Funds to Spend Down
 
 
$8,684.00
Total
 
 
$35,570.00
EXPENSES
 
 
 
Exp-Advertising (Not event-related)
$1,000.00
$514.73
$550.00
Exp-Ambassadors Program
$1,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
Exp-Communications Day (incl. ads)
$500.00
$78.11
$80.00
Exp-Fair (incl. ads)
$6,500.00
$6,895.18
$7,000.00
Exp-Camp (incl. ads)
$3,500.00
$4,316.93
$5,000.00
Exp-Congress (incl.ads)
 
$765.00
$800.00
Exp-Nat 4-H Week (incl. ads)
$250.00
$322.00
$400.00
Exp-Livestock Judging Day (incl. ads)
 
$36.00
$40.00
Exp-Awards (all)
$5,500.00
$6895.18
$7,000.00
Exp-State Dues & 1% Fee
$2,500.00
$2,407.86
$2,500.00
Exp-Insurance
$300.00
$223.00
$250.00
Exp-Capital Purchases
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Exp-Grant-related purchase or cost
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Exp-Curricula
$2,200.00
$2,729.17
$3,000.00
Exp-Greytak Calendar Purchase
$250.00
$200.00
$200.00
Exp-Postage & Office Supplies
$300.00
$521.00
$600.00
Exp-Volunteer/Admin Certification & Training
$650.00
$408.92
$450.00
Exp-Pass-thru Monies
$0.00
$1,384.44
$1,400.00
Exp-Other
$0.00
$1,216.42
$1,300.00
Total
 
 
$35,570.00

 

Contact Us!  MSU Extension Teton County

Fair Dates

The Teton County Fair is scheduled for the last full weekend in June that includes a Sunday.
2026    June 22-28

Camp Dates

2026   June 7-10 @ Camp Rotary

4-H Congress Dates, Bozeman

2026   July 7-10

 

Agents:

Shelby Jones-Dozier shelby.jonesdozier@montana.edu
Jenn Swanson  jenn.swanson@montana.edu

Assistants:

Jamie Smith  teton@montana.edu

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Montana State University and the Montana State University Extension Service prohibit discrimination in all of their programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital and family status. Issued in furtherance of cooperative extension work in agriculture and home economics, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cody Stone, Director, Extension Service, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717