Fairfield County

group of people in vegetable garden

Contact

Emily Picard

Fairfield County 4-H Educator

67 Stony Hill Road

Bethel, CT, 06801-8440

emily.picard@uconn.edu

(203) 207-8440

County Resources

Calendar

Calendar

September 30:  Development Committee Record Book Evaluation Meeting starting at 5pm.
October 1 - 7: National 4-H Week!
October 6 - 12: UConn 4-H Giving Week!
October 11: Fair Set-up Bridgeport 10am
October 12: Fairfield County 4-H Fair! CT's Beardsley Zoo, Bridgeport
October 15: UConn 4-H Recognition Forms due in county office for 4-H National Conference and CWF.
March 8: UConn 4-H Public Speaking Finals
March 15: UConn 4-H Expressive Arts Day, Litchfield County
May 3: UConn Dog Clinic
Virtual Minor Protection Dates
Wednesday October 9th, 7:00 pm
Tuesday October 29th, 7:00 pm
Wednesday November 6th, 7:00 pm
Monday November 18th, 7:00 pm
Monday Dec 9th, 7:00 pm
Thursday Jan 9th, 7:00 pm

2024 Fairfield County 4-H Fair Book

Fairfield County 4-H Fair

4-H Fair

Fairfield County 4-H Fair is in October at CT's Beardsley Zoo.  Our teen Fairboard does a great job of planning a fun day from a large group activity to good goofy fun at the end of the day.  While youth participate in workshops their projects are being judged in the exhibit hall. This year our Fair is October 12, 2024.

2024 Fairfield County 4-H Fair Book with our Supporters

 

2023 Fairfield County 4-H Fair Book with our Supporters

Fairfield County 4-H Sponsorships & Ad Campaign

Fairfield County 4-H Fair Ad & Sponsorships Campaign

This fundraiser specifically to fund Fairfield County 4-H starts in December and runs until February 14, 2024.  Completed Ad Campaign brochures, checks/money and summary sheets need to be postmarked no later that February 14 and sent to the 4-H Office, 67 Stony Hill Rd. Bethel, 06801.

2024 FC Ad Campaign General Info

2024 FC Ad Campaign Brochure

2024 FC Ad Campaign Summary Sheet

 

 

 

 

 

2024 Dog Show Entry Book

News

UConn 4-H: Making Magic Happen at the Connecticut Beardsley Zoo

Dedicated volunteer Linda Tomas shares the wonders of nature with hundreds of youth through the Connecticut Beardsley Zoo 4-H Club

Linda Tomas (second from the right) has mentored over 150 youth in her 35 years as a UConn 4-H volunteer with the Beardsley Zoo.

The call of birds in the distance accompanies us while walking through the farmyard of Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport. Cattle amble up to the fence in greeting, and bison graze on a hillside in the distance. A wolf watches our progress as we move through the different habitats on the 52-acre property. UConn 4-H youth members experience this twice per month with the Connecticut Beardsley Zoo 4-H Club. It becomes a life transformative experience that shapes their college plans and careers.

All this is possible because Linda Tomas, a UConn 4-H volunteer and Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo employee shares the magic with youth members of the club. Tomas grew up in Monroe, Connecticut. Her home was next to a large field and she brought the frogs, snakes, and caterpillars home. It was only natural that she studied zoology with an animal behavior concentration at Southern Connecticut State University. Tomas interned at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo during college, working with the animals and then returned and became a full-time employee after graduation.

Tomas takes pride in watching club members learn and grow through their experience at the Beardsley Zoo with UConn 4-H.

Edith Valiquette, the UConn 4-H Fairfield County Educator, recruited Tomas as a volunteer in 1990, and she started the Connecticut Beardsley Zoo 4-H Club. The zoo provides support by hosting the club and having other staff members involved in the initiative.

“One of the big reasons to have zoos is it prompts kids to think about nature,” says Gregg Dancho, director of Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo. “Beardsley Zoo is a wildlife habitat for the animals that are here and those that come in from the outside. We want it to be natural and an integral part of the community.”

The Connecticut Beardsley Zoo 4-H Club

The Connecticut Beardsley Zoo 4-H Club meets on Sunday mornings twice per month from September through May. The first meeting focuses on club business, the youth plan field trips, club activities, and public speaking events. A member of the zoo staff or another outside speaker also presents an educational topic.

The second monthly meeting is in the New England Farmyard. Members work with one of the animal areas for the year, feeding, cleaning, and providing animal enrichment. They can rotate to another animal area the following year.

“We started with a small group of youth,” Tomas recalls. “They work with our Heritage livestock breeds in the New England Farmyard. Up to 20 members are in the club each year; the current group is mostly 13-16-year-olds.”

The club uses national 4-H curriculum, and has public speaking, leadership, and civic engagement as focus areas. Members enhance their public speaking skills through presentations for zoo visitors. They also compete in county and state 4-H public speaking contests. Many club members have attended Citizenship Washington Focus and other national 4-H leadership programs.

“I have a great sense of pride listening to the youth presenting on the stage at the zoo and watching them with their animals. They have so much enthusiasm when they’re working with the public,” Tomas says.

Parents often add their youth to the waiting list before they turn seven to ensure they can take part since there is so much interest in the program. Those who join the club remain members for an average of seven to ten years. Tomas has mentored over 150 youth in her 35 years as a UConn 4-H volunteer.

Linda T. 4-H Volunteer
Tomas takes pride in watching club members learn and grow through their experience at the Beardsley Zoo with UConn 4-H.

“It’s rewarding to see the youth with the animals and watch them grow, earning respect from the animals,” Tomas says. “I also enjoy watching them teach the younger members. Seeing what careers, they pursue after 4-H is the final reward.” Many alumni have enrolled their children in the club, a true testament to the program’s value.

Over the years, Tomas has taken youth on field trips to other zoos throughout the Northeast and hosted sleepovers at the zoo. Youth work with Citizen Science projects and the myriad of other initiatives the zoo offers too. Recording and reporting rainfall was a recent opportunity.

Tomas has donated thousands of hours as a UConn 4-H volunteer, and other staff at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo are also instrumental in the club’s success. They provide support and resources during every club meeting and activity. Each new group of youth excites Tomas, and she is building a sustainable club model with her assistant leaders and the zoo staff.

The experiences youth have at the zoo are magical and inspire their future, what feels like a day at the zoo is a life transformative experience shaping our future leaders.

 

UConn 4-H is the youth development program of UConn Extension with the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR). As part of the University of Connecticut, 4-H has access to research-based, age-appropriate information needed to help youth reach their full potential. The mission of 4-H is to assist all youth ages 5-18 in acquiring knowledge, developing leadership and life skills while forming attitudes that will enable them to become self-directing, productive and contributing members of their families and communities.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

Fairfield County 4-H Grows True Leaders

Fairfield County 4-H Grows True Leaders

youth with vegetables they raised at the food pantry

Throughout the summer, 20 youth in the 4-H Community Garden Club have managed a one-acre garden in New Milford. They were led by leaders Anna Loor and her daughter Amira. Each youth worked eight hours every week at the garden and during 4-H time, learned the principles of seeding, planting, weeding, harvesting and garden pests. Read more.

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