DEBRA SELLERS AWARDED BIG 12 FACULTY FELLOWSHIP
The CSREES Update - November 12, 2008, announced Debra M. Sellers, assistant professor and extension specialist in Adult Development and Aging, Kansas State University, was awarded a Big 12 Faculty Fellowship from Kansas State for 2008-09. Sellers will work with faculty from the Texas AgriLife Extension Service to create national, Web-based interactive materials for family caregivers of older adults. The resources will become part of the eXtension initiative, a partnership between CSREES and the Land-Grant University.

The Big 12 fellowship program offers tenure-track or tenured faculty the opportunity to travel to member institutions to participate in cross-mentoring among universities, develop working relationships, and exchange ideas. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

The National 4-H Hall of Fame, established in 2002 as part of the Centennial Project of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents, National 4-H Council, and Families, 4-H, and Nutrition—a division of the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has honored volunteers, extension professionals and donors who have contributed toward the 4-H movement.

Since the beginning, Kansas 4-H has had seven individuals inducted into the National 4-H Hall of Fame: J. Harold Johnson, Merle Eyestone, Author Capper, Otis Hall, Glenn Bussett, Maynard H. Coe and Cecil Eyestone. --Pam Van Horn pvanhorn@ksu.edu

OPEN HOUSE AND FRIENDS OF THE KSU GARDENS POINSETTIA SALE
Fifty-eight different cultivars of poinsettias from three breeding companies were produced by students in HORT 570 Greenhouse Operations Management this fall semester. The annual open house will occur on Wednesday, December 3, from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Festivities include a consumer preferences survey (you receive a 5" 'Purple Plum' poinsettia for participating, while supplies last), a poinsettia tree, and apple cider. 

For more information, contact Kim Williams at kwilliam@ksu.edu .

The Friends of the KSU Gardens are selling these plants to benefit the Gardens. A pre-Thanksgiving sale will occur on Tuesday, November 25, from 2:30 - 5:30 p.m. at the KSU Gardens Visitor's Center at 1500 Denison Avenue. The remaining hours for the sale are Wednesday, December 3, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; December 4 and 5, from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., and 4 - 6 p.m.; and Saturday, December 6, from 9 a.m. - noon.  Prices are $10 for 6.5" pots [Buy 5 get 1 free].  Many rare and unusual colors are available.

For more information, contact Lori Levin at info@lalasheirloomproduce.com . --Kim Williams kwilliam@ksu.edu

K-STATE TO REPLACE E-MAIL AND CALENDAR SYSTEMS
You may have seen news lately that K-State is replacing it's e-mail and calendaring systems with something called Zimbra. The good news is that for many KSRE users, this will be a mostly transparent change. For those who use Pegasus Mail, Thunderbird, Outlook or some other stand alone e-mail program, you shouldn't  see a thing change, in fact you shouldn't even have to change any settings in your program. Users who utilize webmail will notice a big change and early indications are that most will appreciate the new webmail interface. The e-mail changes are scheduled to occur in spring 2009.

For those who use the calendaring system, there will be some big changes but that won't occur until summer of 2009.  

KSRE does have five representatives serving on steering and technical support committees. Gary Kepka, IET; Larry Havenstein, IET; Russell Feldhausen, IET; Larry Jackson, IET; and Chuck Otte, Geary County; are serving on those committees and can help answer questions you may have. K-State is maintaining an extensive website with information on the upcoming changes. You can access this website at the Zimbra information page .

This site has an excellent FAQ page as well as more information about Zimbra and how it was chosen to provide better service to K- State technology users. --Chuck Otte cotte@ksu.edu and Gary Kepka gkepka@ksu.edu

LAST CHANCE TO ORDER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS
The distribution center, orderpub@lists.oznet.ksu.edu  can still take orders for the Informal Report to the Kansas Legislature (UNN-23) that will be distributed in January. The report highlights 12 K-State Research and Extension success stories with additional shorter impact stories.

It is a great way to show county commissioners, county boards, and other stakeholders an overview of our programs, how we collaborate with various groups, and the value of our statewide delivery system.

This year's report highlights a broad range of topics, such as teaching children about agriculture, the advantages of districting, new entomology research, nutrition education, "Keeping the Family Farm" and "Getting Older but Not Old" workshops, research in southeast Kansas, the importance of radon testing, the grocery store initiative, and K-State's response to porcine circovirus.

The 32-page report costs $1.35 and can be ordered with allocation funds. Go to http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/misc2/unn22.pdf  to view last year's report. --Gloria Holcombe gloria@oznet.ksu.edu

THE HOUSE THAT 4-H BUILT
Earlier this week as a chaperone for the Kansas delegation to National 4-H Congress, I had one of those routine conference calls to prepare for the event. I came away excited to learn more about the house that 4-H built.

Community service has always been a focus of 4-H youth development programs and will be part of this year's National Congress schedule too. In addition to hands on community service, each delegate is asked to contribute $20 towards the Habitat for Humanity 4-H house fund. I was amazed to learn that nationally 4-H raised funds to build one 4-H Habitat for Humanity House in 2006 and collected almost $30,000 towards a second house. As a past chaperone for this event in 2002, I recall helping collect the dimes as this project started.

During the call, I realized that this project offers a wonderful opportunity for Kansas 4-Hers, volunteers and supporters to see the 4-H pledge in action - I pledge...my hands to larger service... to my club, my community, my country and my world. As a result, we have just challenged Atchison County 4-Hers to share $1.00 in change at 4-H events this month to add to the National Congress collections. I realize that Thanksgiving is not far away and the Kansas delegation will be headed to Atlanta but I would encourage you to join me in spreading the word about the house that 4-H built as you make plans for the 2009 4-H year. This web link below shows the house: http://www.national4-hcongress.com/communityservice/Habitat_House.pdf .

Anyone wishing to donate to the funds this year may write a check to Arkansas Ag. Development Fund and send to our office by November 24. The address is National 4-H Congress, % Atchison County Extension Office, PO 109, Effingham, KS 66023. Monies will be added to the Kansas delegation's collection; it is my understanding that last year Kansas was third in contributions. --Diane Nielson dnielson@ksu.edu

"KEEPING THE FAMILY FARMING" WORKSHOPS
The 2008-09 "Keeping the Family Farming" workshops are coming up soon. Three two-day workshops are planned across the state. These workshops are designed to help farms and ranches with their succession planning. They are more than just estate planning, but go through the whole process of succession planning. We’ll start by focusing on what each individual family member’s needs and fears are and move on to communicating among the family of what’s going to happen with the legacy of their family farm or ranch and eventually helping the families understand their choices in estate planning, and much more.

You may have received an e-mail with a brochure and poster. If not, log onto www.agmanager.info  for the brochure. Please hang the poster and pass out brochures to families you think would find this workshop  helpful in their operation.

Schedule of workshops:

First United Methodist Church, 202 S. Lincoln, Chanute, Kansas

Session 1:  January 2, 2009
Session 2:  January 17, 2009

Butler County Community (4-H) Building, 200 N Griffith, El Dorado, Kansas

Session 1:  January 3, 2009
Session 2:  January 16, 2009

Finney County Fairgrounds Grandstand Meeting Room, 501 S. 9th, Garden City, Kansas

Session 1:  January 10, 2009
Session 2:  January 30, 2009

Thank you for your support of this valuable workshop. If you have further questions, feel free to contact LaVell Winsor, Farm Analyst, at lwinsor@ksu.edu  or 785-313-4974. --LaVell Winsor

PHILLIPS COUNTY QUIZ BOWL AND HIPPOLOGY CONTEST
This contest will be held in Phillipsburg Middle School, Phillipsburg, Kansas, January 3, 2009. Divisions include Juniors - 7-9 years old; Intermediates - 10-13 years old; and Seniors - 14-18 years old. Registration is due by Friday, December 19. A concession stand will serve breakfast and lunch.

For more information, contact Paula Hofaker at 785-689-4226, or Wendy Turner at 785-543-2889. --Cody Miller codym@ksu.edu

Thursday, November 27
... Thanksgiving Holiday

Friday, November 28 through Tuesday, December 2
... National 4-H Congress, Atlanta, Georgia, KAA winners, Mike Hanson, mhanson2@oznet.ksu.edu, Gary Gerhard, ggerhard@ksu.edu

Monday, December 1 through Thursday, December 4
... Program Development, Agent Orientation, KSU-Manhattan, Paula Peters, ppeters@ksu.edu