CALF - Clarke Ag. Learning Foundation

04/24/2024

Come join us Saturday, May 4th, for our fitting and showmanship workshop with Wes Richey! All exhibitors and soon to be exhibitors from surrounding areas are welcome. Reach out to [email protected] for registration and information.

A YQCA training session will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 pm following the workshop. Our instructors will be the lovely Kim Monroe of Loudoun County & Meagan Dyer of Page County.

Sign up for YQCA can take place here:

REGISTRATION IS A TWO PART PROCESS!

You must first register at this form:

https://tinyurl.com/ClarkeYQCAMay4 in order to receive the coupon code that is used to then register at https://yqcaprogram.org/. BOTH REGISTRATIONS HAVE TO BE COMPLETED IN ORDER TO RECEIVE THE CERTIFICATION.

You need to visit https://yqcaprogram.org/ to register for the training. This is the same platform as last year, so you should already have an account. You will select a “course” based on the member’s age as of 12/31/23 and then you will be prompted to select the training you want to attend. Once you have completed registration and are ready to check out, you will need to enter the coupon code that will come to you via email. Kim will do her best to get the coupon code emailed to you within 48 hours. The Online Certification is not an option for Virginia. **You must complete the “pre-test” and “Post-test” after in order to get your Certificate.**

Remember: Certification is required for anyone who is competing at the State Fair of Virginia in 2024.

If you have any questions or hiccups during registration, please feel free to call Kim directly at 703-737-8880 or email her at [email protected].

04/24/2024

Come join us on Saturday, May 4th, if you have an exhibitor or future exhibitor who wants to learn about fitting and showing cattle at fairs and jackpot shows!
YQCA training will also be available there from 4:30 pm until 6:30 pm; our agents this year will be the lovely Kim Monroe and Meagan Dyer!

11/06/2021

As I drove through town this week watching many of our local 4-H’ers fundraising I thought it would be nice if our community could see the end results of eight of our local youth’s projects this year. And, to show a little appreciation to 8 great supporters of this program in 2021 who purchased a champion. 152 community children were in the barn area this year and completed educational projects. 74 more joined us for our Barnyard Fun & Games midweek.

Please, support the Clarke County Ruritans, CALF, VLA, 4-H clubs, FFA Boosters, and FFA chapters when you see them fundraising. The educational programs they work together to provide for our county’s children have results that last a lifetime.
Call our local extension office if you know any children who may be interested in our programs.

06/12/2021

Sponsorship Opportunities

Thank you for your interest in the Our Independence Day Shootout event!

This year’s show will be held at the Clarke County Ruritan Fairgrounds in Berryville VA on July 3rd and 4th. We are looking forward to full classes of Market goats and lambs along with our featured showmanship shows! We are excited to have an excellent judge, Ryan Rash in our show ring this year.

Please consider helping us by providing financial support to make our event a success for our hard working exhibitors. Our goal is to receive donations to offset the many expenses that go along with our show and so we may offer our exhibitors excellent cash prizes and awards.

Our show sponsorship packages include:

*Several announcements throughout the show weekend
*Your name on our sponsorship banner at the show ring on July 3rd and 4th and other CALF events through the year
*Numerous mentions on our Facebook up to and after our show
*Our deep appreciation for supporting our exhibitors
*Show sponsorship cost starts at $250 and we will adjust your packages as you would like based on your donation.

If you would like to offer your support please send your sponsorship information Hope Cather at [email protected] with any questions.

You may mail payment by check made out to CALF to 340 Cather Rd Berryville VA 22611.
You may also make payment by credit card on the by PayPal at
https://paypal.me/calf22611?locale.x=en_US

06/06/2021

Beautiful morning with these great livestock exhibitors. We really need to reach out and thank Jonathan Hornbaker for his hard work and sparkling personality, Shelly Morris for her data entry skills and dry wit, our Local exhibitors turned 4-H interns Cynthia Fairbanks & Mikayla St Clair for their energy and humor and last but far from least; our advisors Claudia Lefeve and Lauren Marzetta.

CALF was there deworming project animals for exhibitors who wanted to ensure their animals started out their project ready to thrive. Quite a few took care of our services and others had already been dewormed at home.

Let’s set our local children up for success!!! Support your local 4-H and FFA programs🤗🤗

05/22/2021

🐑🐐HOPING FOR YOUR SUPPORT IN 2021🐖🐓

2020 was a HUGE year for Clarke County Agricultural Learning Foundation!

We came through for not only our own County’s exhibitors but also surrounding counties and states. After donating quite a few animals to local exhibitors in the spring; mid summer brought the challenge of putting on the Independence Day Shootout. We went to work, raised money and in the midst of the pandemic put on a safe lamb and goat show attended by over 150 exhibitors from surrounding counties and states. We supported them with $1,000’s in prizes, lots of great banners, great awards.

In late summer we were at again. Pained because our Clarke Youth Livestock Exhibitors would be unable to show or sell their animals with $100’s to $1,000’s invested in them due to the cancellation of the fair; we stepped up again. With the help of our sponsors (shown below); we were able to put together a 4 day event full of shows and educational opportunities. We capped it all off with a hugely successful auction on Friday night where the children were able to receive great bids from a lot of supporters. It was sooo much hard work but, our group truly cares about providing for exhibitors and their families’. We stayed in close touch with all and by doing so we’re able to give them the shows and sale they asked for.

In 2021, we are at it again! We’ve already given out animals for the year (we have a few goats and rabbits left, if any 4-H or FFA member is interested). This evening we provided dinner for the CCHS FFA chapter which was graciously hosted by Audley Farm. We are looking forward to also feeding our YQCA exhibitors in June, another great educational program put on by Virginia Extension. We are in the planning stages for our large lamb and goat show in July. And, are planning a great program this year to again support our local Livestock Exhibitors in the show ring and market their animals for the sale ring.

We would love for you to join us! Reach out if you’d like to attend one of our shows or help us by donating to our great program. Any money donated to us is only used to benefit our 4-H and FFA livestock programs, their exhibitors , and our special needs program. We will be sending out letters in the next week with further details and opportunities to help out; let us know if you’d like one.

Contact us on here, email [email protected], or call Hope Cather at 540-500-4277 for more information. Let’s empower our children to be responsible, well rounded adults together.

05/06/2021

Vote for Clarke Agricultural Learning Foundation under non profits and community service groups! Our ladies worked hard to put on several events last year so our children would be able to show and sell their animals in Clarke County. It was not easy and man...did it take some fundraising. We have big plans for this summer, too. We would love to do well. This our second year being nominated and we are grateful.

Vote once a day in any or all categories. Share with your friends, family and neighbors.

04/15/2021

We will miss the Vande Woudes and all of their agricultural support through the years.

We want to extend our sympathies to the Vande Woude family this evening as their father George has passed away. He and his wife, Dot who passed in 2016, owned Stoneridge Farm here in Berryville for years. He was a brilliant man and was involved in groundbreaking cancer research through the years.
They have been huge supporters of the Clarke County livestock program since they moved here in the 1980’s and over the years bought many animals at our livestock sale. Dot was famous for wheeling and dealing her meat business. Their daughters and grandsons were livestock exhibitors through the years. This past year while at our sale, he insisted to his daughter that he was buying a pig. Just because.
We will miss that small smile he always had on his face and the infinite wisdom he and Dot have passed on to us through the years. Let’s always respect those who support us in our endeavors.