4-H gets “moo-ving” on Cow Chip Bingo

    Tickets for the third annual event will be on sale at two Aroostook County sites this weekend. On Saturday, tickets will be on sale at DOC’s Citgo in Houlton from 1-4 p.m, and on Sunday, tickets will be sold at the Aroostook Centre Mall from 1-4 p.m. Tickets cost $5 each and, in addition to supporting 4-H youth across the County, one of them could be the “ticket” to a prize of up to $1,000.
    For those unfamiliar with this old-fashioned favorite, Cow Chip Bingo participants purchase tickets with numbers on them. A grid of 1,000 one-foot squares is drawn onto the Little League field behind the Fair Office in Community Park and a cow is let loose in the grid. The squares are numbered in a random pattern so there is no telling where the winning number will be. When the first cow chip falls, the holder of the ticket with the number of the square where the chip lands wins $1,000. If the chip overlaps two squares, the prize is shared. A hit in an unsold square results in $250 prizes to the holders of the four adjacent squares. All of this excitement will take place on Sunday, July 6 at 1 p.m. on the ball field behind the Houlton Fair office. You do not need to be present to win.
    4-H is the youth development program of the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and is open to all boys and girls ages 5 to 18. There are a number of clubs throughout Aroostook County working on both traditional projects such as horse, beef, goat and rabbit and other less well-known areas such as geospatial technology, leadership, emergency preparedness and community service. Almost any interest a young person wishes to pursue can be explored in 4-H.
    The money raised through the Cow Chip Bingo project goes to the 4-H Leader’s Association and supports many aspects of the Aroostook County 4-H program. Part of the money funds leadership development opportunities for of County 4-H members, supporting national and regional trips and training.  Over the past year, Aroostook County 4-H members have been selected to attend Citizenship Washington Focus and 4-H National Conference in Washington, D.C., and to 4-H National Congress in Atlanta.      Members have also had the chance to travel to Teen Leadership events in Bethel and Orono and to participate as members of the Maine 4-H Equestrian Team at the Big E in Springfield, Mass.
    Another portion of the money will go toward improvements to fair structures used by the 4-H program. In the Houlton Fair exhibit hall this year, people will see new display structures funded by some of last year’s proceeds. Looking ahead to the move to the new fairgrounds, 4-H is saving to build new 4-H buildings such as a swine barn and possibly a food booth.
    In addition to the sales this weekend, tickets at $5 each may be purchased at local businesses including Chadwick’s Florist and Jean’s Serendipity, from 4-H members and volunteers or from the Houlton and Presque Isle Extension offices. Tickets will also be sold in Houlton at Midnight Madness, during the parade and at the 4-H Exhibit Hall at the Fairgrounds. 
    For more information, call the Cooperative Extension Office at 532-6548.