LEWISTOWN, Ill. -University of Illinois Extension, Fulton County 4-H recently honored sixty-four 4-H members for their outstanding accomplishments in the 4-H program. A Fall Celebration Event was held Saturday, October 22, at City Kids Camp in rural Lewistown, where these members and volunteers were recognized.
The Secretary of the Year Award goes to the club secretary who has kept the best record of club events, attendance, and minutes of the meetings. Autumn Corbett of Pleasant Spacemakers 4-H Club was named the winner.
The Treasurer of the Year Award goes to the club treasurer who has kept the best financial records for his or her club. This year the winner was Makenna Johnson of Busy Bees 4-H Club.
The Reporter of the Year Award goes to the club reporter who has prepared the best scrapbook of the club events. Receiving this award was a team of two members from the Country Kids 4-H Club: Jace Martin and Tegan Martin.
One of the highest honors that a young 4-H member can receive is to be named one of the Outstanding First Year 4-H Members in the county. The outstanding members receiving this award were Aerianna Spangler and David Wetterauer.
In the livestock projects, one outstanding member was chosen for each species and presented with a plaque. The winner for Best of Beef was Isabelle Kemp; Best of Goat, Harper Hess; Best of Horse, Halle Tindall; Best of Poultry, Cole Ricker; Best of Rabbit, Isabella Cooper; Best of Sheep, Chloe Nelson; and Best of Swine, Braydon DeCounter. The Best Head of Five Cattle award was presented to the Fairview Huskies 4-H Club.
Mrs. Hilda Rock was the leader of the Brick Fiatt Sparklers 4-H Club for over 30 years. Her influence on the lives of her former members, and the memories of her many contributions to the Fulton County 4-H Program, live on. An award to honor Hilda’s memory goes each year to the 4-Her with the outstanding third year foods project, who plans to continue with 4-H foods projects in the future. The winner of this award was Thomas Stevenson.
In the non-livestock projects, outstanding members were honored as follows: Best of Communications and Business – Aliyah Janssen; Best of Crops and Horticulture – Braydon DeCounter; Best of Family Life – Carsyn Braun; Best of Foods – Abigail Stevenson; Best of Mechanical Sciences – Zack Miller; Best of Natural Resources – Max Johnson; Best of Sewing and Textiles – Aliyah Janssen; Best of Small Animals – Makenna Johnson; and Best of the Arts – Benton Janssen.
The County Community Service Award is given to the club doing the most work in community involvement and service. The 2022 recipient of this award is the Smithfield Up and Coming 4-H Club. Honorable Mention went to Checkrow Volunteers and Fairview Huskies 4-H Clubs.
The “I Dare You” Award is presented to older teens who exhibit leadership, citizenship, and good character. This year’s recipients were Braydon DeCounter, Emma Green, and Nathan Spangler.
4-H members receiving project awards included Kaylee Asher, Carlee Belless, Dalen Bradford, Washita Bradford, Carsyn Braun, Amelia Carley, Collin Christy, Isabella Cooper, Victoria Cooper, Braydon DeCounter, Eli DeCounter, Lydia Fouts, Emma Green, Brooke Hampton, Harper Hess, Aliyah Janssen, Benton Janssen, Makenna Johnson, Max Johnson, Isabelle Kemp, Connor Kotewa, Declan Kotewa, Mallory Kotewa, Jace Martin, Taylor Martin, Tegan Martin, Brayton McCoy, Luke Miller, Zack Miller, Chloe Nelson, Ella Osborn, Zaya Peirce, Cole Ricker, David Roberts, Rhianna Roberts, Brady Robinson, Mason Robinson, Miles Robinson, Addison Roddis, Aerianna Spangler, Caroline Spangler, Abigail Stevenson, Thomas Stevenson, Danni Stout, Layne Stout, Sara Stufflebeam, Elizabeth Suter, Halle Tindall, Hannah Tindall, Avaleigh Vansaghi, Alex Wetterauer, David Wetterauer, and Luke Wetterauer.
The Jo Ann Block and Diane Simons Memorial Award is given to a Horse project member each year in memory of two long-time 4-H Horse Show volunteers. Brayton McCoy was the 2022 award winner.
4-H Federation members were honored for their service to the county 4-H Program over the past year. 4-H Clubs that participated in Fulton County 4-H Week received recognition.
Club leaders were recognized for their milestone years of service. Ten years – Shelley Adams, Terry Cremer, Nick Schisler, and Lonnie VanPelt. Twenty years – Sally Bair, Judith Nolan, and Lindy Schenk. Twenty-five years – Lisa Miller and Heidi Putman. All 4-H volunteers present were thanked and received a Christmas ornament.
4-H is the youth program of University of Illinois Extension. To find out how young people ages 8-18 can become members of 4-H, call Krista Gray at University of Illinois Extension, Fulton County, at 309-547-3711