The accomplishments that 4-H members master go beyond the 4-H Show and County Fair exhibits. Through their leadership roles in 4-H clubs and record keeping, youth gain important life skills. Each year, Fulton County 4-H honors the exceptional work done in these areas, at the 4-H Achievement Program.

In addition to the 53 youth who were recognized, Fulton 4-H honored Sharon and Bruce Spangler of Marietta for 50 years of volunteer work as the leaders of Checkrow Volunteers 4-H Club. These 50 years times 2, do not reflect the years prior in which each served their community as 4-H volunteers. At the heart of their volunteerism is a desire to better the community, to give back to the county and the fair, and the local young people, to give them a chance to speak in public, to lead and to learn new skills.

Through their years as club leaders, Bruce and Sharon have impacted an estimated 250 4-H members. One of their goals as leaders: to teach young people to give back, through community service projects that involve food drives, nursing home visits, and local cemetery clean-ups. They've taken 4-H into the local schools and brought members into their home to learn sewing and textiles skills. They've taught young people to care for animals and to develop good stockmanship and showmanship skills. They've taught the value of hard work and the joy of new skills (information collected from Spangler Family 4-H story).

Daughter-in-law Holly shared the following about Sharon. “I think one of the most memorable parts of Sharon’s 4-H experience is the number of young people she’s taught to sew. I can’t even begin to put a number to it, but every spring, she has a revolving door of young people coming in to sew garments, pillows and more with her. And every stitch and seam had to be ‘state fair quality’ – or they’d have to rip it out and try again. She developed some really wonderful relationships with so many of those members, far beyond her own club.”

Sharon was inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame in 2008, and the Spanglers won the 4-H Family Spirit Award in 2015.

Bruce and Sharon exemplify the 4-H motto, “To make the best better.”

• Other awards given during the Achievement Program on October 21 at the Fulton County Fairgrounds included:
• Secretary of the Year Award -  Chloe Sutton of Pleasant Spacemakers 4-H Club
• Treasurer of the Year Award Jessica Johnson of Smithfield Up and Coming 4-H Club.
• Reporter of the Year Jace Martin from Country Kids 4-H Club.
• Outstanding First Year 4-H member Emitt Buban, Dalton Fuller, Macie Howe, Lucas Osborn,  Krew Peirce , Aubrey Poppenhager, Hadley Shelby, Hudseon Shelby, and Ronny Stout all of Busy Bees; and Aaliyah Naff of Pleasant Spacemakers,

In the livestock projects, one outstanding member was chosen for each species, based on their livestock records submitted, and presented with a plaque.

• Best of Beef was Taylor Martin of Smithfield Up and Coming
• Best of Goat, Cole Ricker of Busy Bees
• Best of Horse, Halle Tindall of Busy Bees
• Best of Poultry, Ashlyn Bertsch of Busy Bees
• Best of Rabbit, Gavyn Powell of Smithfield Up and Coming
• ·Best of Swine, Hadley Shelby of Busy Bees
• The Best of Five Head (Cattle) was awarded to the Fairview Huskies 4-H Club.

In the non-livestock projects, outstanding members were honored as follows:

•  Best of Communications and Business, Makenna Johnson of Busy Bees
• Best of Crops and Horticulture, Aaliyah Naff of Pleasant Spacemakers
• Best of Family Life, Aliyah Janssen of Avondale
• Best of Foods, Thomas Stevenson of Pleasant Spacemakers
• Best of Mechanical Sciences, Thomas Stevenson of Pleasant Spacemakers
• Best of Natural Resources, Brayton McCoy of Pleasant Spacemakers
• Best of Sewing and Textiles, Aliyah Janssen of Avondale
• Best of Small Animals, Makenna Johnson of Busy Bees
• Best of the Arts, Benton Janssen of Avondale

The Community Service Award is given to the club doing the most work in community and involvement and service. The 2023 recipient of this award is Smithfield Up and Coming 4-H Club.

The Health and Safety Award is given to the club who is doing the most work in health and safety during the year. The 2023 recipient is Pleasant Spacemakers 4-H Club.

The “I Dare You” Award is presented to the older teens who exhibit leadership, citizenship, and good character. This year’s recipient is Makenna Johnson.

4-H members who received project awards included Kaylee Asher, Ashlyn Bertsch, Zach Bertsch, Dalen Bradford, Washita Bradford, Carsyn Braun, Emmitt Buban, Collin Christy, Victoria Cooper, Lydia Fouts, Dalton Fuller, Aliyah Janssen, Benton Janssen, Makenna Johnson, Conner Kotewa, Declan Kotewa, Mallory Kotewa, Landon Link, Jace Martin, Taylor Martin, Teagan Martin,  Brayton McCoy, Zack Miller, Aaliyah Naff, Ella Osborn, Lucas Osborn, Krew Peirce, Zaya Peirce, Aubry Poppenhager , Gavyn Powell, Lillie Ray, Cole Ricker, Brady Robinson, Mason Robinson, Miles Robinson, Addison Roddis, Bethany Roop, Hadley Shelby, Hudson Shelby, Aerianna Spangler, Caroline Spangler, Abigail Stevenson, Thomas Stevenson, Danni Stout, Layne Stout, Ronny Stout, Ashley Tarochione, Halle Tindall, Hannah Tindall, Avaleigh Vansaghi, Alex Wetterauer, David Wetterauer, and Luke Wetterauer.

The National 4-H week Window Display Contest was awarded to Busy Bees 4-H club. The Honorable mentions went to Checkrow Volunteer 4-H club and Smithfield Up and Coming 4-H club.

In addition to the Spanglers, Tara Ricker of Busy Bees 4-H Club was recognized for her 5th year anniversary as a club leader.

4-H is the youth program of University of Illinois Extension. To find out how young people ages 8 to 18 can become members of 4-H, Call Krista Gray or Rachel Van Cleve at  University of Illinois Extension, Fulton County office at 309-547-3711 or visit us online at extension.illinois.edu/fmpt/4-h-fulton-county

Captions

Sharon and Bruce Spangler (pictured center) were honored at the 2023 Fulton 4-H Achievement Program for their 50 years volunteer service as Checkrow Volunteers 4-H Club leaders. They are pictured with their family in 2015 after receiving the 4-H Family of the Year Award from Illinois 4-H Foundation.

These four members of the Pleasant Spacemakers 4-H club were part of the 63 members recognized for their achievement awards at the Fulton 4-H Achievement Program.