Susquehanna County 4-H held its Annual 4-H Achievement Night and Leaders Recognition Celebration at Mountain View High School, on November 9th. The evening began at 6:00 with an excellent covered dish dinner that was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. It was a great evening of celebrating and recognizing the accomplishments of our Susquehanna County 4-H meetings, as well as the many hours of service of our volunteer leaders.
The Awards Program began with a welcome, the pledges, and recognition of our special guests. Several members of the Susquehanna County Extension Board were in attendance, as well as members of the Youth Program Advisory Committee (YPAC). Also in attendance were Commissioner Al Hall, and Extension District Director Bob Hansen.
Our 4-H Achievement Night is a night to honor Susquehanna County 4-H members for their accomplishments throughout the year. The first awards given were the Livestock Project Book Awards, which were presented by 4-H Leader Charlie Clark of the DES 4-H Club. These awards are given to the 4-Hers that complete and hand in their 4-H Livestock Books, and do the best job. Winners in the Senior Division were Champion - Emily Supancik, North Jackson Ag, Reserve Champion - Rebecca Hricko, Elk Mountain Community, and Honorable Mention: Evan Aldrich, North Jackson Ag. Winners in the Junior Division were Champion - KayLeen Conklin, North Jackson Ag, Reserve Champion - Jamie Supancik, North Jackson Ag, and Honorable Mention - Katelyn Supancik, North Jackson Ag. In the Rookie Division, Champion was awarded to John Tyler, DES, Reserve Champion - Trever Graham, DES, and Honorable Mention to Adriana Zebrowski, of North Jackson Ag.
Next, Cathy Bewley, of the North Jackson Ag 4-H Club, made the Dairy Award Presentations. The Best Owned and Bred animals for 2013 were exhibited by Sabrina Clark and Kyle Vanderfeltz. These two 4-Hers bred and own their 4-H projects, and were presented with embroidered jackets for their excellent accomplishments. Also receiving recognition in the Dairy Program were Emory Bewley, Kyle Vanderfeltz, Patrick Curley, and Alex Bonavita for exhibiting the Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion Holstein, as well as the Grand Champion Jersey and the best bred and owned junior Milking Shorthorn at the PA State Junior Dairy Show in Harrisburg. Lastly, Cathy recognized the winners of the Dairy Project Books. Winners in the Senior Division were Emily Supancik, North Jackson Ag, and Cassie Clark, DES. The Junior Division was won by Emory Bewley, North Jackson Ag, Reserve Champion was Jamie Supancik, and Honorable Mention was Katelyn Supancik. In the Rookie Division, Champion was won by Kyrston Swingle of DES, and Reserve Champion was won by Corey Vanderfeltz of DES. Great job to all our Dairy kids on their excellent year.
Cathy then introduced 4-H Leader Heather Charles, from the Blue Ribbon Drive Horse and Pony Club to present the Horse Awards. First, she recognized Austin Graham of the Blue Ribbon Driven Club for securing the highest number of sponsors as well as the highest dollar amount to be used towards the Horse 4-H Program. Next, Heather awarded embroidered horse sheets to 4-H Leader Connie Oliver, and members Kelly Oliver, Alex Carpenetti, and Sarah Carpenetti for participating in the State Competitive Trail Ride held in Huntingdon County, where they all placed very well. And lastly Heather very proudly announced that we had two first place winners at the State Horse Show. Corrin Raynor received first place in Hunter Under Saddle, Pony, and Austin Graham had the first place Draft Type Pony.
The program then moved on to the individual member awards. 4-H Leader and YPAC member Krista Naylor of the Franklin Hill Community 4-H Club made the presentations. She awarded the Outstanding News Reporter Award to KayLeen Conklin of the North Jackson Ag 4-H Club. Kaylee submitted nine articles to the newspaper. Next Krista presented the Project Diversity Award to Zeb Swartley of the Borderline 4-H Club. Zeb completed seven different 4-H projects, and exhibited them at the 4-H Building at the Harford Fair. 4-H window promotion displays were also honored at this time, and were presented to Franklin Hill Community, North Jackson Ag, CloverPups, Jackson Pin Thimblers, and Blue Ribbon Driven.
DES 4-H Leader LouAnn Kiefer presented the Club Spirit Awards. Each 4-H Club was encouraged to choose one member who has shown the most improvement, been the most helpful, or stood out in this project year for any reason. The winners are as follows: Awesome Archers-Kassie Wilbur, Baconeers-Kyle Chidester, Bits N Bosals-Myranda Polcha, Blue Ribbon Driven-Dana Nunemacher, Borderline-Zeb Swartley, Born to Show-Austin Bonavita, Bowbridge Shepherds-Dempsey Hollenbeck, Deckertown-Alex McDonald, DES-Brooke Arnold, Dimock Community-Andy Swetter, Elk Mountain-Katelyn Zembrzycki, Green Grove-Cynthia Eichelberger, Franklin Hill-Lily Naylor, Jackson Pin Thimblers-Madison Towner, New Beginnings-Tracee Canfield, North Jackson Ag-Emory Bewley, Pounding Hooves and Beating Hearts-Megan Leamon, Rough N Ready Riders-Katelyn Kveragas, Schooley Pond-Cheyenne Horn, and Sizzlin’ Steaks-Lauren Clancy. LouAnn also presented the Blue Ribbon Club Awards. These are the Susquehanna County 4-H Clubs that have kept track of their clubs activities, and submitted the Blue Ribbon application in October. This year, six clubs participated. Red Ribbon Club Award winners were Jackson Pin Thimblers, DES, and Franklin Hill Community. The Blue Ribbon Club Award winners were North Jackson Ag, Awesome Archers, and Blue Ribbon Driven. Great job to our participating clubs.
Michelle Kowalewski, Penn State Extension Educator, then took the microphone to talk about our 2013 State and National Contest Participants. She recognized the ten 4-H members that participated in PA State 4-H Achievement Days, and recognized two 4-H members that participated in National 4-H events. Evan Castrogiovanni, Born to Show 4-H Club, was a member of the 2013 PA State 4-H Dairy Judging Contest. Evan won the State Competition, and competed at the National 4-H Dairy Judging Contest in Madison, WI, where his team was 2nd, and Evan was the 7th High Individual. Our other National Contest participant was Rachel Serfilippi of the Clover Pups 4-H Club. Rachel took part in the PA State 4-H Forestry and Wildlife Day, and qualified to be on the State Team. This allowed her to take part in the 4-H and FFA Wildlife Habitat Education Program held in Indiana where her team was placed 3rd overall, and Rachel was the 6th High Individual. Lastly Michelle very excitedly presented a really special award. This is the second year that bicycles have been graciously donated to the 4-H program, and given randomly to members that have completed their projects. One first year member was chosen, and one member from all other 4-Hers. This year’s winners were Marrisa Horn, of the Schooley Pond 4-H Club, and Caleb Eichelberger from the New Beginnings 4-H Club! And many thanks to our anonymous donor.
The next portion of the program was to honor our 4-H Volunteer Leaders. It began with special recognition of our 2013 Susquehanna County Summer Intern, Rachel Smarkusky. Rachel worked from May until August, and contributed greatly to our summer 4-H Programs. Next to be honored were the first year volunteer leaders. In attendance were Michelle Conklin, North Jackson Ag, Dana Empet, North Jackson Ag, Amelia Heath, Jackson Pin Thimblers, Abigail Hricko, Charissa Hricko, Brad Sebring, all from Elk Mountain Community, Megan Hewitt and Kathy Whitmore from Pounding Hooves and Beating Hearts, Joni Miller, Blue Ribbon Driven, and Kandy Tyler, DES and Dimock Community 4-H Club. Two leaders with five years of experience were in attendance. They were Heather Charles, of Blue Ribbon Driven, and Charlie Clark of the DES 4-H Club. Ten year leaders receiving recognition were Kim Clark, DES, Owen Bewley, North Jackson Ag, and Jennifer Joines, Rough N Ready Riders. Receiving his 25 Year Leader Award and a standing ovation was Dick Stewart of the Borderline 4-H Club.
The last awards presented for the evening were scholarships and awards given to senior 4-H members that are either moving onto college or into the work force. The Outstanding Dairy Member was won by Cassie Clark of the DES 4-H Club. Cassie is a freshman at Penn State studying Agribusiness. The Outstanding Horse Member was awarded to Ashlynn Cobb of the Rough N Ready Riders. Ashlynn is studying Russian and International Studies at Juniata College. Two other horse scholarships were awarded to Katelyn Kveragas who is attending SUNY Broome with hopes of becoming an equine vet. Also receiving the horse scholarship was Abigail Leamon from Pounding Hooves and Beating Hearts. Abigail began studying at SUNY Delhi this fall in the Veterinary Science Technology program. The Youth Program Advisory Board (YPAC) was very excited to award four scholarships this year. They were awarded to Brianna Smarkusky, who attends Wilkes University and is pre-med/biology student, Devon Greenwood who is studying to become a LPN, Cassie Clark, Katelyn Kveragas, Abigail Leamon, and Ashlynn Cobb. Lastly, the Susquehanna County Outstanding 4-Hers were presented. This year the recipients were Cassie Clark and Matt Wood. These two 4-Hers are ones that have put in extra time and effort, and have developed right along with the program. Congratulations to all our award winners. The Susquehanna County Achievement Night and Leaders Recognition Celebration was a fun night, and an excellent way to celebrate how 4-H makes the best better.
