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
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| Connie Oliver, Sarah Carpenetti, Kelly Oliver and Alex Carpenetti |
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| North Jackson Pin Thimblers 4-H Members |
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!
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| 4-H Project Completion Bike Winners: Caleb Eichelberger and Marissa Horn |
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.
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| Dick Stewart receiving recognition for 25 year of service to 4-H. |
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!
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| Cassie Clark 2013 Outstanding 4-H Member Outstanding 4-H Dairy Member |
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| 2013 4-H Scholarship Recipients |
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