On Sunday, Nov. 6 the Box Butte County 4-H Council held its annual 4-H Achievement Banquet at 4:30 pm at the Multipurpose Hall in Hemingford. This event is to gather with family and friends and recognize the achievements of our 4-H members, Clover Kids, leaders, volunteers and friends.
The Box Butte County 4-H Council held their Annual Meeting to elect two 4-H Council members. Voting will remain open for any 4-H parent, youth member, leader or volunteer until Friday, November 18 at 4:00 PM.
After the annual meeting, we began our awards portion by recognizing our Clover Kid youth and awarded first year 4-H member pins. This years’ Clover Kid participates include: Dani Bixby, Brextyn Bolek, Eli Bryner, Caden Dubs, Mara Foster, Logan Furman, Charleigh Grobler, Kinslee Hansenm, Slade Harris, Autumn Hartman, Olivis Harwood, Wyatt Harwood, Brecken Helms, Cydnie Herian, Joeie Kresl, Amber Mazanec, Marshall Moseman, Grady Mracek, Gracelyn Pritchard, Victoria Pryor, Ethan Robbins, Wyatt Schumacher, Clara Seeley, Madelyn Seeley, Bristol Underwood, Gwen Wimmer and Augustus Woltman.
Next all 4-H members were recognized for either being a part of a club or an independent member, and the 2022 4-H graduate members were then recognized. These youth include: Rasine Bolek, Shelbee Burke, Michaela Cardinal, Braden Connor, Macala Hood, Keyra Klein, Emmerae Korte, Donna LeMunyan, Daren McConville, RJ Riggs, Wade Sanders, Braelyn Shrewsbury, Bayden Solberg, Daniel Steele, Logan Thompson and Wyatt Walker. Special recognition went to our first, fifth, tenth, and fifteenth-year volunteers, Chelsie Herian and Susan Banks.
Youth who completed a record book were next recognized. Two record books were completed this year, one achievement applications and one career portfolios. In our Senior level, Ashley Carr received a Meat Goat pin and Shooting Sports pin. Sierra Banks received a pin in Dog and Photography.
The Little Critters 4-H Club received The Club of Excellence Award and Teresa Sanders was awarded the Outstanding Leader Award.
Our Small Animal Herdsmanship winners were, Ayla Foster-Rabbit and Overall Little Red Barn Herdsman and Emily Johnston-Poultry. In the Livestock Barn Rasine Bolek was awarded the Sheep & Goat Herdsman, Swine Herdsman was Tierney Heupel and Beef Herdsman was Wyatt Walker. Tierney Heupel was the Overall Livestock Barn Herdsman. Thank you to all our award donors who sponsor Herdsmanship: John and Debbie Thomas, SC Party Productions, John & Carolyn Annen, Antioch Machine, Alliance Animal Clinic, Chester Ranch and Ackerman Ag.
Next, we awarded our All-Around Awards. Youth apply for these awards and get points for participation. Sierra Banks was the All-Around Small Animal FCS winner and Shelby Carr was the All-Around Livestock recipient. Thank you to our sponsors, Sandhills State Bank, Larry & Barb Grant and the Ida and Lyle Fodnes Memorial.
Box Butte County Junior Leaders recognized Ashley Fenning, with the Heart of 4-H Award. Ashley is the 4-H Assistant in Box Butte County.
This year the members of the 4-H Council awarded the Friend of 4-H award to Bryan Collins. Bryan has continued his support of the Box Butte County 4-H Program by helping teach youth about the importance of beef ownership and possessing a brand paper or bill of sale for their animals. He takes time to attend beef weigh-in in the winter and summer, and the carcass contest. Thank you again for volunteering your time!
The last two awards that were given include the “I Dare You” Award and Outstanding 4-H member. Sierra Banks was the recipient of the “I Dare You” Award for demonstrating high personal integrity, kindness, responsibility and leadership roles. The Outstanding 4-H member was awarded to Ashley Carr. This award is based on the information contained in the Career Portfolio or Achievement Application that 4-H members complete in October. Judges look for leadership skills, community service, and project accomplishments in and outside of 4-H.
Congratulations to all our winners, 4-H participates and volunteers on a great 2021-2022 4-H Year!
Nebraska Extension Hosts Connecting the Dots Event
On Nov. 2, Nebraska Extension hosted a Connecting the Dots event at the Alliance High School for Box Butte County sophomore students. This event puts youth through a simulation where they have to navigate being high school dropouts, lack funding to pay for school, have a full ride to their chosen college, or anything in between. They meet with community professionals to explore jobs in each of the career clusters. The morning was spent having the youth evaluate what makes a good resume, practice answering interview questions, and learning their motivated skills. This program was funded by Platte Valley Bank, Sandhills State Bank, bank of the West, and First Interstate Bank, and Westco. The event would not have been possible without all the community members who helped with the simulation. These members included Lee Fritzler, Shane Homan, Nick Paradeis, Jared Mracek, Dawn Butcher, Zach Jelinek, Chelsie Herian, Kyren Gibson, Colleen Hood, Jessica Kaiser, Trevor Rasmussen, Pasha Korber, Olivia Hasenauer, Chris Stine, Sean Ridgeway, Jeff Harris, Trish Johnston, Charles Miles, Allie Tyree, and Cassandra Wood. The event also would not be possible without the help from Western Nebraska Community College, Chadron State College, and University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Nebraska Extension is thankful for the assistance of Alliance Public Schools for helping host this event. One student commented, “…you helped me learn so much about my future career path. I cannot thank you enough for supporting my understanding of my future career!”.
Light Up Your Sweater Workshop
Box Butte 4-H is hosting a Light Up Your Sweater workshop on Tuesday, November 29th starting at 4 pm at the Multipurpose Hall in Hemingford. Youth will take a sweater and style it up with wearable lights. The workshop will cost $10 and is limited to 10 young people over the age of 8. Please register with the Extension Office at (308) 762-5616 by November 21st.
December Maker Day
Do you know of youth who are interested in making this December? Box Butte County 4-H has the workshop for them! On December 11th from 2 to 5 pm at the Westside Event Center youth can participate in four different workshops. There is a variety of activities to choose from, some from ages 5 to 7, 8 to 18, and some for all ages. Some of the activities have different costs and a couple are free. Youth must preregister. To register visit https://go.unl.edu/3q6t or contact the Extension Office at (308) 762-5616 for more information.