First to be recognized were members of the current 4-H leaders board, including Kim Kreger, Cindy Jaquith, Donna Ciciva, Warren Stendel, Lisa Topel, Annette Jaeckel, Jody Knoebel, Tina Remsik, Alyssa Jaquith, and Bob Thomas, and two retiring board members, Cheryl Mierendorf and Sig Reich.
Junior Leader officers (student leaders) for the past year were President Hannah Hoffmann, Vice President Jacob Schlais, Secretary/Treasurer Maren Ager-Hart and Reporter Elsa Ager-Hart.
Friends of 4-H
The county awarded three “Friends of 4-H” awards this year to community supporters.
The first award went to Chris and Angel Hebbe of Cedar View Dairy.
Anna Evenson, a member of Lake Ripley 4-H Club, introduced the pair, who have provided a high level of support to local 4-Hers, everything from donating apples for club activities to helping the club to kick off fundraisers to assisting youth in showing dairy animals.
The second “Friends of 4-H” award went to Jefferson’s new Thiesen’s farm supply store, which moved into the county this year and immediately began supporting local 4-H through generous donations.
Also honored as “Friends of 4-H” were Leslie and Ellen Huber. Leslie joined the Pleasant Heights 4-H Club in 1934 at the age of 10 and continued through age 18. His 4-H experience set the course for his future professional career. He competed in county and state fairs and represented the county’s crop judging team at the International 4-H Congress in Chicago in 1940.
Later, Leslie served as a University of Wisconsin 4-H agent for Green County, a farm and home development county agent in Marathon County, retiring as a full professor as the Dodge/Jefferson County farm management agent.
He contributed greatly to the local 4-H Leaders Association, providing crucial, behind-the-scenes support for generations of youth.
Fundraisers
Also saluted were the clubs and families raising the most money through the county pizza/pie sale fundraiser.
The Farmington All-Stars 4-H Club raised $10,852 to top out club sales and the South Side Eagles 4-H Club came in close behind with $10,570 in sales.
Top family sellers included the Gottschalks of the South Side Eagles, first place; Cody Kluymb of the Hubbleton Hustlers, second place; the Eck/Bartons of the South Side Eagles, third place; the Sterwald/Olsons of the Farmington All-Stars, fourth place; and the Topels of the Farmington All Stars, fifth place.
Individual record books
Record book awards went to the following 4-Hers:
Duck Creek 4-H Club: Siblings Elsa, Maren and Roald Ager-Hart all received top Awards of Excellence on their recordbooks.
Honored from the Farmington All-Stars were Alex Dettmann (honors), Cole Dettmann (Cloverbud), Drew Dettmann (Award of Excellence), Danny Ellifson (merit), Jon Ellifson (honors), Connor Gerstner (Honors), Colleen Wilson (Award of Excellence) and Michael Wilson (Award of Excellence).
Honored from the Hebron Helping Hands were Emily Foerster (merit), Whitney May (honors), Hailey Olson (merit) and Emma Wokasch (honors).
Honored from the Hubbleton Hustlers were Duke Schlender (Cloverbud) and Trent Schlender (high honors.)
Honored from the Ideal Clever Clovers was Courtney Kreger with an Award of Excellence.
Honored from Ixonia Victory 4-H Club were Katilin Flood (high honors), Cecilia Heinecke (Cloverbud), and Quentin Heinecke (honors).
Honored from the Jefferson Boosters were Ellie Ebel (high honors), Henry Ebel (Cloverbud), Joseph Ebel (high honors), Ella van Zanten (high honors), Nicole van Zanten (high honors) and Thomas van Zanten (honors).
Honored from the Lake Ripley 4-H Club were Scott Mehringer (Cloverbud), Aiden Sperle (high honors) and Gunnar Sperle (Award of Excellence).
Honored from the Lucky Clovers were Aviella and Eliana Wilson, Cloverbuds, and Isaac Wilson (honors).
Honored from the Rock Lake Troopers were Gracelynn Dolph (Cloverbud), Olivia Dolph (high honors), Adellyna Wiedenfeld (high honors), Greta Wiedenfeld (high honors), Makaylla Wiedenfeld (honors) and Whitney Wiedenfeld (Cloverbud).
Honored from the Rock River Clovers were Kiefer Anderson (Cloverbud), Bailey Behm (Award of Excellence), and Lillian Hansen (Cloverbud).
Honored from the Sullivan Stars was Nicholas Fischer (high honors).
Honored from the Twin Rivers 4-H Club were Brody Jacobson (Cloverbud) and Hunter Jacobson (honors).
Posters, speeches
The 2017-18 Special Emphasis theme was “4-Hers Today, Leaders Tomorrow.” Honored in the Special Emphasis speech and poster contest for this past year were Gunnar Sperle with the top speech, and Colleen Wilson with the top poster. Wilson’s poster art also was selected to grace the cover of the Awards Banquet program, while Sperle got to reprise his speech for the banquet audience.
Also featured was 4-H alumna Eunice Wagner, who talked about her experience as the first girl to join her 4-H club back in the 1930s (A story appears on A1).
Special Emphasis books
Four clubs submitted Special Emphasis scrapbooks showing how they wove the Special Emphasis theme into their activities throughout the year. The awards are as follows: Lucky Clovers, merit; Hubbleton Hustlers, honors; Lake Ripley, high honors; Farmington All-Stars, Award of Excellence.
The 2018-19 Special Emphasis theme, aligning with Farm Technology Days which will be held in Jefferson County in 2019, will be “Generations of Farm Pride.”
Animal recordbooks
Small Animal Sale recordbook awards went to the following 4-Hers:
In the intermediate category, Oliver Small in third place, receiving $15; Rylee Brattlie in second place, receiving $20; and Hannah Brattlie in first place, receiving $40.
In the advanced category, Kaden Junker came in third for a $15 prize, Courtney Kreger second for $20 and Alex Ellifson first for $40.
Officer books
The county received five secretary book entries. A merit award went to Abby Wilkey of the Lucky Clovers. Nicholas Fischer of the Sullivan Stars earned high honors, and three Awards of Excellence were given out to Clarissa Gross of the Rock Lake Troopers, Quentin Heinecke of Ixonia Victory, and James Zubke of the Hubbleton Hustlers.
Out of six treasurer book entries, Griffin Isaacsen of the Palmyra Oak Hill Hustlers earned merit; Drew Dettmann of the Farmington All-Stars won high honors and Awards of Excellence went to Jenna Degner of the Hubbleton Hustlers, Kayla Price of the Sullivan Stars, Camden Schultz of the Rock Lake Troopers, and Lillian Small of Ixonia Victory.
Project awards
Project Awards for outstanding work in a given project and outstanding documentation of that work went to the following 4-Hers: Ashley Brandel of the South Side Eagles for the Intermediate Dairy and Equine projects; Colton Brandel of the South Sided Eagles, Intermediate Dairy; Katie Brandel of the South Side Eagles, Junior Dairy and Equine; Hunter Jacobson of Twin Rivers, Junior Poultry; Courtney Kreger of the Ideal Clever Clovers, Senior Clothing and Swine; Trenton Schlender of the Hubbleton Hustlers, Junior Dairy; Aiden Sperle of the Lake Ripley 4-H Club, Intermediate Legos and Dairy; Gunnar Sperle of Lake Ripley 4-H, Intermediate Dog Obedience and Sewing; Michael Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars, Junior Photography; Colleen Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars, Intermediate Photography and Creative Writing.
Green and Gold Awards
Green and Gold awards go to individuals who have demonstrated a consistent effort of volunteer service to their club or project over a long period of time.
Recipients included 4-H member Miranda Blake of the Farmington All-Stars, former vice president and current president of her club and an intrepid longtime volunteer; and poultry project coordinator and volunteer Lori Astell.
Hands to Larger Service
The Hands to Larger Service award went out to clubs which show a high degree of participation in community service projects, not just in terms of number of activities, but in percentage of members volunteering. The awards went to: Cream of the Crop 4-H Club, first place; Rock River Clovers 4-H, second place; Lake Ripley 4-H, third place; Ixonia Victory 4-H, fourth place; Jefferson Boosters 4-H, fifth place.
Volunteers of Year
The Volunteer of the Year award for 10 years of service or less was presented to Gwendolyn Turrittin-Johnson, who has gone above and beyond in her assistance to the Ideal Clever Clovers 4-H Club.
Turrittin-Johnson also provided vital assistance at the county level, helping to lead the Special Emphasis program and at Family Project Learning Day when one of the teachers became ill and she stepped in to teach the class.
Lifetime Volunteer awards for more than a decade of service went to:
• The late Becky S. Jaeckel for her incredible dedication and contributions to the Poultry Project and the Small Animal Committee.
• Alyssa Jaquith, lifetime participant in 4-H who has now stepped up in several key ways as an adult leader, coordinating the pizza/pie fundraiser and advising the Junior Leaders group, as well as serving on the Leaders Board.
• Sigrid Reich, who has been a leader for 12 years and who stepped down recently from the Leaders Board. She also has led the 4-H Outpost Camp and contributed in so many hands-on ways to make 4-H camps a success.
Leader awards
First-year leader awards went to Christina Hyke of the Country Roamers; Kizzy Chwala of Cream of the Crop; Sheri Bergun of Defenders of the Clover; Troy Powers of Hubbleton Hustlers; Cassidy Johnson, Heather Schultz and Gwendolyn Turrittin-Johnson of the Ideal Clever Clovers; Bruce Jones, Rebecca Mehringer and Jeff and Debbie Repsumer of Lake Ripley; Dennis Holterman and Kelly Mages of Lucky Clovers; Daniel Reich of Rock River Clovers; Shane Haberman and Gabby Learman of South Side Eagles; and Jacob Greving of Sullivan Stars.
Five-year leader awards went to Becky Bohn of Cream of the Crop; Pam Chickering Wilson, Sue Dettmann, Jackie Ellifson, Lindsay Knoebel, Angela Lemke, Jenny Statz and Jessica Wellsandt of the Farmington All-Stars; Olivia Peter and Stephanie Schadt of the Hubbleton Hustlers, Amy Listle and Steve Pirtle, independent; Laurie Christian of Ixonia Victory; Kim Buchholz, Deb Ebel, Seth Ebel, Jamie Gossard and Sue van Zanten of the Jefferson Boosters; Dan and Joy Brattlie of Lake Ripley; Jeff West of Lucky Clovers; Matt Anderson and Amber Burke of Rock River Clovers; and Tim Ball of the Sullivan Stars.
The 10-year leader awards went to Brett Hart of Duck Creek, Robert Schweitzer and Justin Thom, independent; Troye Klecker and Scott Schultz of the Rock Lake Troopers; Gary Roidt of the South Side Eagles; Kevin Heckert, Crystal Hoffmann, Steve Hoffmann, and Alyssa Jaquith of Stone School; and Jim Wenzel of Sullivan Stars.
A 15-year leader award went to Helen Weisensel of the Jefferson Boosters, and a 20-year leader award went to David Steindorf of the Lucky Clovers.
Clover awards
Clover Awards of different levels went to members who demonstrated a high level of participation at the club and county levels and in many cases, at the state and national level as well. Members may earn these levels in one year, or they may take more than a year to attain a particular level. Top-level Emerald honorees received a $25 check for their continuing efforts.
The first-level Green Award went to Isabelle Anderson of the Rock River Clovers; Olivia Dolph of the Rock Lake Troopers; Hunter Jacobson of Twin Rivers 4-H; and Lillian Small of the Ixonia Victory 4-H.
The second-level Bronze Award went to Anna Evenson and Victor Evenson of Lake Ripley; Trent Schlender of Hubbleton Hustlers; Sam Splinter of Ixonia Victory; Adellyna and Greta Wiedenfeld of the Rock Lake Troopers; Michael Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars; and James and Lisa Zubke of the Hubbleton Hustlers.
The third-level Silver Award went to Bailey Behm and Jessica Besch of the Rock River Clovers, Rylee Brattlie of Lake Ripley 4-H; Mason Burke of Rock River Clovers, Jenna Degner of Hubbleton Hustlers, Karmyn Gross of Rock Lake Troopers, Connor Price of Sullivan Stars, Elliott Small of Ixonia Victory; Jesse Topel of the Farmington All-Stars, and Makaylla Wiedenfeld of the Rock Lake Troopers.
The fourth-level Gold Award went to Hailey and Madeline Besch, Julian Bos and Kaitlyn and Ryan Burke of the Rock River Clovers; Katilin Flood and Dakota Knapp of Ixonia Victory; Elee and Jessica Sharp of Rock River Clovers; Aiden Sperle of Lake Ripley and Jordan Topel of the Farmington All-Stars.
The top-level Emerald Award went to Liam Bos of the Rock River Clovers; Hanna Brattlie of Lake Ripley; Ethan Degner of the Hubbleton Hustlers, Drew Dettmann of the Farmington All-Stars, Clarissa Gross of the Rock Lake Troopers, Kayla Price of the Sullivan Stars, Gunnar Sperle of Lake Ripley, and Colleen Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars.
Trip Awards
The county also recognized older youth for participating in several state and national enrichment activities. Participants in each of these activities also had created trifold displays on their experiences to share with attendees.
Attending Space Camp were Rudy Goessling and Kaitlyn Flood, who received a “Pathfinder Graduate” certificate from the U.S. Space and Rocket Center. In addition, Emma Statz, an alumna of the camp, served as a Space Camp counselor this year.
Attending the Citizenship Washington Focus program was Maren Ager-Hart, with Brett Hart serving as an adult advisor.
Attending the Wisconsin Youth Conference were Colleen Wilson, Thomas van Zanten, Nicole van Zanten, Gunnar Sperle, Valorie Schamens, Kayla Roidt, Hanna Brattlie and Elsa Ager-Hart.
Colleen Wilson gave a brief talk on her experience at Youth Leadership Conference, urging other 4-Hers to give it a try.