4-H FINALISTS

Snakes were definitely the biggest attraction at the Sanders County 4-H Communication Days finals at Plains School on Sunday.

The classroom filled with 20 people when John McNamara of Plains displayed his two snakes "Gray Corn," a 30-inch corn snake, and "Panner," also a corn snake of just over four feet in length, for his demonstration on the feeding of snakes. Some visibly cringed when he picked up the mice with tongs and placed them in the snake containers. His presentation lasted only three minute and 13 seconds, but the question and answer session afterward went for more than six minutes, and it wasn't just the two judges asking questions. The 9-year-old seemed to beam with pride during his presentation. He had no problem with public speaking, one of the primary teaching goals for the 4-H'ers.

Competing in the junior class, McNamara was one of four participants to win a scholarship to the 4-H Camp at Loon Lake in June. The other top presenters were Katherine Wrobleski, Anaelle Avilla and Melodie Cook. A 4-H member for six years, Cook took first place with her spiel on honey bees. She's also now considering a bee project for 4-H next year. She already helps her father, Chris, with his beekeeping hobby. As a 13-year-old, Cook is eligible to compete with her bee presentation at the State 4-H Congress in Bozeman in July for the statewide competition.

Her sister, Mikiah Cook, 16, took first place in the senior class with her presentation "Different Types of Leadership." The other two senior finalists, Claire Wrobleski and Aubrey Tulloch, also won scholarships to the State 4-H Congress.

The competition Sunday included 9-year-old Colt Browning, who received an "Exemplary Presentation" certificate for his speech on tracking animals. All of the participants were from the South Side Sparks 4-H club.

"I thought the seniors were pretty darn good. We had to be very picky to place them," said Karen Dwyer, who has volunteered as a judge for 30 years and was one of three judges for the seniors, along with Rusty Kinkade and Colette Morgan. "I'm still having fun. We always hear a lot of good things and sometimes I get goodies," added Dwyer. Juli Thurston, one of the county's extension agents, was impressed with the topics and the quality of presentations. "I thought they were adorable," said MSU Extension's Ashley Devol, who coordinated the event with Thurston. "I thought they were very interesting and they answered the judges' questions well," she said.

The 16-year-old Claire Wrobleski did a talk "Drawn In: A Key to Observing Nature." She's been in 4-H for nine years and one year won top honors in the senior category with a presentation on personality types. Mikiah Cook has been a 4-H'er for seven years and nabbed first place as a junior with a presentation on snowflakes. The 17-year-old Tulloch's "Prion Disease" pitch was her seventh in as many years as a 4-H member.

"There were a lot of interesting facts that came out," said Ray Brown, who judged the junior contestants with Lacey Scharfe. "This is the first time I've heard of bees vomiting, so I'm trying to digest that myself," Brown told Cook after her bee presentation. "They were all very well spoken and clearly prepared," said Morgan.

Katherine Wrobleski, 11, who's been a 4-H member for three years, did a presentation on the constellations. The 9-year-old Avilla has been in 4-H for two years, but this was her first demonstration, which was on braiding hair. She used her younger sister, Ailie, as her model.

But it was McNamara who grabbed most of the limelight Sunday with Gray Corn and Panner. He told the audience he has 13 snakes at home, which he keeps in his bedroom with his tarantula spider. He said his king snake is over five feet long. He told the judges he loves snakes because they're interesting and "super cool."

"I wasn't nervous at all. I had so much fun," said McNamara, who's been in 4-H for two years. This was his first time trying public speaking. He practiced his presentation for about 10 days for his first time up last week and for about a week for the finals. He said he changed his presentation slightly based on feedback from the judges in the first round at Thompson Falls. He's thinking about doing his presentation next year on his cat.