Local 4-H members honored for achievements

Nearly 200 people showed up Sunday at the Sanders County Fairgrounds pavilion to see their 4-H kids get recognition for their work throughout the year.

More than 150 awards were presented to almost 100 kids at the Sanders County 4-H Achievement Day. Club leaders from the Trout Creek Mavericks, Whitepine Happy Workers, Thompson Falls Mountaineers, South Side Sparks, and the Hot Springs Wranglers called their club members to the forefront to receive their Outstanding Member County Awards. Heron-Noxon Eagles were also in attendance.

South Side Sparks had the largest showing with 31 members and 50 awards with Ailie and Anaelle Avilla, each receiving four. The Wranglers had 16 members with Hannah Warnes getting nine awards. The Mountaineers had seven recipients with Bhaltair Edwards, Broderick Edwards, Matea Keefe, and Ava Taylor each getting two. The Mavericks had a dozen members present with Sheldon Frank and Brianna Horner each having three.

Many were accolades for their entries at fair time and included the winners for grand and reserve showmanship, interviews, breeding, and market animal grand and reserve champions, along with the winners of Communication Days, which was held last spring, the Fashion Review, held in June, and beef, goat, swine, and sheep carcass awards, which were determined after the fair.

The two-hour event included a potluck dinner, games for the kids, and guest speaker Mikiah Cook, who spent nine years as a member of the South Side Sparks. Cook said that her time as a 4-H member has helped her as a freshman at Montana State University. "4-H is an organization that, true to their word, empowers youth and equips them with skills that many people don't learn for the first time until they are adults," she said, adding that being in the 4-H was a "huge privilege."

"The kids worked very hard this year and it showed. They always amaze me with their projects and all they accomplish," said Juli Thurston of the Sanders County Extension Office, who heads the 4-H program. This year's Achievement Day event was sponsored by the Whitepine Happy Workers.

Achievement Day included numerous special awards. The Top Maternal Genomic Heifer Award went to Sydnee Wilson of the Happy Workers. The Top Terminal Genomic Heifer Award went to Cody Hafner of the South Side Sparks. The Dan Jackson Award went to Josh Ekberg of the Happy Workers. Matthew Reinhardt of the South Side Sparks took the Beef Herdsmanship Award. Melodie Cook took the Top Senior Record Book and Anaelle Avilla won the Top Junior Record Book, both from the South Side Sparks. The Top First Year Member Record Book went to Emma Rehbein of the South Side Sparks. The Jake Legard Citizenship Award in the senior category went to Madison Chojnacky of the Mavericks, Solveig Nygaard of the Happy Workers and Riley Keefe of the Mountaineers. In the junior class, the award went to Andrew Frank of the Mavericks, Easton Deal of the Happy Workers, Gabriella Taylor of the Mountaineers, and Anaelle Avilla of the South Side Sparks. The Little Chief Award went to Isabella Buchanan of the Happy Workers. The Junior Achievement Award went to Sage Doble of the South Side Sparks and Daniel Warnes of the Wranglers. One of the event's more prominent awards was the Dan Jackson Memorial Super Steer Award, which went to Kara Christensen of the Wranglers. To qualify for the award, the recipient had to place in the top five spots in showmanship, market, carcass grade, and rate of weight gain competitions. The 16-year-old Christensen won the award in 2020 and 2021. She's been a 4-H member for nine years. The award has been a part of the 4-H program in Sanders County for about 10 years.

"It's one of the most prestigious awards in beef," said Richard Jackson, who's been the beef barn superintendent at fair time for 10 years. Jackson also praised the 4-H program, saying that it preps a person for life. His daughter, Brooke of the Wranglers, won the Archie McDonald Memorial Award, also one of the top honors. The award goes to a member who displays good sportsmanship in his or her conduct throughout the year.

The following members were part of the Montana State 4-H Congress: Hannah Warnes, Mackenzie Tulloch, Madison Chojnacky, Sage Doble, Claire Wrobleski, Melodie Cook, Kara Christensen, Alida Feiro, Mikiah Cook, Andrew Wrobleski, Jayden Cook, Daniel Warnes, and Cody Hafner.

Tulloch and Chojnacky will be going to the Western National 4-H Roundup for a Hippology competition after they won first place at state congress. Hafner, a South Side Sparks member, won at the state communications competition for his illustrated talk "Calving, Never Done That Before" and is moving on to compete at the National 4-H Conference.

Adults were also recognized Sunday. Raelyn Cox of Trout Creek won the Volunteer Leader of the Year Award for 2024. She has been a 4-H volunteer for 20 years. Karen Dwyer of Thompson Falls was the Honorary 4-H Member of the Year. She's been a 4-H volunteer for more than 30 years.

The Trout Creek Mavericks club won the Horse, Swine and Rabbit Barn Awards for maintaining their barn area and showing cooperation and helpfulness towards others. The Wranglers won the Beef and Sheep and Goat Barn Awards and the South Side Sparks won the Poultry Barn Award.