Recognition of 4-H Dairy Club Members 2016 participation and achievements were highlighted during the recent Berks County 4-H Dairy Banquet at Virginville Grange Hall.
The Joyce Miller 4-H Career Advancement Award was awarded to Abigaile Fenerty of the Eastern Berks 4-H Dairy Club. The Joyce Miller Award recognizes an outstanding Berks County 4-H dairy club member for their leadership experiences, participation in club and county events, and community service. They receive an award to be used for higher education, career training or career investment. Abigaile has only been a 4-H member for the last three years in the Eastern Berks 4-H Dairy Club but has stepped up to be a leader. A month after joining 4-H, she took on the secretary position. Since joining 4-H, Abi has enjoyed learning how to show and clip animals and now shares that information with the younger 4-H members. Abi said watching the younger members learn is truly amazing. Abi is attending Cedar Crest College for nursing.
The Charles D. Care Memorial Rookie Award is presented to a first or second year member from each dairy club for being a “Rookie” of the year. Each club nominates a member who attends club meetings, participates in projects, helps out at the fair with good housekeeping and participates in showmanship and fitting. This year the clubs “Rookies” were: James Moyer from Eastern Berks 4-H Dairy Club, Allison Younker from the Northern Berks 4-H Dairy Club and Carson Sattazahn from the Western Berks 4-H Dairy Club. The overall county Charles D. Care Rookie of the Year was Carson Sattazahn.
The Jonathan Sattazahn Mid-Career 4-H Dairy Award is designed to honor the memory of Jonathan Sattazahn, a 10 year 4-H member who exemplified being helpful, caring, responsible, fun loving and a good sport. This award is to encourage mid-career 4-H members to continue to grow in their 4-H work. This year, Paige Bechtel from the Western Berks 4-H Dairy Club was the recipient of this award.
The 4-H members keep records on their cattle all year long and complete either a record book or herd journal to show what they do with their animals. These books are then judged and the top 3 in each division are recognized at the banquet. The 4-H Dairy Record Books were judged by Teresa Davis a former Berks County 4-H leader. The winners were: Beginner Division 1st place Peter Rohrbach, Eastern Berks; 2nd place Joseph Rice, Northern Berks; 3rd place Alex Younker, Northern Berks; Intermediate Division 1st place Paige Bechtel, Western Berks; 2nd place Stephanie Younker, Northern Berks; 3rd place Jason Moyer, Eastern Berks; Senior Division 1st place Taylor Pool, Northern Berks; 2nd place Madison Knepp, Northern Berks; 3rd place Isaac Rohrbach, Eastern Berks.
The 4-H Herd Journals were judged by Becky Bitler. The winners were: Beginner Division 1st place Autumn Gamler, Eastern Berks; 2nd place Nicholas Brown, Western Berks; 3rd place Justin Keller, Eastern Berks; Intermediate Division 1st place Tucker Sattazhn, Western Berks; 2nd place Mackenzie Blatt, Northern Berks; 3rd place Morgan Hillegas Eastern Berks; Senior Division 1st place Ayla Blatt, Northern Berks; 2nd place Kristin Johns, Western Berks; 3rd place Samuel Angstadt, Eastern Berks.
Officer book awards were presented to: Secretary Book – Abigail Fenerty, Eastern Berks; Treasurer Book – Samuel Angstadt, Eastern Berks; Scrapbook – Western Berks Dairy Club.
Berks County 4-H members were also recognized for their participation in dairy judging at the Penn State Spring Contest, the Pennsylvania Junior Dairy Show, the All-American Dairy Show Showmanship Contest, and as Teen Leaders in the Berks County 4-H Program.
Morgan Krick, Morgan Stump and Taylor Pool all graduated out of the 4-H program this past year. They were recognized and given a small token of appreciation for their contributions to the Berks County 4-H Dairy Program.
Entertainment for the evening was provided by Brittany Haag, Pennsylvania Alternate Dairy Princess, Samantha Haag, Berks County Alternate Dairy Princess and Chloe Shealer, Berks County Li’l Miss Dairy Princess. Brittany provided games for the audience members, Samantha presented her skit and Chloe sang songs and told a few jokes.
Wrapping up the banquet was a “year in review” photo video put together by Taylor Pool highlighting the 4-H members and activities from 2016.
Program participants included: Master of Ceremonies – Morgan Stump of Western Berks and Taylor Pool of Northern Berks; Invocation was given by Morgan Krick of Northern Berks; Pledges were led by the “Rookies of the Year”.
