The annual Pope County 4-H Awards Program was held on Sunday, October 15 at the Glenwood Lutheran Church.  The event celebrated the achievements of the members and volunteers involved in the Pope County 4-H Youth Development Program.  Members received recognition for their years of membership, project records, leadership, and community club involvement. 

Record keeping is an important part of completing the 4-H learning process.  This year, forty youth completed records. Record completion award for completing records from 6-12th grades was awarded to Lily Becker of the Ben Wade Blazers 4-H Club.

Herdsmanship Awards were given individually in the Horse Project. The Champion was Kinzee Jenniges and the Reserve Champion was Katie Koenig. Our Division one Livestock winners were the Wayside 4-H Club and the Division two Livestock winner was the Busy Beavers 4-H Club.

Our Outstanding First Year Member awards were given to Levi Becker, Blake Pooch, Nolan Listerud, Kaylee Bauer, Maddy Spader, Adilyn Deters, and Ava Rost.

Spirit of 4-H Awards were given to one youth from the Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Division. The winners are: Junior Division- Brady Grimes, Intermediate Division- Morgan Bryce, Senior Division- Dilyn Douvier.

Our “I Dare You” award recipients received a copy of the “I Dare You” book by William H. Danforth were Amber Peabody of the Ben Wade Blazers 4-H Club and Jayce Kovarik of the Villard Livewires 4-H Club.

Friend of 4-H Award is given to an outstanding individual or business that has supported the Pope County 4-H Program. This year we honored Glenwood Fleet Supply for their contributions over many years to our 4-H program. New this year, the Leaders Council decided to add another award, the 4-H Impact Award. This award is given to a community member, volunteer, or member who had significant contributions to 4-H throughout the year. It was awarded to Michelle Dougherty, the 4-H Food Stand Manager during the County Fair.

The Outstanding Volunteer award was awarded to Holly Kovarik of the Villard Livewires 4-H Club for her countless hours of mentoring, organizing and leading in the 4-H program. This award is sponsored by the Glenwood Chamber of Commerce.

  We also took time to honor our 4-H Clubs for their contributions to support the 4-H motto “to make the best better”. Our Outstanding Community Service Club award was awarded to the Villard Livewires 4-H Club and sponsored by the Glenwood Rotary Club.  The Outstanding Conservation Club was awarded to the Lakes Area Leaders 4-H Club.  The 4-H Club of the Year, sponsored by Runestone Electric Cooperative in Alexandria, was awarded to the Lowry Legends 4-H Club. 

The Awards Ceremony wrapped up the first week of the new 4-H year and the celebration of National 4-H Week, October 1-7. This year’s theme was “I   4-Hl”!  Clubs participated in a display contest with first place going to Busy Beavers 4-H Club, second place to Villard Livewires 4-H Club, and third place to Ben Wade Blazers 4-H Club.

4-H is operated by University of Minnesota Extension. To learn more about 4-H in Pope County, visit https://extension.umn.edu/local/pope.