GALION — The Galion Blue Ribbon Achievers 4-H Club continues to grow and develop, according to its leaders.
The growth is evidenced by the number of young people who are now members. According to Mandy Kent, one of the club’s two advisors, the club roster now numbers 28 members.
“We have 20 4-H members and eight Cloverbuds along with the two advisors,” said Kent. The club membership includes multiple siblings from nine local families.
The club membership roster includes Lorelei Comerford, Seamus Comerford, Caden Dick, Carson Dick, Cohen Dick, Lily Frankhouse, Steven Glew, Audrey Glew, Jameson Glew, Lilly Gosser, Autumn Gosser, Nora Harding, Gradey Harding, Myla Harding, Caroline Ice, Eleanor Ice, Isabella Ice, Cooper Kent, Carly Kent, Colby Kent, Zoey Martin, James McCoy, Jaxon Perkins, Landon Perkins, Ben Rinehart, Jack Rinehart, Will Rinehart, and Kathryn Rinehart.
Kent and TJ Link are the club’s advisors.
With the majority of members living inside Galion city limits, Kent said, historically, the Blue Ribbon Achievers have focused primarily on projects that don’t involve farm animals, but that trend is changing.
“Most of our kids are city kids so most of the projects they take are the Department 1 projects,” Kent said. “We do a lot of cooking projects. We had an archery project this year. We had genealogy projects, a makeover your space project, we learned how to take care of dogs — you know the typical kinds of projects that kids that don’t have livestock do. But, the livestock group is growing.”
Kent said members of the Galion Blue Ribbon Achievers were represented in multiple animal barns at the 2021 Crawford County Junior Fair.
“We’re represented in the alpaca barn, the poultry barn, the swine barn, and the dairy beef feeder barn,” Kent said. “So we do have about half of our members that are in livestock now, which has really changed over the years.”
Kent said club members enjoyed success at the 2021 junior fair. Following are some of the highlights for the Galion Blue Ribbon Achievers, according to their advisors.
In the Advanced Health Living Projects division, Ben Rinehart won first place and qualified for the Ohio State Fair with his Your Thoughts Matter project.
Lily Frankhouse won first place and qualified for the state fair with her Let’s Start Cooking project in the Beginner Level Food and Nutrition Projects division.
In the Family History Treasure Hunt (genealogy) competition, the Blue Ribbon Achievers will be represented by two club members at the Ohio State Fair. Cooper Kent won first prize with his project (third year and beyond) and Seamus Comerford placed second (second-year only).
Jameson Glew was the recipient of the Best Overall Outdoor Sport Project award. He is headed to the Ohio State Fair after winning first place with his Basic Archery project.
Lorelei Comerford came in second in the All About Dogs competition and will represent the club at the state fair.
Audrey Glew claimed first place with her project Make Over My Space in the Home Living Projects division. She was also honored as the recipient of the Best Overall Home Living Project award.
Jaxon Perkins claimed first place and earned a trip to the state fair with his Grow Your Own Vegetables project. He also won Best Overall Gardening/Horticulture Project. Perkins also won first place and qualified for the state fair with his Tractor 1 project.
Jackson Rinehart won first place and is headed to the state fair with his Fishing for Beginners project.
Isabella Ice captured first place and qualified for the state fair with her Exploring Polar Science project.
William Rinehart won third place with his Get Started in Art project in the Creative Art Projects competition.
In the Money Management Projects competition, Steven Glew finished runnerup with his Teens on the Road to Financial Success project.
Advisor TJ Link said all three Harding siblings entered animals in the dairy feeder calves competition. Myla Harding was the junior showmanship champion. Nora Harding won first place in her class. Gradey Harding placed fourth in the intermediate showmanship competition.
In the goats competition, Link said, Myla Harding placed first in her class and made it to the middle weight drive. She finished fourth in junior showmanship. With her second goat, she placed second in her class.
Carly Kent won first prize with her turkey project, placed third with her chickens project, finished third in alpaca showmanship, and placed in the top five in the alpaca obstacles competition.
To top off the week, the club’s display booth won the Most Eye Catching award. The booth’s theme for the 2021 fair was “Grilling Up Fun in 4-H.”
“Our Cloverbuds also enjoyed their sharing time and walking around the fair together — followed by shaved ice of course,” Link said.
Mandy Kent said the Galion Blue Ribbon Achievers 4-H Club meets once a month from 7 to 8 p.m. from February through fair time.
