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July 2008 |
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4-H: Fashioning friendships, learning to lead |
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
Local teens honored for achievements
By ANDREA POTEET
Staff Writer
Two local teens received recognition for their devotion to and involvement with the Auglaize County 4-H program during the program’s 46th annual Adviser and Junior Leader Recognition Banquet on Monday.
Emily Spangler, 19, and Jon Walterbusch, 18, earned the program’s Oustanding Youth awards.
Spangler, a Waynesfield-Goshen High School graduate who attends Ohio Northern University, has been involved in the program for 13 years. She has served as a club officer, camp counselor, and junior leader and served on the Ohio State 4-H Fashion Board and is the secretary of the Junior Fair Board.
Spangler said she was introduced to the club through her sister and her mother, Jan, and she has enjoyed the chance to meet lifelong friends.
“4-H people have a special connection that your high school friends don’t,” Spangler said.
She said her involvement in the club has helped her blossom socially. Through the club, she met new friends and cultivated interview skills and taken part in judging.
“I used to be really shy,” Spangler said, “and this helped me come out of my shell.”
Of the many activities she has been involved in through the club, she said sewing is her favorite. She learned how to sew her own clothes there and even made one of her prom dresses as a 4-H project.
“It was a surprise,” Spangler said of the group bestowing her with the award. “It’s a great honor, and I didn’t expect it. There are so many people that are deserving of it.”
Walterbusch, a senior at Memorial High School in St. Marys, has been involved in the organization for 10 years.
He has been active in the club as a camp counselor, awareness team member, junior leader, and Junior Fair Board member.
One of his favorite projects with the club was helping with the program’s Kid’s Chef School, where he celebrated his 18th birthday, he said.
“I love helping the kids out and teaching them,” Walterbusch said.
He said he also loves showing hogs in competition, coming in third and fourth at last year’s Auglaize County Fair. He plans to show hogs again at this year’s fair.
He said the chance to work with animals and meet new people have kept him involved in the organization.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Walterbusch said of the program. “You’re meeting new people and learning new things every day.”
4-H Committee President Barb Topp, presented Walterbusch, her son, with the award.
The award for “Outstanding 4-H Adviser,” which was started in 1990 to recognize the achievements of exemplary advisers, was presented to Jan and Randy Colson.
The husband-and-wife team have served the club in a variety of ways.
She has been an adviser for 28 years, and he has served as an adviser for 21 years.
They are credited with beginning the Junior Fair Boosters and working to build a horse barn for the horse program.
Every year, they organize a horse show to raise money for the horse department, with proceeds funding improvements and scholarships within the hose department.
Jan Colson, who was an adviser in a 4-H club in Cleveland, became active in the Auglaize County club when her daughters, Jodi Wasinski and Jill Colson, joined.
She said the children in the club are her motivation and have kept her involved and propelled her to work towards changes for their benefit.
“The smiles on the kid’s faces keep me involved,” Jan Colson said. “When they’re having a good time, or even then they’re learning, it’s fun.”
She said she hopes to educate teens who may already own horses on proper horse care.
“I’m not a big person to push kids to show,” Jan Colson said. “They just need to know what they have and how to take care of it.”
Randy Colson, who became involved through his wife, said he gets satisfaction from securing quality programs for the youths involved in the club.
He said the students involved in the horse program learn important skills.
“Taking care of an animal shows you that you need to care and be responsible for something other than yourself,” Randy Colson said.
The “Friend of 4-H” award, presented to a person or company who supports the program, was awarded to RRR Tire Service. Owners Sandy and Mike Reithman worked on the Junior Fair Livestock Committee and supported the sale. They were not present at the banquet. |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 05 March 2008 )
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| | ...I love the "small town" charm and sense of community I feel when I run into my father at Community Market or my Mother-in-Law at Walmart or one of my sisters at the gas station! Tracy Anderson - Wapakoneta
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