FRANKLIN CO., Pa. — On Monday, November 25, 2024, fifty-four youth were recognized for their accomplishments at the 2024 Franklin County 4-H Recognition Night. The event was held at Solomons Evangelical Lutheran Church. The event was planned by both the Franklin County 4-H Teen Leadership Council and the 4-H Program Development Advisory Committee. The program was run by Teen Leadership 4-H members, lead by the president Rebekah Aldrich as the Mistress of Ceremonies, supported by Adrian Davis and Sophia Musgrave.
The awards program began by recognizing 4-H members who earned the Point Award. This award is broken into three different categories based on age. Each age group has a specific number of points they must earn throughout the program year to receive the award. Points are earned by participating in a variety of 4-H activities, including attending club meetings, participating in county, regional, and state events, completing community service projects, serving as a club officer, and much more!
The Point Award was presented to 4-H members by the Honorable Paul Schemel – Representative of the 90th District. This award was sponsored by F&M Trust.
The Cloverbud Point Award was earned by Eliza Gossard, Hailey Gross, Esme Mazzone, Harper McClung, Ezekiel Post, Oliver Povilaitis, Ella Rotz, Sawyer Rung, Jackson Thompson, and Loretta Wagaman.
The Junior Point Award was earned by Sarah Aldrich, Arielle Andrews, Aubree Bittinger, Natalie Bistline, Jenna Davis, Addison Edelman, Lydia Gingerich, Sophia Gordon, Garrett Gross, Eve Gunkelman, Eva Harris, Coulter Knoll, Jake Knoll, Iva Mummert, Samuel Neinstedt, Waylon Post, Madison Romberger, Chance Rotz, Layne Rotz, Lillianna Schaefer, Alexa Shultz, Natalie Strauser, Logan Timmons, Tenley Timmons, Lana Trace, Ava Turner, Emilyn Turner, Robert Valderrama, Samuel Valderrama, Bristol Wagaman, Kailey Wagaman, and Alexis Wilson.
Lastly, the Senior Point Award was earned by Rebekah Aldrich, Adrian Davis, Abigail Gingerich, Hannah Gingerich, Jillian Harper, Savannah Hein, Zoe Knoll, Sophia Musgrave, and Gabrielle Sanchez.
The program continued with the recognition of members who earned a Clover Award. The Clover Award program has six different levels that a 4-H member can work to achieve throughout their 4-H career. Each level has a set of 4-H activities that the member must complete and briefly explain when completing the award application. The Honorable Rich Irvin, Representative of the 81st District, presented the Clover Awards. These awards were sponsored by Horizon Farm Credit.
The first level is the Green Clover Award, which was presented to Natalie Bistline, Sophia Gordon, Garret Gross, Eva Harris, Coulter Knoll, Jake Knoll, Zoe Knoll, Iva Mummert, Sophia Musgrave, Samuel Nienstedt, Lillianna Schaefer, Alexa Shultz, Logan Timmons, Tenley Timmons, Ava Turner, Emilyn Turner, Robert Valderrama, Samuel Valderrama, and Alexis Wilson.
Arielle Andrews received the second level, the White Clover Award. Receiving the third level, the Bronze Clover Award was Jenna Davis and Natalie Strauser. The fourth level, the Silver Clover Award was earned and presented to Adrian Davis.
4-H Club Leaders had the opportunity to recognize 4-H’ers with Club Level awards at the 2024 Franklin County 4-H Recognition Night. Members were recognized in two different categories: Project Awards and 4 ‘H’ Awards.
Project Awards recognize the individuals with the highest scores earned for their annual 4-H Record Book. 4-H members work throughout the year to complete a record book. They begin by setting goals, document their experience and reflect on their overall accomplishments. The following individuals were recognized for their hard work and high scores with Dairy Project Record Books: Rebekah Aldrich, Sarah Aldrich, Addison Edelman, Chance Rotz
The 4 ‘H’ Awards were developed to recognize 4-H Members who exemplify the 4 ‘H’s’, Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.
Earning the Clear Head Award: Jenna Davis, Peyton Heck, Gabrielle Sanchez, Samuel Valderrama
Earning the Big Heart Award: Adrian Davis, Ava Heck, Lillianna Schaefer, Kailey Wagaman
Earning the Helping Hands Award: Jenna Davis, Bentley Funk, Eva Harris, Alexis Wilson
Earning the Healthy Living Award: Arielle Andrews, Jenna Davis, Quinn Everetts, Waylon Post
The awards portion of the program concluded with recognition of four outstanding 4-H members for their dedication and contributions to the Franklin County 4-H program with four county level awards. The Honorable Senator Douglas Mastriano presented each of these awards to the recipients.
The Outstanding First Year 4-H’er award recognizes a member who completed their first year of 4-H who has worked to better their understanding, willingly completing tasks when asked, and always looking for more ways to be involved or improve their project skills and knowledge. The 2024 Franklin County First Year 4-H’er Award was earned by Eva Harris.
The Junior Achievement award recognizes a 4-H member aged 8 – 13 who is eagerly involved, committed to learning, and willing to serve others. The 2024 Franklin County 4-H Junior Achievement Award was earned by Samuel Valderrama. This award was sponsored by Heck’s Diesel Tech, LLC.
The ‘I Dare You’ Award goes to a 4-H member who demonstrates growing leadership skills and works to make a positive difference within the organization. The award is named after Mr. William H. Danforth’s book, “I Dare You,” The book was first published in 1931, and is still considered one of the most influential books in personal motivation. The award recipient is presented with a copy of the book. The 2024 ‘I Dare You’ Award was presented to Abigail Gingerich. This Award was sponsored by Backroads Greenhouse.
The Outstanding 4-H’er Award recognizes a member aged 14 – 18 who has exemplified 4-H values and maximized 4-H opportunities. The 2023 – 2024 Franklin County 4-H Outstanding 4-H’er is Savannah Hein. Savannah has served as a camp counselor at both overnight camp and regional retreat, has helped plan county events on Teen Leadership Council, was selected as one of only ten individuals to attend National 4-H Conference, and represented Franklin County and Pennsylvania at 4-H National Congress this year. This award was sponsored by Eye Spy Grooming.
Congratulations to all youth who worked hard with their 4-H projects throughout the year to earn these well-deserved awards. The 4-H motto is ‘To Make the Best Better’ and this group of youth exemplifies the commitment to do just that.
Franklin County 4-H would like to extend our gratitude to the volunteers who work diligently to provide such great opportunities to our youth, and the parents and guardians who commit time to support their youth’s involvement in 4-H programming.
The 2024 Franklin County 4-H recognition night was made possible by the generous contributions of our sponsors: The Lehman Family Foundation, F&M Trust, Horizon Farm Credit, Eye Spy Grooming, Heck’s Diesel Tech, Backroads Greenhouse, and Dr. Michael and Wendy Martin. We also received In Kind Donations from Martins Custom Services and Tracey’s Orchard. We would also like to thank our gracious hosts, Solomons Evangelical Lutheran Church. Thank you to each of these businesses, organizations, and individuals, and to everyone who played a role in making this awards celebration a success.
4-H is an organization for youth aged 5 – 18. For more information about Franklin County 4-H please contact 4-H Youth Development Educator, Quinn Martin, at [email protected] or 717-263-9226.
–Quinn Martin, Franklin County 4-H Youth Development Educator
Penn State Extension