4–H members harvest good crop of awards

Michael Hilborn
Fort Frances Times

The Rainy River District 4-H Association held its annual awards banquet in Stratton on Friday, paying tribute to those members and volunteers who have helped it become a thriving organization in the district.
Since this year also marked the 90th anniversary of the organization’s operation in Ontario, local Ontario 4-H Council director Ellen Chojko-Bolec was a special head table guest for the affair.
In addition to recognizing the achievements of individual members over the past year, a great deal of emphasis was placed on the role played by volunteers and youth leaders in sustaining 4-H in the district.
The Fort Frances Kiwanis Club has been an avid supporter of 4-H for many years, and that tradition continued Friday night when club president Robert Sletmoen presented 4-H president Kari Lemelin with a $500 cheque to kick off the evening’s festivities.
After dinner meal, first-year members were presented with plaques, including Cody Bodnar, Justin Bujold, Nathan Bujold, Ethan Firth, Kaleb Firth, Mitchell Haw, Cody Heyens, Kari Manty, Meagan McBride, Tyson McLean, Ben Miller, Lucas Morrish, Rylee Mowe, Tyler Neilson, Rylee Nixon, Alexis Sharp, Kaiya Sutherland, Adrian Vandenbrand, and Josh Zimmerman.
Pins also were awarded to first-time leaders Dell Ambs, Joyous Bragg, Brent Miller, and Kathy Stahn.
Next on the agenda was the presentation of 4-H project awards for those individuals who achieved particular milestones over the past year.
Laura Darby, David Donaldson, Andrew Morrish, and Jolene Stahn were presented with pins for having completed six projects while Logan Donaldson was presented with a pen and desk set for having completed 12 projects.
Of course, members eventually reach the age (18) when they must move on and this night, four members were recognized for their accomplishments over their years as 4-H members.
Greg Haglin (24 projects), Joey Sletmoen (16 projects), Jeff Teeple (15 projects), and Laura Zimmerman (34 projects) officially retired Friday.
Many former members go on to become leaders and are so recognized for
every five years of service. On Friday night, Tracy Hyatt (five years),
Louise Bliss (15 years), and Chojko-Bolec (25 years) were presented with
certificates commemorating their service to 4-H.
In addition, there was a special surprise award given to Kim Jo Bliss
for her years of service to the 4-H—both officially and unofficially—over
the years.
As Chojko-Bolec presented Bliss with a gold-trimmed hand-painted plate,
she told those on hand that “if there was anything that needed to be done,
you could always count on Kimmy Jo to be there and get it done.”
There also were breed awards presented to members for their work with
animals in the 4-H beef club.
Anthony Boersma, Mitchell Haw, and Nikki Smith received plagues on
behalf of the Ontario Aberdeen Angus Association while Riley Caul, Jeff
Hyatt, and Kerry Hyatt received the Ontario Charolais Association award.
The Canadian Galloway Association award went to David Donaldson, Andrew
Morrish, and Jolene Stahn while the Ontario Hereford Association award went
to Justin Bujold, Nathan Bujold, Jock Gemmell, Kevin Gemmell, Aaron
Kuorikoski, and Tegan Miller.
The Ontario Junior Limousin Association awards went to Cody Bodnar,
Ethan Firth, Hannah Firth, and Kaleb Firth while the Ontario Simmental
Association awards went to Kelsey McLean, Tyson McLean, Jared McQuaker, Matt
McQuaker, Ben Miller, David Nussbaumer, Lucas Nussbaumer, Jeff Teeple, Sara
Truelove, and Linda Zimmerman.
The Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association awarded gift certificates to
first-year beef members Cody Bodnar, Justin Bujold, Nathan Bujold, Ethan
Firth, Kaleb Firth, Mitchell Haw, Tyson McLean, and Ben Miller.
Finally, Jared McQuaker of Stratton was presented with the DeGagne Award
as the beef club member who has accumulated the most points over the past
three years of beef club work. He received a trophy plus a $100 cheque.