On Sunday, about 80 people attended the annual Greene County 4-H awards ceremony.

Greene County ISU Extension office staff honored all those 4-H’ers who turned in record books throughout this year and they also recognized various contributions through donations, published materials and volunteers from area businesses and individual adults.

There were 20 juniors, 18 intermediates and 13 senior 4-H’ers that received various awards for record book keeping along with participation and project awards.  Conner Allender and Ashlyn Frederick received the Junior Spark Award which was new this year and it recognized a 4-H’er who showed enthusiasm and had a positive attitude toward 4-H.  Bailey Godwin won the Major Life Skills Award for overall merit and overall record keeping as a senior 4-H’er.

Extension Coordinator Michael Cooley says another major part of the 4-H program are all the adult volunteers and area businesses who help make all the 4-H programs possible.  He talks about the important aspects that volunteers have on the 4-H program.

“So it’s a great opportunity to have an impact whether its as a club leader or whether its a volunteer to help 4-H’ers in a certain project area that they might be working on.  So we’re always in search of volunteers for a wide variety of opportunities.”

The adult awards included the honorary 4-H award given to Verle Bennett, 4-H alumni awards were given to David Higgins and Wendy Mount.  Doug Hawn was recognized for his induction into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame during this year’s Iowa State Fair, Greenbrier 4-H Club was honored as the Iowa 4-H’ers for 4-H award and Tori Riley was given the Mertorious award.  Home State Bank, Raccoon Valley Radio and Michael Cooley were all recognized as this year’s Friend of 4-H awards.

Part of helping with 4-H is the longevity that some volunteers give of their time and efforts.  12 individuals were recognized for their fifth year of service with the Award of the Clover, Mike Minnehan was honored for his 15 years of service while Linda Hedges and Steve Karber were both recognized for their 25 years of service to the 4-H program.

If anyone would like to learn more about 4-H, call or stop by the Greene County ISU Extension office in Jefferson.