Berkshire 4-H Presents Annual Awards & Recognitions
.jpg) Aliza Ahlen, left, and Charlotte Smith received the Top H Awards. |
The annual gathering of the Berkshire County chapter recognized volunteers for their years of service and Friends of 4-H, and presented awards to 4-H members for their achievements in various categories.
The Key Award, which is presented by the state association for leadership, citizenship and community service
went to Angelina Mangiardi of Pittsfield.
The Top H Awards, which can only be won a maximum of two times, were awarded to Charlotte Smith of New Marlborough, as Junior Top H, and Aliza Ahlen of Pittsfield, as Senior Top H.
Youth are nominated for Top H Awards by volunteers judging 4-H records; they must apply for the award and submit a letter of recommendation from their 4-H Leader. All applications are judged outside the Berkshire 4-H Office.
This year's Loving Hands Award went to Aliza Ahlen of Pittsfield. The award must be applied for and is given in memory of longtime Pittsfield veterinarian Dr. Winthrop E. Brielman to a youth who, during the Youth Fair, best exemplifies the ability to handle and care for his or her animal. Western Mass High Point Award was presented to Fiora Caligiuri-Randall of Lee for here submissions in Arts & Crafts, Natural Resources and Home Economics. The competitive award requires 4-Hers in the four Western Massachusetts counties to show at no less than three fairs, in different counties, with points tallied against all youth in all counties. Volunteers recognized for years of service were: One year: Jerry and Teri Goodermote of Clarksburg; Kim and Ken Kaigle Sr. and Betty Jo Poulton, all of Cheshire; Gretchen Fairfield of Lenox Dale; Marcia and Mark Dallmeyer, Doris-Jean Hayes, Krista Mangiardi, Caterina Penna, David Ward and Brett Westbrook, all of Pittsfield, and Bonnie Wells of Sheffield.Five years: Noelle Pixley of Great Barrington and Yoanna Maitre of Lenox
10 years: Mary Anne Hicks of Richmond.
Friends of 4-H Awards are given to people, businesses or organizations for "dedicated and outstanding service to the 4-H Program." This year's awards were given to Girls Inc. of the Berkshires, Wally Tanner of Dalton and Ken Lussier of Lenox. The Fair Honor Roll recognizes those who go above and beyond to help make the annual Youth Fair a success. This year's honor roll is Maureen Riley-Moriarty and Bill Moriarty, both of Cheshire; Bruce Jenks of Maple Valley Creamery in Hadley; Dan and Liz Robinson of Lenox; Jane Diaz of North Adams, and Koren Ahlen-Salinovici, Donna Chandler, Jason Konowitch, Jerry Miller and Lisa Provencher, all of Pittsfield. Youth who competed in the Big E for 4-H were honored as well. Dairy: Justin Brunelle of South Hadley, Aaron Cuevas and Jesse Cuevas, both of Cheshire.
Sheep: Alexandra Springstube and Georgianna Springstube, both of West Stockbridge.
Representing Berkshire County for dairy in the Massachusetts 4-H Dairy show were Brunelle, and Aaron and Jesse Cuevas, and Caitlin Moriarty of Cheshire. The Springstubes competed in the All American Junior Sheep Show in Des Moines, Iowa.
Recognized for their work as Berkshire County 4-H Ambassadors were Aliza Ahlen and Angelina Mangiardi, both of Pittsfield, and Caitlin Moriarty of Cheshire. The Berkshire County 4-H Tech Wizards, youth working on technology-based projects made through a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice Detention Prevention, were recognized. All the Tech Wizards were from Pittsfield: Monica Anderson, Peter Austin-Small, Brandon Bamba, Tavarshea Cameron, Christian Daury, Josh Daury, Dylan Dermody, Katie Dumigan, Kailey Fuller, Michaela Gilmore, Kiiyah Johnson, Collin Knight, Darrin Knight, Mya Monson, Alyssa Montgomery, Zyir Rasheed, Ariel Soldana, Alexi Starks, Keyondre Taft, Caitlin Terpak, Patrick Terpak, Kenisha Torres and Sean Weed. State 4-H Visual Presentations is a competition in public speaking. Members can only be chosen to go on to states after they compete in the county competition first. Those chosen for state VPs were: Aliza Ahlen and Angelina Mangiardi, both of Pittsfield, and Thomas Williams of Ashley Falls. Williams was also recognized for attending the state competition and representing Berkshire 4-H with honor. Mangiardi was recognized as one of only eight chosen to represent Massachusetts 4-H at National 4-H Congress in Atlanta. She attended the event with more than 900 4-Hers from all over the United States. County Medals are given out to members who complete a 4-H record explaining their work for the year and the projects they have worked on. Medal recipients were as follows: - Daniel Epe and Lucy Swindlehurst, both of Pittsfield, were recognized as 4-H Cloverbuds (members 5-7 years old)
- Aliza Ahlen of Pittsfield for Poultry
- Fiora Caligiuri-Randall of Lee for Community Service, Cat, Bicycle, Visual Arts
- Aaron Cuevas, Jesse Cuevas and Caitlin Moriarty, all of Cheshire, and Jamie Kaczowski of Savoy all for Dairy
- Katelynn Dawson of Southfield for Gardening, Poultry, Horse
- Jaclyn Derwitsch of Ashley Falls for Clothing and Textiles, Outdoor Education and Recreation
- Sebastian Lawson of Sheffield for Outdoor Education & Recreation
- Michalea Loring of New Marlborough for Dog
- Angelina Mangiardi of Pittsfield for Leadership, Rabbits
- Natal Paredes of North Adams for Photography
- Charlotte Smith of New Marlborough for Clothing & Textiles, Outdoor Education & Recreation, Community Service
- Nick Soldato of Pittsfield for Visual Arts
- Alexandra Springstube of West Stockbridge for Sheep, Rabbits, Poultry
- Ruby Trabka of Great Barrington, Brialynn Wells and Brooke Wells, both of Sheffield, and Nicole Mueller of East Canaan, Conn., all for Horse
- Thomas Williams of Ashley Falls for Poultry, Outdoor Education and Recreation, Dog
Tags: 4-H, agriculture, award,
