Berkshire County 4-H Holds Awards and Recognition Event
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Malik Hogan, left, Bria Wells, Brooke Wells, Katilyn Decker, Kayli Smith, Ruby Trabka and Jade Hogan pose in front of the Winter Wonderland banner. All of them are members of the Sheffield Whinnies 4-H club. |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Approximately 80 people gathered at St. Stephen's Church on Sunday, Dec. 2 to celebrate and honor the accomplishments of 4-H members and volunteers for the 2011-2012 4-H Year.
Volunteers recognized for years of service were: One Year: Michelle Dawson of Southfield, Joanne Derwitsch of Ashley Falls, Amanda Hart of North Adams, Kathleen Loring of New Marlborough, Katherine Lothrop of Lee, Margo and Robert Mueller of East Canaan (Conn.), Desiree Robertson-DuBois of Dalton, Susan "Sofia" Sakharov of Alford, Thomas Sermini of Lee, Katherine Vause of Stockbridge and Ernest West of Pittsfield.
Five years: Chadwick and Laurie Cuevas of Cheshire.
20 years: Henry R. Cadorette, Jr. of Pittsfield.
40 years: Scott Robinson of Lenox.
Friends Of 4-H awards are given to people, businesses or organizations for "dedicated and outstanding service to the 4-H Program." The winners of these awards for the 2011-2012 4-H year were Chris Brielman of Pittsfield, Lisa Dachinger of Pittsfield, and Thomas Laureyns of Four Seasons Heating and Cooling.
The Fair Honor Roll is to recognize those who go above and beyond to help make the annual Youth Fair a success. Those recognized as this year's honorees were Mary Brazie of Great Barrington, Henry R. Cadorette III of Pittsfield, Chadwick and Laurie Cuevas of Cheshire, Colleen, Danielle, and Jennifer Lee Hickey of Pittsfield, Jamie Kaczowski of Savoy, Caitlin Moriarty of Cheshire, and Wally Tanner of Dalton.
Ella Markowitz of Windsor received the Loving Hands Award. 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.
Attending the National 4-H Dairy Conference is one of the highest honors that a 4-H Dairy member can be recognized for. Caitlin Moriarty of Cheshire was selected after an interview process and attended a week-long conference in Madison, Wis. Youth who competed in the Big E for 4-H were honored as well.
For Sheep: Alexandra and Georgianna Sprinstube of West Stockbridge
For Visual Presentations: Jacqueline Thoresen Toolan of Lenox.
Representing Berkshire County for the Massachusetts 4-H Horse Show was Malik Hogan of Sheffield, Ruby Trabka of Great Barrington, and Brialynn Wells of Sheffield.
Recognized for their work as Berkshire County 4-H Ambassadors were Aliza Ahlen of Pittsfield, Angelina Mangiardi of Pittsfield and Caitlin Moriarty of Cheshire.
State 4-H Visual Presentations is a competition among hundreds of Massachusetts 4-H'ers in public speaking. Members can only be chosen to go on to states after they compete in a Berkshire County competition first. Those chosen for state Visual Presenters were Aliza Ahlen of Pittsfield, Fiora Caligiuri-Randall of Lee, Katelynn Dawson of Southfield, Lydia Loverin of Pittsfield, Isabella Penna-Ward of Pittsfield, and Jacqueline Thoresen Toolan of Lenox.
County Medals are given out to 4-H'ers who complete a 4-H record explaining their work for the year and the projects they have worked on. Medal recipients were:
- Daniel Epe of Pittsfield, Elspeth Robertson-DuBois of Dalton, and Kayli Smith of Egremont were recognized as 4-H Cloverbuds (members 5-7 years old).
- Aliza Ahlen of Pittsfield for Poultry
- Allison Brazie for Horse
- Fiora Caligiuri-Randall of Lee for Community Service, Conservation, Pets, Leadership, and Visual Arts
- Katelynn Dawson of Southfield for Gardening, Horse, and Poultry
- Katilyn Decker of Housatonic for Horse
- Jamie Kaczowski of Savoy for Dairy
- Caitlin Moriarty of Cheshire for Dairy and Leadership
- Natal Paredes of North Adams for Fitness Leadership and Photography
- Nathan Petricca of Pittsfield for Goat
- Morgan Robertson-DuBois of Dalton for Goat
- Ruby Trabka of Great Barrington for Horse
- Brialynn Wells of Sheffield for Horse
- Thomas Williams of Ashley Falls for Outdoor Education and Recreation.
The final awards given were the Top H awards. The Top H award can only be won a maximum of two times in someone's life — once as a junior 4-H'er and once as a senior 4-H'er. For this award several youth are nominated by volunteers judging 4-H records and those nominees then must apply for the award and submit a letter of recommendation from their 4-H Leader. All application, letters of recommendation and 4-H Records are then judged by someone outside the Berkshire 4-H office.
This year's winners were:
Junior Top H – Fiora Caligiuri-Randall, a member of the Earth Stars 4-H Club in Lee
Senior Top H – Caitlin Moriarty, a member of the Maple Valley 4-H Club in Cheshire.
