BROWNSTOWN

Being involved in Jackson County 4-H for 10 years, Skyler Stahl and Brittany Ross have gained a lot of experience and knowledge that will carry on in their lives.

Accomplishments along the way have been bonuses.

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For all 4-H has given to them, they recently received something in return — the Indiana Farm Bureau 4-H Tenure Award.

Every year, two 4-H’ers — one male, one female — from each county in the state are recognized for having the greatest number of projects in their careers.

Sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, Stahl, a recent Trinity Lutheran High School graduate, finished with 55 projects, and Ross, who graduated from Crothersville High School in May, tallied 64.

Those numbers, however, are a little deceiving because each species of animal they show only counts as one project, even if they show more than one animal. For example, Stahl showed several cows each year, while Ross showed multiple goats.

The awards, sponsored by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, are presented during the county fair. Neither Stahl nor Ross knew they were receiving the award until they walked into the 4-H building on the first day of the fair and saw banners hanging on the wall.

“I was working in the 4-H building on Sunday (July 23), and I looked up on the wall and went, ‘Hmm,’” Stahl said.

“I looked at Heather (VonDielingen, Jackson County 4-H youth development educator) when I went down Sunday to check out our projects, and I was like, ‘What is this?’ and then she’s like, ‘Oh yeah, surprise!’” Ross said.

Being selected among 41 10-year Jackson County 4-H’ers meant a lot to both recipients. It was extra-special to Stahl because his father, Bruce Stahl, was the male recipient in 1987.

“When you look across the board at all of the 10-year members, there’s a lot of hard workers out there that I know of, people that put a lot of time into their projects, so to be recognized going beyond that is pretty awesome,” Stahl said.

“All of the 10-year members out there are very hardworking,” Ross said. “It’s just amazing to think that we’re the top two that made it through all of this. It just shows how much work that we put into 4-H.”

For a majority of his 4-H career, Stahl said he mainly focused on livestock and did a poster project or two. This year, he showed three types of animals and did three posters.

Along with animals, Ross has dabbled in other 4-H projects over the years, including gardening, cake decorating, microwave foods and posters. Early on, she did about a dozen projects a year. This year, though, she had animals and one other project.

From the livestock aspect, both 4-H’ers said the experience they have gained over the years has given them enough responsibility to now be able to show without much guidance.

“I would say when I started out, it was mostly my dad and my older brother that would help me learn how to do stuff with the cows and stuff, and now this year, I pretty much took over and just did all of the work, and my parents just helped me a little,” Stahl said.

Ross said she was encouraged to join 4-H because her older brother and her mother both had been involved. Three years into it, she added livestock, and this year, she was president of the Mighty Meat Goats 4-H Club.

“There’s no way a couple of years ago that I would be so social and be willing to step up and be president, lead the club, make the phone calls for the meetings, lead the meetings, travel to people’s farms if they needed help with anything, like getting ready for a show,” Ross said. “We’re big role models now, and it feels good to know that we started at the bottom, and now, we are where we are.”

Stahl and Ross both have a younger sibling and have liked being able to help them with 4-H.

They also encourage other youth to get involved in the organization.

“Honestly, it’s probably the best thing you could do,” Ross said. “It teaches leadership skills, social skills. You can be a role model when you’re done and over with. It’s just an incredible group. It’s like one big family, and there’s so much to offer and so many people willing to help. It also looks good applying for colleges or jobs putting it on a résumé.”

Once kids become involved, Ross said it’s important to stick with it.

“Once you start something, finish it. Don’t give up,” she said. “It might seem overwhelming whenever you start out, but it’s really not. Once you start talking to people, then you realize that we’re all here to help each other. It’s not all about the trophies and the ribbons that you win. It’s about the effort and the lessons you learn.”

While receiving honors along the way, Stahl said it’s important to not just settle or go through taking the minimal amount.

“Go above and beyond,” he said.

With 4-H behind them, Stahl and Ross both plan to continue participating in open livestock shows.

Stahl is going to study agriculture business at Purdue University and said showing cows most likely will continue to be a part of his life, while Ross is going to University of Saint Francis to study radiology and participate in track and field and said she hopes to continue to raise show stock.