4-Hers place in Food Challenge

By Sam Waller

Four Shackelford County 4-H teams placed in the District 7 Food Challenge, held Wednesday, Jan. 25 at San Angelo.

“The day went great,” Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said. “A couple of those teams were all new to this, had never done it before, and they did great.”

The True Grits team of Luke Smith, Ayers Bezner, Truitt Burton, and Gage Burton, coached by Alicia Burton, finished second in side dish.

The Prairie Girls (Hannah Foy, Reese Nitschke, Dally Bezner, and Maggie Spraberry, coached by Betsy Spraberry) placed fourth in main dish.

The 24 Karat Magic team (Romie Hinshaw, Laramie Oliver, Cameron Burton, and Luke Foy, coached by Alicia Burton) took fifth place in side dish.

The Herds (Gibson Ware, Rainy Nitschke, Kalison Oliver, and Kimberly Howe, coached by Claire Ware) was eighth in main dish.

“Contestants have no idea what category they’re going to be in,” Bell said. “They’re given the main ingredient and told to make a main dish or a side dish or whatever category they end up in.”

All four local teams competed in the junior division. Only the senior age group advances to the state contest.

Next Meeting

Shackelford County 4-H will hold its February meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6 at The Feed Store.

“We’re going to have a quick meeting, then do station work,” Bell said. “Connor Smith will have an outdoor education station, Faith Fry will lead a horse station, and Carly Howard, who has taught speech at the college level, will do a speech workshop. We’ll split the kids into groups and rotate through each station.”

Bell said the meeting will also include working on community service projects.

“We’re making blessing bags, just a little kit of things,” she said. “If families encounter a homeless person, and they feel comfortable doing it, the kids can give these bags full of items that might help.”

A photography workshop will be held at 4:00 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9 at Lindy Hudman’s studio.

The 4-H horse judging  teams will compete at San Antonio the weekend of Feb. 10-11.

Help Needed

Bell is seeking volunteers to serve as coaches for the club’s shooting sports programs.

“Coaches have to be certified in order to lead a 4-H shooting sports team,” she said. “That requires taking a one or two-day training.”

Bell said the club has coaches for all disciplines, but they often can’t spend the time required to oversee the programs.

“I want to find people who are interested and have the time to lead something like that,” she said.