Tennessee 4-H Foundation News Archives

Mattie Smith Advocates for Agriculture in D.C.

One of Mattie Smith’s favorite memories of growing up on her family’s farm in Ten Mile is of bottle-feeding an orphaned calf. Her agriculture background and 4-H career led her to Washington D.C. to advocate for agriculture. “I remember getting up at 5:30 in the morning, and I’d ride my bicycle across the road to my grandparents’ house, to the barn, and I would have a warm milk bottle waiting on me to feed it,” says Smith, a now 18-year-old 4-H’er. “Then

Hannah Lewis2024-06-13T10:44:29-05:00

Tennessee Farmers Cooperative CEO Receives Friend of 4-H Award

As chief executive officer of Tennessee Farmers Cooperative (TFC), Shannon Huff is “incredibly humbled” to receive the Friend of 4-H Award but says he “feels bad about accepting it” because his company is the longtime and significant supporter of 4-H. “The award should be shared by everyone at the company,” Huff says. The Tennessee 4-H Foundation annually honors outstanding individuals who have gone above and beyond in supporting 4-H Youth Development by contributing time and resources to help young people enrolled in

Hannah Lewis2024-06-13T10:29:11-05:00

4-H Alumni Reunion Reunites the Generations

Tennessee 4-H alumni and friends across generations gathered on March 2, 2024, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Lebanon to reminisce, reflect and reconnect at the TN 4-H Alumni Reunion. “Most people, including myself, that had the 4-H experience growing up look back on that as making quite an impact on our lives,” says Kathy Finley, a member of the planning committee. “We like the opportunity to reminisce on that and share that experience with others. It’s a sense of pride and

Hannah Lewis2024-06-13T10:21:10-05:00

Katie Collins Wins National 4-H Youth in Action Award

Dickson County 4-H’er and past 4-H State Council member Katie Collins is the first Tennessee 4-H’er to win the national 4-H Youth in Action Award. Collins has been active within 4-H since fourth grade. Her love for agriculture began on her family’s dairy in Dickson. She remained active into high school and wanted to share that passion with young people in the area, so she created the “See Yourself in Agriculture” program. Through her project, she mentored local middle school 4-H’ers interested

Hannah Lewis2024-04-22T14:42:52-05:00

Macon County Wins 2023 National Consumer Decision Making Contest

Congratulations to Macon County 4-H for their national win in the Consumer Decision Making Contest in 2023. Team members include Ella Flynn, Delaney Turner, Graycee West, and Logan West, and coached by Michaela Pedigo brought home the gold from the National Consumer Decision Making Contest. “We competed in Consumer Decision Making as well as the Family and Consumer Science Skillathon and actually won both on the state level,” says Delaney Turner, who won 1st place individual as well. “We were better as

Hannah Lewis2024-05-09T14:48:03-05:00

National Winners in 2023

In 2023, Tennessee 4-H'ers big successes from individual awards to national recognition. Congratulations to all! National Chicken BBQ Lilly Waggoner, DeKalb County (8th) National Winners Youth in Action Award Katie Collins, Dickson County National Beekeeping Essay Paige Costello, Carroll County National Consumer Decision Making Macon County 4-HDelaney Turner, Graycee West, Ella Flynn, Logan West National Consumer Decision Making, High Individual Delany Turner, Macon County Southern Region Horse Public Speaking John Everett, Knox County National Top 10 Teams National Horse Judging

Hannah Lewis2024-05-10T15:32:27-05:00

2023 Level II State Project Winners

Meet the winners of the Level II State Projects in 2023. National 4-H Congress Delegates Ella Flynn, Level II Citizenship Ella Flynn of Macon County is attending National 4-H Congress as the Level II state winner in the leadership project. This high school senior is the daughter of David and Andrea Flynn of Lafayette. 4-H has given Ella the opportunity to serve her community. She has collected and delivered items totaling over $3,500 in donations to the Ronald McDonald House

Hannah Lewis2024-04-22T14:32:05-05:00

2023 Level I State Project Winners

Meet the winners of the Level I State Projects in 2023. Caroline Garrell, Level I Citizenship Caroline Garrell of Lincoln County was named the Level I Citizenship Project State Winner. She has spent seven years in this project area putting her hands to larger service. As an officer in Honor Club and Central Region All Stars, Caroline works hard to coordinate service projects for 4-Hers. Her favorite projects have been cooking meals for others and working with Families First to provide backpacks

Hannah Lewis2024-04-22T14:10:41-05:00

Successful Picnic at the Fair Funds 4-H Camp Scholarships

The Tennessee 4-H Foundation hosted the second annual Picnic at the Fair at the Tennessee State Fair/Wilson County Fair in Lebanon on Aug. 18, 2023. Photo credit: Wilson County Fair/Tennessee State Fair With nearly 350 tickets sold, the celebratory fundraiser garnered more than $45,000 to support 4-H youth programs and, more specifically, 4-H summer camp scholarships for fourth, fifth and sixth graders. Fundraising at the Fair “The inaugural Picnic at the Fair in 2022 allowed for a total of 100 4-H camp

Hannah Lewis2023-12-12T15:02:54-06:00

Meet Carol Coley McDonald

Carol Coley McDonald is a lifelong 4-H’er. She joined as a young girl, following in the footsteps of her older siblings and becoming active in the organization in fourth grade. Her experience growing up paved the way for a career in agriculture, and today, she is the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s (TDA) Assistant Commissioner for Policy and Legislation as well as a Tennessee 4-H Foundation Board member. An Early Start “I grew up on a Hereford cattle farm in Lafayette, Tennessee, in

Hannah Lewis2023-12-12T14:07:54-06:00