Three 4-Hers from county attend 70th 4-H Congress
Jordan Bowling won the statewide essay contest for her essay entitled, “Tennessee 4-H: Made from Scratch,” earning awards sponsored by Jenny Yeary, Eastern Region Administrative Assistant and the Former University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Workers Association.
The purpose of 4-H Congress is to recognize outstanding 4-Hers, provide state-wide leadership opportunities, and to provide an opportunity for 4-H’ers to learn more about state government, elections and the legislative process.
During Congress, 4-H’ers either serve as Representatives, Senators or as competitors.
Three 4-H’ers were selected as delegates to represent Anderson County. Treythan Beaty and Jordan Bowling served as Representatives. Nicholas Monday served as a Senator. Victoria Bowling served as the volunteer leader.
One of the highlights of 4-H Congress is actually debating legislation in the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Senate. Delegates reviewed several bills, then debated and voted on the bills.
This year, the bills concerned such issues as seat belts in school buses, the gas tax, later start times for school, and requiring a civics test for high school graduation. There was quite a lot of debate back and forth on these bills, with each delegate having the opportunity to talk about pros and cons and ultimately to vote on the proposed bills.
After spending the morning debating bills, delegates raced to meet their elected Senator and Representatives. Anderson County’s delegates had the pleasure of meeting with Representative Dennis Powers, Representative John Ragan and Lt. Governor Randy McNally. The group is most appreciative to these officials, who took time out of their busy schedules to speak with them. Afterwards, the Anderson County delegation was invited to serve as pages on the Senate floor by Lt. Governor McNally. Being able to sit on the Senate floor while the Senate was actually in session was exciting. Page duties can consist of anything from making copies, running errands, distributing legislative information to members of the General Assembly, to delivering bills that had been voted on and signed to the Senate Engrossing Clerk’s Office.
Another big part of Congress is the election of new officers, who will then serve on the State 4-H Council. Candidates are elected from each Region (Eastern, Central and Western) for Governor, Speaker of the Senate and Speaker of the House. Delegates must register to vote, show proof of registration and vote on actual voting machines during the state-wide election. Throughout 4-H Congress, there are numerous election speeches, lots of campaigning and in the end, a run-off election. Claire Martin was elected as Governor, John Ryan Scarlett was chosen as Speaker of the Senate, and Joshua Wade was elected as the incoming Speaker of the House.
4-H State Congress is also where many competitions take place. One competition was the History Bowl, which was moderated by Lelan Statom, Nashville’s Channel 5 news anchor and a former 4-H’er. Jonathan Ayers and Blake Ivey, both from Campbell County, represented the Eastern region and won with a strong lead.
One of the requirements to attend State 4-H Congress is to write an essay on the theme, “Tennessee 4-H: Made from Scratch.”
This year’s state finalists were McKale Baltz (Western Region), Zachary Goad (Central Region), and Jordan Bowling (Eastern Region). Anderson County’s Jordan Bowling was selected as state essay winner. The finalists’ essays in their entirety are located on the Tennessee 4-H Web Site at http://4h.tennessee.edu/Pages/stcong/essay.aspx.
Delegates were treated to a lunch and cruise aboard the General Jackson Showboat. After an entertaining lunch, delegates and competitors changed into black tie and formal wear for the Citizenship Banquet and Inaugural Ball in the hotel ballroom.
The outgoing officers give their farewell speeches and inducted the new officers. One of the best parts of Tuesday night’s closing banquet was when one of our own, Mr. Bear Stephenson was named into the 4-H Hall of Fame. Mr. Stephenson was introduced and awarded this honor by Ruth Henderson McQueen, the President of the Tennessee 4-H Foundation.
Before delegates headed back to their respective regions, they all contributed to the 4-H Congress Service Project. For this year’s project 4-H’ers brought items to benefit deployed military personnel. These items were assembled into care packages and sent to military units deployed around the world. In addition, each 4-H’er wrote personal notes, reminding our military that we appreciate their service.
After a jam-packed few days, Wednesday morning arrived and approximately 370 exhausted 4-H’ers, along with their volunteer leaders and extension agents, traveled back to their regions officially calling an end to the 70th annual Tennessee 4H Congress.
The Anderson County delegates would like to thank the numerous sponsors for their help in making Tennessee 4-H Congress a reality.
Anderson County Farm Bureau and Anderson County Family and Consumer Education (FCE) Clubs provided scholarships for Anderson County delegates to attend Tennessee Congress. As the Regional 4-H Congress Essay Winner, Jordan Bowling was awarded a scholarship by Ms. Jenny Yeary, Administrative Assistant Eastern Region Office and the Former University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture Workers Association. Volunteers from each county assisted with the event, including Victoria Bowling who chaperoned the Anderson County delegation. Additionally, more than one hundred individuals and corporate donors sponsored this statewide event, providing members with a learning experience that will last a lifetime.