Poweshiek County 4-H’ers Junior Master Gardeners, others bring home the ribbons

​        Members of the Poweshiek County 4-H Junior Master Gardeners won numerous awards at the 2024 Iowa State Fair. Pictured are, from left, front row: Thea Larsson (Poweshiek County Extension Summer Intern), Hanna McCue, Seeger McCue, Jacob Klein and Max Stareet. Middle row: Valorie Larsson (County Youth Coordinator), Betsy Cranston (Club Leader), Carleigh Klein, Cora Schalmo, Grace Schalmo and Slane McCue. Back row: William Schalmo and Rosie Leisure. Submitted photo.

          The results are in and Poweshiek County 4-H’ers did well at the Iowa State Fair. 
      The Junior Master Gardeners, led by Betsy Cranston, celebrated an outstanding year at the 2024 Iowa State Fair, showcasing the hard work and dedication of all those involved. The club, consisting of 10 youth, had seven members old enough to participate at the fair. The 4-H Horticulture show takes place on the first Saturday of the Iowa State Fair, this year landing on Aug. 10. With more than 100 entries exhibited, they earned an impressive 15 grand champion or first-place ribbons, 17 reserve champion or second-place ribbons, and 13 third-place awards. With 18 counties represented and 611 entries in total, the competition was strong. 
       Poweshiek County emerged victorious, winning 1st place overall as a county. Among the top 10 youth exhibitors were William Schalmo, who placed 7th, Grace Schalmo placing 9th, and Slane McCue, who placed 10th. Special honors went to Slane McCue as Champion Herb Exhibitor, Seeger McCue with Champion First Year Exhibitor’s Class Vegetable Platter, and William Schalmo as Reserve Champion Vegetable Container Display. Additionally, the seven youth participants achieved Champion and Reserve Champion placings for their County Vegetable Platters. Receiving purples with the County Vegetable Platters were Grace and William Schalmo, Hanna, Seeger, and Slane McCue, Rosie Leasure, and Carleigh Klein.
        In the Horticulture Garden Crops: Green Beans, Rosie Leasure had 2nd purple, Carleigh Klein and Seeger McCue had blues. With Purple Snap Beans, Hanna McCue had 1st purple and Seeger McCue had blue.  With Yellow Wax Beans, William Schalmo had red.  Grace Schalmo 1st blue and William Schalmo 2nd blue with Beets. Slane McCue had a 2nd blue ribbon and Rosie Leasure had a 3rd red for Round Cabbage.  With Red Cabbage, William Schalmo had a 1st purple and a red, Grace Schalmo 2nd blue, Carleigh Klein 3rdblue, and Seeger McCue had a blue. William also had the 1st place purple Swiss Chard. Showing Jumbo Cabbage, William Schalmo had the 1st purple, Hanna McCue had 2nd blue, and Grace Schalmo had a blue.
       Showing Cucumbers for Slicing William Schalmo received a 2nd blue. Cucumbers, Dill, Rosie Leasure had the 2nd place purple, Carleigh Klein had 3rd blue, and Grace Schalmo had a blue. William Schalmo received red with his Eggplant and 3rd blue with a Small Watermelon. Grace Schalmo had the 2nd place purple with a Small Watermelon. Slane McCue received red with Garlic.  
      Showing Onions, receiving blues were Hanna McCue (2), Carleigh Klein (2), Slane McCue, Rosie Leasure, Grace Schalmo, William Schalmo, receiving reds were Rosie Leasure and Hanna McCue (2). 
    Showing Red Potatoes receiving blue was Rosie Leasure. Receiving reds were Seeger McCue, Grace Schalmo, William Schalmo (2). With White Potatoes William Schalmo received a blue and Hanna McCue, Slane McCue, Grace Schalmo, and Carleigh Klein received reds. Showing Yellow/Gold Potatoes receiving blue were Grace Schalmo, Rosie Leasure, Carleigh Klein and receiving a red was Hanna McCue. With Jumbo Potatoes Slane McCue had the 1st place purple and William Schalmo had the 2nd purple.
      Grace Schalmo received a blue for her Summer Squash. William Schalmo had a 3rd place blue and Grace Schalmo a red for Winter Acorn Type Squash. Receiving blues for Winter Any Other Variety Squash were Grace Schalmo (2) and William Schalmo. For their Any Other Kind of Vegetable, Slane McCue, Hanna McCue, and Rosie Leasure received blues and Slane McCue also received a red.
      Carleigh Klein had a 1st and 3rd purple with her Sweet Bell Peppers, William Schalmo had the 1st and 3rd purple with his Sweet Peppers, and Grace Schalmo a blue. Seeger McCue got a purple for Jalapeno Peppers, Hanna McCue, Grace Schalmo (2), William Schalmo, and Rosie Leasure had blues. William Schalmo had a purple with Hot Green Chili Peppers and Slane McCue had 2 reds with Hot Green Serrano Peppers. 
      Showing Tomatillo Husk On was Rosie Leasure with 1st place purple and Slane McCue with 2nd purple. Cherry Type Tomato Small Red had Carleigh Klein with a 3rd place purple, blues for Grace Schalmo and William Schalmo, and a white for Grace Schalmo. In Red Slicing Tomato was Carleigh Klein with a red. Grace Schalmo received a blue for Cherry Type Tomato Large Red. Showing Cherry Type Tomato Any Other Color, Carleigh Klein received 1st place purple and Slane McCue 3rd purple, Carleigh Klein, Grace Schalmo, and William Schalmo received purples, and Rosie Leasure (2), Slane McCue (2), Seeger McCue, and Hanna McCue received blues.  In Cocktail Type Red Tomato William Schalmo had a blue. 
       William Schalmo had the 2nd place purple for Vegetable Container Display, Grace Schalmo had a blue and a red. In the Vegetables of the Same Color Platter, William Schalmo had 1st and 3rd place purples, Grace Schalmo had a 2nd place purple and a blue, and Hanna McCue had a blue.
        In the Horticulture Herbs, Slane McCue received 1st place purple and 2nd blue for Chives, Seeger McCue received 3rd blue, and Hanna McCue received red. With Dill, Slane McCue received 2nd place blue. Showing Mint, Grace Schalmo received 3rd place blue, Hanna and Slane McCue received blues, Hanne McCue and William Schalmo (2) had red, and Seeger McCue had a white. With Sage, Hanna McCue had 1stplace purple, Slane McCue had 2nd purple and 3rd blue, Grace Schalmo had blue, and William Schalmo had two reds. Hanna McCue and Slane McCue received blues for Any Other Individual Herb.
       In this year’s Communications events with Educational Presentations, Gracie Kaufman received a Seal of Excellence (Goats 101), Weston Duke received a Seal of Merit (Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goat Breed), Seeger McCue received a Seal of Merit (Fencing), Lucy Turley received a Seal of Merit (Audience Etiquette), and Hanna McCue (Barn Quilts) and Slane McCue received Certificates of Recognition. Hanna McCue had a Working Exhibit and received a Seal of Merit. Receiving Participation ribbons for their Share the Fun performances were William Schalmo, Weston Duke, and Grace Schalmo. 
      Cameyon James exhibit in Veterinary Science received a blue ribbon. Gracie Kaufman’s poster in Veterinary Science also received a blue.
       In Photography Breah Lowry had a photo Considered for the Professional Photographers of Iowa Award. She also had two photos getting blue ribbons.  Peyton Tindle received a blue in photography as did Morgan Hay and Alyssa Latcham.  Grace Schalmo and William Schalmo received red ribbons.  
       In Visual Arts: Original Art, Matthew Turley, and Maggie Manatt were given reds. Gracie Kaufman, Slane McCue, Clara Erickson, Gabriel Bahrenfuse and Sheldyn Goodrich received blues. In the Design, Process, or Technique Exploration of Visual Arts, Morgan Hay and Olivia Beyer received blues.
       In Family Consumer Science: Constructed/Sewn Garments and Accessories, Olivia Beyer received a blue. With Other Ideas/Educational Exhibits, William Manatt’s poster, “How to Tie a Tie” was blue.
      Food & Nutrition: Prepared Product, Grace Burnett made Blue Cookie Monster Cookies that received a blue. Maggie Manatt’s “Multi-grain seed no-knead bread” received a blue. Food & Nutrition Educational Display’s Isabella and Maci Tesdall had blues and Slane McCue a red.
        Clara Erickson received a blue for her refinished toddler-size wooden chair in Home Improvement.
     Maggie Manatt made an oven mitt in Sewing and Needle Arts that received a blue. Grace Schalmo crocheted a dark purple cardigan that received a blue and Clara Erickson also received a blue for her Star Pattern Baby Quilt. 
       In the Citizenship and Civic Engagement division of Personal Development Lucy Turley entered a poster on Audience Etiquette which received a blue.
        Tristan Graff made a black cow silhouette planter and William Schalmo made a puzzle box, both received blues for their woodworking projects. 
      Andrew Arkema, Rylie Smith and Zane Iverson received blues in Beef Showmanship. Brooke Conover received a purple. Rylie Smith showed the, purple, Champion Bred and Owned Charolais Heifer, and Res. Champion Charolais Breeding Beef. Zane Iverson exhibited a Maintainer breeding beef and received a purple. Shay Rodgers had the Champion Chianina Market Beef, purple, and Reserve Grand Champion steer. Brooke Conover had purple with the Champion Maine-Anjou Market Beef and received a blue with her crossbred steer. Rhylee Rodgers Crossbred steer was purple, Division 2 Reserve Champion and 4th Overall. Gavin Fisk crossbred steer was blue. Andrew Arkema’s market heifer was purple. 
         Lindsey Henry showed the Grand Champion Ayrshire Senior and received a purple. Her Guernsey fall heifer received a purple and her Holstein Spring heifer a red. Her Holstein Yearling Heifer went purple and Holstein Four Year Old Cow blue. 
         Morgan Hay was red with her dog in Senior Handling and Emma Weeks got blue in dog Obedience. Both girls got purple in Intermediate Dog Rally.  
        Showing Breeding Meat Goats under 1 year, Dayton Mortvedt received a 1st purple and was Division ll Champion and Grand Champion Doe. Rylie Smith had a 1st purple, Division lll Third Honorable Mention and 3rd purple. She also received a blue in Intermediate Showmanship. Alayna Huff had a blue with her doe over 1 year. In the Market Goat Wether classes Macey Heishman had a purple, Tyler Conover a blue, Brock Mortvedt had a 1st purple and Division lV Champion, Reserve Grand Champion. Dayton Mortvedt had Division V Fourth Honorable Mention and a 1st purple. 
       Cameyon James showed his Bantams in Breeding Chickens. He received a 1st purple and Reserve Bantam Single Comb Clean Legged bird, a 2nd and two 3rd place purples and another purple, a 1st and two 3rdplace blue as well as two other blues. 
      Showing Rabbits, Jase Aldridge had 2 blues in showmanship with posters. Cameyon James had a 2ndpurple with his Jr. Fancy Doe, and a 2nd blue. His Junior Fancy buck was 3rd blue, his Sr. Doe was 1st blue, Best of Variety and 2nd blue. 
          In the Dorset lamb class Alyssa Bos received a blue. Carleigh Klein received a blue with her white face commercial ewe, Alyssa Bos, Alyssa Latcham received blues with their black face commercial ewes. Kaylia Fuchs was 1st purple, Division 1 Black Face Ewe Champion, and had a purple with her black face market lamb. Abby Bos had a blue with a speckled face market lamb. Alyssa Latcham showed a black face market lamb receiving blue. Dayton Mortvedt had three 1st purple with black face market lambs and a 2nd purple. Brock Mortvedt had a 3rd purple. Anna Slagle had a 2nd purple and a blue with black face market lamb. In Junior Showmanship Abby Bos, Alyssa Bos, and Carleigh Klein received blue. Kaylia Fuchs received Purple and 8thHonorable Mention in Intermediate Showmanship. 
        Showing swine was Cameyon James with a blue for his Duroc, and a blue with a Poland China, he also received a blue in Other Breeds. Charly Fenner got blue with a Yorkshire. She received two blues with her commercial gilts. Anthony Wolfe received a 1st purple with a commercial gilt. Also receiving blues with commercial gilts were Kinze Lacaeyse, Ilee Lacaeyse, and Maggie Dayton (2). Showing Chester Whites were Aden Wolfe, purple and Anna Slagle 2nd purple Res. Champion Chester White Market Hog. Abby Bos had a blue with a Duroc Market pig. Anthony Wolfe a blue with his Yorkshire and purple with his Other Breed Market Swine. Showing Crossbred Market Gilts, Abby Bos, Aden Wolfe, Charly Fenner, Leyton Lacaeyse, and Brayson Latcham received blues. Anna Slagle had a 2nd purple. Showing Crossbred Market Barrows, Aden Wolfe and Rylee Rodgers had 2nd purples and each had another purple. Shay Rodgers had a blue and 1stpurple. Kinze Lacaeyse had a purple. Leyton Lacaeyse, Cameyon James and Brayson Latcham had blues. Anthony Wolfe had a 2nd purple and was Reserve Champion Junior Showman. Abby Bos had a blue in Junior Showmanship. Aden Wolfe was 3rd purple in Sr. Showmanship and Kinze Lacaeyse received a blue.