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Miriah Cherry, Kady McKean co-winners of 2014 Spirit of 4-H
Putnam County 4-H families joined together Sunday afternoon to recognize volunteers and acknowledge the achievement and accomplishments of 4-H members. The highest award in the local 4-H program is the Spirit of 4-H Award which is sponsored by Bittles and Hurt and Hopkins-Rector funeral homes.
The 2014 winners are Miriah Cherry and Kady McKean who were presented with a framed certificate and a cash award by Scott Herrick, representing the sponsors.
"We are proud to annually sponsor this top 4-H award honoring an outstanding 4-H career," Herrick said, noting the Spirit of 4-H honor has been awarded since 1991.
Typically there is one winner for this prestigious award. However there has been twice in the history of the award that no award was given and now there have been two occurrences of awarding two awards in the same year.
Cherry, the daughter of Mike Cherry, is a 2014 South Putnam High School graduate and currently is a freshman studying at Indiana State University. Her area of study is safety management with career interests in Industrial Hygiene. She plans to intern at Crown Equipment.
Asked who the most significant influence to her 4-H career was Cherry cited, "The greatest influence in my 4-H career and biggest motivator has been my dad (Mike). Also the 4-H program is the best available program for any youth in a rural area to become involved to succeed in both life and career."
McKean, the daughter of Tim and Donna McKean, is a 2014 Indiana Academy of Science, Mathematics and Humanities graduate and currently is a freshman studying at DePauw University. Her area of study is history with career interest in political science.
"I would like to thank my parents for their encouragement and continual support throughout my 10 years in 4-H," McKean said.
Asked who was the most significant influence to her 4-H career, McKean cited, "The younger members motivated me the most to stay involved with the 4-H program. When I recognized how much they looked to me and others to be leaders and role models, I realized a sense of fulfillment in being a mentor."
Putnam County 4-H Youth Educator Mark Evans praised both young women.
"Both of these ladies will certainly be missed as McKean helped significantly in the Exhibit Hall, and both Cherry and McKean engaged in numerous Junior Leader activities. Cherry served as Junior Leader co-president and was always the one who could bring a spirit of cheer to an event or to a troubled youth at camp or otherwise. McKean also contributed to the program by completing an amazing 135 projects during her 10-year 4-H career not counting all of the other 4-H activities."
Following the program, evidence of how close the ladies have been to each other during their 4-H career came to light as both agreed that they have practically been raised and influenced by each other's parents during their 10 years and that they were both thankful for the strong bonding relationship.
Other awards during the Sunday program included recognizing the 2014 First Year 4-H award winners who were Justin Evans, who completed 15 projects, while Clay Haddon and Haylee Romalia tied for second in most completed projects.
The top first-year Junior Leader was Allie Holton while the top overall Junior Leader with completion points was Mariah Huge.
McKean was also recognized with the Home Economics 10-Year Member Award which is presented to the 10-year member who completes the largest number of home economics related projects.
The awards are based annually on the "My Record of Achievement" forms submitted by the 4-H'ers. Extension Staff and 4-H Council members review forms to assign points which ultimately determine the award winners.