Youth Represent Pennsylvania Well at National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference

On November 20, 2002, four 4-H'ers represented Pennsylvania in two contest areas at the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

Maria Sanner, of Somerset County, won the highly competitive National 4-H Egg Cookery Presentation Contest. Theresa Sanner, Maria's mother and volunteer leader from Somerset County, served as chaperone and coach.

In the National Avian Bowl Contest, Pennsylvania was seated 8th after the quiz and placed 7th after the double elimination Bowl portion of the event. The team members were Corry Calderone, Jill McClure, and Rebecca Stottlemyer, all from Washington County. The team was co-coached by Jenna Dunmire and Mary Fidler.

I would like to strongly encourage all youth to participate in one of these poultry contests in the future. These activities provide exceptional learning experiences, are a lot of fun, and provide excellent awards. Beginning in 2002, Pennsylvania offered new contests in Poultry Judging, Chicken and Turkey Barbecue Presentation, and Avian Bowl. We were unable to field a contest in three of these events in 2002 due to a lack of participation at the state level. If you are interested in these events in the future, contact Phillip J. Clauer (e-mail: pclauer@psu.edu, phone: 814-863-8960) for more information. The PA State 4-H Poultry website http://ulisse.cas.psu.edu/pa4h/contest.html also has information about these events.

I would also like to thank the PennAg Industries Association Poultry Council for sponsoring the Pennsylvania delegation for this trip and for helping sponsor the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference.