Fanainc, Saturday, DtcMritar 2,1971
Seven Delaware teens win
NEWARK, Del - Seven
Delaware 4-H members
have been named national
winners and three have been
named alternates at the
National 4-H Congress this
wedc in Chicago. This is the
first year Delaware has ever
had more than three national
winners.
The winners are Anne
Shortess, Newark, Del.,
Catherine Beldyk, Bear,
Del., James Leathrum,
Wilmington, Del., Marc
Klair, Hockessin,. Del.,
James Hukill, Harbeson,
Del., Laura Newnom,
Houston, Del, and Donna
Hinzman, Harrington, Del.
Each national winner
receives a $lOOO scholarship
to be' applied to college
education.
The three alternate
winners from Delaware are
Vance Phillips, Laurel, for
his conservation project;
Richard Green, Middletown,
for bis dairy project; and
Beth Ridley of Dover, for her
fashion revue project.
All ten of Delaware’s
national winners and
alternates were among 20 „
state winners who earned
trips to the National 4-H
Congress in Chicago.
Alternate winners in each
project area are in line for
scholarships if -they cannot
be used by the national
winners.
The Cooperative Ex
tension Service selected 273
national winners from
among more than 1600 state
and regional winners par
ticipating at the Congress,
based on their superior
accomplishments in 4-H
project work, leadership and
citizenship.
This year the Congress
program focuses on vital
national concerns of energy,
jobs and economics. Young
people explore these issues
in assemblies and discussion
groups with leaders of
agriculture, education,
government and public
affairs.
National 4-H Congress is
planned and conducted by
National 4-H Council and the
Cooperative Extension
Service, and is made
possible by the support of the
business community. About
50 sponsoring businesses
provide more than a quarter
million dollars in scholar
ship funds. They also host
major entertainment and
meal events, and provide
state winner trips to 4-H
Congress.
Delaware currently has
over 100 4-H dubs, with a
total membership of over
2000. County 4-H agents are
located m the Cooperative
Extension Service offices in
Newark, Dover, and
Georgetown.
LAURA NEWNOM
Houston, Del.
Everything seems to
thrive in the Newnom home
in Houston, Delaware:
V -
people, pets, plants, music,
crafts, good food, and good
feelings. It’s from this en
viable borne environment
that Laara Sewnom
emerged to win this year’s
national. 4-H borne en
vironment award. Her price
is a $l,OOO scholarship
sponsored by the Sperry and
Hutchinson Company, plus a
trip to tbe Natiocal 4-H Club
Congress in Chicago.
Home environment is a
-broad new 4-H category
which seems tailor-made for
a multi-talented young
pefson like Laura. one,
but many projects led to her
selection as a national
award-winner.
First of all, Home En
vironment - includes home
improvement Laura sanded
and varnished a porch ad
dition to her family’s far
mhouse. She decorated a
bedroom for herself, tod,
shopping with 'a sharp eye
for price and quality as well
as for color' and design.
She also helped her
married sister turn a hare
bones house into a cozy
home.
But even a beautifully
decorated home doesn’t
provide an award-winning
home environment unless
it’s also filled with good
home cooking. Therefore,
Laura’s Home Environment
project also included her
home-canned and frozen
garden vegetables. Cooking
is another of her many
talents. She’s a past winner
of the 4-H Reddy’s Food
competition.
Plants, too, contribute to a
homey atmosphere. The
Newnom porch abounds with
them, and Laura par
ticularly enjoys raising
cactus.
Laura’s parents say their
daughter contributes a great
deal to their home en
vironment simply by being
herself. The youngest of
their four children and the
only one still at home,
seventeen-year-old Laura
keeps the farmhouse filled
with music and activity.
Now a senior, Laura has
played the flute in school
bands since she was in
grammar school. This year
she’s president of the Lake
Forest High School band.
With all her other talents,
Laura is also an excellent
student. She’s a member of
the National Honor Society
who has also been singled
out to receive the William
Danforth Award for
academic achievement.
Her athletic abilities are
equally impressive. Last
year she received her
school’s Most Improved
Female Athlete Award. At
various times she’s also been
named most valuable player
in both softball and
basketball.
Sports are such a favorite
activity that Laura plans to
major in physical education
at either West Chester State
or Salisbury State College
JAMES LEATHRUM, JR
Wilmington, Del.
A 16-year-old Pike Creek
Valley youth, James
Leathrum, Jr., had an
ambitious electric project
which involved making his
own set of hi-fi speakers,
which was the clincher in
netting Jim a $lOOO
scholarship from the
Westinghouse Electric
Corporation.
The teenager says he
figured out on his own how to
build the, two speakers,
relying primarily on books
and hi-fi magazines for
technical information. He
spent most of this year
putting them together,'
building everything but the
drivers himself.
: This has been Leathrum’s
most ambitious undertaking
in five years of work on an ,
electrical project that has
also included building and
repairing a lot of lamps, -
helping to install wiring in an
old barn, and giving a lot of
demonstrations of his
electrical skills to other 4-
ffers. This year he was the
top winner in the statewide 4-
H electrical contest at the
Delaware State Fair.
Jim became active in 4-H
when he was 11, largely
because the county 4-H
livestock bam is just across
the fields from his home in
Hills of Skyline. His first
major project was raising a
feeder pig in that
he’s raised one every year
since. A guy with patience
galore, he’s taken a role of
responsibility there,, and
gives a lot of, help to the
younger kids on their swine
projects - showing them how
to feed, clean, fit and show
their animals.
He also donated some of
his electrical talents to the
bam, helping his father wire
lights and switches to im
prove safety and visibility
there at night.
A junior at Tatnall School,
Leathrum is active in
several sports.
Right now Jim is staying
with his grandparents, Mr.
and Mrs. E. W. Phillips, in
Sharpley, while his folks are
away on sabbatical for a
year (his father teaches at
the University of Delaware).
Jim wants to study
either chemical engineering
or physics in college. He
hopes to attend Princeton
after graduation from
Tatnall.
JAMES R wttkf.L
Harbeson, Del.
Start with one nine-year
old 4-H boy. Give him a
sheep and eight years later
you have a national winner
in the 4-H leadership
program. If you think that’s
unlikely, you’re right. But
it’s nonetheless true for
James R. Hukill, a 17-year
old Sussex county 4-H
national
member. * Thelraderahiii ier h*s
High School
senior, son ofMr. and Mrs.. . °T.T7 riI .ITT ~~..v.
John D. Hukill of Harbeson, X^ctool
SchoU^ P /U responsibilities have to-’
S jS about every
mmterSeHdly Mount Phase of farm life includtog
«IClub livestock care and
, me so many other Sussex
Jim
to have a
.project and since both of his ‘
Star sisters started with plans to attend a
feSf&LT* ,nr hop«
lo&cai tong to be a Delaware
iSed- River pilot like his father.
animal projects, so sheep i
were about the only choice I
and even they presented
some problems. The only
sheep stable available to
them at the time was
located some distance from
their suburban development"
and that facility was ac
cessible to wandering dog
that could attack the sheep.
Despite the difficulties all
three of the Hukill children
were able to successfully
raise sheep projects. Jim
started that first year with a
market lamb but instead of
sending the ewe' lamb to
slaughter, he decided to keep
her as the foundation stock
for a purebred, poled Dorset,
sheep flock.
With interest and en
couragement from their
parents the flock developed
into a top contender at area
livestock shows, including
the Delaware State Fair at 1
Harrington, the Maryland
State Fair at Thnonium, and
the Eastern Regional
Livestock Exposition at
Richmond. It now includes
22 head with all but three
belonging to Jim.
The sheep did provide the
means for the yoking 4-H
member to develop his
leadership qualities. Using
knowledge he had gained in •
sheep husbandry, he was
able to help many other
Sussex and Kent county 4-H
members with their sheep,
providing advice, training,
management know-how, and
an almost expert opinion
when another young
shepherd was having
problems. His flock was
utilized in training sessions,
clinics and judging practices
in preparation for com
petition.
As president of the Sussex
County 4-H Livestock Club
Jim has been in charge of
f-rranging for training
sessions for other members
and has given many
management demon
strations.
One of his favorite projects
over the past few years has
been veterinary science,
particularly as it relates to
the care of sheep.
Jim’s leadership
responsibilities go beyond
the livestock project. He’s
taken an active part in
several 4-H exchange trips
between Sussex county 4-
H’ers, and 4-H’ers in
also been involved in State 4-
H Camp for several years,
working his way up through
the ranks to' the enviable
position of tribal chief at
next summer’s gathering.
Like most 4-H’ers Jim is
involved in 'many other
activities, particulaly
sports. He’s on the school
soccer and wrestling teams,
is an avid photographer
providing hundreds of
pictures of high school
sporting events. He also
lies water skiiing, sailing
and hunting.
4-H awards
MARC KLAIR
Hockeuin, Del.
Fifteen-year-old Marc
Klair has been fixing small
machines for four years
now, as part of a 4-H
petroleum power project. In
fact, he’s done such a good
job at this that he’s won a
$lOOO national scholarship
from the Amoco Foundation.
The skillful young
mechanic is a junior at
Delcastle Technical High
School, where he majors in
welding. He’s also starting
to leam how to fix car'
engines for a 4-H project.
These are all talents which
should stand him in good
stead, if he follows through
with plans to pursue a carer
in either welding or farming
- or possibly a combination
of both. As Marc points out,
you have to have a lot of
machinery skills to operate a
modem farm. You also have
to have a lot of money to
start one, which is why he
might have to settle for a
welding career, as well as
fanning, at least at first -
He’s had a good taste of
farming, helping his father
run a small hog operation on
their five-acre parcel of land
on Old Wilmington Road
near Hockessin. Right now
they’ve got 20 pigs on the
place - five sows, a boar,
some piglets and a batch of
market pigs. Marc’s had a 4-
H swine project even longer
than his awardwinning
petroleum power project.
With both interests he’s
spent a lot of time sharing
Ids knowledge with fellow
dub members and giving
demonstrations at county,
state and even interstate 4-H
gatherings.
A good, hard-working
leader, Marc was president
of his own dub last year, and
is an active member of the
New Castle County Junior
Council. This is an
organization of teenage
leaders who get together to
help adult volunteer 4-H
leaders develop and present
successful programs for club
members.
As a 4-H “ambassador,”
he’s also gone out to service
clubs in the community, like
the Lions, to tell them how 4-
H works.
Marc comes from a family
that’s steeped in the 4-H
tradition. Both his parents
>* ' *
V **•« *"
were 4-ITers themselves as
youngsters. And his two
sisters are keenly involved
with dub work, too. His
father, Richard Klair, is now
the 4-H county coordinator.
ANNESHORTESS
Newark, Del.
Anne. -Shortess has
achieved the goal she’s been
working toward since fourth
grade.
The 17-year-old Newark
High School senior has been
named a national 4-H award
winner, one of 273 out
standing teenagers in the
country selected by the
Cooperative Extension
Service on the basis of
leadership, citizenship, and
4-H project work. ■
Anne is a bubbly, ener
getic teenager who thri
ves on burning the candle
at, Doth aids and in the
- middle too. In addition to
her 4-H activities, she has
two part-time jobs and is a
member of the marching
and symphonic bands at
Newark High, which Gono
somes a big chunk of ex- 1
tracurricular time.
Since February she has
been actively involved in -'
Meals on Wheels, the
organization which furnishes
daily hot meals to senior
citizens and shut-ins. - ,
In January she hopes to
begin evening classes in sign
language at the Sterck-
School for the Hearing
Impaired. Her career goal is
to work either with the
handicapped, or with those
whose vision or hearing is
impaired, so her scholarship
will help pay for a degree in
special education.
This friendly teenager is
the daughter of Carolyn and
Richard Shortess. She has
two older brothers. The
family lives in Newark.
Anne’s award-winning 4-H
activity was in the field of
food conservation and
safety, a natural choice for
someone who enjoys
cooking. She has become
knowledgeable in all
of food preparation and*
preservation, and is also an
expert on safety in the kit
chen as well as at the out
door barbecue.
She has presented a
number of demonstrations
for 4-H and other groups,
including wrapping meat
for the freezer, drying foods,
freezing and canning
techniques, making bread,
and putting, out kitchen
grease fires.
CATHY BELDYK
Bear, Del.
Following a family
tradition of 4-H involvement,
17-yeai>old Cathy Beldyk of
Bear, Delaware, has been
named a national 4-H award
winner and recipient of a
$lOOO scholarship.
The Glasgow High School
senior is the daughter ofl
Marie and Richard Beldyk,
(Turn to Page 22)
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