By: Pam Chickering Wilson
Every award at the 2026 Jefferson County 4-H banquet represented countless hours of dedication on the part of the county’s 4-H youth, its adult volunteers and community supporters.
The Jefferson County 4-H program presented upwards of 100 awards to youth and volunteers last week. The county 4-H program includes more than 500 youth members and some 100 adult volunteers.
The annual 4-H banquet took place Oct. 17 at the Jefferson County Fair Park, with light refreshments and donated door prizes. Honorees were recognized in numerous areas, from involvement in club, county, state and national 4-H activities to project learning and expertise, to volunteer efforts and fundraising, to community service and leadership.
Among the biggest awards to be presented were the “Friend of 4-H” awards, presented to local businesses which have gone above and beyond in their support of the local 4-H program. This year’s “Friend of 4-H” Award went to Reu Farms, represented by 4-H member Colton Reu, as the rest of the family was working on the farm during the ceremony. Reu Farms sponsored the fair photographers who captured 4-H members’ efforts throughout the Jefferson County Fair this summer.
The first individual awards to be presented were the county 4-H scholarships, which went to four individuals who have made major contributions to the 4-H program at the club and county level for many years. These went to Michael Wilson, Lily Small, Quentin Heinecke and Maggie Mindemann.
Recognizing active involvement in 4-H over the course of several years were the Clover Awards, given to youth who have actively participated in 4-H activities and programs over one or more years. The base level award that 4-Hers can earn is the Green Award, followed by the Bronze Award, Silver Award, Gold Award and Emerald Award as they move on to new levels and continue their active involvement over the course of several years in 4-H.
Earning Green Clover Awards this year were Cyrus and Aleksander Becker; Garrett Bishop, Easton Zimmerman; Brooklyn and Aubrey Bohlman; and Emery Kleinsteiber.
Earning the next level up, Bronze Clover Awards, were Anabelle Fehly, Madeline Buckingham, Lukas Durkee, Cecily Johnson, Zoey Zimmerman, Malory Gefvert, and Gretta Boettcher.
Earning Silver Clover Awards were Grace Buckingham; Allyson Wyman; Grace Bishop; Zack and Kyle Durkee; and Cadence Filer.
Earning Gold Clover Awards were Charlie Johnson; Addison Strobel; Hayden, Pyper and Fynnley Gefvert; and Gracelynn Boettcher.
Finally, taking home the top Emerald Clover Award were Gavin Boettcher and Khloe Lundy.
The Green and Gold Award recognizes youth members and certified adult volunteers who show a consistent, dedicated effort in volunteer service to their local club, county program, project area, or 4-H association. This year’s Green and Gold award went to Cheyenne Pautz and Vivian Stahl.
Kindergartners through second-graders recognized for their Cloverbud recordbooks included: Joseph Andre of the Rock Lake Troopers, Jill Heneghan of the Lake Ripley 4-H Club, Ryder Zimmerman of Ixonia Victory, Lorelai Morris of the Hubbleton Hustlers, Theodore Morris of the Hubbleton Hustlers, Micah Kuklinski of the Jefferson Boosters, and Grayce Gefvert of the Rock River Clovers.
[Third-grade through one year post-secondary] 4-Hers recognized for their recordbooks included: Scott, Nolan and Alec Mehringer of the Lake Ripley 4-H Club; Michael Andre of the Rock River Clovers; Cecily Johnson of the Rock River Clovers; Sarah Repsumer of the Lake Ripley 4-H Club; Camden and Paxton Saldaña of the Rock River Clovers; Cadence Filer of the Jefferson Boosters; Charlie and Audrey Johnson of the Rock River Clovers, Gracie Bishop of the Ixonia Victory 4-H Club; Allyson Wyman of the Rock River Clovers; Nathan Flood of Ixonia Victory; Michael Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars; Cyrus Becker of the Ideal Clever Clovers; Kinsley Strobel of Ixonia Victory; and Easton Zimmerman of Ixonia Victory.
Next came the officer recordbook honors. Club secretaries, treasurers, reporters and historians could submit their recordbooks for ribbons.
Honored for their secretary books were Scott Mehringer, Lake Ripley, (Award of Excellence), Cadence Filer, Jefferson Boosters (Award of Excellence), Emme Chadnha, Rock Lake Troopers (High Honors), and Aleksander Becker, Ideal Clever Clovers, honors.
Honored for their treasurer books were Hunter Eikland of Lake Ripley (High Honors), Henry Ebel of the Jefferson Boosters (Award of Excellence), and Gavin Boettcher, Rock Lake Troopers, (High Honors.)
Honored for submitting an outstanding club historian/reporter book was Michael Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars, receiving an Award of Excellence.
Receiving project awards for outstanding effort, achievement and recordkeeping in a project area or areas were the following members: Audrey Johnson, Rock Lake Troopers (Rabbit), Cecily Johnson, Rock Lake Troopers (Wildlife and Habitat), Charlie Johnson, Rock Lake Troopers (Shooting Sports, Shotgun) and Michael Wilson of the Farmington All-Stars in three areas, (Performing Arts- Music and Drama, Photography and Self-Determined- Linguistics.)
Winning project grants to fund learning and growth in specific project areas were the following: Alec and Nolan Mehringer of the Lake Ripley 4-H Club; Aleksander Becker of the Ideal Clever Clovers; Fynnley, Grayce, Hayden, Pyper and Mallory Gefvert of the Rock River Clovers; Anneka Schuld of the Lake Ripley 4-H Club; Hunter Eikland of Lake Ripley; Jacey Peter of Lake Ripley; Lukas Durkee of Lake Ripley; Sheyanne McCabe of the Stone School 4-H Club; Anabelle Fehly of the Rock River Clovers; Aubrey Beauchamp of the Country Roots 4-H Club; Cheyenne Pautz of the Twin Rivers 4-H Club; Garrett Bishop of the Ixonia Victory 4-H Club, Isaac Auer of the Jefferson Boosters; Joe Ebel of the Jefferson Boosters; Norah Harnack of Ixonia Victory; and Parker Wolff of the Rock Lake Troopers.
A club award, the Hands to Larger Service award, goes to clubs that don’t just do multiple service activities, but also see a large percentage of their club members turn out to help with each of those activities. In first place again this year was the Jefferson Boosters 4-H Club, followed by the Rock Lake Troopers in second, and the Lake Ripley 4-H Club in third.
The organization next recognized club leaders and adult volunteers for years of service.
Receiving five-year service awards were Roz Kremer, Matthew Reu, Megan Holz, Charles Johnson, Margaret Boshart, and Lisa Johnson.
Receiving 10-year recognition were Ashey Schlender, Willie Jacobson, Amanda Wethal, Rachel Thom, Rebekah Durkee, and Angie Greving.
Receiving 15-year recognition were Kim Degner, Tracy Brandel, Lisa Haas and Jean Doherty.
Receiving 20-year recognition was Lisa Small.
Finally, recognized for 25 years of 4-H leadership were Sue Zimmerman and Cindy Jaquith.
In addition, both club leaders and members were recognized for years of membership and service, and top county-level youth volunteers received a gift bag in recognition of their efforts.
The 4-H Key Award, the highest honor a 4-H member can receive, recognizes youth who have demonstrated consistent growth in their 4-H involvement, who have developed and applied their leadership skills and who have actively participated in their 4-H club and community. This year, four Jefferson County youth attained this award at the county level: Vivian Stahl, Trent Schlender, Kya Keleher and Michael Wilson.
Of these honorees, Michael Wilson advanced to the state level and earned a rare Wisconsin 4-H Top 10 Key Award, an honor that will be presented in November at the 4-H Fall Forum in Stevens Point.
(The 4-H top adult volunteer awards will be listed in a related article.)
