By JUSTIN PEEPER
Wells County’s 4-H fairgrounds were busy Saturday night with a parade, an awards ceremony and a muddy obstacle course that required teamwork as the 72nd county fair officially began.
One of the highlights included the annual awards ceremony in which fair officials recognized this summer’s 4-H ambassadors, tenure award winners and more as detailed in today’s News-Banner.
This year’s junior ambassadors are Caroline Ripperger and Cohen Miller while Karlie Brown and Ella Wheeler are senior ambassadors.
Brown was a junior ambassador in 2019 and was Miss Teen Wells County in 2021.
“I liked representing Wells County as a junior ambassador and representing it as Miss Teen Wells County,” she said. “I thought that being a senior ambassador would give me another opportunity to represent 4-H.
Brown and her ambassador peers will have a myriad of opportunities this week to represent Wells County 4-H as they show their own animals and projects while helping to pass out awards to their fellow 4-H’ers.
All four ambassadors met with Hannah Bridegam, Wells County’s Purdue Extension educator for 4-H and youth, moments after being crowned ambassadors to go over the week’s busy county fair schedule.
Brown is a seven-year member of the Wells County Llama and Alpaca Club. She will be a senior at Bluffton High School, and she is the daughter of Mary and Donald Brown.
Wheeler is an eight-year member of 4-H. She will be a junior at Bluffton High School, and her parents are James and Abbey Wheeler. She is a member of the Hurryin’ Harrisons 4-H Club.
Ripperger is the daughter of Mike and Judy Ripperger. She is a seven-year member of the Jackson Jaguars 4-H Club and will be a sophomore at Southern Wells High School.
Miller is a seven-year member of the Chester Chargers, and he will be a sophomore at Southern Wells High School. His parents are Nick and Cheris Miller.
County Tenure Awards
Also recognized Saturday night were Hunter Ginger and MaKayla Wells, who earned the 2022 County Tenure Awards. This award recognized two 4-H members who have taken the most 4-H projects during their 10 years.
Each year the Women’s Division of Indiana Farm Bureau presents the award at the county fair.
Ginger’s main projects were swine, llama/alpaca, poultry, rabbits, scrapbooking, floriculture, foods and arts and crafts. He is the son of Lori Farmer and Doug Ginger.
Wells is the daughter of Kristin Wells and Daniel Denney and James and Kristi Wells. Her main projects have been animal education, BBQ, child development, floriculture, health, rabbits, scrapbook, vet science, wildlife and alpaca.
Parade, Spirit Night
Following the awards ceremony, several 4-H’ers participated in the popular Spirit Night obstacle course at the grandstand.
Friday night’s rain made the course muddy but that obstacle didn’t detract the 4-H’ers from showing up to participate in one of the fair’s most popular events each summer.
Earlier in the evening, hundreds came out to watch the 5 p.m. parade that traveled from Bluffton Regional Medical Center’s downtown campus south down Main Street to Spring Street then into the 4-H Park.
This year’s grand marshal was Bill Horan, Wells County Purdue Extension’s educator for agriculture and natural resources, and community development.
The theme of this summer’s 4-H Fair is “The Show Must Go On.”
The fair continues through Thursday. As in past years, The News-Banner will publish a 4-H Scrapbook following the fair with more pictures and articles.
jdpeeper2@hotmail.com
