Achievement Night presenters Pictured above, l-r, are those who presented highlights from their 4-H trips: Front row - Stefanie Fuller, Lorelei Seip, Lucia Zook, Grace Mears and Kaitlin Begley. Back row - Ashley Spraker, Abagail Spraker, Noah Reed, Aaron Goodman, Tyler Plank. Photo provided At the Carroll County 4-H Achievement Night, special recognition was given to mini 4-H'ers and first-year members. Mini 4-H'ers received a 4-H patch and first-year 4- H members received a 4-H pencil.

Each year, youth in their junior year who have shown outstanding leadership are selected to receive the "I Dare You" award. The Carroll County 4-H Awards Committee selected Amber Caputo and Ariel Randle as the 2008 recipients. They received the book "I Dare You."

Michelle Burke, Amber Caputo, Natalie Garrison, Carissa Hicks, Morgan Minnicus, and Malena Zook received the Key Club award. The award honors Junior Leaders who have been active in their local club and in various county activities. In addition to leadership activities, these 4-H'ers have also been active in presenting demonstrations and/or participating on judging teams.

4-H award winner Amber Caputo received the "I Dare You" award and a Key Club Award at the recent 4-H Achievement Night. Photo provided Achievement Awards

Achievement Award winners were selected based on the following criteria: completing at least three years in their project area, showing improvement or maintaining a high level of accomplishment, participating in demonstrations or assisting with workshops.

Those receiving achievement awards were:

Achievement - Kayla Yates. Aerospace - Kendall Baker. Agriculture - Crops - Karlee Sparks. Animal Posters - Amanda Payne. Beef - Natalie Garrison, Ashley Paul.

Bicycle Rodeo - Mathew Randle. Cake Decorating - Megan Weaver. Cat - Lorelei Seip. Child Development - Grace Mears. Collections - Brent Kremer. Consumer Clothing - Halle Chambers.

Crafts - Basic Crafts - Samantha Spraker. Baskets - Jennifer Maxwell. Ceramics - Crystal Keck. Fine Arts - Noah Reed. Legos - Kendall Baker. Models - Abigail Reinke. Needlework - Abagail Spraker. Wearable Arts - Madison Rinehart.

Demonstration - Aaron Goodman. Dogs - Lily Anderson. Electricity - Dustin Paul. Entomology - Weston Rinehart. Fire Safety - Ashton Mitchell. Floriculture - Ariel Randle.

Food Preservation - Malena Zook. Foods - Katelyn O'Farrell, Nichole Randle, Katrina Robeson. Forestry - Brooke Beale. Garden - Tami Veach. Genealogy - Ashton Mitchell. Geology - John Smith. Gift Wrap - Karlee Kitchel. Goat - Geny Studebaker. Government - Kyle Bender.

Health - Ivan Veach. Home Environment - Malena Zook. Horse & Pony - Nolan Mellinger, Katie Randol. Leadership - Amber Caputo, Carissa Hicks, Seth Larimore, Travis Martin, Grace Mears, Kara Overholser. Llama - Jenny Dunk. Microwave - AJ Beckett.

Photography - Grace Mears, April Trapp, Paul Zink. Pocket Pets - Tori Lucas. Poultry - Whitney Hufford. Rabbits - Tara Skelton, Geny Studebaker.

Scrapbook - Hannah Darling, Danielle Kelley. Sewing - Fashion Revue - Grace Mears. Sewing - Nonwearable - Abigayle Burns. Sewing - Wearable - Amanda Plank. Sheep - Rick Burns, Abagail Spraker. Shooting Sports - Kristen Arnett, Seth Larimore, Justin Moffitt, David Veach. Shooting Sports Poster - Tami Veach.

Soil & Water Conservation - Carissa Hicks. Sports Poster - Maizie Wickersham. Strawberry - Amber Spitznagle. Swine - Halle Chambers, Trey Overholser, Ashley Paul, Laine Rader, Hannah Scott, Jarvis Simmons, John Zook.

Tractor Driving - Dustin Paul. Tractor - Motorized 1/16th - Blake Barnard. Tractor Poster - David Veach. Vet. Science - Amanda Payne. Weather - Kyle Bender. Wildlife - Trisha Caputo. Woodworking - Carson Spesard.

Club awards

Nine 4-H clubs received a Helping Hands Helping Hometowns certificate for their Citizenship/Community Service Projects. They were:

CARROLTON CLOVERS: Placed Veteran's Flags at two local cemeteries prior to Memorial Day. Collected miscellaneous items to be donated to Carroll County Homemakers Club.

CLAY BOOSTERS: Went to Milner's Community Healthcare; washed their outdoor furniture and set it up in the courtyard; cleaned out their flower beds and planted flowers; interacted with residents.

DEER CREEK DELPHINIUMS: Focused their service projects around Carroll Manor. The flood of 2004 drowned out some of the fir trees the club had planted earlier and they replaced those trees. They also mulched the trees and added to the existing flower beds.

JACKSON LIVEWIRES: Planted flowers in Camden up town and at the Senior Citizen building. Plus, we collected fabric for the Linus project.

JEFFERSON GO GETTERS: Purchased non-perishable food items for Carroll Manor and purchased flowers for their flower pots. They also planted flowers and weeded flower beds there.

LIBERTY LAZERS: Planted flowers for the Burrows Community and filled sand bags for Relay for Life.

MONORE ACHIEVERS: Planted flower bed and boxes at two Senior Citizens complexes. Held a food drive for the food pantry.

ROCK CREEK RENEGADES: Collected DVD's and sent them to Iraq for the troops. Club members planted flowers in pots for Rockfield Community. They also helped the Camden American Legion place flags on veterans graves for Memorial Day.

TIPPECANOE TRIUMPHS: Placed flags on Veterans graves for Memorial Day. They also visited with residents of St. Elizabeth Healthcare Center, and planted trees for clean up days.

The program for the evening consisted of nine 4- H'ers highlighting their summer 4-H trips. They were: Grace Mears - 4-H Camp. Lorelei Seip and Lucia Zook - Animal Science. Aaron Goodman - Plant Science. Noah Reed - Electric Workshop. Tyler Plank - Engineering Science. Kaitlin Begley - 4-H Round-Up. Grace Mears - Junior Leader Conference. Stefanie Fuller - State 4-H Chorus. Ashley Spraker - State Fair Youth Leadership School.

These 4-H'ers emphasized that the various trips provided opportunities for fun, to meet 4-H'ers from throughout the state, learn more about their projects, and learn more about leadership.