Tioga County 4-H members bring back top ribbons from New York State Fair 

Tioga County 4-H members came home from the New York State Fair in Syracuse, N.Y. with an impressive collection of accolades this month. New York State 4-H youth spend the year preparing animals, crops, and creative projects to exhibit in their county fairs in the summer. Qualified judges then chose the best exhibits to continue on to compete in the New York State Fair, held this year on Aug. 21 – Sept. 2 in Syracuse, N.Y. Tioga County 4-H was proud to have 30 youth compete in the 2019 state fair, with even more qualifying to compete in the event.

Highlights for Tioga County 4-H at the New York State Fair included the 4-H Livestock Judging Competition, where the Tioga County Junior Team, consisting of Cheyenne Moyers (Nichols, N.Y.), Kyle Jantz (Candor, N.Y.), Jason Jantz (Candor, N.Y.), and Brody Hines (Newark Valley, N.Y.), and the Tioga County Senior Team, including Mason Card (Nichols, N.Y.) and Rosie Hines (Newark Valley, N.Y.), both placed fourth in their divisions.  

Rosie Hines earned tenth place as an individual. In the 4-H Livestock Skillathon, the Tioga County Junior Team took third place. Brody Hines earned seventh place as an individual, and Jason Jantz earned ninth place individually. 

In the Novice Rabbit Decathlon, Tess Bergfjord (Endicott, N.Y.) earned first place individually, and was on the first place team. Kylie Estrella (Endicott, N.Y.) was on the fifth place team in the Junior Rabbit Decathlon. Fenton Bergfjord (Endicott, N.Y.) earned individual fourth place in the Novice Cavy Decathlon, and was on the first place team. 

In the 4-H Hippology Contest, Tioga County 4-H members on the Junior Team placed second. Tess Bergfjord earned second place individually, and Emma Smith (Endicott, N.Y.) earned tenth place individually. Kylie Estrella earned fourth place in Horse Judging, with Tess Bergfjord not far behind. Sixteen-year-old Emma Smith earned the impressive accomplishment of qualifying to compete in Horse Judging in the Eastern National 4-H Horse Roundup in Louisville, Kentucky later this year. 

In the New York State Fair animal shows, Rosie Hines and her goats received two third place ribbons, a fourth place, and a fifth place. She also earned second place for her Senior Meat Goat Record Book, second place in the Senior Meat Goat Judging Class, and third place overall in the Senior Goat Rancher Competition. Rosie Hines also earned two first place ribbons and a fourth place with her sheep. Brody Hines earned the first place title in four different classes in the sheep division, as well as a second place ribbon. Tess Bergfjord’s American Fuzzy Lop won Best of Breed in the rabbit show, and Fenton Bergfjord’s Dalmatian Boar won Best Pet in the Cavy show. Dylan Klossner (Owego, N.Y.) and his Brown Swiss dairy heifer earned second place in the dairy cattle show, while Rosie Hines earned third place. Jacob Burlew (Newark Valley, N.Y.) earned a blue ribbon in the poultry show. Staci Greene (Newark Valley, N.Y.) participated in Grooming and Handling with her dog, and in the Advanced Dog Show Skillathon.

In the horse show, Novalei Marcey (Newark Valley, N.Y.) came in first in the Pony Bleeding Heart pattern, fourth in Pony Pole Bending, fourth in the Pony Keyhole Race, and sixth in Pony Cloverleaf Barrels. Paige Lee (Berkshire, N.Y.) came in sixth in the Horse Bleeding Heart pattern, ninth in Horse Figure 8 Barrel Race, and tenth in the Horse Keyhole Race. Staci Greene came in fifth in Pony Texas T Barrels and seventh in the Pony Keyhole Race. Emma Smith came in seventh in Horse Texas T Barrels and eighth in Horse Pole Bending. In the driving division, Kylie Estrella took fourth place in Gamblers Choice, fifth in Miniature Horse Timed Cones, sixth place in Reinsmanship, eighth place in Pleasure Driving, and ninth place is Country Pleasure Driving. Tess Bergfjord and her miniature horse earned third place in in-hand jumping, and Novalei Marcey and her miniature horse earned fourth place in in-hand obstacles.

Outside of the animal science competitions, Tioga County 4-Hers were just as successful. Jacob, Kate, and Grace Guiles (Newark Valley, N.Y.) were named “Engineering Dream Team” in the Robotics Challenge. Tioga County’s display of artwork, woodworking, photography, gardening, baking and more, also brought in a collection of blue ribbons. Johanna Pilny (Endicott, N.Y.) and Alison Goodrich (Endicott, N.Y.) were both recognized with the “Outstanding Exhibit” award for their drawings, while 17-year-old Goodrich also earned one of the rare “Best of Fair” awards for a drawing.  

Projects that earned blue ribbons included Rachel Brennan’s (Berkshire, N.Y.) KuneKune poster, Tess Bergford’s horse drawing, Johnathan Zorn’s (Owego, N.Y.) string art cow, Audi Zorn’s (Owego, N.Y.) string art horseshoe, Makenna Zorn’s (Owego, N.Y.) string art horse, Wyatt Zorn’s (Owego, N.Y.) string art, Allison Pilny’s (Endicott, N.Y.) butterfly earrings, Johanna Pilny’s window art, Jamison Thompson’s (Newark Valley, N.Y.) window art, Brody Hines’s window art, Rosie Hines’s window art, Jacob Guiles’ wooden bench, Allison Pilny’s knit scarf, Fenton Bergfjord’s photograph, Rosie Hines’s pumpkin, and Johanna Pilny’s homemade game.  

There were also some delicious baked goods; Fenton Bergfjord’s peanut butter cookies and Grace Guiles’s banana muffins both earned blue ribbons. Other exhibits that earned ribbons at the New York State Fair included Rosie Hines’s achievement record book and homegrown vegetables, Kathryn Greene’s (Newark Valley, N.Y.) blueberry coffee cake and sunset painting, Brody Hines’ homegrown vegetables, and Megan Henry’s (Candor, N.Y.) goat stand. 

Tioga County Cloverbud 4-H members (ages five to eight years old) who displayed projects at the State Fair included Bristol Bergfjord (Endicott, N.Y.), Wyatt Bergfjord (Endicott, N.Y.), Lynnae Thompson (Newark Valley, N.Y.), and Collin Dunbar (Endicott, N.Y.).

Tioga County 4-H is proud of the talented and hard-working youth in this program, and is excited to see where the next year takes these 4-H members.

To find out more about the Tioga County 4-H Program, contact the 4-H Office, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Tioga County at 687-4020 or visit tioga.cce.cornell.edu.