Aleska Barkoviak

Ann Clary

Blair Phillips

Allison Parks

Illinois 4-H Foundation Honors Six Legacy of Leadership Scholars;  Two from McLean County 4-H:
Lindsay Brightwell, third from left, and Allison Parks, far right. 

Six college-bound Illinois 4-H members were recognized as 4-H Legacy of Leadership Scholars during the annual 4-H Family Event at the Illinois State Fair on Saturday, August 13. The statewide scholarship program is coordinated by the Illinois 4-H Foundation and the University of Illinois Extension State 4-H Office. The following 4-H Legacy of Leadership Scholars received a $1,000 college scholarship.

• Stephanie Bechard, a 10 year member of the Turkey Hill Busy Bees 4-H Club from St. Clair County. Stephanie plans to attend Southeast Missouri State with a major in accounting and a minor in finance.
• Wil Bingman, a White County Mad Hatters 4-H member for 11 years. Wil is beginning his sophomore year at Southern Illinois – Carbondale while studying Criminal Justice.
• Lindsay Brightwell, a 10 year Gold Star Clovers 4-H club member in McLean County. She will be attending Illinois State University and majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Political Science.
• Landon Crews from Clark County has been a 10 year 4-H member of the Triple T 4-H Club. He plans to attend the University of Illinois this fall majoring in Marketing and minoring in International Business.
• Ryan Huffer has been involved with the Wide Awake 4-H Club of Logan County for 10 years. He plans to attend either the University of Illinois or Southern Illinois University to major in Communications.
• Allison Parks is a 10 year member of the Homespun and Stylistics 4-H Clubs in McLean County. She plans to attend Heartland Community College to receive her Associate's degree, then move to study nursing and become an RN.

"We are pleased to be able to honor these six outstanding Illinois 4-H members as they embark on the next chapter of their lives," says Angie Barnard, director of the Illinois 4-H Foundation. "They are extremely deserving of this scholarship."

Since its inception in 2003, 49 4-H members have been named a Legacy of Leadership Scholar. The Illinois 4-H Foundation welcomes other individuals, corporations, and organizations as partners in providing additional funds for future scholarship recipients. The Legacy of Leadership Scholarship is merit-based, and available to 4-H members who are high school seniors or in their last year of 4-H membership.

2011 TILT assists IPPRI and prepares over 2000 recycled plastic pots for shipping. 

Gardening provides us with many benefits, but it also leads to a lot of waste. Cell packs, flats, and assorted nursery pots alone account for over 320 million pounds each year. This inspired a number of groups in McLean County to come together to offer gardeners, landscapers, and nurseries an opportunity to recycle their plastic pots. The very successful local garden pot recycling program is known as the Illinois Plastic Pot Recycling Initiative (IPPRI). TILT members met to clean the cell packs, flats and assorted nursery pots, in preparation for trucking the recyclables. Lots of noise, competition, fun and a mighty 'teen generated' dust storm, resulted in hundreds and hundreds of the materials ready to bind and ship.

Thanks to Lindsay Brightwell and Blair Phillips for performing "double duty" on Saturday, 12/3/11 and doing a terrific job of representing
4-H at the Jaycees' and Minier's Christmas Parades!  In addition to the Christmas Parade photo, see photo from 2011 Labor Day...  (Thanks for this note from Brian Basting, Royal Chauffeur, and reporter.)