Katie called us at 10 PM Wednesday night ( July 23) to inform us that she placed first at the 4-h State Congress. This means that she has gone as high as she can in her project area/category. Her project area was Companion Animals and she did her presentation on Saving Our Animal Shelters. Every year since 6th grade her DPA (District Project Achievement) project has been on raising public awareness for animal shelters.
Herman and I were invited to the annual banquet on Thursday night ( July 24). 
So we packed up the the suit & tie and off we went. It was a quite a long day with driving up to Atlanta where the conference was being held. Katie looked beautiful and we are very proud of her. Only two other girls from our county ( Whitney Bush and Hannah Bowen ) placed first in their category. Because she was a state winner, the three of us had to go down to the banquet and hour and a half before for pictures with our project donors and other representatives. Emanuel County had 7 student who qualified to compete at the state competition.
The banquet was briefly delayed that evening because Governor Perdue was running a little late. It didn’t surprise us that Judge Kathy Palmer from Emanuel County was at the banquet as she is very active in the inner workings of Georgia 4-H. She’s even on the Board of Trustees for the GA. 4-H Foundation. But I guess we didn’t think about all the other elected officials who would be attending the festivities.
It was an exciting end of the week for everyone involved. Katie now is a Master 4-H member which from what I understand is a very elite club. We also got to see many friends and relatives while we were at the event. Katie saw several of Mandy’s high school & 4-h friends. I got to talk to Brittany Kelley for a few minutes. She knew Mandy through 4-H and we knew Britanny because her mother was Katie’s 5th grade teacher. We also got to briefly visit with my cousin, Jenny Jordan. She now works with 4-H on the state level.
We came home to many congratulatory phone calls and cards. That what it’s like to live in a small town – news travels very fast. Luckily one of her fellow 4-H members/friends, Michael Owen Henry is also a writer for the local paper ( The Forest-Blade ) , so I know it will all be reported accurately.
We’re still not sure of Holly’s exact arrival time or date. She has been on holiday with her family the last couple of weeks. I hope to go this week and finish getting her registered for school. But I am glad Katie is back home again, so she can tackle her room.
She has been living out of a suitcase for the past month and a half. Most of the summer she was home for a day or two at most in between activities and camps. Of course it was just enough time to unpack – wash clothes – repack the suitcase and not enough time to make heads or tails of the actual condition of her room. I would do it, but my luck I would get rid of something or other that is crucial to the day to day life of a teenager. So why even attempt it??
Now the next time she goes with 4-H it will be for National Congress. Way to go, Katie !!!!!
Where main street meets... Crossroads of The South 