Obion County 4-H’ers advance to state contest

Posted: Friday, April 20, 2012 8:01 pm

Look for these piggy banks when casting your votes to support our local 4-Hers.

The Obion County 4-H Program recently held its first Piggy Bank Pageant.  
The mission of the Tennessee Piggy Bank Pageant is to encourage young people to begin a habit of saving early in life by constructing and/or decorating a personal “piggy” bank. Habitual savings is one of the most important financial lessons a young person can learn, and one that virtually assures a secure financial future.
Money saved and invested grows over time, so investments made early in life have much more power to grow than do investments made later in life. This simple illustration shows the power of early savings, a lesson we hope youngsters will learn through activities such as the Piggy Bank Pageant.
The Piggy Bank Pageant was started in Hamilton County almost 10 years ago and the idea quickly spread to counties across Tennessee and eventually to several other states. The University of Tennessee Extension currently has around 1,000 entries in local Piggy Bank Pageants statewide. County winners started advancing to state contests in 2006. This year’s statewide contest will debut online with public voting for people’s choice in each age category. The contests are open to youngsters pre-K through 12th grade.
More than 125 Obion County 4-H’ers participated in the Piggy Bank Pageant. Club finalists moving on to the county contest were Union City Afterschool 4-H Club, Hope Kennedy; Hillcrest, Emma Roberts; Lake Road, Gracie Laster; Ridgemont, Caitlyn Owens; South Fulton, Adriene Joyner; and Black Oak, Kayla Hutcheson.
County finalists, moving onto the state level of the contest, were Miss Joyner, Miss Laster and Miss Kennedy. The piggy banks created by each of these 4-H’ers will be voted on using an online voting system — http://fcs.tennessee.edu/voteforthepig/Voting.aspx. Votes may be cast through Tuesday at 5 p.m. and residents are encouraged to support these local girls.
4-H’ers also had the opportunity to compete in a 4-H sewing contest. This contest allowed 4-H’ers to gain vital life skills, including positive self esteem, responsibility, achieving goals and leadership. More than 100 youth participated in the sewing contest. Representing that group is Afterschool Club 4-H’er Carol Anne Clanton.

Published in The Messenger 4.20.12