The Wood County Juniors, in coordination with the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association, held the 2011 Wisconsin Junior Holstein Convention in Stevens Point at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center, Jan. 8-10, 2011. More than 500 Holstein members, chaperones and volunteers were in attendance to help make the weekend a success.

Throughout convention, junior members were encouraged to participate in numerous contests, including speaking, arts and crafts, photography, dairy jeopardy and dairy quiz bowl. The largest competition of the weekend was dairy quiz bowl, in which 27 junior, 28 senior and four rookie teams competed.

At the end of the weekend, an undefeated junior team from Manitowoc County and a senior team from Vernon County earned the honor to represent Wisconsin at the National Holstein Convention in the Dairy Bowl contest in June. Manitowoc County’s team members included Jake Siemers, Crystal Peterman, Jordan Siemers and Josh Siemers. Vernon County’s team was comprised of Arlisa Landis, Katie Wendorf, Ryan Nigh and Kaleb Storm. Coming in second place in both the junior and senior divisions were teams from Polk County. Polk’s junior team included Ethan and Trent Dado, Mykayla Getschel, and Laura Jensen. The senior team was comprised of Bethany Dado, Brett Getschel, Cody Getschel and Chris Rassier.

All juniors at convention had the chance to compete in the dairy jeopardy competition. The top competitor in each of three age brackets has the opportunity to compete at the National level. Qualifying this year in the junior division was Jake Siemers of Manitowoc County, the intermediate division Rachel Hartlaub of Manitowoc County, and the senior division Katie Wendorf of Vernon County. Placing second and third in the junior division were Josh Siemers of Manitowoc County and Zach Servais of Vernon County. In the intermediate division, Jordan Siemers of Manitowoc County took second, and Kaleb Storm of Vernon County was third. In the senior division, Brett Getschel of Polk County and Kelly Lee of Jefferson County placed second and third.

In the speaking contest, Wisconsin can send up to three delegates in each division to compete at National Convention. To compete, youth must prepare a speech of a topic related to the dairy industry at a length assigned to their specific age division. Heading to National Convention this year are Courtney Moser of Vernon County, Connor Siemers of Manitowoc County, and Adam Field of Sauk County in the junior division. Crystal Siemers-Peterman of Manitowoc County, Kati Kindschuh of Fond du Lac County, and Taylor Moret of Crawford County qualified in the intermediate division. A strong senior division will send Kaitlin Riley of Crawford County, Breinne Hendrickson of Green County, and Jennifer Kindschuh of Fond du Lac County to the National contest in 2011.

On Sunday evening, the annual banquet was held to honor those outstanding juniors in the association. Jacob Brey of Door County and Danae Bauer of Waupaca County claimed the most prestigious honor, being named Outstanding Holstein Boy and Girl. These individuals have excelled in their own Holstein programs, and have been an asset to the association and dairy industry. Also receiving honors were 13 other Distinguished Junior Members, 19 Younger Junior Distinguished Members, and 12, 12 & Under youth all excelling in Wisconsin Holstein activities and the dairy industry.

Of the exceptional youth recognized, four representatives in the Distinguished and Younger Distinguished Member category were selected to represent Wisconsin at the National Holstein Convention, which will be hosted by Virginia this June. Kelly Lee of Jefferson County, Danae Bauer of Waupaca County, Carl Lippert of Wood County, and Mitch Kappelman of Manitowoc County were all chosen to represent Wisconsin as Distinguished Junior Members. The Younger Member delegates include Jessica Pralle of Clark County, Brooks Hendrickson of Green County, and Jordan Siemers and Crystal Siemers-Peterman, both from Manitowoc County.

The 2011 Wisconsin Holstein Princess and Attendant were also crowned at the Sunday evening banquet. This year, Breinne Hendrickson of Green County will serve as the WHA Princess, and Carrie Warmka of Dodge County will join her as the WHA Princess Attendant.

Wisconsin Holstein awarded nearly $13,000 in scholarships this year, and following the award presentation, an auction was held to raise funds for future awards. Proceeds from the auction are put into the WHA scholarship fund, and this year more than $3,000 was added. High school seniors, short course, and two and four year college students that are members of WHA are all eligible for these awards.

Throughout the convention, youth were recognized for other outstanding achievements, including Junior Progressive Breeder recognition for owning and breeding their milking animals producing 30,000, to over 200,000 pounds of milk in one lactation or over their lifetime. Members with cows that produced over 175,000 pounds of milk in their lifetime included Hillary Hartley of Crawford County and Brandon Long of Waupaca County.

The Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association awards interested junior members the opportunity to travel to an area of the state to tour farms and learn from their experience. This “Farm Tour Trip” award was given to 12 recipients this year, including Jenny Kindschuh of Fond du Lac County, Arlisa Landis of Vernon County, Dane Thompson of Barron County, Brett Hildebrandt of Dodge County, Kayla Krueger of Waupaca County, Amelia Cooper of Dane County, Lexa Miller of Wood County, Sean Brown of Iowa County, Anna Blake of Waushara County, Kristin Solum of Barron County, Tanya Smith of Green County and Bryce Krull of Jefferson County. The group will be traveling the state early this spring.

Also held Sunday morning was the annual business meeting, in which four new Junior Activities Committee (JAC) members were selected. The JAC group is responsible for coordinating and seeing through all junior events within the Wisconsin Junior Holstein Association. Selected this year for the southwest district was Katie Wendorf of Vernon County, for the northwest Nathan Huser of Wood County, the southeast Brett Hildebrandt of Dodge County, and the northeast Cara Biely of Manitowoc County. These members will serve a two-year term as JAC’s, and join the second-year members Katie Wallenhorst of Lafayette County, William Coyne of Pierce County, Laura Elliott of Dane County and Jacob Brey of Door County.

The contest room is always fun and a great way to show off things done by junior members throughout the year. In the advertising contest, members submit advertisements they ran in the Wisconsin Holstein News or something they designed at home on their own. This year’s winners in the junior division were Jordan Siemers of Manitowoc County, Crystal Siemers-Peterman of Manitowoc County, and Elizabeth Sarbacker of Dane County. In the senior division, Brett Hildebrandt of Dodge County, Andrea Pagenkopf of Grant County, and Nicole Wright of Jefferson County were recognized. Taking people’s choice honors were Elizabeth Sarbacker and Brett Hildebrandt.

In the photography contest’s farm people photos, Elizabeth Sarbacker of Dane County, Connor Siemers of Manitowoc County, and Crystal Siemers-Peterman of Manitowoc County were recognized. In the senior division, Kayla Krueger of Waupaca County, Nicole Wright of Jefferson County, and Andrea Pagenkopf of Grant County had photos that received top honors. People’s choice awards went to Paul Byl of Polk County and Andrea Pagenkopf.

In photography’s farm scenes category, Jenna Breuch of Wood County took first and third, while Rachel Coyne of Pierce County was second in the junior division. Excelling in the senior division were Cassi Miller of Wood County, Matt Olson of Door County, and Lexa Miller of Wood County. People’s choice honors went to Jenna Breuch of Wood County and Matt Olson.

Wrapping up the photography contest was the farm animals category, where Courtney Moser of Vernon County took first, and Elizabeth Sarbacker of Dane County took second and third. Katrina Nunes of Chippewa County took first and third, and Nicole Wright of Jefferson County rounded out the senior division. People’s choice awards went to Elizabeth Sarbacker of Dane County and Becky Steffensmeier of Grant County.

The juniors got creative in the arts contest, and taking top honors in the junior division were Rachel Nigh of Vernon County, who took first and third place, and Austin Nauman of Monroe County, who took second and People’s Choice. In the senior division, Brynn Kasten of Manitowoc County was the top individual. Brynn Kasten received the people’s choice award in the senior division.

Also bringing out creativity were those in the crafts contest. Elizabeth Sarbacker of Dane County, Emily Reuter of Lafayette County, and Charlie Hamilton of Grant County were the top individuals in the junior division, while Kayla Wright of Jefferson County, Kayla Krueger of Waupaca County, and Nikki Nauman of Monroe County were top three in the senior division. People’s choice winners were Elizabeth Sarbacker and Kayla Wright.

Each county is encouraged to submit a scrapbook of their activities throughout the year. These books are judged and awards are given to the top three counties. This year Green County earned top honors, and Waupaca/Waushara and Rock Counties followed closely in second and third place. The digital scrapbook contest winners were Door County (first place) and Jefferson County (second place).

The folding display contest was a huge success this year. Individuals developed display boards to highlight activities or subjects within the dairy industry. First in the junior division was Courtney Moser of Vernon County, second was Adam Field of Sauk County, and third was Connor Siemers of Manitowoc County. Courtney was also named people’s choice in this contest. First in the intermediate division was Jordan Siemers of Manitowoc County, second was Katherine Larson of Vernon County, and third was John Klossner of Green County. Ben Powers of Dunn County was People’s Choice winner in the intermediate division. In the senior contest, Kayla Wright of Jefferson County was first place and people’s choice.

This year’s essay contest topics included members writing about assigned topics relating to today’s dairy industry. The top three junior individuals for this contest were Charlie Hamilton of Grant County, Elizabeth Sarbacker of Dane County and Logan Voights of Lafayette County. In the senior division, Stephanie Nagel of Manitowoc County was first, and Rachel Hartlaub, also of Manitowoc County, was second.

For teams to be seated in the dairy bowl contest, they must take a written exam on the first day of convention. Those individuals scoring highest are recognized with awards. High scores in the junior division this year went to Trent Dado of Polk County, Charles Moore of Grant County, and Jordan Siemers of Manitowoc County. Also recognized for high scores in the senior division were Jace Neuser and Mitch Kappelman of Manitowoc County, and Carissa Tolzman of Iowa County.

For more results from this year’s convention, check out the Junior Convention Report link at www.wisholsteins.com . PD

—From WHA news release