UGA Cooperative Extension
Toombs County Extension Office:
News & Events
Forestry Juding Teams Bring Home Second Place Honors at District Contest
Front row pictured (L to R) are Junior Team members Erin Ricks, Summer Ramsey, Trenton Stephens, Katie Denmark and Carley McCoy. Back row pictured (L to R) are Senior Team members Kayla Webb, Brittany Garcia and McKinsey McCoy
On Wednesday, September 1, 2010 4-H members from five Southeast Georgia counties gathered at Gordonia - Altamaha State Park in Reidsville for the Southeast 4-H Forestry Field Day. In preparation, students spent the last month learning trees, insects and diseases common to Georgia forests and forestry skills.
Students competed in a total of four contest events testing their knowledge and skill level in the Forestry area. Events included: tree identification, insect and disease identification, timber volume estimation and pacing or compass exercises.
In the senior division for grades 9-12, the top three teams were Burke County, Toombs County and Appling County. In the junior division for grades 6-8, placing of counties were identical with Burke County in first, followed by Toombs County and Appling County. The Toombs County senior team will now advance to the State Contest, September 18, 2010, at Rock Eagle 4-H Center in Eatonton, Georgia.
At the awards ceremony, individual members were also recognized for their efforts. In the senior division, Brittany Garcia, McKinsey McCoy and Kayla Webb were recognized as the 6th, 7th and 8th place individuals in the overall contest. Junior team member Erin Ricks placed 6th in the junior contest.
The Toombs County team was coached by Cheryl A. Poppell, Toombs County 4-H Coordinator and Lesli D. Garrett, Toombs County 4-H Program Assistant.
Toombs County 4-H is a part of Georgia Cooperative Extension, promoting Learning for Life. For more information about forestry judging or other Toombs County 4-H programs, please contact the Toombs County Extension Office at 526-3101.
Toombs 4-H’ers Attend State 4-H Congress
Toombs County 4-H members Brittany Garcia and McKinsey McCoy traveled to Atlanta July 20, 2010 for Georgia State 4-H Congress. Held annually, 4-H Congress is the end of the year highlight for many of Georgia’s youth. Over 300 members were joined by hundreds of staff and University specialists for the four day event. While at State Congress, members competed in project competitions and also attended banquets, educational tours and visited Six Flags for the announcement of winners.
To attend State Congress, members must advance by winning top honors at the District contest which took place earlier in the year. Each member represented the Southeast District as project winners. Brittany Garcia competed in the Physical, Biological and Earth Sciences project and McKinsey McCoy competed in the Computers project. There were two parts of the competition: portfolio interview and demonstration. The demonstration and interview scores were combined for a final score.
Brittany Garcia placed third and McKinsey McCoy placed fourth in the Computers project and Courtney Jackson took fifth place honors in the History project.
The delegates were accompanied to State Congress by Toombs County Extension Program Assistant Lesli Garrett.
Georgia 4-H is a partner in public education where youth and adults are growing and working together to experience and accomplish the extraordinary.
Toombs County 4-H Shotgun Team Attends District Match 
The Toombs County 4-H shotgun team competed in the 2010 Southeast District 4-H Shotgun Match and State Qualification Event on Saturday, April 17, 2010 at Bay Gall Sporting Clays in Bulloch County. The team from Toombs County competed against over 280 shotgun shooters at this district match.
Local 4-H’ers who competed was: Ethan Brown, Will Brown, Ryan Copeland, Chase Corbin, Emily Earls, Katie Earls, Anthony Gibbs, Meghan Hadley, Nick Hester, Seth Moser, Caleb Parker, Trenton Stephens Christopher Warren, Kimberly Warren and Mitch Williamson.
The team practiced weekly since January to prepare for the competition. Each team member was also required to successfully complete the Georgia Hunter Safety Program.
Each of the team members performed well accumulating a team score of 112 at the event. The team score is comprised of the five highest individual scores from each county. Teams are identified and broken into sets of Junior (7th and 8th graders) and Senior (9th – 12thgrade) 4-H’ers.
Caleb Parker and Christopher Warren were the top shooters on the team at our Area District Match hitting 25 of the 25 clay targets. Parker and Warren then proceeded to the doubles round to determine individual winners in the district.
To advance to the state match on May 8, 2010 at Rock Eagle 4-H Center, Junior 4-H members had to break at least 16 of 25 targets and Senior 4-H member must break 20 of 25 targets. Team members Ethan Brown, Katie Earls, Nick Hester, Seth Moser, Caleb Parker, Christopher Warren and Mitch Williamson advanced to the state competition.
The Georgia 4-H Shooting Awareness, Fun and Education Program (S.A.F.E.) is sponsored by The Georgia 4-H Foundation. The Toombs County program is in its fourth year. Local sponsors of this year’s team included Friends of the NRA, Lasseter Implement Company, Liberty Baptist Church, Southern Steel Detailing, Inc., Toombs County Farm Bureau, Vidalia Federal Savings Bank, Georgia Small Business Council, Clarke Appliance, and McLain Farms.
The team is coordinated by Project S.A.F.E. Certified Coach David Garrett. Other coaches include John Hadley, Wendell Harvey and Dover Williamson.
Newly Formed BB Team Attends State Qualification Match
The Toombs County 4-H Project S.A.F.E BB Team competed in the Southwest Area BB match on Saturday, April 10th in Tifton. The team from Toombs County was one of approximately thirty teams in the competition.
The BB Team is through the Project S.A.F.E Program in 4-H. The S.A.F.E program teaches youth the core concepts of safety, ethical development, personal responsibility and life-time recreational skills. In BB, the shooters are scored in four positions: prone, standing, sitting and kneeling. They also have to take a written test on firearm safety.
Members of this year’s inaugural team are: (Back Row, L-R) Wendell Peebles, Matt Hadley, Jamie Taylor, Nick Franklin, (Front Row, L-R) Peyton Carroll, Adam Brown, Brad Sanders and Jacob Rush. Two members of the team, Wendell Peebles and Adam Brown, also qualified to go to the State BB Match on April 30th through May 2nd at the Rock Eagle 4-H Center. The BB Team is coached by County Agent, Jason Edenfield and Volunteer, John Hadley.
For more information on 4-H or Project S.A.F.E. please contact the Toombs County Cooperative Extension office at 912-526-3101.
Past Events
Meet the Future Town Hall Meeting
On Tuesday Evening, March 30, 2010, 4-H key supporters and guests gathered to learn more about the local 4-H program in Toombs County. Special guests spoke about the impact of 4-H in their lives.
Cloverleaf Project Achievement
Toombs County 4-H Competes at Cloverleaf District Project Achievement
Forty seven 5th and 6th grade Toombs County Cloverleaf 4-H members traveled to Alma, Georgia for the annual Cloverleaf District Project Achievement contest on March 20, 2010. There were over 500 members from thirteen southeast Georgia counties that attended the event. As participants in the contest, members present a short demonstration about a subject matter of choice. Members chose from one of over sixty project areas dealing with one of the 4-H core values of Agriculture, Citizenship, Communication, the Environment, Family and Consumer Sciences and Leadership.
Toombs County had the fourth largest delegation at the event. 4-H members from three area elementary and two middle schools attended the contest. For complete listing of students, projects and placing by school, please click here.
2010 Junior Senior Project Achievement
Toombs County 4-H’ers Attend 2010 District Project Achievement
Toombs County 4-H members traveled to Rock Eagle for the annual Project Achievement weekend. During the event, members competed for top honors in their individual project area. The weekend was filled with project competition, officer elections, special award presentations and recreation.
The project competition was two part. First members were scored on a project portfolio detailing activities completed during the 2009 calendar year. Second, members presented a demonstration in their project area. The scores from the two segments were combined for the total score. Senior first place winners received a trip to State 4-H Congress to represent the District in the State competition. For a complete list of participants and placings, click here.
