Community photos 2/17/15

Recently the 4-H Honor Club held its annual initiation. The 4-H Honor Club is statewide and was instituted to further 4-H Club work throughout the counties of Tennessee. Its chief purposes are to provide recognition primarily within the county to 4-H Club members who have shown consistent leadership ability, and have been helpful members in their clubs and their communities and to encourage young people to continue their work in 4-H and their service to others. This year's new initiates are, from left, Jessica Osterhaus, Bryce Coffey and Matthew Parker.

Honor Club members also elected new officers. From left: president Timothy Martin, vice president Jon Osterhaus, secretary Jacob Wade, reporter Brigette Swafford, junior high representative Joshua Wade, 9th-10th grade representative Bryce Coffey and 11th-12th grade representative Matthew Parker. The focus of the 4-H Honor Club is service. Martin is leading this group in a service project each month through 2015. In January they collected for a mission trip to provide hacky sacks to the children of Haiti. This month, they collected money to help grant a child a wish for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The club is planning more projects for the year.

The winners from the 4-H Speech contest are (front row, from left) first prize, Jonathan Parker, fourth grade, homeschool; first prize, Ben Renegar, fifth grade, Cascade; second prize, Grace Haynes, fifth grade, Thomas Magnet School; first prize, Jessica Osterhaus, sixth grade, Victory Baptist Academy; second prize, Caleb Voorhes-Fontenot, sixth grade, The Webb School; first prize, Hunter Palmer. seventh grade, Cascade; second prize, Savannah Emory, seventh grade, Cascade; (back row) first prize, Abby Parker, eighth grade, homeschool; second prize, Cody Hodge, eighth grade, Cascade; first prize, Timothy Martin, ninth grade, homeschool; first prize, Jon Osterhaus, 10th grade, homeschool; and first prize, Lydia Martin, 12th grade, homeschool. Not pictured: second prize, Emma Gospodarek, fourth grade, Liberty. There were a total of 35 youth that participated in eight grade levels. The first and second prizes in fourth through eighth grades will compete at the area-wide competition at Motlow State Community College later this month. The high schoolers had an opportunity to compete at MTSU at the Regional Competition.

Jim Troupe of First Community Bank, left, presents Brittany Montgomery of the Shelbyville/Bedford County Boys and Girls Club with food donations from the bank's employees. (T-G Photo by Jim Davis)