September 8, 2021
By: Johnny Barnes Extension Agent & County Director
The DeKalb County 4-H Grilling Team has done it again! For the third straight year of competition, DeKalb County 4-H is Regional Champions. The senior high team comprised of Avalynn Smullen, Riley Fuson, Lily Waggoner and Paul Oliver won first place at the Central Region 4-H Grill Master Challenge. The Competition featured 4-H teams and individuals from all over Middle Tennessee. 4-H members in the 9th-12th grades compete in the senior high division with 6th-8th grades being in the junior high division. Each 4-Her grills either a pork, beef, lamb, or poultry product and submits for judging. DeKalb County’s junior high team placed fourth in their division.
Along with team accomplishments, several of the members excelled individually which propelled their teams to the top of the contest. In the Sr. High division, Lilly Waggoner was the champion in poultry and Paul Oliver was the lamb champion with Avalynn Smullen coming in eighth in pork. In Jr. High, Trinity Young was the champion in pork and Ben Barton was the lamb champion. Also in the top ten were Wade Evans third place in lamb, Cali Agee fourth in pork, Kylynn Smullen sixth in poultry, and Hannah Keith ninth in beef. The competition was held on August 26 at the fairgrounds in Lebanon, TN.
The senior high team will now go on to compete at the State Contest which will be on October 23 in Knoxville where they will compete against the champions from West and East Tennessee. DeKalb County was the State Champions in 2018 and State Runners-Up in 2019 and this team hopes to continue that success. No competitions took place in 2020 due to Covid. A big thank-you goes out to C&S Farms and Food Lion for helping to sponsor. Good luck to these kids at the next round of competition!