County 4-Hers bring home a raft of top ribbons

Of the 27 Carlton County 4-H members with demonstrations and exhibits at the Minnesota State Fair that began in August, 19 purple or blue ribbons were brought home by the time the fair ended on Labor Day.

Purple is the top award, for entries deemed to have "met and far exceed the average standards established for that particular class. The exhibit or workmanship is outstanding with minimal flaws."

Here is a rundown on the Carlton County participants who won purple ribbons:

• Laura Rubesh of Carlton, from the countywide group Barnyard Buddies, got a purple ribbon for senior dairy goat showmanship.

• Kaelyn Schneider of the Barnum area Nemadji 4-H group won a purple in fashion revue, upcycled clothing and also a blue ribbon.

• Rebekah Vogt of the Nemadji group got a purple in woodworking.

• Joshua Bleskacek from the Esko Cloverleafs got a purple in photo manipulation.

• Grace Lavan from the Cloverleafs got a purple for her wildlife biology exhibit.

Blues

Blue ribbons are awarded to entries "that exceed the average standard. The exhibit and workmanship meet the standards of the purple ribbon but has a few flaws."

Here are the county's blue ribbon winners:

• Brayden Davidson of Barnyard Buddies for a corn exhibit.

• Jessica Klejeski of Barnyard Buddies for intermediate dairy cow showmanship.

• Tyler Laveau of Barnyard Buddies for intermediate dairy cow showmanship.

• Kendall Schneider of the Nemadji group for purchased clothing.

• Summer Kienze of the Mahtowa area Rowdy Wranglers for fine arts.

• Natalie Vargo of Nemadji for fine arts.

• Abigail Vargo of Nemadji for senior rabbit showmanship.

• Alyssa Blazevic of the Esko Cloverleafs in foods.

• Aviana Bergstrand of the Rowdy Wranglers for flower gardening.

• Ruth Sandstrom of the Esko Cloverleafs for needle arts.

• Ethan Lavan of the Esko Cloverleafs for a science inquiry exhibit.

• Kora Webster of the Esko Cloverleafs for chicken breeding.

• Nia Petry of the Nemadji group for senior rabbit showmanship.

• Maci Soderbloom of the Cromwell area Sunshine Acres group for intermediate rabbit showmanship.

• Cotlyn Rose of the Nemadji group for intermediate rabbit showmanship.

Other qualifiers for the state fair were Emily Hacker, Jackson Hacker, Wyatt Hacker, Mia Laveau, Weston Davidson, Avery Koivisto and Justine Anderson.

There were more than 155 demonstrations and 1,900 general exhibits on display at the state fair this year.