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MACON COUNTY 4-H MEMBER HEADS TO NATIONAL 4-H CONGRESS

DECATUR - More than 1,100 4-H delegates from across the nation will gather in Atlanta, Georgia for National 4-H Congress from November 23 - 27. Hayley Bunselmeyer, a Macon County 4-H member, is one of 31 teens chosen to represent the state of Illinois at National Congress in the program area of Plants & Soils.

National 4-H Congress offers states an opportunity to send outstanding 4-H youth to this event and provide them with expanded educational experience through seminars, community service projects, and tours sponsored by local and national 4-H program donors. This is one of the highest honors a 4-H member can achieve in the Illinois 4-H Youth Development Program.

Throughout the year, over 280,000 University of Illinois Extension 4-H Youth Development participants can receive recognition for their work at the local, county and state level. County nominations for curriculum area winners are sent to the state selection process in January to begin an intense selection process that includes application judging, 4-H story judging and interviews. The process helps judges select the top 4-H members in various curriculum areas. Many of these winners are selected for a trip to this national event.

Highlighting this year's event will be presentations by Dan Thurmon, Jonathan Sprinkles, and Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson. All Congress delegates will participate in special cultural programs such as the International Dinner & Dance and a night at the Atlanta History Center. Other educational experiences during National 4-H Congress include delegate participation in workshops focusing on cultural differences, team leadership development, and the power of youth. Several delegates will have the opportunity to tour locations around Atlanta, such as CNN, the Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Aquarium, Turner Field (home of the Atlanta Braves), Cyclorama, The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and more.

Accompanying this year's delegates will be chaperones Debra Stocker, Extension Specialist at the State 4-H Office; Gordon Kelm, 4-H Volunteer from Tampico in Whiteside County, and Danielle Rice, 4-H Event Coordinator, State 4-H Office. Kelm was selected for the trip as a past inductee into the Illinois 4-H Hall of Fame.

National 4-H Congress is conducted by Cooperative Extension Service staff on behalf of the Cooperative Extension System of the state land-grant universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

2007 Illinois Delegates

National 4-H Congress

Each Illinois delegate is listed below, along with their county, hometown and curriculum award area.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2007