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Welcome to the ARBA District 1 Youth page. Visit often for information on Youth Royalty Contest info (both at the state level and nationally).
Aggie Mowry - Co-Youth Chair for Washington state, has written an inspirational article regarding the partnership between ARBA and 4-H. It's an interesting read and very motivating...
WSRBA Royalty Youth Rock the Boat Again!
 Reflections on the 2007 Michigan Experience by Aggie Mowry, Co-Youth Chair
WSRBA members, be proud! Our youth did very well again this year at the National ARBA Convention, this year in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We took home the 2 Junior titles, 2007 Princess AND Prince (It’s been a while since we took a male title!), and 3 first runners up in the Duchess, Duke and Queen categories! In addition to that we had a 2nd RU Queen, a 4th RU Duchess, 3rd RU Prince and a 4th RU Duke. Take a close look at the full report, and be sure to congratulate the youth next time you see them.
Numbers: There were 109 total Royalty contestants this year, and several hundred contestants in the individual judging and breed ID contests. There were close to 20 State teams in each age category for both judging and breed identification.
Teams: The contests were well organized, with the highlight as usual the ARBA Youth banquet & awards on Wednesday night. Several District directors and Youth chairs from different states networked and organized teams from a variety of states to come together. For instance, the WA Juniors were missing a member (it takes a minimum of 4 for a team), so North Carolina helped out and completed the team with Fayth Young, and Paige Smith as alternate. Our own Kendall Bledsoe and Reni Lucido helped out NC and OH teams, since we had already filled our senior team. This was a great way for some youth to get to know some other kids and help each others state out. The Washington Junior breed ID team went on and won the Junior Division, and WA Seniors took 2nd place! How cool was that!
Practicing Breed ID: Saturday night before the contest we had 3 large groups go through the huge showroom in the “ DeVos Place ”. Between 7 and 9 PM we had Juniors, Intermediates and Seniors from Washington , Pennsylvania , North Carolina , Oregon , and Maryland in groups walk by all the breeds and varieties present. There is no place like Nationals where ALL breeds, varieties and then some come together! There were several judges (Thanks espcially to Nancy Richmond ) and experienced others (Christina Weis helped with a big group of Intermediates) that went around.
What do you learn at Nationals? Gracefully winning; gracefully losing. Not everyone that competed got a placement. Competition is tough, and you can get “bad luck” with a breed that you judge, that you don’t know at all. Be thankful for safe travel! Some exhibitors never made it to Grand Rapids : 2 exhibitors from CA were in a bad accident on the drive over. Going to the Lake Michigan “West Coast” at 9 PM can be fun and very wet (boy, can it rain there!!). Nationals is not a place to catch up upon sleep! Animals cost a lot to buy, but it costs a lot just to get them there! Renting a GPS with your rental car is so worth it! (and hilarious at times, as it tries to talk me out of a wrong turn…”re-calculate, U-turn now!”).
In Conclusion: Sending youth to a Convention like this is a wonderful thing. Thank you, WSRBA for helping to facilitate this again, and for your interest and excitement. Thanks for everyone there who contributed to the entire learning experience, like Roger, our District Director who greeted the kids Sunday Morning, and then Nancy Richmond , Joy Segota, Michelle & Valerie Uptagrafft , Audrey Todd , Heidi Dennistoun, Tony Lucido and all other parents and chaperones who helped out and brought your wonderful youth! It takes a village to raise our kids. These youth will grow up with great skills, like decision making, interviewing, team work, dealing with excitement and disappointment, work ethic, show ethic, time & money management, and kindness. And…out of this group will also likely grow some new Registrars and Judges! A great example is Michelle Uptagrafft , now an accomplished Rabbit judge, who won ARBA Queen in 2000. Our own Ashley Reithmayr and Maddy Copus have already become ARBA Registrars, and are hoping to be judges in the future. How cool is that! So….Congratulations to all!
Check out pics of the WA Team in Grand Rapids!
Oregon Youth Shine!
Management
Limited (10 holes & under) - Courtney Acarregui - District 1 winner & National winner
Management
Average (11-50 holes) - Kimberly Gregor - 2nd runner-up National winner
Management
Unlimited (51 holes plus) - McKenna Frantz - District 1 winner & 4th runner-up Nationally
Achievement
Intermediate - McKenna Frantz - 3rd runner-up nationally
Senior - Courtney Acarregui - District 1 winner & 1st runner-up Nationally
Royalty
Duchess - McKenna Frantz 4th runner-up Nationally
Team Judging Winners
Oregon Team took 2nd Nationally for Senior
McKenna Frantz, Alex Schutz, Ilaena Mellentine, Jennifer Green
Individual Judging Winners
McKenna Frantz - 3rd runner-up Nationally
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