On Saturday July 30th, 30 4-H members from throughout Northwest Florida participated in the third annual Northwest District 4-H Tailgate Contest sponsored by Winn-Dixie, National Beef, Sanderson Farms and Sonny’s. Grilling participants took part in one of four categories: beef, pork, poultry (half a chicken or turkey breast), and shrimp. Participants created table displays to show off their recipes and were judged on their grilling abilities and their grilling knowledge was put to the test on questions from judges on food safety, fire safety, and meat selection.
Regional winners earned $400 in scholarship money for first place, $250 for second place, $100 for third place, and $50 for fourth place. The top two individuals in each protein category earned the opportunity to participate in the State 4-H Tailgate Contest in Gainesville in September. Thirteen Escambia County 4-H members participated in the regional contest, including Aubrie Dillon-Beef, Trevor Wood-Beef, Ethan Thorne-Pork, Rashidi Joseph-Pork, Gracie Meredith-Pork, Dylan Wood-Pork, Ava Chauvette-Poultry, Eddie Kersey-Poultry, Hannah Schnupp-Poultry, Noah Ball-Shrimp, Robert Burnham-Shrimp, Claire Diamond-Shrimp, and Raimi Joseph-Shrimp. All of the Escambia County entrants earned the opportunity to participate after competing in the county contest as part of the Escambia County 4-H Tailgate Day Camp.
At the regional contest held at the Washington County Ag Center in Chipley, from Escambia County Aubrie Dillon placed first in the beef category, Claire Diamond placed first in shrimp, Hannah Schnupp placed second in poultry, and Ethan Thorne placed fourth in the pork category, altogether bringing home $1,100 in prize money. All Escambia County participants have learned a lot from this competition and will take home new grilling skills to share with their families. We are very excited to have three participants representing Escambia County at the upcoming state competition, where they will be competing for college scholarships against youth from across Florida.
UF/IFAS Extension is an Equal Opportunity Institution.
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