The annual Carroll County 4-H & FFA Fair has a different look to it, with the coronavirus pandemic keeping the public away this year from the Agriculture Center and its surroundings. The modified fair schedule isn’t keeping Allison Stoner from her duties, however.
The Taneytown native and recent Francis Scott Key High School graduate made plans for a traditional week by showing pigs and goats from her family’s farm, along with riding and competing with her horses. Stoner is doing so with an esteemed title attached to name this year — she’s Miss Carroll County 4-H for 2020.
Stoner is a 4-H veteran, having started at age 9. Now she’s 18, making plans to attend Carroll Community College in the fall with a eye toward early childhood education. And it’s all thanks to 4-H, she said.
“It’s a lifestyle,” Stoner said. “I wouldn’t change it for anything else in the world. There’s nothing I would do without it.”
Monday featured a series of contests at the horse ring area in the valley behind the Ag Center. Stoner topped Hank, her Thoroughbred, for a few riding events in the morning. Stoner said Tuesday is slated for showing goats, and she’ll be riding Dodge, her other horse, Wednesday. Thursday is set for showing pigs, she said.
The family farm features around 100 pigs and 20 goats, Stoner said.
Being Miss 4-H also means being part of the Ambassadors, a group of select teenagers who best demonstrate leadership abilities within their school, community, family, and 4-H program. Mr. and Miss 4-H are chosen based on applications, letters of referral, presentation, and an interview process, according to information on University of Maryland Extension in Carroll County’s website.
A team of youths is also picked to assist the Mr. and Miss recipients, along with promoting the county’s 4-H Youth Developmental Program.
Sophia Battaglia, Jackson Dennis, Noah Geiman, Bryn Kearney, Ashlynn Kidwell, Kate Stultz, and Abby VanDyck join Stoner as this year’s senior Ambassador team members. Kearney is the alternate Miss Carroll County 4-H for 2020 (Stoner served as an alternate last year).
Geiman earned Mr. 4-H honors this year. Stoner said she was surprised to earn hers.
“It was definitely a shock, because I knew that there were a lot of people who applied this year,” Stoner said. “We have eight total senior Ambassadors this year. It was kind of a shock at first and then I was like, ‘Yeah I can do this.’ [Geiman] is one of my best friends, so we work very well together.”
Stoner said this year’s interview process took place virtually via Zoom, but other than that things were standard. Stoner said the Ambassadors take part in various community service projects throughout the year.
One of them is called Peace, Love, Dolls, which started three years ago by Makenna Steele, a junior Ambassador who wanted to create a place for people to donate action figures and dolls for charity. Stoner said it’s their mission to get the word out so people can deliver dolls to the Ag Center at a later date.
Bingo and trivia nights were also planned, Stoner said.
Kathy Stoner, Allison’s mother, watched her daughter compete Monday morning with Hank. Allison Stoner was a shy child, her mom said, but through 4-H she has become more confident and outspoken. Public speaking wasn’t in her daughter’s world before getting more involved with 4-H, Kathy Stoner said.
“She has just really become a mentor to younger kids, and she wants to be a teacher,” she said. “You can see how it’s progressed and how she did stuff growing up through 4-H that helped her for her career choice, without even knowing that’s how it was going to work out.”
Allison Stoner has one more year of 4-H before aging out, and she’ll likely stay busy with her Miss 4-H and Ambassador responsibilities. The fair might have been altered this time around, but it didn’t stop Stoner from showcasing her skills and abilities during the most important week of the year.
“To miss out on this would be heartbreaking,” Kathy Stoner said. “It’s not all about the fair, 4-H is so much more. But this is what the public usually gets to see. There’s so much more that goes into getting to these points here. This is the highlight, but it’s not everything.
“It’s really great. She kind of needed a nudge to join the Ambassadors because she didn’t want to public speak. She loved getting in with the group and all of that. ... The kids wanted her, and it felt really good for her. It was really nice to see that she wanted to give back, because she has gotten so much out of this program.”