by Rachel Petty – UT Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development
My friends, I have to admit that I spent most of this summer with the tune of John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” stuck in my head. Since October of last year, we have known that our state-winning 4-H Forestry Judging team from Smith County was headed to “almost heaven” West Virginia to compete at the National 4-H Forestry Judging invitational.
The National 4-H Forestry Invitational was held at Jackson’s Mill in Weston, West Virginia, on July 21-25, 2024, and Tennessee was blessed to come home with 3rd Place in the nation.
Our Tennessee team was made up of Easton Bibbings, Emmy Bibbings, Owen Meeks, and Gabe Harville and coached and mentored by Smith County 4-H Alumni Carson Meeks. I had the pleasure of attending with this group as a chaperone and a cheerleader.
In addition to our 3rd Place overall team win, Tennessee also brought home 1st Place in the Forestry Bowl portion of the competition, and Gabe Harville was named the overall 5th Place individual competitor.
In the Woodsmen’s Skills Fun Competition held on Wednesday evening, Emmy Bibbings, along with her new friend Cora from the Florida team, received a 3rd place ribbon in the Jill-and-Jill Log Rolling contest.
Now, allow me to set the scene for all of you who are reading along…
After a journey up and across Kentucky and into West Virginia, our National Forestry Invitational experience officially began on Sunday afternoon, when we arrived at Jackson’s Mill, got ourselves checked in, and got to work settling in to our charming yet rustic accommodations for the week. Sunday evening consisted of meeting the other students, chaperones, and coaches from 10 other states that were represented at the competition. For the evening social, Tennessee brought Moon Pies and Mountain Dew to share as a representation of our great state.
Monday was Contest Orientation Day, where students got to learn from experts in the forestry industry and get hands-on with each part of the competition: Tree Identification, Tree Measurement, Forest Evaluation, Forest Health (Insect & Disease ID), Compass and Pacing, and Topographic Maps. Monday evening concluded with a college and career fair and an invigorating “Night Sounds of the Appalachians” presentation led by Kevin Dodge from Garrett
College in Maryland. Gabe was even invited up on stage to give his best impersonation of a preening woodcock, which gave us all a good laugh!
Tuesday was an intense day full of individual competition events, and our team suited up in Tennessee orange for good luck! We wound down on Tuesday night with Council Circle, where each state presented a skit to the rest of the group. Our skit featured the story of Tennessee’s most famous pioneer, “Gabe-y” Crockett, as he journeyed, Biltmore stick in hand, across the state’s three grand divisions, spurred ever onward by the improvisational voice of Mr. Carson Meeks. We ended the night with a little stress relief in the form of some line dancing after dark!
Before we knew it, Wednesday had arrived – our last full day at Jackson’s Mill. Wednesday started bright and early with the team competition events, including the Forest Evaluation and Forestry Bowl competitions. As the day progressed, our Tennessee team kept coming out on top during the ten-team bracket, quiz bowl style Forestry Bowl competition and finally emerged victorious after facing Indiana in the final head-to-head heat in front of everyone. We took advantage of a break before the final match to travel down the road to the famous Coke & Float for a sweet treat. Wednesday evening brought more fun in the form of the forestry-themed lumberjack games on the lawn, where students paired up to try their hand at the Log Roll, Pulpwood Toss, and Cross-Cut Sawing.
Our 4-H Forestry Invitational experience concluded with the Awards Presentation on Wednesday night, where we all waited with bated breath to hear the results. Afterwards, we celebrated our 3rd Place finish and took some time to reflect on all of the hard work and dedication it took to represent Smith County and Tennessee on the national stage. I could not be prouder of Easton, Emmy, Owen, Gabe and Coach Carson!
Jackson’s Mill is maintained by West Virginia University Extension and is the oldest 4-H Camp in the nation and also the birthplace of the 4-H All-Star program. I can’t imagine a more perfect location for these bright young 4-H’ers from all across the nation to spend a week learning about forestry, silviculture, and themselves as they competed both as teammates and individuals.
In the true spirit of the 4-H Outdoor Recreation project, we stopped one last time on Thursday to appreciate wild and wonderful West Virginia at New River Gorge National Park and Preserve on our way back home.
What an excellent contest and an excellent week full of fun and educational opportunities for our 4-H’ers!
Looking back on this once-in-a-lifetime experience, we sure are glad that those country roads did indeed lead us back home to Smith County with some new accomplishments under our belt and a few good stories to tell.
Reflecting on his National Forestry experience, Gabe Harville had this to say: “I encourage anyone who is interested in forestry, wildlife, or fisheries to participate in forestry judging, because you never know where it may take you!” Wise words indeed.
If you would like to learn more about 4-H Forestry Judging or the Smith County 4-H program as a whole, please call the UT Extension Office at 615-735- 2900 or email me at rpetty@utk.edu. 
