4-H Junior Leader president heads up Egg Hunt

I met Grace Allee a couple of years ago when she was named the 2021 Supreme Showmanship Grand Champion at the Hamilton County 4-H Fair.

She didn’t think she had “a shot,” the then 16-year-old Noblesville resident, a then junior at Hamilton Heights High School and who represented the Dairy Goat barn, told me. The daughter of Jon Allee and Cassia Rhea, she was in her eighth-year 4-H’er at the time.

Earlier that month, she was named second runner-up in the 4-H Queen Pageant. Then a year later, in 2022, she competed and was named second runner-up again in the Queen Pageant.

On Monday, I happened to find Allee, now a 10-year 4-H’er, emceeing the Hamilton County 4-H Junior Leaders’ annual Community Easter Egg Hunt at the 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville.

She seemed confident and comfortable chatting up the event and announcing instructions for each of the three age categories for the egg hunt, and offering families more things to do after the egg hunts..

Allee is now 17 years old, a high school senior and president of Hamilton County 4-H Junior Leaders.

I enjoy writing about kids caught being good, and she’s definitely one of them.

Will Allee compete again this year in the 4-H Fair Queen Contest? “Yes, I will,” she said.

She has a brother, Josiah Rhea, a 10-year 4-H’er who was very active while he was a member. “He was the one who encouraged me throughout my whole 4-H career. He was in Junior Leaders,” said Allee, who has been in Junior Leaders since seventh grade.

Each July during the 4-H Fair, she volunteers at the Junior Leaders’ Snack Shack.  She volunteers as many hours as she can. “I enjoy doing it so much … The Snack Shack is in the perfect spot, by the Show Arena,” said Allee, who sells hot dogs, pizza and $1 pop to snack on right before they go into the Show Arena. “It’s really cool to see all of the faces here in Hamilton County that show up and just volunteer,” she said.

This was the first year for the Community Easter Egg Hunt since 2019, due to the Covid 19 and rainouts.

“It was such a good turnout,” she said of Monday’s egg hunt.

After high school, Allee plans to apply to run as an Indiana FFA officer, to be an ambassador for Indiana FFA. If she becomes a state FFA officer, she will lay out for a year before going to college. She plans to attend Kansas State University and study agriculture communications. “I will see where my pathway takes me from there, whether that’s coming back here being an Extension Leader or even being on the news or radio.”

She said, “It’s so crazy to think about being a senior.”

Her favorite 4-H project is the Goat, “just because of how much impact it has put on me, whether that’s doing the Supreme (Showmanship contest)” or just showing with family and friends,” she said.

Her other favorite project is Consumer Clothing, which she completed for the first time in 2022, during which she puts an outfit together and displays it, and does a scrapbook and puts together an outfit. The year 2022 was the last year that she got to be in the 4-H Fashion Show at the 4-H Fair. “I also met some really awesome people,” she said.

Allee is also a District V officer in Indiana. A member of Hamilton Heights FFA and she was a counselor at Camp Shakamak last year and will be again this year.

She said she likes seeing other 4-H’ers grow up and see them be in Junior leaders with her.

Favorite fair food? “100 percent lemonade shakeup.”

She said, “Junior Leaders has impacted a lot of me, and I know it’s impacted a lot of these kids who are helping right now.”

-Betsy Reason writes about people, places and things in Hamilton County. Contact Betsy Reason at betsy@thetimes24-7.com.