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The Summit Amigos Caliente Youth Council swept the awards at this year’s Farm Bureau Youth annual meeting held Dec. 5 in Columbus. This was the first time in several years that the youth gathering was held in conjunction with the OFBF annual meeting.

The Summit County youth council was chosen Outstanding Youth Council for 2003 and earned top honors for its Spotlight on Safety presentation. Other finalists in the safety skit competition were the Butlers and Maids and Auglaize Awesome Aardvarks.

The winning drama featured tips on baby-sitter safety. A super hero played by Bryan Cain "soared" to the front of the stage after each poor choice by a fictitious baby-sitter to give tips on the best way to handle specific situations. Advisers for the Summit Amigos Caliente are John and Cherri Staley and Dan and Felicia Cain.

Retiring State Youth Committee members – Michelle Eck, Emily Reidlinger, Joseph Schnell and Chris Snyder – were honored, and new members of the committee were introduced. The 2004 State Youth Committee is comprised of Nathan Colston – chair, Yvonne Fair – vice chair, David Blankenship – secretary, Holly Sparks – Ohio State Fair Junior Fair board representative, Heather Bruynis, Cory Honemann, Laura Quinter and Lynnsey Schemrich.

Participants danced at breaks during the meeting and held a mixer to introduce them to other youths. They also heard from Scott Hagan of Belmont County who painted the Ohio Bicentennial logo on a barn in each of Ohio’s 88 counties. OFBF President Terry McClure also addressed the youths.

Advisers were honored by their council members by writing a word that best described that adviser and a sentence of what the youth was thankful for in that adviser. The words and sentences were then stuck on the advisers’ backs by the youth council members.

Following the business portion of the meeting, the 200 youths held their annual Buckeye Ball and Costume Party.

For community service, the participants collected five large boxes of child-friendly foods and drinks that were donated to the Children’s Hunger Alliance. The youth also saw a video and learned how they could participate in the program called "1 Life Revolution," which works to raise money for children in Zambia who have been impacted by the AIDS epidemic in that country.

"It’s always a pleasure to work with these junior high students and teens," said Darrell Rubel, OFBF’s director of youth and safety programs. "This coming year will be a lot of fun, and I’m proud of the counties for training their future Farm Bureau leaders."

For more information about youth activities, call Rubel at 614-246-8277.