Sonoma Valley youth dominate pruning contest on strength of shear talent alone

Our local high school FFA and 4-H teams both came out on top.|

The 13th Annual Saralee McClelland Kunde Memorial Sonoma County Youth Pruning Contest and Viticulture Challenge drew 25 contestants to Santa Rosa Junior College’s Shone Farm on Saturday, Feb. 11. The Sonoma-Marin Young Farmers and Ranchers, with the guidance of Pat Stornetta, helped organize the contest that drew participants ages 10 to 19 from Elsie Allen FFA, Sonoma Valley FFA, Forestville FFA, Sonoma Valley 4-H, Gold Ridge 4-H and Hanna Boys Center.

Contestants in the pruning contest were judged for skill, speed and safety. Contestants of the viticulture challenge were provided with a series of questions prior to contest and competed in a Jeopardy style trivia contest.

The overall Junior Champion and winner of the prize belt buckle was Analise Scholten of Gold Ridge 4-H, who pruned her way to a combined high score across both contests. Overall Senior Champion and winner of a belt buckle was Annie Neles of Sonoma Valley 4-H. Neles is a sophomore at Sonoma Valley High School.

“Overall High 4-H Team” was awarded to Sonoma Valley 4-H and “Overall High FFA Team” was Sonoma Valley FFA.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.