Twenty local youths participated in the recent first annual Harney County 4-H Baking Contest Day held on Saturday February 10 at the Memorial Building at the Harney County Fairgrounds. This event was open to all 4-H members and was organized by Stephanie Falck, 4-H leader for the Bake Believe Club.

Prizes for the event were purchased with the proceeds of a bake sale the group held during the 2023 Harney County Christmas Parade.

The contest consisted of three events. One event was the Skill-a-thon where participants were tested on their kitchen knowledge covering  everything from measurements to kitchen equipment and herbs to table decorating. 

The second event was the Monster Cookie Contest where participants brought in cookies they had baked at home with the cookies required to be at least six inches across.

The third and biggest event of the day was the Cupcake Wars where teams of two or three bakers had one hour to make and decorate cupcakes according to the theme “Animals.” Not only were the teams judged on their cupcakes and decorations but they were also judged on neatness and teamwork. The judges for the Cupcake Wars were Deb Phillips, Bitty Dent and Sonni Svejar.

The Overall Grand Champions for the day were awarded ribbons and prizes based on calculations of all three events.

Results for the Baking Contest are as follows:

Monster Cookie (Juniors)

Champion, Brooklyn Hollaway; 

Reserve Champions, Hailey Calkins and Regan Gaines.

Monster Cookies (Intermediates)

Champion, Sonora Jenks;

Reserve Champion, Margie Adamson

Skill-a-Thon (Juniors)

Champion, Etta Davies;

Reserve Champion, Kenzie Rankin.

Skill-a-Thon (Intermediates)

Champion, Margie Adamson;

Reserve Champion, Allison Bohnert.

Cupcake Wars (Juniors)

Champion, Mesa Beaubien and Hailey Calkins (with a perfect score!);

Reserve Champion, Lauren Doverspike, Etta Davies, and Reinee Condon.

Cupcake Wars (Intermediates)

Champion, Margie Adamson, Sonora Jenks, and Allison Bohnert;

Grand Champion Junior, Kenzie Rankin;

Reserve Grand Champion Junior, Lauren Doverspike;

Grand Champion Intermediate, Margie Adamson;

Reserve Grand Champion Intermediate, Sonora Jenks.

A huge thank you to the Harney County Girl Scouts and Ashley Garoutte, who donated the cupcake bakers used in this event. We’d also like to thank Makinlee Custis and Christine Stokely for grading the Skill-a-Thon, and the parents who tolerated many messy practice sessions in their kitchens at home and helped clean up after the event.  We’re already making plans for next year!