Altona teen wins big in 4

Jul. 29—MORRISONVILLE — Mercy was comfortably resting on her laurels after her overall Grand Champion win in the 4-H and FFA Youth Beef Show at the Clinton County Agricultural Fair Thursday evening.

Friday afternoon in the 4-H Building, Mercy had nothing to prove and neither did her handler, Ava Castine, 15, of Altona.

"We did good," she said.

The North Adirondack Central School student started raising moo-moos with the Milk Dippers when she was 5.

"And we just continued for 10 years," she said.

"I like the experience and not just winning like when we show. I like the experience of going in the ring and taking care of your animals at fair."

Her stall spanned from Theo, a bull, and Percy, both born in March, down to Starstream, Ding-a-ling, Gandalf The Second, Nova, Mercy, and Marlin, the oldest at 6.

Every day, Ava sees to her herd's well-being, and she recommends 4-H as "an overall good experience."

"Like you meet a lot of people, and you get leadership experiences," she said.

"It's just an overall good experience."

The original Milk Dippers' sign hung from the rafters in the 4-H Building.

"It's a very old club," Emily Castine, 4-H leader and Ava's mother, said.

"I think some of the parents that are in here used to be Milk Dippers when they were little. So the Milk Dippers is one of the clubs in Clinton County, one of many. I think there's like somewhere between 15 and 20 4-H Clubs.

"We usually meet in Chazy. We're kind of associated with Miner Institute, so we do a lot of things at Miner Institute. The clubs don't just revolve around livestock. So if you go down and look at the projects, there's like STEM clubs.

"There is a robotics club. There is a bluegrass band. Just 4-H and FFA (Future Farmers of America), those aren't just about showing farm animals. The kids want to do other things, there's ton of other things that they can get into."

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