By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
When you are seven years old, days tend to be full of ups and downs, adventures and curiosities, and whether it is raining or shining, there is always something to catch your attention.
One of the ‘ups’ in 7-year-old Veronica Drees’ life was finding out recently that she won first place in a poster contest she entered in early March, sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
Living in Latonia, her mother, Elizabeth, had signed Veronica and her older sister Charlotte up for the Soaring Eagles, a 4H group within the Kenton County Extension organization. When the notification came for the contest to help boost agriculture in the Bluegrass state, both sisters wanted to enter. The contest was open to kids from Kindergarten to the 12th grade, so both were eligible.
“I put the kids in 4H because I want them to learn to be self-sufficient, and to be able to take care of themselves if the world would change and people would have to go back to basics,” said Elizabeth. “We don’t live on a farm, but these youth groups are very interesting for the kids. They both love animals, so I thought it would be good for them to enter the contest.”
When Veronica sat down to create her poster, she thought about farms, and animals, and started to draw. At the time the family had a rabbit, so she drew a cage with a bunny inside, then she drew a horse, who was consuming straw from a food container. She couldn’t leave out a cow, so her cow, which was also eating straw, was at the bottom of the page, near a stalk of corn, which had two ears of corn sprouting on either side of the stalk. Of course, there had to be a dog and a cat, and a pink pig with a curly tail. Then she thought about chickens, and in her mind, chickens kind of look like dinosaurs, so her chicken had some pre-historic traits, but was still appealing. An apple tree on a little hill completed her collage of country life, and she colored the spaces in between the animals a beautiful sky blue.
Then she made the letters for the title of the piece, Bluegrass Roots Agriculture Strong, but she wanted to highlight the words.
“I thought they should be in black so they would stand out,” Veronica said, “so I found a marker that looked like black.” She started to giggle, and gave her mom a sideways look.
“But it wasn’t a marker. It was eye liner!”
The giggles spilled over.
“The judges got a kick out of her eye liner words,” said Elizabeth, smiling at her daughter’s mirth. “They also liked the four ears of corn growing out of one stalk. And they thought her dinosaur chicken was fun.”
Two weekends ago they went downstate to Gallrein farm in Shelbyville to receive their prizes, and get recognition for their efforts. Veronica won first in her contest, topping all other first grade students in the state. She attends For Wright Elementary School.
“I won $100 dollars,” she said proudly. “I did spend some on a 3D dragon, and a lizard.”
Her mom said they went to a fair in Estelle County, and Veronica was very interested in a 3D printer that created the dragon and lizard.
Veronica isn’t sure what she will do with the rest of the money.
“Maybe I can get a 3D printer,” she mused as she concentrated hard on what her unexpected cash windfall could produce that would spark her imagination. The possibilities were endless.
Elizabeth said that her older daughter Charlotte entered the contest, also, along with a friend, Ila Kain, and they won the Attendance Matters You Belong part of the contest for Kenton County. Their presentation won first place for Ft Wright Elementary school in the region.
In the Soaring Eagles, children have to be 9, but the teacher, Lesley Hinman, always tries to challenge the younger siblings of the members, called Clover Buds, so in this case, Charlotte, who is 11, was able to share the contest with her sister, and was happy for her when she won. Charlotte won for creative and digital learning in the district, and was part of the E-wise team as well.
Veronica is the youngest participant in the Northern Kentucky area to win first place in this statewide contest possibly ever. She loves dinosaurs and dragons, wants to ride horses, likes the digital game Roblox, likes riding her bike and being outside in general.
Elizabeth credits Veronica’s dad and grandma for her artistic talent.
If she has success like this in first grade, what will she do in second grade?
Veronica just shrugged her shoulders, but her impish grin and the look she exchanged with her mom showed she might just go even higher in her achievements.
“We’re working on it!” Elizabeth said. “It has been a great year for the girls!”