The members of 4-H universally pledge their head, heart, hands, and health to better their club, community, country and world.

For a young girl who grew up on Main Street in Columbiana, those 4-H’s made a lasting impact on her formative years.

To encourage others to particåetary award given in Alabama to a Shelby County junior in honor of her beloved parents, Norma and Sonya Lefkovits.

Tiffany Smith of Columbiana was awarded the Norman and Sonya Lefkovits Shelby County 4-H Citizenship Award at the Shelby and Bibb County 4-H Awards Banquet May 7 at the Alabama 4-H Center.

Smith is the daughter of Leonard and Kristin Smith of Columbiana and is a junior at Hope Christian School.

She has been active in 4-H for eight years and is the State Council Representative.

Smith won the Farm Essay Contest, won the Shelby County Peanut Essay Contest and was third in the state, and is the female Citizen Washington Focus delegate.

The award has an extensive nomination process.

The winner must be active not only in 4-H but also in school and other extracurricular activities as well as write an essay, “What Citizenship Means to Me.”

Smith said that she was extremely shy as a young child. “Being a 4-Her has taught me so much, but especially in the area of public speaking,” said Smith. “I have learned how to be informative and persuasive through the training I have received.

Lefkovits established the award on her 50th birthday as a means to give back to Shelby County and the 4-H Club. Quick’s love of the 4-H Club came from her close relationship with her neighbor, A.A. “Unc” Lauderdale, a retired Shelby County Extension Agent who lived across the street from her. Lauderdale’s only child died in WWII and became a surrogate grandfather to Lefkovits. Lauderdale taught her how to care for animals, especially horses and jersey cows. Quick became the youngest state champion for her dairy cow showmanship and represented Alabama at the 1971 4-H National Congress in Chicago.

Lefkovits and husband Richard Quick, who live in California, were visiting her mother and able to present this year’s award to Smith.

The 4-H Pledge is as relevant to Quick as it is today to Smith: “I pledge my HEAD to clearer thinking, my HEART to greater loyalty, my HANDS to larger service and my HEALTH, to better living, for my club, my community, my county, and my world.”

Phoebe Donald Robinson can be reached by e–mail at phoeberobinson@bellsouth.net.