HARDIN COUNTY__The Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association will hold their annual Lamb Banquet on Saturday, March 2 at St. John’s Evangelical Church in Kenton at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets for the banquet can be reserved from the Extension office by calling 419-674-2297 and paid for at the door the night of the banquet. Adult tickets are $20, Children (4-8 years old) $10, and 2023 Hardin County Junior Fair Sheep Exhibitors are free with a reservation given to the Extension office by February 23. 

Banquet guests are asked to arrive early to participate in the silent auction, bidding for various items that were donated to provide funds for the scholarship program. A dinner will be prepared with various cuts of lamb for the banquet guests to enjoy. A presentation on the 2023 New Zealand Sheep and Agriculture Tour will be made by Hardin County OSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator Mark Badertscher. 

The Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association is looking for 2024 Lamb & Wool Ambassador contestants and scholarship applicants. An ambassador applicant and his or her parent/guardian must be residents of Hardin County or a Hardin County School District prior to entering the contest; and live on a farm where sheep are produced or have a sheep project in the Hardin County Junior Fair to be eligible. Applicants must be 15 to 20 years of age as of January 1, 2024. Contestants must complete an entry form and prepare a three to five-minute talk on the "Role of Youth in the Sheep Industry,” “What does being a Lamb/Wool advocate mean to you?” or “What are the positive things that you know about the Lamb/Wool industry?"

The Hardin County Sheep Improvement Association is also offering two five-hundred-dollar scholarships to students entering/attending college for the 2024-2025 school year. An applicant and his or her parent/guardian must be residents of Hardin County or a Hardin County School District prior to entering college; and must have had a sheep project and shown at the Hardin County Fair. The applicant must be maintaining a 2.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.  

The application and rules for the Hardin County Lamb & Wool Ambassador and the scholarship application and rules can be found at hardin.osu.edu/ Applications must be received online by February 24. For more information about the Lamb & Wool Ambassador program, contact either Melissa Gossard at 419-235-3412 or Kristen Ferguson at 567-204-9199. Questions about the Sheep Improvement Association scholarship should be directed to Bruce Oberlitner at 419-675-6272.