NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Eight youth artists from Wisconsin won awards from the National Wild Turkey Federation's Youth Art Contest, which was judged during the NWTF's 33rd annual Convention and Sport Show in Nashville, Tenn. The contest offered chances at $100, a free one-year JAKES/Xtreme JAKES membership and a JAKES/Xtreme JAKES T-shirt to artists ages 6 to 17. The winning artists' works will be displayed in the National Wild Turkey Federation's Winchester Museum for six months. Winners representing Wisconsin were as follows.
Group A — Ages 6 to 8
1st; Ty Siekert, 7, of DePere, Wis.
2nd; Maggie Bagatta, 7, of Muskego, Wis.
3rd; Andrew DeBruin, 7, of DePere, Wis.
Group B — Ages 9 to 11
1st Place — Yeng Vang, 9, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.
Group C — Ages 12 to 14
2nd; Madolyn Rzepkowski, 13, of Milwaukee, Wis.
3rd; Andrew Villanueva, 12, of Milwaukee, Wis.
Group D — Ages 15 to 17
2nd; Thecla Hughes, 16, of Berlin, Wis.
3rd; Michael Krause, 16, of Berlin, Wis.
The Youth Art Contest is just one of the ways the JAKES program urges youth to become involved in wildlife conservation. JAKES (Juniors Acquiring Knowledge, Ethics and Sportsmanship) is the NWTF's program for youth ages 12 and under. Xtreme JAKES is the NWTF's outreach program geared toward teens ages 13 to 17.
The NWTF recognizes all participants in the art contest, and would like to thank all who submitted an entry. The contest was sponsored by Crescent Cardboard Company, LLC, a leading manufacturer of matting products for the picture framing industry.
The NWTF is a national nonprofit conservation organization that was founded in 1973 and has worked with wildlife agencies to restore wild turkey populations from 1.3 million wild turkeys in 1973 to nearly 7 million today. Now, NWTF volunteers raise funds and work daily to improve critical wildlife habitat, increase access to public hunting land and introduce new people to the outdoors and hunting. 2/17/09
