Pictured with scholarship recipient Brye Baptiste are Baking Contest Sponsors, Grant County Commissioner Billy Billings, NM State Representative Luis Terrazas, and NM State Representative Rebecca Dow.

The Annual 4-H Baking Scholarship was presented to Brye Baptiste, a senior of Cliff High School, who will be attending NMSU this fall, after graduating as valedictorian of his class.

Brye has been a 4-H member in good standing with the Spurs 4-H Club. He completed 4-H projects in photography, archery and leatherwork. He served as Vice-President for three years, as well as Treasurer and Secretary.

"4-H has helped me value community service, develop integrity, responsibility and self-discipline," Baptiste wrote in his 4-H story.

"I signed up for archery as a novice and now it's become one of my favorite hobbies." Brye made it on the state qualifying archery team twice and values those experiences greatly. The trip to the Whittington Center in Raton gave him life lessons with teamwork and competition. The first year his team placed twelfth overall, but the next trip they had moved up to 2nd in the state.

The baking contest began at the Cliff-Gila Grant County Fair in September 2016. Original sponsors were Rebecca Dow and Billy Billings as a scholarship source for community 4-Hers who wish to attend a university or trade school of their choice.

Through the years, an annual $500 has been awarded to one applicant each year and twice two 4-Hers received the scholarships totaling $3500 presented in scholarships.

The contest has garnered many delicious, "secret" family recipe entries and a great friendly competition for bragging rights, coveted judge positions, and lots of fun, not to mention yummy goodies, including pies, breads, cakes and cookies, to buy to support the scholarship.