UT Extension Eastern Region

05/29/2026

The Blount County 4-H Horse Show was held on Saturday April 18 at Last Lap Ranch in Maryville. It was a great day with sunny and warm weather! Blount County hosted 16 exhibitors from two different lesson barns plus some with horses kept at a personal barn in the county. Most of these exhibitors will also be competing at the Region 4-H Horse Show.

05/28/2026

Unicoi 4-H youth participated in the Inaugural Bristol Meat Judging Clinic and Contest. This event is held in conjunction with the Carcass Show for the Bristol Steer and Heifer Show. Youth who show their beef cattle and wish to process them after are able to do so and see what's under all that hair and hide. This year, we wanted to offer another opportunity for all youth interested in meats. We started the morning with a clinic on the basics of meat judging and how to place classes based of quality, muscling, and trimness. We then went up to the coolers to talk about carcasses, how to properly evaluate carcasses, but also the importance of quality and yield grades and talk about career opportunities in the meat and food industries. After lunch, youth put their knowledge to the test! Contestants evaluated a class of beef ribeye's, beef carcasses, and had 20 cuts to identify species, primal, cut, and cookery method. Our 4-H members brought home quite a bit of hardware as well. Results include:

Champion Senior Team Overall, 1st Senior Team Judging & I.D.
Ellie Hensley - 1st High Individual Overall, 1st Judging, 2nd I.D.
Callie Carty - 2nd High Individual Overall, 2nd Judging, 1st I.D.

Champion Junior Team, 1st Junior Team Judging & I.D.
Mason Harris - 2nd Overall, 2nd Judging, 1st I.D.
Kelsey Widener - 3rd Overall, 3rd Judging, 4th I.D.
Rhett Day - 5th Overall, 4th Judging, 5th I.D.

A special thank you to Dr. Kelly Vierck, UT Meat Science Extension Specialist, and the Fleenor Family, Washington Meat Packing, for putting on and hosting a great event.

05/26/2026

The 2026 Eastern Region 4-H Clover Bowl was a success at the Agriculture and Natural Reasons Building at UTK! About 200 youth participated in a team representing their county! Thanks to all the staff that helped make this wonderful event happen!

05/18/2026

Great day at the 2026 Eastern Region 4-H Wildlife Judging contest! 81 participants were enjoyed their contest at Norris Dam in Anderson County! Thank you to all that made this happen!

05/11/2026

What a great crew! Our new 2026-2027 Eastern Region 4-H All Star Council!

05/07/2026

Congratulations to our new Extension Agents who have graduated in a year long New Agent training! Harley Runions in Union County, Megan Shelton in Sullivan County, Sophie Hassler in Cumberland County, Ronda Southerland in Hamblen County, Caitlin Dalton in Blount County, Lisa McCormick in Washington County and Arizona Bowers in Sullivan County!

04/30/2026

New Employee Conference for our staff in the Eastern Region!

04/30/2026

On March 18 & 25 Loudon County conducted an FCS quilt workshop where tote bags were made as a beginning quilt project!

04/29/2026

Learn more about the recent Angler Adventure Camp here! Youth had a blast!

4-H Angler Adventures Camp

04/24/2026

The Eastern Region 4-H Extension staff take on the State Association meeting in downtown Knoxville to further their professional development. During our meeting, we got to recognize one of our very own agents, Haley Trent in Grainger county, for her time and dedication as an Eastern Region 4-H All Star Advisor!

04/23/2026

The Eastern Region is so proud of Jefferson County 4-H All Star, Bella Kate Finchum on the “Quilt of Many Colors.” Bella Kate even recieved a letter personally from the Dolly Parton herself! See the story below:

The "Quilt of Many Colors" began as a collaboration with the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce for an event celebrating 20 years of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Jefferson County. lt's a four- patch scrap quilt sewn entirely by children in the community, using fabric that had been donated to the Extension Office. I met with representatives from the Chamber, planned the quilt, cutout the blocks, setup a booth, and taught children at the event how to use a sewing machine and make the blocks. I also taught the Jefferson County Beginning Sewing class how to make the bkocks as our first project of the year. The finished quilt was auctioned off at the Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet on February 19th, 2026 and sold for $1,000, with proceeds going back to the Imagination Library in Jefferson County, when then Dolly Parton personally wrote a letter to Bella Kate with gratitude!