From left, Columbiana County Commissioner Tim Ginter, United Local incoming senior and 4-H member Atlee Brinker, and county Commissioners Roy Paparodis and Mike Halleck pose together after Wednesday’s meeting. Brinker told commissioners about her recent trip to Washington, D.C. as one of five Ohio delegates to the National 4-H Conference. She was the only representative from Columbiana County. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)

LISBON — Local 4-H member and United Local incoming senior Atlee Brinker recently returned from trips to D.C. and Columbus, learning about government policy making from the inside and sharing her story with Columbiana County commissioners on Wednesday.

“This was definitely a unique experience for me,” Brinker said, adding she’s grateful that 4-H has given her such great recent opportunities.

Brinker, 17, was accompanied by Ohio State University Extension 4-H Educator Audrey Dimmerling, who had high praise for what she accomplished.

“I think it’s amazing,” Dimmerling said. “I’ve been encouraging our youth to really get involved not just at a county level but explore the state opportunities and national, to bring back how we can continue to learn and grow for our own community.”

Active in 4-H since the age of 5, Brinker started as a Clover Bud and now she’s the president of the Sticks & Stones 4-H Club and joined 4-H Junior Leaders. She’s also the current president of the FFA Chapter at United Local Schools.

In April, she was one of five delegates chosen to represent Ohio at the National 4-H Conference in Washington, D.C. from April 9-15, the only one from Columbiana County. She earned her spot by submitting a resume, cover letter and video about the impact of 4-H on her community to the Ohio State 4-H Youth Development Office, with a board of advisors making the selections. The trip was fully funded by the Ohio 4-H organization.

Her focus during the trip was the United States Department of Agriculture, under the funding agency of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, which asked delegates to consider the challenge question: “What approaches can the USDA’s NIFA take to elevate the role of 4-H in fostering healthy eating among youth?”

She was part of a roundtable group that looked at accessibility, programs and promotions. Her main role was presenting on the lack of access youth face of healthy foods, presented at USDA headquarters, located on the Mall. During the experience, their work was reviewed heavily, with changes suggested. She said she learned a lot about researching more and about the process of policy making.

She also took some tours, attended the galleries for both the U.S. House and Senate and met the director of the USDA NIFA and U.S. Rep. Mike Rulli, R-Salem≥

Last month, she and fellow local 4-Hers Justin Bailey, Aiden Frye, Caroline Moser and Audrey Wilson traveled to Columbus and met with state Rep. Monica Robb Blasdel, R-New Waterford, state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, the Ohio Department of Agriculture Director and other officials and sat in on an Ag Committee hearing.

Brinker is the daughter of Dale and Shirley, with her dad a dairy farmer and her mom a worker at Ventra. She’s the youngest of three children, with her brother Rowan at Ohio State University and her sister Jennie at Kent State University. Brinker said she’s looking at the U.S. Navy for her future.

Dimmerling said other 4-Hers learn from the youth who venture out and they learn about leadership. As an example of the push to get them more involved, she said 4-H Junior Leadership recently hosted a community square dance at the Columbiana County Fairgrounds and they got to see the planning perspective of putting on an event and the hard work involved. A family not involved in 4-H even came for a fun family event.

There are currently 745 kids in 4-H in the county, with 182 volunteers.

In other business, commissioners approved multiple agreements related to the Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) grant program, authorizing the board president to make application to the Ohio Department of Development for the grant, approving the partnership agreement with the cities of Columbiana, Salem and East Liverpool for the CHIP program, approving environmental review documents and certification form and approving a contract agreement with the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County for professional services for the CHIP and Home Investment Partnership programs.

The board also set a public hearing for 9:05 a.m. June 24 for a proposed road vacation of a portion of Skyview Dive in St. Clair Township, adopted an internal control and financial management policy, authorized release of five bonds associated with Road Use Maintenance Agreements in Knox Township for EOG Ohio LLC, approved the appointment of Juvenile Court Magistrate Douglas King as a trustee to the Multi County Juvenile Attention System Board to fill the remainder of the term to be vacated by the retirement of Dane Walton from June 1 this year to Dec. 31, 2028, authorized county Auditor Nancy Gause Milliken to sign an authorization with Aumentum Technologies for tax assist support services for $6,400, and approved permits to work within the county right of way to Charter/Spectrum for fiber optic in Salem Township and in Knox Township.

The commissioners recently approved the following new hires for the Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services as social service worker IIs in the social services division: Monica Usher of Leetonia, Joanie Coffman of Salem and Alyson Santangelo of Youngstown. They also approved the Title XX Biennium County Profile for the period Oct. 1, 2026 to Sept. 30, 2027.

The next meeting of county commissioners will be 9 a.m. June 10 at the downtown courthouse in Lisbon.