Union City, Tenn.–The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to announce 17-year-old Jessie Hindman from Chattanooga, won Best of Show in the 2024 Tennessee Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest with her acrylic paint portrayal of a Redhead. The contest was held at the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge in Union City, TN. Savannah Miller of Paris was one of 11 finalists.
Jessie’s 2024 entry will be sent to the national level, where her entry will compete with other state best of show winners in April at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation and Training Center in Shepherdstown, WV.
The winner of the national competition will become the 2024-2025 Federal Junior Duck Stamp, which is sold for $5 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the national sponsors of the contest.
Also entered in Tennessee’s twenty ninth Junior Duck Stamp Contest were 1,783 individuals in four different age group categories. The other eleven finalists and first place winners in their category included Ivy Chang, Suzie Zhao, Yinxi Chen, Emily Zhou and Emily Zhou from Brentwood TN, Jackson Ruff and Kimmerie Henry from Bolivar TN, Savannah Miller from Paris TN, Sophia Jiang from Franklin TN, Beckett Smith from Winfield TN and Charlie Parker from Toone TN.
Ribbons and other prizes will be presented to the top 100 winners at an awards ceremony hosted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of West Tennessee National Wildlife Refuges on Saturday, May 4th at the Discovery Park of American in Union City, TN. A meal will be served inside the Discovery Park’s infamous Dino Hall to all of the winners and their families at 5:30 pm by the Willow Tree from Troy TN, and the awards ceremony will begin at 6:00 p.m. Ms. Hindman will receive the $1000.00 Jeanette Rudy scholarship provided by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation along with other prizes including a framed Federal Duck Stamp Print provided by Ducks Unlimited.
The winner of the Conservation Message Award is Claire Duncan from Westmoreland, TN who wrote: “There is far more importance in life than the big things, the littlest treasures are far more extraordinary.”
The Tennessee Jr. Duck Stamp program is an art contest managed by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. Its Tennessee partners include the Discovery Park of America, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation, Friends of West Tennessee National Wildlife Refuges and Ducks Unlimited. The judges for this year’s contest were Jeff Pregg of Ducks Unlimited, Kenny Lepard of Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Clay Palmer of the University of TN at Martin, Clare Saum of the Discovery Park of America and Joey Woodward of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Foundation.
In Tennessee, the previous year’s Best of Show entries from this contest have been made into a state waterfowl collector stamp available from Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. All of these stamps can be purchased at a cost of $11 per stamp by calling (615) 781-6585 or visiting https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/collectible-stamps.html.
The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Design Contest is not only an art contest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers this a major outreach program to teach youth about the importance of waterfowl and wetlands conservation. As each student chooses a waterfowl subject for their entry, they are encouraged to learn about that bird and its requirements for survival. A Junior Duck Stamp curriculum guide is available to educators and home school students that focuses on conservation messages and can be found at https://www.fws.gov/program/junior-duck-stamp/junior-duck-stamp-conservation-education-curriculum.
For more information about this program, to obtain a copy of the free curriculum, or to purchase a Junior Duck Stamp, call the Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge at 731-538-2481. Images of all Tennessee Jr. Duck Stamp winners can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/WestTennNWRC.
PHOTO:
Joan Howe/TN National Wildlife Refuge, Jeff Pregg/Ducks Unlimited, Clay Palmer/University of TN at Martin, Clare Saum/Discovery Park of America, Kenny Lepard/TWRA, Joey Woodard/TWRF, Tara Dowdy/West TN Refuge Complex-TN Jr. Duck Stamp Coordinator