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Scott StephensRegional Association of West-Quebecers
 Leadership Award for Youth (tie)

The following was written by Scott's nominator, his father Garnett Stephens: 

In Pontiac County many young people leave the area for post secondary education or jobs. This leaves a vacuum with few young people to fill leadership positions in local clubs and organizations. Scott chose to remain in the local community to take his post secondary education. This enabled him to work on our beef farm and on other local farms as he has been doing since he was 14.

In 2004 Scott graduated from the 3-year Heritage College Beef Cattle Management Course with the second highest marks in his class. He was presented with the $500. Cooperative Fédérée de Québec's Bursary for High Academic Achievement while Maintaining High Community Involvement. Last year the Shawville 4 -H club had a lot of junior members and very few senior members. Scott spent many hours sharing his knowledge and experience with the younger members encouraging them to show animals and work as a team to accomplish their goals. He arranged registrations, lodging when needed, and trucking of animals.

Members of the Shawville 4-H Club compete at three local fairs in Chapeau, Rupert and Shawville. They also competed at Calf Rally in Ormstown, Quebec, the regional competition in Metcalfe, Ontario, and finally at the Royal in Toronto. To make the Toronto trip, Scott gathered some expense money from local sponsors, arranged registration and lodging in Toronto, and borrowed a crew cab truck from Bristol View Farms and a livestock trailer from Kilgour Livestock Transport. With 3 heifers in the trailer, and three 4-H members and adult leader Jen Russell in the truck, Scott drove them to Toronto to compete in the 4-H competition there and brought them back home a couple of days later. To reward his dedication to the 4-H Club, the adult leaders awarded Scott with the Katie-Leigh Gangon Memorial Trophy for Ambassador of Spirit and Fellowship.

As President of the Pontiac Quebec Young Farmers, Scott arranged meetings to share information and invited guest speakers to share new ideas and products with young farmers involved in farming in the Pontiac. Scott served as the youth director for the Pontiac U.P.A. giving a young farmer's perspective and gathering relevant information for the 4-H Club and Quebec Young Farmers.

Serving as a director of the Pontiac Agricultural Society, Scott volunteered many hours preparing for the Shawville Fair and the clean-up afterwards. One of his responsibilities was looking after the 4-H barn. As president of the Steer Club, he helped to conduct the steer show and sale. He trained a heifer and steer and competed in the 4-H competition at the above mentioned fairs and rally, and with his steer at the Shawville Fair.

Scott volunteered to coordinate a joint project between the Ministère de l'Agriculture des Pecheries et de l'Alimentation (Shawville Office) and the Pontiac U.P.A. to have beef animals taken to St. Andre Avellin for slaughter and the carcasses returned to local butcher shops for cutting and wrapping. This project was started to give BSE battered farmers a place to have animals processed at an inspected slaughterhouse so they could sell the meat directly to customers instead of sending animals to the sales barn and receiving next to nothing for them. Many farmers took advantage of this option and Scott arranged trailer loads of animals and reserved space for them at the abattoir. He also arranged trucking and ensured payment was at the butcher shops when the carcasses were returned. This project is continuing into 2005.

All of these activities are volunteer and Scott pays his out-of-pocket expenses working as a relief milker for three dairy farms and doing farm work on two other farms. He is also a part-time driver for Kilgour Livestock Transport.

Since July 2000, Scott's mother has been a kidney dialysis patient and in February 2004 she received a transplant. Scott has always been there to lend his mother physical and moral support by taking her to dialysis treatments and doctor's appointments. He also looked after our farm while we were away for the operation.

At a recent 4-H banquet, a former teacher of Scott's came to our table and made this comment, " I see Scott is still helping people. When he was in my kindergarten class he was so big for his age and he was always helping the other children. We nick-named him the gentle giant".

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