Jonathan Brendan Swecker was recognized by the West Virginia Youth Environmental Program at the 49th annual Youth Environmental Day as Boy of the Year, 2012, and was inducted into the Youth Environmental Hall Of Fame. Swecker received a glass award, a certificate and a $100 check for his recognition, which took place May 19 at North Bend State Park.
Swecker has been very active in his club's conservation activities. He has completed several 4-H projects pertaining to conservation' including hiking, year 1 and year 2; camping, year 1; birds; meet the plants; reduce, reuse and recycle; forestry, year 1; and backpacking, year 1 and year 2. Swecker has been active with the club's Adopt-a-Highway program since he was 3 years old - handing out supplies and helping count the bags picked up in the cleanup until he got old enough to participate himself. He was recognized with an Adopt-a-Highway 10-year award in 2007 for his actions.
He has helped with the club's Beautification Project at Camp Pioneer for seven years, planting flowers and cleaning up the grounds, and he helped cut out the trail at Kumbrabow State Forest for 12 years. He attended the State Conservation Camp in 2010 and a Mini Adventure Camp in 2005 hosted by another 4-H club in the county.
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Swecker
Swecker was a member of Randolph County's first ever State Horticulture judging team in 2004. He has received many awards for his conservation activities, including the President's Award in 2006 and his State FFA degree. He has attended the Youth Environmental Award Program and received two first-place awards in the Rick Vercellio Poster contest in 2005, and the Go-Mart Energy Essay contest in 2006.
He enjoyed the Adopt-a-Highway program so much that in 2010 he joined the Adopt-a-Spot program, adopting a known dump site near the club's adopted highway. Swecker involved his whole club in recycling. He serves as his club's Conservation Committee chairman, and his group organized a Recycling Day in 2005, opening up the recycling center on a Saturday to give people a day to drop off their recycling. He also never fails to hand in his family's recycling counter sheet every April to show how much his family recycles throughout the year.
He is the son of Johnny and Brenda L. Swecker, of Huttonsville, and has one brother, Jaime.
