May 2016 • Volume 1, Number 4
Every Issue Complimentary Every Time
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REC QUEEN DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE, EDUCATION
Look! There’s more inside…
Special thanks to Valley Moms
www.santaynezvalleystar.com
Kayla Erath looking forward to becoming an ag teacher by Raiza Giorgi
Happy Mother’s Day wishes and ideas
K
Page 14, 15
Old church gets new pastor
Chris Brown wants more for church, community
Page 17
Grilling season has arrived
We have no beef with beef; it’s all good for dinner
Page 25
SYVUHS English teacher graduates
Tory Babcock retires after teaching for 25 years
Page 30
Contributed Kayla Erath was 7 years old when she started raising animals for Lucky Clover 4-H.
news@santaynezvalleystar.com
ayla Erath has little interest in talking about high school dramas, what to wear, or other typical teenager issues. She would rather talk about agriculture and how she wants to inspire other people to get involved with 4-H and Future Farmers of America. The 17-year-old from Ballard has been selected as the Santa Ynez Valley Youth Rec-reation Queen for 2016 because of her hard work and dedication to the community. “There are a lot of qualified young ladies we considered, but Kayla impressed the board when she came to talk about her trip to the national FFA convention. It was that dedication and energetic passion; we felt she was the best,” said Frank Kelsey, resident of SYV Youth Rec. Kayla moved to the valley when she was 6 years old. She didn’t have a big interest in sports then, but her family is heavily involved in racing cars and trucks. Her brother, Christian Copely, is well known for a career in NASCAR as well as the Stadium Trophy Truck Racing cir-cuit. “Half my family is into racing and the other half animals. I am in the animal clan, as I call it,” Kayla laughed. Her grandparents Mike and Vicki Kappmeyer moved to the valley in 1995 and run the Santa Ynez Paint store. Her great-aunt
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