4-H Still Cooking Great Leaders, Kids, Memories

I took a nostalgic journey to my youth recently when Sandpoint 4-H program assistant Nancy Wright called and asked me to be guest speaker at the countywide leaders’ banquet.

While writing the speech, my mind floated off to a time 40 years ago.

As a klutzy 10-year-old, I showed up regularly at Lucille Hudon’s house to attend 4-H meetings but more importantly to enjoy the chocolate chip cookies and red Kool Aid. That first year I was introduced to parliamentary procedure, the 4-H pledge and record books. I learned how to follow a recipe and christened my culinary career with such notables as purple cows and wienie boats.

I also remember making some lumpy vanilla sauce, aka pudding. The resulting lesson from that sloppy concoction taught me the difference between boil and simmer.

I think my 4-H career surely simmered, like the pudding that year, because when fair time rolled around I hadn’t completed my record books. Mrs. Hudon wouldn’t sign them. I could not take my projects to the fair. Another lesson - finishing whatever I started - influenced me for a lifetime.

The following year I put the burner on high and finished two years in one, including all record books. Eleanor Delamarter, an accomplished seamstress, came into my life. Spending hours patiently guiding me through the art of ripping out numerous crooked seams, she helped me construct a somewhat ugly but air-conditioned cotton slip.

Through that seemingly endless process, and with fortification from Delamarter’s melt-in-your-mouth cinnamon rolls, I learned not to be satisfied with the first try.

My mother, Virginia Tibbs, taught me much about horses, honesty and how to think big. She continually served as a courageous, outspoken advocate for following the rules and rocking the 4-H boat whenever it needed a nudge.

While planning my speech, I thought a lot about these three women and how their caring yet disciplined approach to volunteer teaching molded my life. I also wondered if the leaders I would be addressing measured up to my experiences in the good ol’ days.

So I asked a few 4-H’ers. The results of my survey were encouraging. After learning everything from making sauerbrauten to raising a better lamb this past year, the 4-H’ers were eager to praise their leaders’ efforts and dedication.

Ty Oliver, 14, admires his beef leader, Leonard Wood. While teaching skills like making a rope halter or vaccinating an animal “he’ll never ask you do anything he hasn’t done himself,” Oliver said. Wood’s brother, Brian, received accolades from 16-year-old Alexia Livingstone, who takes 12 home economics and livestock projects.

Brian Wood leads the horse project for the Gold n’ Grouse 4-H Club. “He’s knows so much about horses and is so calm with them,” Livingstone said. “He’s my favorite person besides my parents.” Livingstone believes the caring and guidance of her leaders has helped her through “the teenage rebellious stage when I was a snot. … 4-H gave me something to do; I wasn’t so bored.”

Connie Millard, leader of the Rowdy Ranchers at Clagstone, earned praise from both Bonner and Kootenai County 4-H’ers for her guidance with the Citizenship Washington Focus project.

In July, she took nine teenagers to the nation’s capital to learn firsthand how the government works. She also earned high marks from her 12-yearold daughter Rebecca for “always being there.”

After talking to these members, my speech came easily. Forty years after my own experience, the 4-H program still has dedicated adults who lead kids far beyond the lumpy pudding.

, DataTimes MEMO: Marianne Love is journalism adviser for Sandpoint High School and an author who lives in Sandpoint. Panhandle Pieces appears every Saturday. The column is shared among several North Idaho writers.

This sidebar appeared with the story: 4-H WEEK Oct. 5-11 is National 4-H Week. Potential 4-H leaders must complete a 3-hour leader training seminar, an application with three references and an interview with a 4-H agent or program assistant. For more information, call your local cooperative extension office.