4-H: A Family Affair

 

Randy in 1967, a 5th grader and his first year in Stafford County 4-H with his first 4-H beef project.

 4-H is "very fun." Just look at any beginning 4-Her's permanent record book.

Randy's record book from his first year as a Stafford County 4-Her in 1967 said:

This year is my first year in 4-H. I have enjoyed it very much. Going to the 4-H things has been very fun. I really enjoyed the refreshments very much. I am looking forward very much to next year in 4-H. This year, I have enjoyed 4-H camp and have got lots of ribbons. 

My first 4-H story was also written in 1967, as a fourth grader. (The photo at the left was the one attached to my 4-H permanent record.) My story was longer. (There's a big surprise, right?) I used the word "fun" six times to describe my song leading job, picking out ingredients for my Snacks and Little Lunches project, 4-H Sunday and assorted other 4-H events. I also "enjoyed" things twice and "liked" 4-H another time or two. A glance at Jill's and Brent's record books mirrored our family's outlook that 4-H is "fun" and very likeable.

4-Hers - and their parents - have been "liking" the youth program for more than 100 years, long before there was a "like" button on Facebook pages. On Saturday, we went to the Shawnee County Fair in Topeka to see Kinley's and Brooke's 4-H projects. Kinley and Brooke come from a long line of 4-Hers, including their maternal great-grandparents and their paternal great-grandmother (Bonnie Ladd). 

 

Bob & Janis Moore - Pratt County Fair service award recipients

 in 2011

 

My family's involvement with 4-H started with my parents back in the 1940s. Both were members of the Lincoln Bluebirds 4-H Club in Pratt County, the club that my siblings and I later joined. (That club later merged with another, and we became the Lincoln Climbers.) 

 

Eric's family is similarly entrenched in the 4-H program. These days, Eric is one of the community leaders for the Auburn 4-H Club in Shawnee County. 

 

Participating in county fairs is second nature to all of us - including Kinley and Brooke. This year's fair for the girls wrapped up on Sunday. They had a great fair, though it was a little different this year. Kinley left for camp the day after consultation judging for most projects, so she was unable to compete in the dog show with Summer. 

 

But the girls definitely excelled in the foods division. They swept the champion ribbons in the intermediate division for decorated cookies or cupcakes. 

 

Kinley's cupcakes decorated with succulents won the champion ribbon in that division. (I know I'm looking at them with "grandma glasses," but I think they look professional.)

And her sister got the reserve champion ribbon with her cookies decorated to look like bakery treats.

However, in the specialty yeast bread category, Brooke edged out Kinley with her savory pull-apart bread. She earned Top Yeast Bread.

Kinley's savory sundried tomato and herb bread got a reserve champion ribbon. 

 

 

Both the girls got to sell their bread at a premium auction on Sunday. We arrived in Topeka in time to watch Brooke remake her pull-apart bread for the sale. 

 

 

 

 

Brooke handled display duties for herself and her sister at the food sale.

 

 

They also had blues on their iced layer cakes. They looked like purples to this grandma - at least from the outside.

Kinley's Snickerdoodle Cake

Brooke's Strawberry Cake

We got to sample a "reject" strawberry cake, and it was delicious. Kinley's three-layer cake didn't require a re-do, so we'll hope for another opportunity to taste it down the line. But the Ladds' say the earlier attempt was tasty. 

Brooke got a champion ribbon on the menagerie of sea creatures she created from air-dry clay and displayed in an aquarium.

Since Kinley couldn't compete in the dog show, she made a poster to complete her project and received a reserve champion ribbon.

Grandma was thoroughly impressed with her business notebook. 

She developed goals and advertising strategy for her small business, Kinley's Care and Co., in which she cares for pets and waters plants for neighbors. She also has a spreadsheet showing how she divides her earnings for a car fund, clothing and personal care items and savings. 

 

 

Kinley also had several purples for her photography project. One of them got a star, which means it was considered for a champion - but not this year. 

 

I really liked her selfie, which she took with a timer. It was representative of her first year competing in hurdles. Her favorite sport - tennis - also was the subject of one of the purples.

Both the girls competed in clothing buymanship. Brooke has been enrolled in that project for her whole 4-H career, but this was Kinley's first year. 

 

Our final event of the 2025 was watching Brooke model her two outfits during the style show.

Kinley was at camp, but she was a champion with her dressy outfit in the intermediate division and has the opportunity to model during the Kansas State Fair fashion review in September.

 

Photo taken by Gina Marie Photography, Topeka, during a family photo session

  

Old 4-Hers can be called into duty at any time. Grandma Christy and I helped Brooke and Jill with the concession stand Saturday afternoon. One of the times assigned to the Auburn 4-H Club was during the kids' pedal pull, so helpers were hard to find for awhile. Christy and I are old pros when it comes to helping with a fair food stand. Back in the day, we Pratt County 4-Hers served up sloppy joes. I still use that recipe when I need a roaster of sloppy joes today. 

Photo credit (and working credit, too) to Christy Ladd

Jill worked in the food stand at the Stafford County Fair. So we had three generations of 4-Hers helping in that time-honored fundraiser. 
 

 

Brooke's favorite part is serving the food. But we also had a little bit of time to work on the fine art of counting back change. 

 

And while it's great to collect those purple ribbons and extra prize money, I hope what the girls ultimately collect from the 4-H experience is to take the 4-H pledge and the 4-H experience to heart.   

 

 I pledge my head to clearer thinking 

 My heart to greater loyalty

 My hands to larger service

 And my health to better living

 For my club, my community, my country and my world.

 The 4-H Pledge, Written in 1919 by Kansas 4-H Leader Otis Hall

 

It would probably be a better world if all of humanity would think about the principles that 4-Hers vow to uphold: Clearer thinking, greater loyalty, larger service, better living ... those are all attributes that would do this old world a whole lot of good.

For 123 years, 4-H has been changing lives. Back in 2006, we celebrated 100 years of Kansas 4-H. The youth program has been part of the national landscape since 1902.

The 4-H website says:

The 4-H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the skills they need to be proactive forces in their communities and develop ideas for a more innovative economy. That idea was the catalyst to begin the 4-H movement and those values continue today.

 

No wonder it's stuck around this long.  

Full Circle

 

Calm before the judging - The judge's tables and books are ready to go!

Today, I'll be at the Stafford County Fairgrounds for the 4-H foods judging. It will be like coming full circle. 

In July 1994, a little pony-tailed, solemn-faced girl sat down for her first 4-H foods judging. For the record, Jill was never that solemn or silent in subsequent years. But neither she or I knew what we were doing. I look at the photo of the judge evaluating her microwave cake and think we should have left it at home. Yes, a microwave food product was a 4-H foods class at the time - believe it or not. 

The building was hot, and the microwave cake was not her finest moment in the foods competition. But, honestly, I think that's what 4-H is all about anyway. It's all about learning and growth. (For the record, parents learn a whole bunch, too!)

By the time she was veteran 4-Her, she was teaching others, and she, too, was leading foods meetings and also serving as a foods superintendent at the county fair.

As a senior in high school, Jill was the state winner for the 4-H Foods and Nutrition project. (She actually met her future husband at the Emerald Banquet state awards ceremony that year, though neither she or Eric remember it.) All that - despite a red ribbon microwave cake in her 1st 4-H foods competition.

The old Quonset hut building on the Stafford County Fairgrounds

I started Kim's County Line in 2010. In my July 14 post that year, I said I would be volunteering in the hot old building at the Stafford County Fairgrounds that day. Both my 4-Hers had already aged out. So I wrote about my "why" for still putting "sweat equity" into the county 4-H program. Here's some of what I wrote:

So why do I – or the multitude of other volunteers – continue to show up year after year – some of us after our 4-Hers have left the nest? For me, the answer is easy. And I suspect it’s the same for most people who volunteer at their county fair – whether it’s in Stafford, Cloud, Harper, Rice, Finney, Haskell or any other fair in Kansas. It’s because we believe in the 4-H program.

I have evidence of the 4-H programs’ power. I grew up as a Pratt County 4-Her. My husband continues to volunteer in Stafford County where he was a 4-Her longer ago than he likes to admit. ... I think 4-H helped shape us into the people we are today - people who care about and work for their community.

Both our children benefited from 4-H – with everything from project knowledge, leadership skills, goal setting and completion, record keeping and social networking long before there was anything like Facebook or Twitter. Our daughter’s career choice as a dietitian is directly related to her long-time participation in the 4-H foods and nutrition project. Our son’s choice as a college public relations major came – in part – because of tours he took while a delegate at the 4-H Global Conference in Kansas City.

I witnessed my children's growth from the time they were 7-year-old, first-year 4-Hers to the time they were confident, committed 4-H veterans.

Equal time: Brent was a Corn Valley 4-Her, too.

Here we are 30 years later. And I'll be at the Stafford County Fairgrounds today. Though I wasn't the foods superintendent for 4-H foods Jill's first year, it wasn't long after that I became one of the department's superintendents and have been ever since.

I was at the fairgrounds yesterday afternoon, setting up the area for foods judging today. And hallelujah, this year the judging will be in the brand new, air-conditioned building. (In reality, if they hadn't moved judging for several years to the Church of Christ basement and the Stafford Recreation Commission, I'm not sure I would still be doing it. I need air-conditioning in my old age!)

The brand-spanking new facility is a wonderful addition to our county. But the reasons for doing the job are the same as back when we were in that stifling-hot old Quonset hut. It's all about the kids and the 4-H program. 

Ironically, Sunday afternoon I was getting photos via text and offering suggestions for 4-H baking for the Shawnee County Fair. Last evening, I got photos of decorated cookies from Kinley, who's entering that category in her upcoming fair. 

The pony-tailed little girl from 1994 has now taken on the role of 4-H mama. We'll be heading to Topeka for Kinley's and Brooke's 4-H fair next week. We are equal opportunity 4-H supporters. 

Young people in 4-H are three times more likely to contribute to their communities than youth not participating in 4-H. 4-Hers all across the nation are empowered to take on the leading issues of their towns, counties and states and make a lasting difference. ... 4-H youth get the hands-on, real-world experience they need to become leaders and to make positive differences in their communities.

"The 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development"

 from Tufts University 

 Good luck to Stafford County 4-Hers this week ... and to other 4-Hers across the state who are sharing their hard work with the public this week. Come eat at the concession stand in air-conditioned comfort:

 

Pratt - my home county - also has its fair this week. If you're near a county fair, I encourage you to go and support the kids and your community!

President's Project: To Make the Best Better!

 

I think I've dotted all my Is and crossed all my Ts now. On March 11, I installed my friend, Millie, as the next president of the Kansas Master Farm Homemakers Guild. And with that installation, I finished five years serving as an officer in the organization. (Randy finished up five years as an officer with Kansas Master Farmers.) Last week, I completed paperwork and wrote letters and thank you notes to end my term.

On the women's side, tradition has it that the outgoing president gets to choose a President's Project. Members - and others - are invited to contribute to a project of her choosing. 

I contacted Kansas 4-H Foundation Director Jake Worcester prior to the meeting for some ideas. I told him that 4-H foods and nutrition, as well as photography, were among my passions. After talking with Kansas 4-H state leaders, he suggested a project to help honor foods and nutrition exhibitors at the Kansas State Fair.

Foods and nutrition 4-H members have their food exhibits judged early on at the fair. There's only room for a few of those exhibits. And even those exhibits don't look too tasty by the end of the 10-day fair. 

The digital display board will be something similar to this.

My President's Project will help provide a digital display board in Centennial Hall on the Kansas State Fairgrounds where photos of the 4-Hers and their foods can be displayed during the duration of the state fair. It's a pilot project. If this display board works well, Kansas 4-H may add similar displays to honor other projects at the fair. 

Several of my fellow Kansas Master Farm Homemakers contributed to the digital display board. I know there are others of my friends whose roots in the 4-H program go just as deep as mine. If you'd like to contribute to the KMFHG President's Project, you may send a check made out to the Kansas 4-H Foundation with your contribution to:

 

Kansas 4-H Foundation

1680 Charles Pl., Suite 100

Manhattan, KS 66502

Please make a note that it should go toward the KMFHG President's Project.

The project was the perfect choice for me. 

I was a foods and nutrition member back in the 1960s & '70s in Pratt County.

 From the very first year of Jill's 4-H career, foods and nutrition was a favorite project.

Jill's first food demonstration on making a Raggedy Ann Salad

Foods demonstrations and exhibits were central to Jill's 4-H experience.  Jill and her friend, Holly, made dozens of pretzels one year. They made dozens of dinner rolls another. And they earned the right to take both those demonstrations to regional club day and the state fair.

Jill's friend, Holly, & Jill making pretzels for a demonstration

 

By the time she was veteran 4-Her, Jill was teaching others, and serving as a foods superintendent at the county fair.

She was the state award winner in the 4-H Foods and Nutrition Project her senior year.  

Last year, Kinley had her first experience as a foods and nutrition exhibitor at the Shawnee County Fair. She also gave her first foods talk for county club day, though it was a different experience having to do it on Zoom.

But this winter, she got to give her first in-person foods demonstration, making Energy Bites. She got a blue ribbon.

Brooke just began her 4-H journey last fall. But her very first Show and Tell at county club day was on foods and nutrition and My Plate.

The girls are the fourth generation in our family to be involved in the Kansas 4-H program. My parents were members back in the 1940s in Pratt County. Both were members of the Lincoln Bluebirds 4-H Club in Pratt County, the club that my siblings and I later joined. (During my time in the club, we consolidated with another club and became the Lincoln Climbers.)

Bob & Janis Moore - Pratt County Fair service award recipients

 in 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

All four of their children and all seven of their grandchildren were part of the 4-H program, two in Pratt County in the same club their grandparents attended, two in Stafford County and three in Clay County. Now that continues for five of their 10 great-grandchildren in Clay and Shawnee Counties.

Randy's parents were leaders in the Stafford County 4-H program, too, though we're not sure they were 4-H members themselves. For a dozen years, Randy & I were community leaders of the Corn Valley 4-H Club, the same club Randy was a part of back when he took his first cow to the fair. I'm still the 4-H foods superintendent at the Stafford County Fair.

In 2006, we celebrated 100 years of Kansas 4-H. The youth program has been part of the national landscape since 1902.

The 4-H website says:

The 4-H idea is simple: help young people and their families gain the skills they need to be proactive forces in their communities and develop ideas for a more innovative economy. That idea was the catalyst to begin the 4-H movement, and those values continue today.

The 4-H program continues to MAKE THE BEST BETTER!

I'm thankful that it's been all that and more for my family ... and will continue to be.

Kinley & Eric before their shift at the pancake feed. As Uncle Brent says, 4-H t-shirts haven't evolved a lot from the '90s.

***

A little more history: The Kansas Master Farmer award was started in 1927, by then-Kansas Farmer publisher Sen. Arthur Capper. A year later, The Farmer’s Wife magazine, which is no longer in print, started the Master Farm Homemaker Guild, with help from Kansas State University. More than 400 farm couples have been recognized and have become members of the Kansas Master Farmer Association and the Kansas Master Farm Homemakers Guild. The goal was to publicly honor excellence in farming, homemaking, farm living and rural citizenship. In 1953, Kansas State University Cooperative Extension Service took on the duty of the selection process and coordination of the annual honor banquet. Today, K-State Research and Extension and Kansas Farmer magazine co-sponsor the program, with financial support from Kansas Farm Bureau, Frontier Farm Credit and American AgCredit.