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.  

Fair Weather

I didn't have any purple ribbons attached to my photos at this year's Stafford County Fair. I wasn't particularly surprised. In open class, it's only the Grand Champion and the Reserve Grand Champion who take home purple ribbons. After several successful years, I've certainly had my share of success, and I don't enter for the ribbon placing anyway ... though it is always fun to see what a judge thinks.

It's always good to know the people behind-the-scenes. One of the open class photography volunteers told me that two of my photos were considered in the champions conversation. One was the photo I took at dusk in my backyard. It was one of my favorites, too. I love the color and the glowing light of the yard light emanating off the swing and the freshly-fallen snow.

The other was a black and white version of a photo I took this spring during a cattle drive past our house.

But, in the end, two others were chosen. Both belonged to my friend and faithful fair competitor, Jennifer. The one the judge chose wasn't Jennifer's favorite of those she had personally entered. She and I have had the conversation before: It's just one person's opinion on one day. (The same volunteer who shared the information about the championship "drive" also had two photos under consideration.)

It wasn't a banner year for me. I had another couple of blues - one a black and white version of a photo I also took on a snowy January day ...

 

... and a black and white landscape scene taken just south of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge after a different snowfall. 

In open class, blues are ranked 1st in the class. I got five reds  - or photos ranked 2nd in their class - and three whites for photos ranked 3rd in their class. And I had several that didn't garner any ribbons at all. 

I also entered a couple of the travel books I made for Randy for Christmas last year. The Chicago trip book got a blue ...

And the other - documenting our trip to Kentucky and points between - was the second in the class for computer-produced scrapbooks.

The Stafford County Economic Development office sponsors a photo contest for pictures highlighting Stafford County. I was pleased to win first place in the Commerce category for a photo I took at the Stafford County Flour Mill during the tour with Kansas Master Farmers last spring.

I also got a runner up prize in the Places category for a photo I took at the Ritz Theater.

As I've said many times before, I don't enter at the fair for the ribbons or the premium money. Frankly, I come out behind when I consider how much I spend on photo enlargements and mat board every year. But entering in the fair helps keep this rural American tradition alive. Sure, it's fun to see how your artistic eye stacks up against your neighbors. But it's even better to have a place to wander around and reconnect with people from across the county who you don't see on a weekly basis. You can't beat that!

I wasn't the only photographer in the family. For the second year, Kinley and I worked together throughout the year. She also took some photos on trips with her family. While she didn't have any overall champions this year, four of her seven 4-H photos were starred, which meant they were considered in the championship drive. 

Three of her four photos considered in the championship drive were: left top, taken on a family trip to San Diego; the top middle, taken during a photo shoot with conversation heart candies with Grandma; and top right, sunflowers arranged like a heart in the wheat kernels, also a Kinley/Grandma photo shoot.

 

Another Valentine candy heart photo was the other 4-H photo considered.

Kinley's decorated cookies were the champion in that category.

They were amazing. She has more patience than I do. I should have taken a photo of the whole plate, but here are a few examples.

She also had a purple on an orange chiffon cake and a blue on a strawberry angel food cake. 

She and Summer also had a successful second year in the dog project.

She got a champion in arts and crafts on miniature vegetables fashioned from clay, along with a couple of other entries. (Again, that patience and attention to detail shine through!)

Brooke had a good fair, too. She earned a champion ribbon for her consultation about her casual outfit for the Shopping in Style project (formerly Clothing Buymanship).

She had a purple on her dressy outfit for the style show.

She earned a purple ribbon on a jewelry dish she made from clay. (She and I worked on the patriotic wreath when the girls were at the farm in late June. It got a blue.)

She got a purple ribbon on her jam-filled cookies. 

Thankfully, there were some leftovers at home and all the grandparents got to sample those. She also got a purple on her angel food cake and a blue on her yeast rolls.

Her Harry Potter display reviewing all the books in the series also received a purple ribbon.

Ribbons are fun. But 4-H is about much more than that. It's about learning by doing, exploring new interests, getting comfortable with public speaking, working with others and so much more. The 4-H program has been doing that since way back when - even back to the day when Kinley's and Brooke's great-grandparents were part of the program. That's a family tradition worth keeping.