Notes from a former 4-Her...

Arkansas 4-H turned 100 this year, and I missed out on an important reunion. All state officers got together in May to catch up, and people came from as far away as Virginia and Colorado.... but I couldn't.

I came from a 4-H family, and I started in 4-H at 10 to 'overcome my shyness.' I was so afraid of the camera I went through a spell when I was afraid to have my picture taken. I gave my first competitive speech at age 11 in Arkansas Hall at Henderson State. I talked about the history of yeast bread, how it was made, and why it's good for you according to the now-outdated food guide pyramid. I was terrified, but I came in third... mostly because it was against the rules to talk about yeast breads until you were 14.

Over the next 10 years, I gave dozens, if not hundreds of speeches, on so many topics. Some were pretty bad. I enjoyed competitive speaking, even if it took me 3 years to win state O'Rama in breads at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. It only took me one year to win Crop Science--no speech there, just memorizing 40+ kinds of seeds. Plain and simple, I like learning and competition.... and I could do both here.

That was one goal--becoming a state officer was another. I campaigned and won a tight election over a boy from Hempstead county. In 1995-1996, I was Vice President representing the Southwest District of Arkansas. I was so proud to wear my green jacket. I won alot of awards in 4-H--the most handy being few thousand in scholarships and a trip to Nat'l 4-H Congress in Memphis. My 4-H citizenship projects helped me land the Discover Card scholarship and the Robert C Byrd scholarship in college too. 4-H isn't for everyone, but it was for me.

When I worked at a TV station in Louisiana, I hosted the Louisiana State Fair Auction of Champions. I was told by one of my superiors before the event not to tell anyone I was in 4-H. This totally peeved me, because I fully believe in the leadership, citizenship, and learning opportunities 4-H offers--it's not just for farm kids--today, you can study fitness, computer science, photography, and fashion design just to name a few.

So, I made sure the last story I did at the station was on 4-H and a new environmental initiative the kids were working on.

Here are the former Pike County Officers who attended the reunion... 5 of the 6 are from Delight. The program assistant Avonne Petty is on the right--she's one of the reasons Pike County 4-Hers do so well.