4-H: Spare it from chopping block
They want to do what? Kill 4-H! Isn't that kind of like shooting Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny or burying Mom, Flag and Apple Pie? Four-H is an integral part of Americana.
"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, and my country." (They've added "my world" since my day.)
How well most country boys and girls remember that pledge. It held meaning beyond its mere recitation. Out in the country, with our limited exposure to institutions, 4-H ranked right alongside school and church. The county agent was on a par with the school principal or the church minister in our eyes. He was a leader, an educator and a friend. The County Extension office was kind of like the County Court House - it was always there and always would be. The thought of its disappearance was simply beyond the pale.
Thus, the article, "4-H on the chopping block" in the July 13 Press came as a complete shock to this old country boy. How could such a thing possibly happen?
The Cooperative Extension Service was established by the Smith Lever Act and signed into law by President Wilson in 1914. A part of that act assigns the administration of the 4-H program to the Extension Service at the county level. The program has survived world wars and economic depressions and withstood the test of time ever since. Except for administration by the Extension Service through Land Grant Colleges and Universities, the program is run entirely by volunteers and is self-sustaining. It is not some ACORN style handout community organizing welfare program common to present day government programs.
Four-H clubs are project oriented. No Mr. Hayes, splashing around in the pool at the Crock Center or shooting hoops at the Boys and Girls Club is not a reasonable alternative to a 4-H project. Any 10-year-old who has spent a year planning for and nurturing a 4-H steer or patch of corn and showing off the fruits of his or her labor at the county fair come fall can tell you that. Four-H projects are serious business.
Hey folks, we're not talking big bucks here. We're only talking about the county shelling out $160 grand (the price of an "affordable house") out of a budget of $72 million. That's a little over two-tenths of one percent of the county's budget for the entire Extension Office's operation.
A little digging around in the Department of Agriculture's literature reveals that they have been screwing around with the Cooperative Extension Service in recent years. It is now called the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). If the County Clerk's problem with funding the program has something to do with recent changes by the current administration, then lets see about fixing the problem. Let's not junk the whole program and hold our young people like pawns in a bigger game, hostage to some overriding political consideration.
I have no axe to grind here. I have no kids or grandkids currently in 4-H and I am not affiliated with any 4-H club. I just have fond memories of a childhood greatly enriched by the 4-H experience and wish the same for present and future generations.
BOB LaRUE
Hauser