4-H opportunities

4-H opportunities

We join with President Reagan in celebrating National 4H Week, recognizing an organization which has a long and proud history since its founding in 1917. Since that first year, 4-H has “graduated” more than 45 million boys and girls from its program, many of whom have gone on to higher education and then back to the farms, carrying with them the knowledge which they gained along the way.

The land-grant university system, of which 4-H and the Cooperative Extension Service are both integral parts, has made a major contribution to the innovations which American farmers have brought to the production of food. Research on new methods of maximizing yields, hybrid varieties of food crops, as well as new equipment based on work done by engineers at the universities have all catapulted American farming to the forefront of worldwide food production.

4-H has provided leadership in spheres other than agriculture as well. It teaches responsibility, leadership, and other beneficial qualities which have applications far beyond the farm. These lessons are ones which, learned as children, are not outgrown but rather grow with the individual into adulthood.

In Rappahannock County, the 4-H program is indeed alive and well, as evidenced by the formation just this month of a new chapter in Washington. A number of county youngsters visited and participated in the State Fair last month in Richmond, as well as the Culpeper-MadisonRappahannock Farm Show in July. The Livestock Club has established a scholarship fund, to which donations are welcome, to assist members in furthering their education at the college level.

The 4-H concept has been, and promises to continue to grow as, an important source of skills and knowledge, both practical and aesthetic, for youth all across America.