The Henry County Extension as part of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension has agents in all three areas of outreach, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Science, and 4-H. Georgia 4-H empowers youth to learn, discover and create to become self-directing productive and contributing members of society. My 4-H experiences have followed me throughout my career.
My first involvement with 4-H was when I was in the ninth grade. We met once a month at the school. Charles Tucker was the Extension Agent and Jim Parker was the assistant Agent. I raised a calf and showed it at the South Eastern Fair in Atlanta. It wasn’t the champion, but it was a memorable experience. Thanks to Jim Parker’s creative writing, I won an award from the Georgia Sportsman Federation for some work I did planting food plots for wildlife. Another of our projects, at the time was to help clean up debris at Camp Fortson, which was under construction at the time.
During my time in 4-H I served as president of the local club, was on the livestock judging team, went to camp at Rock Eagle several times and to Camp Wahsega once. Of all the things we did, the most valuable to me was the project achievement presentations. I did not have a very outgoing personality and dreaded speaking to groups. I had to overcome that fear in order to make my presentation. My subject was on the internal parasites of the dog. I remember standing before the judges at Rock Eagle with my poster. It was not the most life changing presentation to those on the receiving end, but it was a major accomplishment for me. I realized that with sufficient research, I could present my case with confidence.
I credit a speech class in college for exposing the fact that, with a dry sense of humor, I could entertain groups with even the most mundane subject. In college, I was elected to be president of the dormitory and served on the student council.
Not because I was popular, but because I could present the facts on most any subject with confidence. I owe that confidence to my time in 4-H. Now my wife says that she is going to get me a shirt that says “HELP, I’m talking and I can’t shut up.”
Being president of the dorm did put me in the middle of some disciplinary hearings. Like the time when a group of students found out that the parking meters in town were not bolted down. They brought some back to the dorm to display in their rooms, followed closely by the police. It took some explaining, to the police, that they were not stealing money but simply looking for souvenirs. Of course there was also the benefit of their action to advise the city of the fact that the meters needed to be bolted down, before some real criminals stole them all. I think they still had to do some community service.
Fast forward to my time as a teacher in Upson County. When I arrived, I discovered that that the County Agent was none other than Jim Parker. He greeted me, introduced me to all the local officials and gave me a list of local farmers that I needed to meet in order to be successful teaching Vocational Agriculture. When I went to work for Snapper I was frequently visited by Charles Tucker, just checking on me. Just can’t shake those 4-H connections
Now I am the County Agent and while 4-H is not my main assignment, I do get to work with and observe a new generation of future leaders. I can tell you they are up to the challenge and are ready to carry the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, their community, state, nation and world on into the future.
To get involved in 4-H, contact the UGA Henry County Extension office at 770-288-8421.
