Show The youths meeting in Chicago anything from raising cattle to remodeling furniture — this week can do K ' fcT-V- - but best of all they show the way to good citizenship ' I £) TKliSE if - I v ti - - all and the projects earning them the respect of their communities: Sylvia Fahrenkrog in r$ the room she decorated Bill Hackman and the corn he grew by DR JAMES II HILTON Elwood White and prize tomatoes Tom Hess and top lamb President Iowa Stat Uniirersity of Science and Technology Raymond miss a giri named Melanie Matthews Inand a handful of friends decided more people ought to go to the polls on election day So they and drove voters to and tacked up posters baby-s- at 4-- from their homes in autos Dozens of persons who otherwise might not have voted did so In Tipton Okla Andrea Seuter made 150 radio talks and wrote 60 newspaper stories on aspects of home and community safety In Clayton N M Dwight Walker not only stirred up interest in voter registration with a series of broadcasts but also acted regularly as a student preacher in two mission churches This was good citizenship at its best and these youths were among many who won national recognition for it last year More will be honored this week For a stirring national convention is about to begin in Chicago the 38th annual congress of one of the most remarkable youth groups in the country —the 4-- H Clubs may have connotations of some existence on a kind of homespun farm Indeed the group that founded H in 1919 did have rural youth essentially in mind But times have changed The H still serves farm areas—but nearly half of its 22 million members now are city or rural nonfarm youngsters It's amazing what these boys and girls— their ages range from 10 to 21—accomplish They're junior leaders in local state and national improvement efforts By their dedication to wholesome stimulating educational activity they're virtually delinquency -- proof Also through their drive for self -- improvement they're builders of a better way of life at home whether rural or urban (or are H Any who have observed To many 4-- H semi-isolat- ed 4-- 4-- 4-H- 4 Family Weekly November 'ers 29 1959 4-- "alumni" like myself) never cease to marvel at their ambition and ingenuity Ronnie Gollehon of House N M for example made enough money on H livestock-raisin- g projects to buy a car and make a down payment on a farm Sylvia Fahrenkrog whose re farm near Davenport parents live on a Iowa remodeled some old walnut furniture and replanned her bedroom—and did so well her suite award and won a national H featured-exhibit a ranking at the Iowa State Fair' to raise livestock in a metropolis Imagine trying such as Chicago Yet several hundred "city" H youths are doing just that by special arrangement they keep their animals in a restricted corner of the immense Chicago Stockyards 155-ac- 4-- home-improvem- ent 4-- ' the H Clubs were launched as an Originally service by the U S Department of Agriculture state colleges and counties They provided the financial support Now ourjargest corporations have joined in contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to encourage H work There in some 40 countries (some under difare ferent names) all devoted to developing the four H's: Head (learning) Heart (character) Hands (skills) and Health Credit for many accomplishments is due H — not the least of them helping spread the miracles of modem farming But most often I think in terms of its never-failin- g ability to broaden an individual's horizons Last year national achievement winner Robert Etter of Bradford Mass revealed how H had led to his enrolling in a college engineering course— he once worked on an electrical project I well know its influence in my own Case As a H youth in 4-- 4-- 4-H- 'ers 4-- 4-- 4-- Catawba County N C I won a Duroc hog This directed my interest into the science of animal husbandry which resulted in my attending four colleges and choosing education as a career Not long ago someone began listing a few promiThe group nent Americans who once were included Senators Herman Talmadge of Georgia and the late W Kerr Scott of North Carolina former Governors Raymond Gary of Oklahoma and Dan Thornton-o- f Colorado and a number of U S Congressmen It also included businessmen in many fields journalists career officials at all levels of government doctors (among them the director of Harvard University's health service) a movie star (Roy Rogers) a former Mr& America (Mrs Carl Deite-mey- er of Lincoln Neb) and hundreds of educators including Presidents Ben F Hilbun of Mississippi State College Hilton M Briggs of South Dakota State and R R Renne of Montana State You could only begin to make a complete list of important "alumni" For the qualities of initiative and leadership which H activity develops are required not only by various major institutions and organizations but also for the building of successful homes and communities which after all are the things that make our nation great An outstanding Oklahoma H girl probably expressed this best a few years ago Explaining why she joined H she said: ol "I knew a girl who belonged to H She was the most ideal girl I had ever known If H could do for me what it had done for her I wanted to be part of it" Some 20 million Americans have been part of it Arid well never forget it 4-H- 'ers 4-- 4-- 4-- high-scho- 4-- 4-- |