4-H has impacted East Texans' lives

By KRISTY HEMMINGSEN | East Texas Edition

October 10, 2002 -- The annual celebration of "4-H Week" is basically a seven-day span of events to commemorate the existence of the 4-H organization and its accomplishments. This year, 4-H is also celebrating 100 years of existence.

In East Texas, there are many former and current 4-H club members, and Country World talked to a few to get their insight on how being involved in 4-H has impacted their lives.

Ty Brown, 11, Talco 4-H:

"I have always had a place in my heart for agriculture and I love being around animals. Being a 4-H member gives me the opportunity to participate in various things that I love to do anyway.

"Right now, my main interest is exhibiting show lambs as a 4-H member.

"Since my participation in my local 4-H club is one of the more interesting things to me in my life right now, I can't see every losing interest for such things, and hope to always be able to keep animals and agriculture in my future."

Jordan McDaniel, 16, Lonestar 4-H (Mt. Pleasant):

"As a member of 4-H, I get to do the things I like to do. For one, I love showing animals but I also enjoy the other opportunities that 4-H offers which includes various leadership activities.

"My local 4-H club is like a second family to me. We do lots of things and go many places together. I have made so many life-long type friends I hope to always be in contact with.

"I also appreciate the way 4-H instills respect and leadership in me and other young people - the things that mold today's generation into tomorrow's leaders."

Kevin McDaniel, 36, Lonestar 4-H leader (Jordan's dad):

"I grew-up as a Rusk County 4-Her. My father was the local county Extension agent, and we were always heavily involved in agricultural activities and various 4-H programs.

"I don't think I'd be were I am today, if it were not for 4-H.

"As the current leader of my children's 4-H club, I still firmly believe, as I did years ago, that 4-H is the best organization for young people.

"Most of those who have ever been involved in 4-H, have usually left their clubs with a level of respect and responsibility that they may have never learned otherwise.

"As an adult, I still have contact with many of those people that were in my 4-H club."

(Besides being a 4-H leader, Kevin has also been an agricultural instructor, and is currently a broiler production manager for the Northeast complex for Pilgrim's Pride Inc).

Rick Hirsch, 37, Athens:

"Growing up as a member of 4-H, I learned many things.

"For one, it made me aware of the many different agricultural opportunities there are. It also instilled in me quite a bit of responsibility, making me understand the importance of caring for my own things.

"I primarily exhibited beef cattle. And I was able to learn many things about money and profit making in the cattle business with my commercial beef project and my beef heifers.

"I feel that 4-H has had a lot to do with the things that I am involved with now and my career."

(Rick went on to earn an agricultural degree from Texas A&M University. He is currently the Henderson County Extension agent as well as the Farm and Ranch News Director for KLTV and KTRE television studios.)

Noel Hardeman, 59, Camp County:

"I first became a member of the Dallas Co. 4-H in the early 1950s. And to this day, I still contribute a lot of the values I have learned, based on my involvement in 4-H. One of the more important things it taught me, was how to plan and think things through before starting any project.

"My most memorable moment as a 4-H member was when I was 12-years-old. The local Safeway grocery store had chosen to give away a 750-pound steer in a drawing for their customers.

"As a way to advertise the situation, they placed the steer in a very small pen located in the front of the store. For safety, they had asked my 4-H club to help keep an eye on the steer everyday, as well as help to feed and water it.

"But it was bad luck for me when my time came to watch over the steer. That day, the animal decided it was going to break free, and it did. I immediately began to run after it and following me were numerous people who worked for the store.

"I chased it down towards an area creek bed. The steer was eventually caught, but right then and there the store manager had it sent immediately to the locker plant and had it processed, making the decision that the winner of the drawing would just have to pick their steer up on those terms.

"For me, I walked away with a real good case of poison ivy!"