Agriculture
Houston County celebrates 100 years of 4-H
Celebrating 100 years of 4-H is no small feat, but doing so in a pandemic is another impressive accomplishment for Houston County 4-H.
“It is fantastic to look back and see all of the different activities that have happened since the beginning,” Rebecca Paulson said. Paulson works as an extension educator for 4-H youth development in Houston County.
Her roots run deep in the organization. So deep the very first meeting to form the 4-H Federation in the county took place at her great-great-grandparent’s farm.
“We have minutes from that first meeting, so it is fun to be able to 100 years later be able to be in this position to celebrate what my great-great-grandfather helped start,” Paulson said.
Culture and interest in activities have changed in the past century. The county has had a total of 100 clubs in 100 years. In past decades, more than 800 members were active in nearly 30 clubs at one time. Looking back on history, Paulson recognized the loss of Playday which was a large softball tournament that happened every year with hundreds of youth participating from all across the county. There also used to be communications contests and consumer education projects.
Paul Wiegrefe is pictured above with his pig that’s just about as big as he is! The photo was taken sometime in the 1930s. 
A 4-H member stands with her chicken project circa 1920s. 
Pictured here is Selma Diersen standing behind an impressive collection of canned goods, circa 1930s. 
Elmer Theis stops for a photo with his cow. This photo was taken sometime in the 1930s. 
The club pictured above was originally called the Freeburg Early Birds; later it changed to the Crooked Creek Hi Fliers. Back row left to rigth: Arnold Goetzinger, Omar Goetzinger, Bernet Richards, Wilfred Pohlman and Mary Graf. Front row: Jean Hanke, Agnes Lectenberg, Lorraine Noel and Luella Heimerdinger. In front with guitar: Donald Hanke. 
The Portland Prairie 4-H Club poses for a photo in 1967. In the middle, a member holds a trophy. 
Ricky Stoltz of Caledonia shows off his State Fair 4-H Champion Purebred Jersey. He was a member of the Caledonia Rockets 4-H club. 
Eric Myhre is pictured above with his Reserve Grand Champion crossbred swine.
“As time has changed and things have changed, we’ve pretty much lost most of these activities, or they just haven’t been as popular,” Paulson said. “But we’ve gained things.”
Examples included more regional activities such as a tri-county camp and regional project days.
“Things have changed,” Paulson said. “They’ve grown in different ways, but I don’t think the goals and the purpose have changed. It has always been about helping youth learn, educating youth, and providing opportunities for youth.”
Made up of 19 clubs and 400 members today, there is active participation in not only county projects, but also regional and state programs.
Fall festival kicks off 100-year celebration. 
“Friends of 4-H” Boosters sponsored a very successful Houston County Project Day on February 15th, 2020. 
Local Extension Educators, Rebecca Paulson (Houston Co) and Aly Kloeckner (Goodhue Co), partnered to bring 4-H youth on Educational Tours in the Twin Cities on July 1, 2019.
Paulson explained how the organization has expanded beyond traditional clubs to include after-school offerings in partnership with school districts.
“Those youth join 4-H, and they can still participate in everything, but their club looks just a little bit different,” Paulson said. “They are mostly concentrated on after-school activities versus during the nights or weekends. They’re still getting a lot of education, and they even periodically will have opportunities to do outreach in the community.”
Other clubs have a specific focus in certain areas such as horses, shooting sports, or wildlife. A teen exchange club offers travel exchange opportunities between counties in the United States.
Despite COVID-19, Houston County 4-H is working to maintain as much normalcy as possible. Clubs on a local, regional, and state-level quickly pivoted to virtual activities.
“We’ve seen some successes with that,” Paulson said. “There’s been mixed feelings, especially when schools went online as well. There’s just so much focus on online.”
One success story was this year’s annual cake decorating contest. Held over Zoom at a time when most people were staying home, the competition had more participation than in years past.
“We’ve made it work,” Paulson said. “We have continued to move forward.”
Part of moving forward was building new activities. That included hundreds of kits that were mailed to anyone who expressed interest in a 20-county southeast Minnesota radius. They included fishing lures, horse halters, embroidery, and more.
“We were pleasantly surprised with that response,” she said. “Some other counties are doing how-two videos. We’re just trying to adjust. I’m really happy with 4-H in the way that we have not stopped. We continue to innovate.”
Some of their new ideas will likely be carried over after COVID-19 passes because of the recognized desire in the community.
Although the Minnesota State Fair and Houston County Fair both were postponed until 2021, leaders are trying to establish ways for youth to still exhibit their projects and livestock this summer. Houston County usually sends around 100 youth to participate at the Minnesota State Fair in various project areas each year.
Paulson said there are still many ways to show support for 4-H, especially in its centennial. Volunteers are welcome to help with educational programming and partnership. Additionally, Houston County 4-H collaborated with Spring Grove Soda Pop to create a commemorative green soda for a century of activities. The flavor is lemon sour and will be in stores soon. Other commemorative items will also be available.
