Posted on March 1, 2018 at 3:31 PM by Emily Saveraid
The Extension program started in Black Hawk County in 1912 in a livery stable in Cedar Falls. Mr. A. A. Burger assumed his duties as Black Hawk County’s first county agent that same year. At that time local farmers paid the expenses of the first county agent through an organization known as the Farm Improvement Association, located in Cedar Falls. 4-H club work had not yet claimed the interest and financial assistance of groups which were later to play a big role in its success. In the first year, 4-H club work was financed by business concerns of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. Then the county fair association became interested in the movement and furnished pigs to boys. At the end of the club year each boy turned in two pigs for each sow he had received.
When A.A. Burger, encouraged the first 4-H club members to enroll in a corn and garden project, little did he realize that from that small group was to grow an organization which by 1934 would claim the active interest of 483 of the 1,194 boys and girls of club age in the county. The organization would reach 1,500 of the 2,100 homes.
Black Hawk County enjoyed the distinction of having the first county home demonstration agent in Iowa. Miss Tura Hawk assumed her duties in September of 1916. Two sewing clubs with a total enrollment of 60 members comprised the girl’s club work in 1916.
In 1917, Professor F. E. Fuller of Iowa State Teachers College was instrumental in forming the first poultry club in Black Hawk County. In that same year four mixed groups of boys and girls were reported. Comparatively little was accomplished in club work during the years immediately following World War I.
The second phase in the progress of Black Hawk County 4-H club work consisted of welding the individual members into local or township groups with local adult leaders in charge. During this period, rules and standards for the 4-H organization were formulated. Experience gained in this formative period paved the way for later success.
Girls were organized on a local club basis from the beginning. Boys organized into local club groups in 1927. The record of a junior club committee of members is found in 1922. Adult committees were named to actively assist local club leaders and county agents in carrying out a county club program.
In 1924, demonstration and judging contests were regular phases of the club program. Girls of the county had started demonstration work as early as 1920, when a team of A.A. Burger and Clara Sutter from the Ferris Wheel Club of Cedar Falls Township represented Black Hawk County at the state fair, demonstrating the canning of tomatoes.
In 1924, Back Hawk County boys judging team captured the grand championship at the Iowa State Fair. During the same year a demonstration team representing Black Hawk County won the contest at the Waterloo Dairy Cattle Congress, thereby earning the privilege of representing the state at the National Dairy show in Milwaukee.
Two years later another Black Hawk County livestock judging team won first place at the Iowa State Fair, at the Interstate Fair in Sioux City where teams from eight states completed and judged at the International Livestock Show in Chicago, where they won sixth place. During that same year a Black Hawk County team also won the demonstration contest at the Waterloo Dairy Cattle Congress, there by winning the right to represent the state at the National Dairy Show.
Election of countywide 4-H officers for girls was started in 1924. In the same year there is a record of a county boys’ club committee composed of A.H. Evans, Vocational Agriculture instructor in Hudson High School and Lloyd Loonan and A.J. Minish, two prominent Black Hawk County farmers and beef producers.
A major highlight in Black Hawk County 4-H was in 1936 when the Black Hawk County Dairy Judging Team won the National Contest and advanced on to the International Dairy Judging Contest in Bristol, England. The team consisted of Vincent Kelley, Kenneth Kramer and Clinton Sage. They traveled with Paul B. Barger, the Black Hawk County Extension Agent and Floyd Johnson, representing Iowa State University. The group sailed on the U.S. Manhattan from New York City on June 17, 1936. The International contest was held on July 1, 1936. As was typical of the time all team members wore long white coats when participating in the judging contest. Final contest results were announced in front of the Royal Pavilion by Sir Merrik Burrel of the Royal Agricultural Society of England. The English team took first place with the Black Hawk team coming in second. Some of the Black Hawk team didn’t notice that one of the jersey cows had been milked prior to the competition and was not a dry cow. Vincent Kelley had the highest individual score in the contest. Following the contest the group took a tour, visiting farms in England and Islands of Jersey and Guernsey. They also toured farms in Denmark, Switzerland and France. Their 6 week journey ended with a visit to Niagara Falls in New York.
By the 1930’s record books were being submitted to the state 4-H office. Community clubs enrolled more than 27,000 rural youth, teaching them how to run a farm and manage a home.
In the 1940’s the IFYE (International Farm Youth Exchange) program was started after World War II to build peace and understanding. One of the first IFYE’s was Ray Dankenbrink of Poyner.
In the 1950’s, Black Hawk County had the champion national livestock judging which represented the United States at the International Livestock Judging Contest in England. Gene Clubine was selected to participate in the IFYE program. By the late 50’s a state law passed creating County Extension Councils and the break took place from Farm Bureau although Farm Bureau has continued to be very supportive of the 4-H program.
In the 1960’s Larry Anton of LaPorte City was selected as an IFYE delegate to France. The 4-H program began to change from not just farm and rural communities to an emphasis on both urban and rural. Programs emphasized personal development, citizenship and leadership, not just livestock and homemaking projects.
In the 1970’s Frank Wyatt of Hudson was selected as an IFYE delegate.
In the late 1980’s the Discovery program was developed by the county 4-H youth coordinator, Mary TeWinkel. Discovery took place during Dairy Cattle Congress in September. Over 1500 elementary students from Waterloo and Cedar Falls came to the fair each year where they visited a number of educational booths that have rotating workshops about livestock and food as well as experiencing Cattle Congress. A Farm Safety Camp was also started in 1989.
Support to expand the program was funded by the Iowa 4-H Foundation in the early 1990’s through a grant from the Iowa Department of Agriculture. Later the Clay County Fair and the Guthrie County Fair replicated the Discovery program. In the 1990’s the county started to raise funds to support the 4-H program through a direct mail campaign as well as personal asks. In addition an omelet breakfast was started. For over 25 years over 400 4-H’ers, leaders and families have been involved in this fund raiser. At this same time the Black Hawk County 4-H and FFA Fair Foundation was created to support the county fair. A new program for young people was carried out in Black Hawk County called, “Growing in the Garden”.
In 2000 Black Hawk County started the County Fair Queen and Fair King Contest. Two of the young women went on to be Iowa State Fair Queens. They were Katie Greiman and Lydia Beck. It was in the 2000’s that community service was emphasized in local 4-H clubs.
In the 2010’s the Black Hawk County 4-H and FFA Fair was awarded the Iowa Fairs Blue Ribbon Fair Award. In 2017 the Black Hawk County Fair Board received the Iowa Governor’s Volunteer Award. The Discovery program at the fair as well as the Farm Safety Camp still continue. Black Hawk County is one of only two counties in Iowa that doesn’t have their onw county fairgrounds. The Black Hawk County 4-H & FFA Fair has always been held on the grounds of the National Dairy Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo. The other county is Polk County that uses the Iowa State Fair grounds.
Little did anyone know that what began in 1912 with farm boys and girls learning new and better methods of raising corn, feeding calves and pigs, canning fruits and vegetables, and sewing would grow into our current 4-H program.
Honorary 4-H Members were first recognized in 1930 and continue today.
1930 – Katherine Hearst
1931- Mrs. John Plum
1932 Mrs. Elmer Blough
1933 – Mrs. Ira Knapp
1934 – Mrs. R. E. Middlekauff
1935 John W. Cloverdale
1936 – Mrs. Floyd George
1937 – Mrs. A. J. Hansen
1938 – Mrs. John M. Briden
1939 – Mrs. J. J. Kelly
1940 – Mrs. E. J. Hausman
1941 – J. H. Butts
1942 – Matha Nation
1943 – Bertha Mae Dimmitt-Kelly
1944 –Rev. J. S. Deedrick
1945 – Elizabeth Sage and Paul B. Barger
1946 – Blanche Jones-Wolfe
1947 – Glen W. Morris
1948 – Hugh E. Muncy and Mrs. Robert Mess and Mrs. A. F. Hoppe
1949 – Mrs. Orville Tannreuther
1950 – Mrs. L. J. Dunwlad
1951 – Mrs. Godfrey Guldager
1952 – Mrs. Lester E. Loveland
1953
1954 - Mrs. Thorwald Nelson
1955 – Russell Sage
1956 – Ramona Esbeck and Mrs. Stuart Henry
1957
1958 – Mrs. Paul Barger and Mrs. Harold Brown
1959
1960 - Hazel M. Kuehn
1961 – Ron Pullin
1962 – Folmer C. Hansen
1963
1964 – Mrs. Paul Degener
1065
1966 - Dorothy Mark and Dorothy Brown
1967 - Maurine Rullen
1968 – Mrs. Harry Brown
1969 – Irving H. Anton
1970 – Mrs. Clinton Sage
1971 – Ralph Leymaster
1972 – Elsie Watters
1973 – Walter w. Renner
1974 – Irene F. Morgan
1975 – Jay Trent
1976 – Vyla Blough
1977 – June Faust-Hanson
1978 – Leeward Albert
1979 – Arlene Flickinger
1980 – Lawn Griffith
1981 – Ruth Beck
1982 – AuRae Heidemann
1983 – Water Hesse
1984 – Bettie Ferguson
1985 – June Faust-Hanson
1986 – Cliff Strein
1987 – Lions Clubs
1988 – Floyd TeWinkel and Ethel TeWinkel
1989 – Albert Petersen
1990 – John Noteboom and Beb Noteboom
1991 – Linda Herod, Glenda Schaeffer, and Barb Meyers
1992 – Bob Messerly
1993 – Joanne Eggleston
1994 – Kay Messerly
1995 – Gene Pint
1996 – Dan Schmitz and Cliff Murray
1997 – John Ackerman
1998 – Wally Mochal and Noreen Mochal
1999 – Phyliss Boatman
2000 – Alice Green and Larry Green
2001
2002 – Leon Mosely
2003
2004
2005 – Dr. Phil Edler and Pat Eldler
2006 – Jeanne Hansen
2007 – Maynard Murch and Dick Goering
2008 – Farm Credit Services of America and Larry Steffens
2009 - Mona Rottinghuas
2010 – Jackie Wulf
2011
2012 – Phil Hufford
2013 –Charlotte Nieben
2014 – Lyle Guldager
2015 – Betty Ehler
2016 – Bruce Clark
2017 Tom Sage and Larry Walters and Bob Livingston
4-H Alumni Awards include:
1956 Mrs. Delbert Gerholdt Wesley Yuska
1957 Wendell Glasener Mrs. Harry Brown
1958 Lila Messerly R. Gordon Strayer
1959 Clinton Sage Irene Kramer
1960 Irene Morgan Wayne Mark
1961 Blanche Jones-Wolfe Godfrey Guldager
1962 Ronald Sieben Martha Nation
1963 Otis Budlong Mrs. Evan Sage
1964 Les Newton Mrs. Harold Koob
1965 Virginia Ebbing Bob Tannreuther
1966 Barb Johnson Maurice Telleen
1967 Mrs. Don Mangrich Paul Barger
1968 Rachael Gould Bernard Ebbing
1969 Bev Bennett Dick Klingaman
1970 Dorothy Brown Ralph Leymaster
1971 Helen Sage T. J. Andersen
1972 Bill Davidson
1973 Ron Burk Rose Ann Pierce
1974 Blanche Pulling Lester Lampe
1975 Joanne Kucera-Vlasak Rex Boatman
1976 Dora Rizzo Carrol Hayes
1977 Jean Klingaman Judd Leland
1978 Jeanette Brasch Luverne Christian
1979 Rick Hofmaster
1980 Del Bowers
1981 Marshall Grosscup
1982 Harlan Blough
1983 Judy Anton Larry Anton
1984 Norma Hager
1985 Jim Sage
1986 Jerry Kramer Joanne Kramer
1987 Ron Pullin
1988 Marilyn Teig
1989 Eleanor Meyerhoff
1990 Mary Esther Pullin Mary TeWinkel
1991 Larry Loenser
1992 Ruth Taylor Marvin Taylor
1993 Ann Sage Frank Wyatt
1994 Carolyn Clubine
1995 Donna Schletzbaum
1996 Nancy Schmitz
1997 Helen Ackerman
1998
1999 P. Lee Miller Barbara Miller
2000 Loretta Anderson Marty Port Dale Port
2001 Chris Greiman SOO Greiman Al Ricks Donna Ricks
2002 Frank Wyatt
2003 Judy Walsten Eddie Entz
2004 Louis Beck Pat Beck
2005 Kevin Sittig
2006 Jay Hansen
2007 Mary Jean Murch Hope Goering
2008 Pat Lichty Randy Lichty
2009 Tom Volding Craig Strein
2010 Duane Wulf
2011 Bob Koeningsfeld Lynette Cline
2012 Kay Connelly Phil Hufferd
2013 Charlotte Nielsen
2014 Lyle Guldager
2015 Mary Seekins
2016 Bruce Clark
2017 Mike Geisler
The Mayor of Waterloo’s Volunteer Award has recognized numerous 4-H volunteers.
? yr. - Carolyn Clubine
1986 – Marilyn Teig
1988 – Jim Sage
2001 – Dan and Nancy Schmitz
2002 – Helen Ackerman
2003 – Dale Port
2004 – Mary Esther Pullin
2005 – AuRae Heidemann
2006 – Al & Donna Ricks
2007 – Loretta Doepke
2008 – Pat Lichty
2009 – Mike Pipho
2010- Marty Port
2011 – Kevin Sittig
In 2002 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of 4-H the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame was created by the Iowa 4-H Foundation. Each year one person or a couple are nominated by each county. Black Hawk County recipients have included:
2002 – Mary TeWinkel
2003 – Ron & Mary Esther Pullin
2004 – AuRae Heidemann
2005 - Eleanor Meyerhoof
2006 – Rose Ann Pierce
2007 – Rex and Phyllis Boatman
2008- Judy and Larry Anton
2010 – Arnola Jean Siggelkow
2011 – Dan and Nancy Schmitz
2012 – Soo Greiman
2013 – Dale and Marty Port
2014 – Louis and Pat Beck
2015 – Barbara and P. Lee Miller
2016 – Pat and Randy Lichty
2017 – Aland Jane Eilderts
Materials gathered by Eleanor Meyerhoff, 33 year 4-H program assistant
Edited by Florine Swanson, Retired Iowa 4-H Foundation Executive Director
