AMES, Iowa – The Successful Farming/Loren Kruse Outstanding Iowa 4-H Leader award is presented each year to an adult volunteer who has encouraged, challenged, and inspired Iowa 4-H members to achieve at their fullest potential. This year’s recipient is Wilfred "Wil" Groves, III, of Jewell, Iowa. Groves is a past 4-H leader of the Freedom Warriors 4-H Club and has served 4-H as a volunteer leader in Hamilton County for over 35 years.
July 15, 2015
CONTACTS:
Albert Grunenwald Kayla Hyett
Executive Director Administrative Specialist
abgrunen@iastate.edu (515)294-4780 kkhyett@iastate.edu (515)294-1537
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hamilton County’s Wil Groves Awarded 2015 Top 4-H Leader of the Year!
Iowa 4-H Foundation awards the third Successful Farming/Loren Kruse Outstanding Iowa 4-H Leader Award at the 2015 Iowa 4-H Youth Conference.
AMES, Iowa – The Successful Farming/Loren Kruse Outstanding Iowa 4-H Leader award is presented each year to an adult volunteer who has encouraged, challenged, and inspired Iowa 4-H members to achieve at their fullest potential. This year’s recipient is Wilfred "Wil" Groves, III, of Jewell, Iowa. Groves is a past 4-H leader of the Freedom Warriors 4-H Club and has served 4-H as a volunteer leader in Hamilton County for over 35 years.
Award nominations are made by current or past 4-H members. Groves was nominated by a former 4-H club member, Lee Ryherd. In his nomination, Ryherd said, "I was fortunate to have a project leader like Wil when I was starting. His enthusiasm, excitement, and knowledge helped make learning a new skill enjoyable."
Groves used creative ideas to motivate his club members to learn new things. Recognizing that communication was an important life skill for them to learn, Groves issued a challenge. If the club had 100 percent of the membership participate in the county communications competition, Groves would take the club roller-skating, and he would skate in his long red underwear. The club accepted the challenge, and it was a memory that his 4-H’ers will never forget.
"Wil is a volunteer that our 4-H’ers always remember," said Cheryll Entriken, Hamilton County Extension Youth Coordinator. "That’s because of the time he invests in their growth and success."
Groves has been previously honored as a Hamilton County Alumni Leader and an Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame inductee. He is active in his local church and stays involved in his community as a member of the Hospital Board, Friends of the Library, and member of both the Community Chorus and Band where he plays the tuba.
Groves is the third recipient of the Successful Farming/Loren Kruse Outstanding Iowa 4-H Leader Award, joining Claudia Putnam, Muscatine County (2013) and Barb Determan, Sac County (2014.) With this award comes a $1,000 grant, which the honoree can designate back to Iowa 4-H in number of ways. The award was established by Meredith Corporation and the Edwin T. Meredith Foundation through the Iowa 4-H Foundation in honor of Loren Kruse’s retirement as editor-in-chief of Successful Farming magazine. Kruse credits the outstanding guidance provided by his 4-H club leader for the successes he achieved as an adult.
The Iowa 4-H Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and provides the private financial resources to develop and deliver quality 4-H youth programs throughout the state of Iowa. These opportunities help young people enhance their ability to use critical thinking, leadership, communication, and social skills – tools that will give them a competitive edge in their future endeavors.
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Wil Groves accepts his award at the State 4-H Youth Conference’s closing session on July 2, 2015.
