2007 Plymouth County - Zelda Sherlock

Zelda Sherlock was never a 4-H’er because she lived in town and at that time town kids couldn’t belong to 4-H.  She does remember being able to attend club meetings though.  Her aunt was a 4-H leader and she got to go along.  Although Zelda was never an official member, she knew exactly how great 4-H was!  So when her own children were old enough, there was no question about it…they were joining 4-H!  

Zelda spent many years going to 4-H club meetings and volunteering within the club as all of her seven children belonged to 4-H.  They mostly took static exhibits, but remembers when they got two rabbits and it wasn’t too long before that number had grown to 300!   Now Zelda still gets to be active with
4-H as her grandson is a member in the same county.  

Zelda’s true dedication and service to 4-H comes from her other role in the Plymouth County 4-H program and that is her work in the 4-H Food Stand.  Zelda first began working in the food stand as the assistant manager in 1978.  Then in 1979 she took over as the manager and has been ever since!  She has seen a lot of change through all of those years.  Zelda said that the job is very challenging but she loves every moment of it and tackling those challenges is very rewarding.  One of her most memorable moments was when two 4-H boys got in trouble while working in the food stand under her.  She figured they would always be trouble makers, but it was years down the road when a gentleman along with his wife and young children came up to Zelda and asked if she remembered him.  It turned out to be one of those boys that was always getting into trouble.  He told her that he really missed 4-H because of all that it did for him.  By having to have responsibilities like working in the food stand, he learned from that and in the end, he turned out to be a great guy.  Although Zelda was only a small part of this young man’s 4-H experience it made her feel great to know she was part of a program that truly can make the best better.

As yet another fair is fast approaching and Zelda is busy making all the preparations to get the food stand into operation she comments that she is just addicted to 4-H and it’s just hard to quit!  We are so grateful to have someone like Zelda that takes so much pride in making sure the 4-H Food Stand is a success so we are able to provide our 4-H’ers with more opportunities throughout the year.