Posted on April 19, 2011 at 12:52 PM by Global Reach
Tom joined a local 4-H club when he was in fifth grade. He was an active member of the Pleasant Record Busters 4-H Club from that time until he graduated from high school. While a 4-H member in East Pottawattamie County Tom had a variety of livestock projects and took part in educational presentations, camps and the county fair. During his senior year he was elected to serve as President of the County 4-H Council.
When the family moved back to Avoca Tom enrolled his oldest son, Bill, in the very same 4-H club that he had belonged to. Mike and Jana also joined 4-H when they were old enough and all three children were active members of the club. Tom was a leader for the club and served in that position for 15 years. In the late 80’s he was asked to serve on the County 4-H Youth Committee and Tom helped to implement many important policies during his two terms on the Committee.
At the request of his father-in-law, Tom began to help him clerk the East Pottawattamie County 4-H Livestock Sale in 1981. The sale utilized a separate account and all of the livestock checks and premiums from bidders were processed through the sale account. Tom’s father-in-law turned over all of the responsibilities of clerking the sale to Tom in 1994. Tom continued to clerk the livestock sale until 2008 when he was no longer able to do the work.
Tom has given his entire life to the support of our young people, as an educator and as a volunteer. He has had a strong influence on many of the members of the 4-H club. He supported the Share-a-Beef programs for 4-H’ers in East Pottawattamie County and Shelby County and always enjoyed reading the reports and looking at the records that members provided for the calves they received from the Pattee family.
Tom has been a strong supporter and promoter of the 4-H program as well as other Extension efforts. Though not as active as he once was, Tom continues to volunteer in various areas where he is able to help keep the 4-H program strong in East Pottawattamie County.
Categories: Pottawattamie (East)
