2012 Madison County- Mike Erdman

 

After graduating, he located to a farm in Madison County. As his sons got older, he looked forward to getting back involved with 4-H and in 1982 Mike was elected to the Madison County Livestock and Fair Association Board. He has served on the board continuously since that time, the last several years as President. For many of these years he also spent countless hours as a 4-H parent, supporting his sons’ involvement. His philosophy on the board and regarding the fair has always been ‘ It is for the kids’. He focuses on making the fair experience rewarding for the 4-H kids. In 1992 he and another fair board member felt the poultry project was a good small animal project many kids could be involved in. They worked to get appropriate cages and encouraged their sons, large animal exhibitors, to join the poultry project to hopefully show others the advantages.  Prior to the show, he worked to get crowd interest and involvement to the then very small gathering. Those young 4-Hers entered 3 pens, and at the conclusion of the fair in what was a first, those broilers were sold at the livestock auction. In the coming years, the project took off and today has a large number of entries. In 1993 he started an open class bottle calf show for 5-12 year olds, with the idea to get younger siblings of 4-H members involved and get them excited to join 4-H. The thought behind it was not only the learning experiences and responsibilities gained, but the possibility to build a foundation herd toward raising a calf eligible to exhibit in the 4-H beef program.  The 2^nd year of the program, he added a 2^nd year class. This was to encourage the continued care and return of the calf by the child. This has been a very successful addition to the fair. A great number of kids have done as Mike had hoped, and became involved in the 4-H beef project.  Above all it added another strong 4-H family activity.