Posted on August 31, 2026 at 2:16 PM by Anna Egan
Joe & Gwen Tebockhorst have been instrumental in Washington County 4-H serving in all the ways as club leaders, fair board members, 4-H parents, and grandparents. It is impossible to list all of the contributions this duo has made over the past 30 plus years, but it is obvious to see how they laid a strong foundation for their five children and decades of 4-H members to follow in their footsteps of giving back.
Despite the rich passion they have for 4-H now, neither Joe or Gwen were 4-H members themselves. They started their 4-H adventures when their own children were old enough to join the program and learned alongside them.
Joe is the current Livewires leader and has been for over 30 years. He deeply values the communication skills that are developed in 4-H. He can account for many members who began too shy to share a presentation but then blossomed and thanked him years later.
Gwen was a Farmerettes club leader for 18 years. Their club was known to be in every parade with a 4-H float of some sort, and some of her favorite memories were during the fair when the entire family would gather at the livestock trailer for meals. She said it’s a part of her life she’d go back to in a heartbeat, leading the club with some of her very best friends and mentors.
Gwen seemed to tell their family story best when she said, “We have a lot of pride knowing that with 4-H we hit on something that’s lifelong for our children. We are so proud that we chose 4-H, and it made such a profound effect on every member of our family that continues to this day.”
Categories: 2026, Washington
