Iowa 4-H Alumni & Friends

On Friday November 15, five 4-H'ers from Polk County had the honor of preparing and serving Governor Branstad a private sit down meal  with 14 close friends at Terrace Hill. The 4-H'ers arrived and ready to work at 4:30 PM and they didn't leave until 10:30 PM.  Governer Branstad, Joy Niklasen – Polk CYC, Laurel McGonegle, Jessica Bigelow, Rebecca Osthus, Alek Gill, Trevor Schwager, First Lady Chris Branstad in the Formal Dining Room at Terrace Hill. Alek Gill is helping Chef Sharron to prepare the main dish. Chef Sharron instructed the youth on their duties for the evening festivities. They prepared tasty appetizers, fresh salad and the main dish. The dessert was  homemade ice cream and chocolate cake from close friends attending the meal. The kids even helped with the clean-up process around the kitchen. And, yes, they were able to sample and even take home some of the leftovers from the meal they had prepared for the Governor.  It was a special e...

Along with summer, our three “Going for the Green” Golf Tournaments for 2013 has come to an exciting end. Last week, we visited  Blue Top Ridge at Riverside to host our Eastern Iowa Golf Tournament. 70 golfers took the course on the hot summer day to support Iowa 4-H’ers. Our other two golf tournaments this summer were the Central Iowa Golf Tournament at  Hyperion Field Club in Johnston, IA and the Northwest Golf Tournament at  Emerald Hills Golf Club in Arnolds Park, IA. These golf tournaments all included a fun, friendly golf competition, putting contest, longest drive, hole in one, closest to the pin, longest putt, and live auctions. Aaron Thomas was featured as our celebrity golfer at the Central Iowa Golf Tournament. There was a “beat the pro” contest where the golfers were challenged to beat Thomas with the longest drive. Iowa Soybean Association was a proud presenting sponsor of all three golf tournaments. At each tournament, ISA goodies including soybe...

7/26/13 Grundy County Fair , though in it's last full day of delivery, proved to be lively and interesting.  Like many county fairs, they had a competition amongst clubs decorating with a specific item. In this case, it was tires. A hopscotch field and tractor were among favorites. Of course, a highlight for the Iowa 4-H Foundation was to be present for the Drew Scott Memorial Scholarship (surprise) presentation and Drew Scott Memorial Open Class sheep show. Lee, Janet and Mallory Scott couldn't have been more welcoming and hospitable. This was the 5th year for the award, so they were having a special pre-show dinner to thank donors and sponsors. I even got to enjoy the wonderful home-prepared meal and adorable cake. When served a shredded BBQ meat, I asked "surely this is mutton, right???" :) The Scott Family - Lee, Janet, and Mallory, with Cory and myself. Drew was killed four years ago in a one-car accident. While he was particularly fond of sh...

7/25/2013 On this beautiful, cool summer day, Kris Fish Kuhlmann, Executive Director at the Iowa 4-H Foundation, began her journey of another county fair tour for the third week this summer. As the county fair season begins to wind down, she has been to county fair when they are first kicking off, when they are in the peak of their activity, and when they are in the last few hours of closing down. Despite this being the last day of the Jasper County Fair, that didn't diminish their enthusiasm for offering 4-H opportunities. The flood of 2010 took the Jasper County Fair by big surprise and forced a major remodel of the 4-H Building, keeping them from use in 2011. They are back stronger than ever with an awesome, nearly flood-proof, facility with an all new kitchen that can be rented out for other events.  They also hold an auction for fundraising items (mostly awesome wood carvings, which they hire a carver to do each year).  They use this money for their endowment which fun...

7/12/13 To conclude this week's travel across Iowa to county fairs, the Iowa 4-H Foundation Executive Directior, Kris Fish Kuhlmann, made a stop at the Lee County Fair. Little did we know, that this fair is actually Iowa's oldest county fair, founded in 1841! Lee County has a very strong emphasis & presence upon livestock.  They are proud to say that they were the first in Iowa to showcase such competition and create "learn by doing."  Like all county fairs, heavily dependent upon volunteers, Frank & Betty are significant contributors to make it all happen.    Speaking of volunteers, they have a Fair Board with a very visible presence... not hard to find in their matching shirts.  Director Lindsey & President Brian were extremely cordial and welcoming.  So were the rest of them at the hog show.  Living history farm replica   They have a beautifully modern youth center, which plays host to year-round 4-H festivities....

7/11/13 The Iowa 4-H Foundation Executive Director, Kris Fish Kuhlmann, stopped for a visit at the Central Iowa Fair in Marshalltown, Marshall County , this morning. Here are a few of the photos from her visit. Where will she stop next? Stay tuned!   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   7/11/13 This afternoon, Kris stopped by the Cedar County Fair in Tipton. She had a great time exploring the fair and seeing the different things that they had to offer. At the Cedar County Fair, they sell breads, pastries, cookies, and pies after being judged, and its hard to not take them all home. She loved the "AWESOME silent auction packages for sale in the 4-H building!"  On to the next.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   7/11/13 The next stop was the Iowa County Fair in Marango, Iowa. It was a pretty terrific fair stop for Kris, and she really enjoyed what they had to offer. She loved how they incorporate...

The Iowa 4-H Foundation is happy to announce a new year long partnership. Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Associations has announced a new sponsorship program,  A Good Way To Grow,  that will benefit both the Iowa and Wisconsin 4-H and FFA Foundations. This year long sponsorship will be implemented from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014.   A Good Way To Grow  program is committed to donating 10 cents for every animal marketed for one year. The program will make the contribution to youth development to help increase resources and invest in positive involvement for youth through the 4-H Foundation and FFA Foundation of both Wisconsin and Iowa. "We chose 4-H and FFA members as the recipients of this program so we could provide our youth with more opportunities and give back to many rural communities," says Chuck Adami, Equity's President and CEO. Equity Cooperative Livestock Sales Association is a federated cooperative with its corporate offic...