MOUNT VERNON – Barely one sentence in, Amy Seward was struggling to keep it together.
She stood in front of over 100 community members, friends and family at Knox County Fairgrounds on Sunday afternoon. She spoke softly into the microphone, attempting to read from notes in her left hand.
With her baby strapped to her chest, she choked up as she recalled her experience as a 4-H camper 18 years ago.
It was there where she met a group of lifelong friends – they called themselves ‘The Gang’ – who would spend long summer nights together in their teenage years, swimming, going to bonfires and making memories.
It was there where she met her husband, who was also in attendance on Sunday afternoon, sitting two rows back under the big white tent.
It was there where she met Larry Hall, one of two Ohio State University extension educators who oversees Knox County 4-H and has worked in his role for over 24 years. Hall sat another row back, filming Seward’s speech as she tried to make it through.
The 4-H and Friends Fun Day, hosted by the Knox County Farm Bureau, was a well-attended event on Sunday. Multiple generations of the Knox County 4-H community showed up to support the organization and donate.
It was the final major fundraiser for the new 4-H center, a $750,000, 4,600-square foot facility that will be built on the very soil where Sunday’s fundraiser was held – atop the fairgrounds’ highest hill, neighboring the hiking trails.
As Seward began her testimony, the noise of the tractors, livestock and conversation that emanated from the day’s festivities reduced to a hush.
“Because of hard work, dedication to the Jr. Fair Board and Larry’s guidance along the way, we all have become successful, contributing adults to our society,” Seward said, tears welling in her eyes. “With that being said, ‘The Gang’ would like to present an envelope of checks, in honor of Larry, to the new 4-H building. We hope that the building will provide wonderful memories for current and future 4-Hers.”
The crowd broke out into applause as others became emotional as well. This is what Sunday felt like for those in attendance, an all-at-once mix of nostalgia and hope.
The past, present and future of 4-H in Knox County stood side-by-side as they fed animals (the most popular was Halibut the baby penguin, brought by the Columbus Zoo), ate free food (including pulled goat sandwiches and goat stew, provided by the Knox County Cattleman’s Association) and partook in tractor rides (driven by veteran farmers).
In total, $98,800 was donated on Sunday to help fund the new 4-H center, according to the Knox County Farm Bureau. Donors gave money through individual donations as well as a silent auction, a live auction and a 50/50 raffle.
Knox County 4-H was “70 percent of the way there” in terms of reaching its funding goal for the facility heading into Sunday’s event, according to Kayla Jones, organization director for the Knox County Farm Bureau.
Midway through the event, the 4-H Planning Committee presented the $750,000 check for the new center, which will cover the cost of construction and also establish an endowment fund to maintain the facility after it’s built.
Hall said that while a large portion of the funding for the center has come through donations and the sale of the organization’s old facility, three endowment funds have also been established – one through Ohio State University, one through the Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County, and one through the scholarship fund that the late Jim Daniels had set up before his passing.
The groundbreaking for the new center will be during this year’s Knox County Fair (July 22-29) and construction is scheduled to begin after that. It is expected to be completed by next spring.
“This has been a long time coming,” Hall said, sitting on a bench, watching the festivities unfold. “Today is an exciting time. Some of these young people are just beginning to realize their opportunities. Some of the ones that are about to age out are now looking back very fondly on what they have gained from 4-H, and I look for many of them to come back and volunteer as adults.”
The new 4-H center will be large and spacious, built on a 10.4-acre property, with plenty of room for the organization’s 64 clubs and 1,110 members to hold meetings and work. It will also be on the fairgrounds, which Hall noted will benefit clubs when they want to plan inside and then go outside for testing.
“I mean, the Space and Rocket Team, they can give a clinic and then walk right outside and do launches and stuff,” Hall said. “It’s exciting, some of the new things the kids are getting involved with.”
Knox County 4-H previously operated out of a facility on W. High Street, which Hall said they used for the last 20-plus years. He said that it proved to be an ineffective space for the group’s meetings, however, which led organizers to look for an opportunity to build something bigger.
Hall noted that despite the perception that 4-H is “just cooking and cows,” the vast majority of members are involved with STEM or craft-related clubs. Of the organization’s 1,110 active members, only 400 live on farms.
Because of this, the new facility will be a pivotal meeting space for the majority of 4-H members.
A half hour into Sunday’s event, Daniels sat three rows back to watch Macy Thorne speak. Thorne, a sophomore-to-be at Fredericktown High School, wore a red sash with “2018 Jr. Goat Ambassador” scripted across it.
She spoke about how she has been involved with 4-H for the last seven years, and how it has impacted her life.
“It’s taught me more about leadership and more about discipline,” said Thorne, who wakes up as early as 2 a.m. every day to tend to her family’s goats.
Then it was Luke McKee, a 2018 graduate of Mount Vernon High School, who has been a 4-H member for the last 10 years. He wore a red sash that proclaimed him “2017 Knox County Fair King” and told the crowd about the values that 4-H instilled in him.
“It’s given me a lot of work ethic. Because if you want to win something, you’ve gotta work for it,” said McKee, who works with beef cattle, market hogs, and this year is “branching out and doing turkeys.”
McKee wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every day to wash his steers and works late into the night tending to his pigs.
“I just like doing it, so I work really hard at it to try to make it the best that I can,” he said.
After his speech, McKee was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by Knox County 4-H for his efforts. He will be attending OSU-Wooster next year, majoring in animal science; he wants to become an animal nutritionist one day.
While McKee is on his way out of 4-H as a member, he seemed genuinely thrilled about the idea of the new center.
“This new center, I think, is a phenomenal thing,” McKee said. “Because they’ll be able to do so many more activities here at the fairgrounds. In the past, they haven’t been able to do as many because there’s not a center for it, or you have to go churches or the library to hold your 4-H meetings. It’ll just be a great use for all of the Knox County Jr. Fair kids.”
After two hours of testimonials from 4-H members of all ages, Hall and fellow community leaders picked up shovels and performed a ceremonial groundbreaking. Then there was the live auction, where 4-H raised $2,750 as community members bid on locally made items, such as wood picnic benches and stools.
While the donations were frequent and generous on Sunday afternoon, however, there seemed to be an understanding that the day was about much more than just funding a new facility. In reality, it was about investing in Knox County’s future.
“4-H is our next generation of farmers,” Jones said. “4-H really is who builds this next generation of people that are going to take care of the rest of the world. So we feel it’s important to support that generation.”
As the evening sun began to lower over the fairgrounds, Hall found himself alone. It was a rare moment of reflection during an afternoon where he appeared to boast celebrity status, young and old 4-H members coming up to him to share their memories and congratulate the organization on its long-awaited addition.
He thought about how this was only the beginning, and how the soil he stood on that day would eventually become the grounds of growth and fulfillment for so many more campers in the coming years.
One day, they might come back and, like Seward, choke up while thinking about the memories they’d made here.
“There is a lot of legacy here, the longevity of people being involved in 4-H by generation and generation,” Hall said, looking around.
“They say in Ohio, one out of every six has some connection to 4-H. I’m sure it’s a lot stronger here in Knox County.”
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