Posted: 8-5-2009
Florida 4-H historical marker unveiled near McCarty Hall
Associate Dean for Florida 4-H Marilyn Norman, UF Interim Senior Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources Larry Arrington, IFAS Extension Dean Millie Ferrer-Chancy and U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., stand by the new Florida 4-H historical marker near McCarty Hall.
Congressman Allen Boyd, D-Fla., says he learned a lot of life skills from time he spent as a youngster in 4-H.
He learned to swim at 4-H camp. He learned how to set up and break down a chow hall.
He learned Robert’s Rules of Order and how to speak in public. And it made for his first venture into politics, when he decided to run for an office in the organization.
Boyd was in Gainesville Aug. 4 to help unveil a permanent historical marker on the University of Florida campus, just north of McCarty Hall, commemorating 100 years of 4-H in Florida. He told the 65 or so people gathered for the ceremony that, for any organization to last 100 years, it must have great leadership and an ability to evolve and adapt with changing times.
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Congressman Allen Boyd, D-Florida, speaks about his childhood experiences as a 4-H member at the Aug. 4 unveiling of an historical marker near McCarty Hall.
Boyd was a 4-H member while growing up in Jefferson County, joining the youth organization in the 1950s.
In his lifetime, he said, there have only been two county extension agents in Jefferson County in charge of 4-H. He told the group that the one in charge when he was a 4-H member played as large a role in his life as any man, other than his father.
“I am delighted that 4-H is as strong and as successful as it ever was,” he said.
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U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, Associate Dean for Florida 4-H Marilyn Norman, and Florida 4-H Council officers Jared Padgett and Dominique Meyer unveil a marker commemorating Florida 4-H’s centennial.
Boyd and Florida 4-H State Council reporter Jared Padgett pulled the cover off the marker, which denotes the youth organization’s 1909 origin in Florida, when UF Dean for Agriculture J.J. Vernon established corn clubs for boys in Alachua, Bradford and Marion counties.
Similar clubs for girls followed in 1912 and for African-American children in 1915.
Since 1965, UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences has administered all 4-H clubs in Florida, led by faculty and supported by volunteers. Today, the group has 234,000 members and 10,000 volunteers.
Dominique Meyer, Florida 4-H Council vice president, is interviewed by a television reporter following the unveiling of an historical marker commemorating Florida 4-H’s centennial.
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