GREENVILLE — The Darke County 4-H program held its annual kick-off Sunday afternoon at All Seasons Place in Greenville. The event was held in recognition of Ohio 4-H Week, which takes place March 3 through 9 this year.
Darke County OSU Extension Educator and 4-H Youth Development Director Rhonda Williams announced that Sharon Fourman would receive the Friend of 4-H Award. Fourman was a 4-H volunteer for 30 years, according to Williams. She passed away in 2018.
Williams said that volunteers provide the organization with the equivalent of nearly $600,000 a year in manpower and asked for five-, 10-, 20- and 30-year volunteers present to stand and receive applause.
“They put the day you’re born and the day you die on your tombstone,” Williams said. “But the important thing is not the dates, but the dash — what we do between those numbers. We all have a beginning and an end, but it’s what we do with the time between that matters.”
Junior Fair King and Queen Kyle Wuebker and Morgan Heitkamp presented Fourman’s family with the award. The Fourman family has donated funds to create a memorial 4-H Volunteer of the Year Award, Williams said. Volunteers will nominate candidates with the winner chosen by members of the Darke County 4-H Committee. The award will be presented for the first time in 2020.
Williams presented Ross Dapore, of Ansonia, and Heitkamp, of Versailles, with the I Dare You Award, an achievement recognizing “excellence in character, personal development, initiative and integrity in leadership.” The Darke County Holstein Club, meanwhile, won the 4-H Healthy Living Challenge, with all members of the club receiving pins.
About 20 adult volunteers and youth from Darke County will attend the Ohio 4-H Conference on Saturday in Columbus, according to Williams. Molly Hunt, 2018’s Ohio 4-H Teen of the Year, will be inducted into the Ohio 4-H Teen Hall of Fame during Saturday’s event.
Williams seemed happy with the turnout for Sunday’s event, which drew a crowd of more than 200.
“We got a little nervous when the snow started, but at least it wasn’t the 6 to 10 inches they were calling for,” Williams said. “We do thank everyone that was there, and we appreciate their attendance.”
