Caledonia Argus

Members of Houston County's first 4-H club reminisce

Posted: 8/13/02

Itís been nearly eighty years since the very first 4-H Club was organized in Houston County. The Portland Prairie 4-H Club held its first meeting in December of 1923 with nine members. At the second meeting, five more joined the group, including nine-year-olds Elmer Thies and Mildred Wiegrefe, now Mrs. Charles Albee. They are the only two left from that original group, and recently shared some memories of their 4-H days.

For girls, the 4-H experience seemed to include a lot of domestic projects. Mildred remembers ìBread and Pie Day,î when girls would bake bread in the morning and try their skill at pie in the afternoon.

But girls had livestock projects too, and Mildred recalls having chickens as her project in one of the first years of the club. She kept them in a pen in the apple orchard on her family farm, and one day Fremont Deters, who was poultry superintendent at the fair and also county treasurer, stopped by to take a look. From her three chickens and two roosters, he picked the two chickens and one rooster he thought were the best. He suggested that she use a bluing solution to make their feathers whiter, but cautioned her to be careful because if she used too much, she would end up with blue chickens. She took his advice, and won first prize at the county fair.

Mildred also won a trip to the Minnesota State Fair with a Holstein, but after her dad died in 1928, the family moved from the farm and it was no longer practical for her to show livestock.

ìIt was sewing and baking after that,î she said.

Another favorite memory for Mildred was going to camp at Lake Como in Hokah. The girls slept in the pavilion on bags stuffed with straw, and the boys slept across the lake in tents.

Some 4-H projects of years past fell victim to the changing times. There is no longer a ìGood Groomingî contest, nor a ìFavorite Foodî demonstration where a 4-Her would prepare her favorite foods and set a table for complete presentation. There were ìkittenballî tournaments, which were really just softball tournaments.

Mildred spent several years as an adult leader of the Portland Prairie 4-H group, and her children were all active in the Caledonia Rockets 4-H Club, and their children as well. Her children are Gail Nelson and Joanne Rice of Caledonia; Kathy Bubbers of Rock Falls, Ill., and Janet Beyers, who lives near Lewiston and has been a 4-H leader in Winona County for a number of years.

Her years of showing in 4-H gave Mildred the impetus to continue her involvement with the fair, and up until last year brought projects to show. She was also involved for many years as a judge in the canning and baking department.

Elmer Thies of Eitzen, who still lives in the house he grew up in on Portland Prairie Road, won a trip to the state fair his very first year in 4-H, but wasnít able to go since he was only nine years old.

Most of Elmerís projects were either livestock or crops. He remembers an alfalfa project where participants had to seed 1/8 of an acre of alfalfa, with strict instructions from County Agency W.D. Stegner to inoculate the seed.

ìIt was a pretty new thing at the time,î said Elmer.

According to Elmer, 4-H was an an important thing because there wasnít a lot going on at the time for youth. The club put on a lot of plays, which were directed by Mrs. Roy Dibley.

But Elmerís favorite memories was attending the week-long ìFarm Boy Campî at the State Fair. The boys participated in a number of activities, and got to usher for the grandstand.

ìWe were some VIPS then,î said Elmer.

Elmerís sister Ruby Petersen was also in the club, and was president in 1937 when membership reached a high of 50. Ruby said she always made sure that her projects were always animals because the only way she could go to the fair every day was if she had an animal there to feed. She remembers the club tours as being a huge event.

The Theisís daughters, Linda (Hadley) of Duluth and Marlene (Hutter) of Onalaska, were also involved in 4-H and Elmer and his wife, Mildred, were adult leaders for a time.

Those present at the first meeting of the Portland Prairie 4-H club on December 12, 1923

Anna Bunge

John Deters

Ruth Deters

Olga Holter

Orvin Holter

Myrtle Holter

Anna Meitrodt

Martin Meitrodt

Lenora Roble

Those who joined at the second meeting, January, 1924:

Elmer Thies

Marvin Wiegrefe

Laura Bunge

Helen Watson

Mildred Wiegrefe

Top of Page