Caledonia Argus

Extension educator looks back on fulfilling career

Posted: 6/18/02

By Shannon McKinney
Argus News Reporter

Naomi Fruechte remembers when paper copies were hard to come by and the roads in Houston County were hard to manage.

Fruechte ends almost 30 years of service at the Houston County Extension office June 28. She began in 1962 and taught for nine years, before taking a 13 year break and teaching from 1984 until this year for a total of 27 years.

Sheís experienced a lot of changes since she first began when the extension office was located in the basement of the Caledonia Post office in 1962. But what remains the same is the extensionís continued response of meeting the needs of the community through informational classes on a variety of topics pertinent to Houston County.

Fruechte began at the extension office shortly after graduating from college where she earned a degree in home economics education. A temporary position turned into permanent position when a previous employee decided not to return after a study leave.

Back then, extension agents were called home and agriculture agents. Her time was not as focused and specialized as it is now. It involved teaching a little bit of everything including working with 4-H programs and adult activities. Work weeks were long because there were many home visits, and she couldnít stop until the work was done. She explained, ìThings have to be held when people can come.î

This often meant nights and weekend work.

Hard but satisfying work

However, all the hard work was very satisfying for Fruechte.

Their office provided the kinds of services that were needed at the time. In the 60s, Fruechte recalls the countless hours she spent with women on kitchen remodeling plans. She said it was an era where rural families were remodeling their older houses. She worked individually and with groups consulting families. ìI graphed lots of paper kitchen plans and re-worked plans,î she said.

Fruechte went into this type of work because it involved teaching adults who really wanted to learn. ìTheyíre not forced to be there. They are willing learners.î She added, ìItís just very satisfying. They come with a specific need and you can help them address that need. If you can help them, thereís something in that.î

Fruechte remembers the time she developed a teaching program on time management. Before copy machines came into being, developing something like this meant hand writing the program, having the secretary type it out, and then setting up the mimeograph machine to make copies.

She said the mimeograph machine was a big machine that took up a whole table. It could be very messy. The only other way to make copies was to type them or use lots of carbon paper.

Fruechte recalls some roads on the highway system being barely passable. ìSome of these township roads werenít much more than dirt paths. Itís so far improved from the early 60s,î she said.

Technological improvements expand extensionís influence

The extension officeís influence expanded in the 80s and 90s with improvements in technology and roads. No longer was the extension office and island by itself, but its boundaries expanded and it shared its resources with counties.

Now, in 2002, this gives extension officers the opportunity to specialize in areas specific to that county.

Fruechte still travels as part of her job, but now it is to places like Rochester where she can teach other extension officers what she has specialized in, so they in turn can teach people in their counties.

In exchange, Houston County is trained by extension officers in other counties.

Fruechteís most recent work that she has found to be very satisfying, is her informational meetings on safe food handling procedures. The need had always been there, but it became apparent a few years ago when some vendors in the Houston County Fair were almost shut down because they did not meet food handling procedures.

Fruechte teaches about the newest laws to both professional and volunteer food handlers. She said developing this type of program has been very rewarding for her. ìPeople are being more cognizant,î she said.

She hopes that when she leaves, someone will take that teaching on.

She will, however, teach safe food handling classes at the technical college in Winona on a very part time basis.

Restructuring prompts retirement

Fruechte said she wasnít ready to retire now, but she was one of 40 individuals who were offered early retirement packages due to restructuring in the University of Minnesota Extension service. She said she wasnít forced to leave, but that did not guarantee that her position wouldnít be eliminated anyway.

The restructuring involved trying not to be ìeverything to everybodyî, and so programs will be reduced by five percent each year for the next five years. The Houston County Extension office will have only two extension officers instead of three. This will mean volunteers will have to be trained to take over some of the duties that extension educators now perform. To help facilitate this transition for the community, Fruechte is working with the libraries to encourage people to visit the extension officeís web site for answers to questions they might have.

She has mixed feeling about retirement. On one hand, she wants to stay and be a part of all the exciting new changes, while on the other hand she is looking forward to her new found freedom. ìIíve always liked what Iíve done here. Itís a bittersweet experience.î

Sheís not sure what she will do now. ì I really donít know, I think Iíll just flit around and have fun. I havenít had a free summer for quite a long time.... serendipitous,î she smiled.

Sheís looking forward to gardening and actually canning and freezing in the daytime, which doesnít happen very often when working full time.

Fruechte may also help out on the farm with her husband, Vernon. ìI do not intend to have any big plans for the summer,î she said.

An open house is scheduled for Fruechte at the extension office on Wednesday, June 26, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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