This year, we are celebrating 100 years of 4-H in Sanborn County. To highlight this, I decided to interview a past 4-H member. Keith Senska graciously accepted my offer to be interviewed. Keith was a member of the Merry Lads & Merry Maidens 4-H Club in Sanborn County from 1955 to 1965.  The Merry Lads & Merry Maidens 4-H club had about 30 members and held their meetings in Harmony Hall. At the time Keith was in 4-H, there were separate meetings for the girls and boys, and his club leaders were George Moore and Herman Johannsen. 

Keith was very active in 4-H. He showed cattle, exhibited horticulture, and exhibited handy crafts. He remembers most vividly the jewelry box he made for Achievement Days. Keith also participated in livestock judging and did club demonstrations; however, his favorite thing was showing cattle. As we were talking, he explained how many things have changed over the years. The cow Keith was showing in the picture was a crossbred, but almost all the cattle back then were purebred. Now it’s the exact opposite! There wasn’t a goat, rabbit, dog, cat, or 4-H horse show back then either! It’s safe to say a lot has changed in the last 100 years, including the location of Achievement Days. Keith explained to me how Sanborn County’s Achievement Days used to be held all in one day and in different towns every year, since they had not built a 4-H building, yet. They also never had a show ring, so they used to show all of their livestock in the baseball fields, and the indoor projects would be shown in the school gyms. Nowadays we are very lucky to have a 4-H building, and a show ring and show barn. 

…Read on and see pictures in this week’s issue of the Sanborn Weekly Journal!