Long-time 4-H volunteer and club leader Dorothy Wilson attended a 4-H meeting more than 70 years ago and when she left, she was convinced that 4-H would be special to her.
“I went home that night and I told my mom ‘I’m hooked, I’m hooked -this is my thing,’ Wilson said. “It’s been my joy ever since and I never stopped. There was something about it, I don’t know what it was.”
She was in the Asherville Achievers club as a 4-H’er for seven years and the last goal she wrote in her record book was that she hoped to be a club leader one day. Her dream became a reality when she became the club leader for the Ashville Achievers, who recently celebrated their 75th anniversary as a 4-H club.
“It’s been my joy, it’s been my life, I’m just a 4-H leader,” she said. “I just love those kids. I’ve had three generations in my club, but I wouldn’t have been in so long if it wasn’t for those wonderful families who have backed me.”
As a youth member, she enjoyed doing clothing and cooking. She shared that at the time she was in 4-H, those were the preferred projects for young girls. The skills she learned in 4-H have followed her throughout her life. She shares recipes with her family and people in her community are her taste testers for scones, muffins, cookies and more.
Among her favorite 4-H memories are team demonstrations, judging at the State Fair and watching children in her club grow up and become community leaders.
“It’s the joy of being able to start when they’re little and seeing them grow up into such wonderful adults,” Wilson said. “There’s very few of my 4-H kids that turned out bad. I credit 4-H with a lot of that, and parents, and community.”
Wilson was honored as the Recipient of the 2021 K-State Research and Extension Appreciation Award for the Post Rock District. The Appreciation Award is an annual award selected by the Post Rock District Executive Board recognizing a volunteer who helps extend the Extension mission in communities.
Her leadership inspired her daughter Carolyn Harms who serves on the Kansas 4-H Foundation board of trustees and serves her local community. Dorothy’s daughters support the local scholarship, Theron E. Wilson 4-H Scholarship named in honor of their father and Dorothy’s late husband. It was established for 4-H youth in Mitchell County.
When asked why she dedicated a lifetime of service to her community and Kansas 4-H, she said she gets her motivation from the 4-H youth members.
“I think the joy of seeing the kids’ faces when they get their ribbon at the fair and they come tell me what they got so I can congratulate them and give them a hug,” she said. “That’s my joy - getting to see their happiness. I think that’s what keeps me going is those kids.”