President’s Pen

Don't Miss theGift

Last summer a 4-H friend and mentor was killed in a car accident. Done was the 4-H Livestock Committee Chair when I first began working in Extension in Anoka County 18 years ago. Although I had been in 4-H as a kid, I didn't grow up on a farm nor ever raise animals, so I was clearly out of my element as I went to my first Livestock Committee meeting. A gregarious man with a huge laugh and an easy-going personality, Don took me under his wing (literally) and promisted me they'd "turn me into a livestock person in two years." Which he did-year after year answering my questions, making suggestions, offering insights, paving the way. He was a gift, one of so many I've been given in this job.

This issue of Section Slants finds you very busy with fairs, camps and a multitude of summer programs-either preparing for, in the exhausted middle of, or in the (more exhausted!) follow-up phase. "Down time" is rare in this job and the demands are enormous. Yet in the middle of it all, my wish and advice is: Don't miss the gift.

Don't miss the gift of relationships with young people and volunteers and colleagues. In the challenge of answering one more question about state fair in an exhausted state of mind, take time to sit and visit and make a connection with people. Take a moment to find out a little more about how their summer or year has gone, reconnect with those former leaders who stroll through the building reminiscing abou tthe fairs they remember, join your young people in making a memory they'll talk about in years to come. These moments are where you'll find the GIFT--the relationships that will sustain you in your work and make you more effective in the long run.

Happy unwrapping!