Local volunteers inducted into state 4-H Hall of Fame

SPRINGFIELD — Francis Morse of Tiskilwa was inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame at last month’s Illinois State Fair.

Jennifer Caldwell, program coordinator for 4-H and youth development at the Bureau County Extension office, said the staff is very appreciative of Morse’s contributions to 4-H and other Extension programs.

Morse has been very active in helping to ensure the needs and interests of Bureau County residents are addressed in Extension programming. He has served as a volunteer with the Friends of 4-H and Extension group and is a member of the county’s Extension Unit Council, the Finance Committee, the Expansion and Review Committee, the Fair Review Committee, the Extension Support Team and the Bureau County Extension Board.

Morse is also a volunteer Master Gardener, Bureau County’s representative on the Extension Regional Advisory Council, and meets with the regional director and other unit council members across the region regarding Extension and 4-H.

This year, Morse was recognized for 20 years of service to the Bureau County 4-H program, including 20 years as a leader of 4-H Federation.

Morse said he was surprised to learn of the honor.

“There are people who have been doing this 30 or 40 years,” he said. “I always thought other people spent more time and had a bigger impact.’

Morse said 4-H is a valuable program for area youth.

“It teaches them common sense stuff,” he said. “It teaches them skills and shows them things about life.”

Morse was not the first Bureau County resident inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame.

Pat Rod of Princeton was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the 2008 state fair. Rod first became involved in the 4-H program as a 4-H club member. She was a member of the Happy Homemakers club and the Top Notch Teens club, both in LaSalle County.

As an adult, Rod volunteered as a leader of the Merry Maidens 4-H Club and the Elm Tree 4-H Club, both in Bureau County. She has also been the leader of the 4-H Fashion Board, the Sewing Project Leader, and superintendent of Clothing and Fashion Revue at the Bureau County 4-H Fair.