Johnson County 4-H volunteers help cultivate leaders, foster tradition

Every year hundreds of volunteers gear up for the Johnson County 4-H and Agricultural Fair.

The 25-member board of directors is made up completely of volunteers who handle everything from sound to security to crafts and livestock. To make the fair go on, the board and 4-H groups deploy about 180 volunteers each year.

Beyond official volunteers, 4-H parents, friends and family members volunteer in other ways. Often you can find friends and family of 4-Hers helping feed, bathe and clean the animals’ pens, grabbing water during a hot day in the barn and being there to support 4-Hers any way they can.

In 4-H programs, kids and teenagers complete hands-on projects that help them grow into leaders. Volunteers help cultivate the next generation, said Darin Hoggatt, a fair board member.

Many volunteers take a full week of vacation to be at the fair, he said. During the year, more goes on behind the scenes throughout the year that require time commitments.

“We’re doing it for the kids, giving our time to make that happen,” Hoggatt said.

On any given day of the fair, volunteers like Candy Gaughan chat with 4-Hers and their families, helping with paperwork and the sheep barn. Gaughan has been volunteering at the fair since her children were in 4-H over a decade ago. Everyone knows her at the fair and she does a lot beyond volunteer duties to help out, her colleagues say.

Although her children are grown, it’s the excitement on the kid’s faces that keeps her coming back each year. She always looks forward to fair week, knowing it will be both exhausting and rewarding. She and her family love 4-H and what it stands for, she said.

4-H is a good learning experience for the kids. It’s exciting to see them have something to look forward to and prepare for, be competitive and still friends by the end of it, she said.

“I just get excited for them,” Gaughan said. “I’ve seen kids start their first year and finish their last year and it’s just exciting.”

Hoggatt started doing 4-H in junior high and is now on the board, managing sheep, security and EMS. Hoggatt started volunteering once his children began showing goats and doing craft projects, he said. Hoggatt assisted with the goat barn before becoming a board member. This year is his first year as a board member.

Being a volunteer is an “around-the-clock operation,” Hoggatt said.

Hoggatt retired as Greenwood’s fire chief in 2023 and wanted to continue contributing to the community, he said. Volunteering with 4-H is an “opportunity to give back to the whole county,” he said.

“This is a week that we take out of the year to show the younger generation how important they are and to keep the tradition going, to try and instill that so we never lose that and we keep our roots,” Hoggatt said.

His favorite part of volunteering is seeing 4-Hers enjoy the experience they have with livestock and crafts. It’s easy to forget how exciting new challenges can be for children, he said.

Fellow volunteers like Gaughan make it worth it, he said. The fair board shares the same sentiment of helping out for the kids and carrying on traditions, he said.

Johnson County has a rich history in agriculture and the fair is another way to remind people of that history. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Johnson County 4H program.

“It’s the generations of folks that have lived their life towards agriculture, their farm, their livestock, all those kinds of things,” Hoggatt said. “I think a lot of times, folks forget about that. And this is just a way to make sure that number one, we don’t forget and number two, we celebrate all the really good things that we have in our county and 4-H in general is a great way to do that.”

4-Hers are four times more likely to give back to their community, according to the Purdue Extension website.

Levi Spurgeon, a volunteer, said a big part of his drive to volunteer and give back to the community came from 4-H. Spurgeon was also a 10-year 4H member and wanted to give the same experience he had to the younger generation, he said. He remembers how exciting it was for him to be at the fair all week as a 4-Her. Everyone takes care of each other and pushes each other to succeed, he said.

With the 100-year anniversary, it’s important to get the youth involved, he said.

“Sometimes you may not get the recognition for what you do, but you pull yourself together and it was right to get things done,” Spurgeon said. “It takes a village to make this whole fair run.”