4-H Nova Scotia turns 100. 

Sometimes, a potholder is more than just a potholder. That’s the case with Corrine Zinck’s small, green square of padded cloth. It’s never been used, but its humble threads lead back 100 years to the beginnings of 4-H in Nova Scotia.

Zinck and another dozen members of the Hill n’ Dale 4-H Club near Bridgewater have gathered at the Wileville Firehall to work on projects, review the 61-year history of the club and celebrate the Nova Scotia centenary. 

“This is my first-year project back in 1959,” says Zinck. She made it as a member of the Wileville 4-H Club, the precursor to Hill n’ Dale. “Clubs were a little different then. They were project clubs. The Wileville 4-H was a sewing project. We didn’t use sewing machines then. If I looked at it today, I would think, oh, that’s not very good.”

Hill n’ Dale started just two years later, first as a dairy and beef club because there were so many farms in the area. Zinck joined, and as the club evolved, so did the opportunities for members like her. Turning the pages of a photo album, she reminisces, “Back in my day, we had the 4-H radio quiz. Every county had one.” She points to a photo. “And this was the year we won for the province.” Zinck talks about winter carnivals, woodsmen competitions, camps, fashion shows and travel to other clubs.

One such trip was to a museum in Manitoba where Canada’s first rural youth club was founded in 1913. Ontario followed in 1915, New Brunswick in 1916 and PEI in 1918. By 1922, the first rural youth club started up in Nova Scotia. These and others would later morph into province-wide 4-H organizations across Canada, but it was in the United States that 4-H was born.  

The fathers and mothers of 4-H

The roots of what quickly became a movement stretch across America to at least four pioneers acting almost simultaneously. Widely known as the father of 4-H, educator A.B. Graham started The Boys and Girls Agricultural Club in rural Ohio in 1902. However, a year earlier, three others were ahead of him. In 1901, the “mother of 4-H clubs,” Iowa educator Jessie Field Shambaugh, created Boys Corn Clubs and Girls Home Clubs.

     Meanwhile, in Minnesota, a second father of 4-H, educator T.A. “Dad” Erickson organized agricultural clubs and fairs in 1901 after he challenged his students to a corn-growing contest. That same year, a Mr. Orwell, president of the Farmer’s Institute of Macoupin County, Missouri, launched his own corn growing competition and fair.
All four were instrumental in spreading the movements they founded across their states. By 1916, these threads pulled together into the national organization that became 4-H.

The term 4-H came about in 1912 after Shambaugh created a three-leaf clover pin, each leaf stamped with the letter H for “head, heart, hands.” The fourth leaf and an additional H for “home” were soon added. Today, that last H stands for “health.” It wasn’t until 1924 that 4-H adopted Shambaugh’s familiar logo. Soon after, the organization created the motto, “Learn by doing.” Today, 4-H is the largest youth development organization in the US with more than seven million members. All 50 states, every Canadian province and 70 other countries now have 4-H clubs.

In Canada as in America, county fairs, agricultural competitions, and boys and girls clubs were the forerunners of 4-H. These rural youth programs didn’t adopt the 4-H name here until 1952. Even then, some protested the switch, saying it would be yet another example of American cultural imperialism. Despite such opposition, clubs like Hill n’ Dale were soon up and running, independent of their American cousins.

4-H in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia marks its centenary from 1922, the year the first club was organized in Heatherton, Antigonish County. Victoria Blakely, fundraising and communications coordinator with 4-H Nova Scotia, says the movement’s founders, “were looking to add value to rural life. It was inspired by those energetic, idealistic agricultural officials and dedicated teachers and community members that really wanted to make sure rural youth in Nova Scotia learned the important skills they needed to succeed, on or off the farm.”

Today, club members work on everything from raising calves to programming computers. Projects fit within four broad categories: community engagement and communications, science and technology, environment and healthy living, and sustainable agriculture and food security. Kids can even make up their own themed projects.

“We wanted to encourage members to embrace the hundredth year,” says Blakely. The provincial organization sent out celebration packages to all 64 clubs and their 1,200 members in all 18 counties. The packages included gifts, challenges, and celebration ideas. “We’ve also been encouraging our members to do an act of kindness. From donations to local food banks to writing letters to seniors, they’ve really been going out of their way to give back.” 

Centenary celebrations culminate this fall with two events. In late September at the Provincial Show in Bible Hill, 4-H Nova Scotia is hosting a mud stomp. “It’s exactly what it sounds like,” says Blakley, “a barn dance. We haven’t had it in many years, so for the hundredth year, we’re bringing it back to bring everyone together.” Then on October 22, five 4-H clubs across the province will host celebratory dinners.   

Beyond potholders

Meanwhile, back at the Wileville firehall, Janelle Boudreau and Jillian Bryson are grooming their lionhead rabbits, Twist and Simba. Bryson tells me this is Simba’s fourth year as a show animal. “We focused on judging this year.” Simba became local champion a couple years back, taking Bryson to the provincial show.

At another table, Maria Bryson and Amelia Hopper are deep into their latest food project, assembling yogurt breakfast parfaits using the nuts and fresh fruits spread out before them.

“We’ve made muffins, soups, salads and drinks,” says Bryson. When I ask what they like about food projects, Hopper declares, “You get to eat it after and it’s fun! I love to cook. I’m going to become a chef when I grow up.”

In a far corner, Caitlyn Zinck is bribing her little dog Sophie with treats to practice posing for shows, and practice is something one-year-old Sophie needs. “We have yet to get beyond obedience,” admits Zinck. She and her fellow 4-H dog owners meet twice monthly to work on such skills. “The class is full of puppies, so it’s hard.” Unfortunately, Zinck has little time left in 4-H to help Sophie reach her potential. At 22, Zinck will age out of the club.

“It’s sad—the end of an era—but I can come back as a leader,” she says. “I’ve grown up with the program and learned a lot. You do public speaking at the club level, then move to county, regionals and provincials. It’s nice to start when we’re younger because we’re not as shy.” As she leaves 4-H behind in this centenary year, Zinck says she’s ready for the future. Her comfort in front of a group has given her the confidence to become a teacher. 

Talking with this aspiring educator reminds me of Corrine Zinck’s handstitched potholder. When she was in grade 11, she took on a more advanced project, a dress made with a sewing machine.

“It was my project in 1963,” she told me, pointing to a photo of her proudly wearing the dress. After she aged out of 4-H, she rejoined as a leader. Her children became 4-Hers, then her grandchildren. She’s here today with her memories, photos and her potholder to help tell the story of Hill n’ Dale, just one of Nova Scotia’s many 4-H clubs helping kids learn by doing for the past century.